How has the diagnosis of your depression af... - Above & Beyond

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How has the diagnosis of your depression affected your career?

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27 Replies
Hiding_Place profile image
Hiding_Place

It hasn't affected my career at the moment, but I really worry that it will. My concentration is awful and I am really lacking the motivation to push on with new projects. I really struggle to go in full time and at the moment I'm using my holiday up to reduce my week a bit.

missrat profile image
missrat

I had problems with interpersonal communication and had a disciplinary problem partly because I had talked about feeling suicidal.

7548 profile image
7548

It has cost me one job but through the help of therapy and medication I have now found a new job and while still suffer from it the place I work now knows about it and is giving me the support I need to keep working

sarluk profile image
sarluk

Sadly i do not have a career because of depression :( i would absolutely love to have one though.

LittleMissBennet profile image
LittleMissBennet

I've recently graduated as a healthcare professional in a role that I genuinely thought I'd love because I loved my training. However, the stress of the job has made me very ill and I have been signed off work. It is so upsetting because it was three years of extremely hardwork. I am now looking at going into another area of healthcare that is not frontline services because I feel I would be better suited to this. But it is difficult with mental health issues because there are lots of gaps on my CV where I've had to have time off which doesn't look good to future employers.

Froglet profile image
Froglet

Other: I have taken sick leave because of it, but am still in post.

coetzeegisela profile image
coetzeegisela

I do 'work' from home. Prefer to be alone in my time, space, place. Others have lots going around for them, and how wonderful! I am gathering myself. Selfish? Those 'others' have my envy', but bot my lacklustre feeling for self. We are all our own pirates.

I'm switching jobs and re-training to be a Personal Trainer so that I can have a physical, social job. I was/am a professional who sat at a desk mostly alone carrying the problems of others. If I'd have done this years ago (my spouse objected and raised the roof when I suggested it) I don't think I'd be on medication and allied treatments. I may not have even been depressed I think.

coetzeegisela profile image
coetzeegisela

Are we leeches, sucking the life blood from ALL those around, instead of being our own healing? A rhetorical query.

teajay profile image
teajay

I haven't worked since 2007... am on disability. I'm 61 years old and had planned on being a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I was in a graduate program in 1976 and had to quit because that's when I first started having panic attacks and then became severely agoraphobic. My entire employment history is completely built around my mental health status over the years... I never looked for only jobs that I was qualified for... my main objective was what jobs are available that I can actually "get" to, ie.... limited to where I could drive a car... did the job require using an elevator..., etc... The last three jobs I had were related to my education but the pay has always been horrible. Late in life I had a child and raised him alone, in poverty and he turned out wonderful! In 1984 I bought the first Mac... and for years I had a home-based business.... it wasn't enough for me to make ends meet so I ended up getting jobs that I could drive to... I can drive anywhere with someone with me in the car.... I ended up getting over my driving phobia completely by giving students a ride to a nearby college that required going over a big bridge and big body of water... that was one of my biggest phobias for years... repeating this five times a week for two years cured me... now I forget the drive over the bridge.... I'll catch myself thinking, "oh, yes, i went over the bridge...." Since my being on disability I've been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder... doing pretty good these days but am really depressed and tired of living in poverty. Now... even if I could work for I would lose my disability insurance and housing voucher, (after an eight year wait list I get help with my rent). Prices go up and what used to last a month lasts two weeks top... I so want to drive and see some sights... go visit a brother who lives three thousand miles away.... but, thank God for cheap phone calls and Skype... and thank God I love to make art and write poetry.... cost effective joy...... BACK TO TOPIC: I've had some interesting jobs that I didn't plan on.... because of agoraphobia....

LittleMissBennet profile image
LittleMissBennet

My depression has greatly affected my career. I've had to change from a job I loved because it was too much stress to deal with when I was ill. :(

btjh profile image
btjh

It hasn't affected my career (if you can call it a career) yet, but much of my depression comes from work. I hate getting up every morning my job feels like a prison sentence.

I currently don't have a carrer but it has taken an effect on my coursework

shelby29 profile image
shelby29

My job was part of the cause for my depression, I am still in the same job but hoping to leave for a new job in the next few months.

Dorcus profile image
Dorcus

Hi there

When working the physical symptoms of my depression stopped me. I was so dizzy it was frightening. Now I am afraid that , as my mental health is so up and down I am not consistent enough for any employer to put up with me .

loggerslot profile image
loggerslot

I lost trust in people. I felt my manager was a control freak I didn't think people understood my problem but kept blaming me for my own doing. i felt i was put to one side by my team members. I also suffered from interpersonal communication but it got the better of me when i switched to a new job thinking its a good motivation for my career. i got support from the company's HR but I felt paranoid that the HR personnel tried to win my trust to get me in office for an interview with my manager only to be threatened with the sack if I continued with sick leave and didn't return on reduced hours. I initially felt conned by her trust. that sent my head spinning and as a knee jurk reaction i resigned. 7 months after recovering from my depression i thought the HR personnel was a nice person and thought she would give me advice on how to return back into work but not specifically to that company. I never got any ounce of advice from her on how to return back into work and i felt she conned me to win my trust. my only advice to anyone is don't be bullied by company to get back into work, don't tell them everything about your life, don't tell fellow team members about your depression because they may not even understand how to deal with it. go back to work when you feel you are ready and do reduced hours to start with. almost a year and half out of work I feel I will have to give up on my career in which I spent 6 years nurturing, as things have moved on at a fast rate.

ninamorris169 profile image
ninamorris169

My work was making my depression worse, I had panic attacks, hardly any motivation and felt angry enough to kill someone. Some time off has helped, but I want to get back in, which is proving difficult but I am getting stir crazy. I have booked an appointment with my GP for Friday, and will phone the apprenticeship scheme manager Monday (I am on an apprenticeship).

AlisonCW profile image
AlisonCW

I am on sick leave from the NHS - next meeting I have been warned they will discuss re-deployment and/or termination of my employment. I love my job and want to go back but I have been struggling with this through various drug regimes for over 7 years. The future does not look great at the moment but I at last have a psychiatrist - that only took 6 years and I feel that he is helping me.

bushua26 profile image
bushua26

It's not affected my career as of yet, but i fear that eventually it will and possibly it will impact on my love life

justtryingtohelp profile image
justtryingtohelp

Depression has prevented me from attending school on many occasions.

sheffman profile image
sheffman

im still a carer just dont do as much for my father which is bad but .....

sadsammy profile image
sadsammy

I have changed my job to help with my mental health but i am very scared of taking time off of work due to my mental health as my employer is very quick to dismiss anyone who has too much time off. its like a viscious circle.

walked out on job and have worked my way back up, now feel like walking again.

I am unemployed again since August 2016 and was unemployed most of 2013 and spells in the 1990's. My career has suffered due to depression, anxiety, stress and unstable employment over the last 27 years. I have arthritis in my back swell. I was part time family carer with mum as the main carer to my elderly severely disabled father for 11 years. We had no support or respite and my father wasn't the easiest person to live with. In January 2017 this year my father was ill in hospital and from his bed on the phone tells my mum he hates her and doesn't want live us. He has gone into a posh Residential care complex. My parents marriage has ended after 46 years of marriage. Social services have destroyed our lives with no support , no money, no food, debts, stopped my Fathers DWP benefits straight away. We applied for pip for me and attendance allowance for my mum on 2 February 2017 and we are still waiting for our claims to be setup that was nearly 3 months ago. Me and mum are living on my ESA and her state pension and reliant on food banks. We are both struggling to recover from severe depression. We can't afford to go outside the flat so we both house bound as we have no money to function or live. I am having some counselling from a local charity but its not enough on its own. I want to do some volunteer admin work for local charities but I can't moment until we get our DWP benefits setup. Once thats happened I can get extra help and some extra money to function. I have changed my antidepressants from mild meds to very strong meds since September 2016 and I am still struggling. Social services have caused this by their judgemental attitude and taking my mental health social worker in 2011. I want to work again but its made impossible at the moment. I am in a vicious circle.

Swanson88 profile image
Swanson88

It hasn't affected my career so far, I have been promoted since returning after being signed off at the beginning of the year. Although I'm still feeling my way and trying to get back to normal I'm just trying to take things one day at a time as at times it has felt a a bit overwhelming but I'll get there.

Rodge profile image
Rodge

I informed a former boss (and company owner) that I had depression. Their response was to ask me to resign. Some companies have been very supportive however. You can often tell if they truly care or are just covering their backs.

Affected my studies really badly.