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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Alara on January 30, 2003, at 2:52:30
I'm not doing too well at work this week. After coming off 0.5mg of Xanax over the weekend, my ability to cope with stress at work plummeted and I became extra sensitive about being ignored by two of my colleages. I approached my boss and asked her whether there was anything in general that she had noticed about my recent behaviour that may have offended other team members. (Stupid paranoid move!) She insisted that I was absolutely lovely and that I was a breath of fresh air around the place. The next day the two people who had been ignoring me suddenly became friendly again, so I asked my boss whether she had mentioned anything, to which she said no. She also insisted that nobody could have overheard our conversation as it took place after hours when most people had left. Of course, I berated myself for being too sensitive but have been feeling completely paranoid ever since.
To complicate manners I've been coming home and drinking alcohol every night (as I am trying to completely cut out the Xanax) - so I have arrived at work over the last couple of days completely hungover, looking and feeling absolutely dreadful.Now my head is filled with depression, anxiety and paranoia. I can't seem to get through my tremendous workload..We are chronically understaffed and it is obvious that I am not doing my share. I take around 60 phone calls a day in addition to doing a lot of admin follow up. As a result, I can't seem to get through my main job - processing thousands of mundane, repetitive orders before sorting out all the logistic problems that remain at the end of the day. There are also around 100 faxes a day to sort through in my intray; most of these require follow up. The computer runs too slowly and I spend half my time waiting for the screen to change so that I can take the next step in the process. I am told that everyone else is getting through much more work than this.
I know that I should consider myself lucky to have a job and I like to tell myself that I am just having a bad week. But I swear that this week my brain has left me and that it is impossible to disguise the fact that I have a mental illness. (When stress kicks in, my anxiety goes out of control - and from there on my mood plummets.)
I sat extensive psychometric tests to secure the job. While I was honest on 98% of the personality questions, I did fib a bit about having a predisposition towards feelings of depression and paranoia. (I desperately needed a job and would not have got through had I been completely honest.) I only admitted to being of a highly strung, anxious nature.
Just a few questions here:
Can an employer fire me for mental illness, using the excuse that I have periods of incompetency?
Can I be fired if I am forced to undertake a psychiatric evaluation which reveals that I suffer from depression? (This would prove that I lied on some of the test questions.)
I know that I am being utterly paranoid but I'm an anxious, depressed mess at the moment and cannot think clearly.
Thanks for putting up with the long vent!
Alara
Posted by coral on January 30, 2003, at 16:10:31
In reply to Can you really be fired for mental illness? Vent!, posted by Alara on January 30, 2003, at 2:52:30
Dear Alara,
What state are you in? Labor laws vary significantly state by state. Also, is your employer "at will" or "just cause"? Mental illness is covered under the ADA (Federal statutes - Americans with Disabilities Act); however, an employer is only required to make "reasonable accomodations" which is open to wide interpretation.
Re: lying on the test - that would be extremely difficult to prove, due to the element of interpretation. Lying on a job application or a resume is a different matter and normally can be cause for dismissal.
Re: coming in hung-over is extremely dangerous because if your company does random alcohol or drug testing, you'd probably register as positive.
Typically, a company would not fire someone for a mental illness (short of a extreme breach, such a workplace violence - and then, termination would be for the act, such as violence, not the mental illness), however, a company can normally terminate for incompetency. What is your company's normal disciplinary procedures?
Coral
Posted by noa on January 30, 2003, at 18:37:50
In reply to Re: Can you really be fired for mental illness? Vent!, posted by coral on January 30, 2003, at 16:10:31
With the ADA protections, though, I think it requires disclosing the disability to the employer. Before deciding to do anything with the ADA protections, I would get more info, maybe start with EEOC web site? ADAwebsite?
Posted by mair on January 31, 2003, at 6:56:09
In reply to Can you really be fired for mental illness? Vent!, posted by Alara on January 30, 2003, at 2:52:30
Are you in therapy?
The reason I ask is that when I am particularly depressed, problems/issues get magnified and I become convinced that I know what other people are thinking about me (all bad things). Things that are pretty irrelevant become extremely important. It's hard for me to tell from your post how much of what you're observing is accurate, and how much is possibly exaggerated (the "depressed you" talking).
If the latter, and if you're like me, whatever those exaggerated reactions are seem totally real. My therapist is pretty good at giving me what she calls reality checks. It really does help to have the perspective of someone who isn't there but does have a clue about how you think.
Some of what you wrote may be very accurate. But alot of it sounded so much like something I would say when I am anxious and depressed. My guess is that the conclusions you are drawing from what you see at work are exaggerated and that you are, for instance, the only person drawing any connection between what you put on your application and your current work abilities.
Keep us posted.
Mair
Posted by Alara on February 1, 2003, at 23:38:27
In reply to Re: Can you really be fired for mental illness? Vent! » Alara, posted by mair on January 31, 2003, at 6:56:09
Thanks Coral, Noa and Mair,
Coral, I am in Australia but I doubt that there is much difference concerning this aspect of leglislation between the US and Aust..
I have now spent most of the weekend unwinding at home and realise that I may have been over- reacting a little to the situation. As you said, Mair: We tend to see everything as being a lot worse than it really is when we are feeling anxious and depressed.
Yes, I have actually had over 4 years of therapy and understand myself very well. I am now (hopefully) at that stage of my life when I can just return to books like "Learned Optimism" and "Feeling Good" to give myself a little bit of a self CBT boost. Mind you, my stomach is stil in a terrible knot!
I talked to one of the other girls on Friday night, who can't get through her own workload in spite of working from 7am-7pm every day. Her supervisor costantly tells her to pull her boots up because she is still in her 3 month probation period. She sounds as though she is about to crack. People have been off sick (possibly stress related) and last week i have been trying to do all of one of my coleague's work in addition to my own. I just have to accept that I do not have a particularly high tolerance to stress, that I am still doing a perfectly good job considering what is humanly possible, and to continue hoping that we will get 5 new employees soon.
What really upsets me more than the stress itself is the feeling of isolation in the midst of all this stress. People are biting each other's heads off...One group of individuals divides itself against another - while I sit always on the outside looking in. I am finding it impossible to make friends...Togetherness in adversity makes even the most stressful of situations a lot easier...But I feel like the lone wolf in the midst of two rival gangs. (wink.) Nobody tells me what's going on because I've made it obvious that I don't bitch. It makes life so lonely.
Thanks for listening. I am one of those people who has an abnormally high need for catharsis and emotional support when I am going through a bad time.
I got back with my exboyfriend recently and spent the whole of Friday night crying in his arms. Poor guy. I think he was expecting more of a happy, uh, romantic get-together.
Life is not always a bed of roses. Why can't I just accept that?
Alara
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