Schizophrenia Forum - schizo-affective disorder and tremors


schizo-affective disorder and tremors	Join us now!

Medical Questions-> Health Forums -> Schizophrenia -> schizo-affective disorder and tremors

Medical Questions

Author

Message

Titus

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy

Joined: 08 Mar 2008
Posts: 2

schizo-affective disorder and tremors Posted: 03-08-08 15:06pm


Hello, I have schizo-affective disorder. It started when I was 18. I lost my first job because of the problem when I was 28. I was out of work due to the illness for 3 years. I just recently returned to work. I not only suffer from the schizo-affective disorder (delusions and paranoia) but I also have tremors (hands shake.) I take medication for the above issues. The medications have various side effects. While I am on the medication I am allot better. But because of the side effects of the medication such as vision impairment and drowsiness plus the tremors I think my employer suspects drug use...I could just be paranoid. I did take a pre-employment drug test which I popped negative on. But the point I am getting at here is that I am considering notifying the employer of the disability and the medications that I take so they are aware of what really is causing the issues and so they don't speculate that it may be other issues. My question is: is it wise to notify an otherwise ignorant employer of my disability and medication use? One of the things I am afraid of is that I will cause the exact thing I am trying to prevent. If I tell them of my disability they may try to say that I am not fit to work...or otherwise find some other problem with me. I have no verbal or written reprimands at work. I work usually 58 hours a week and have, to my knowledge, shown no sign of being incapable of performing my required job duties. Sure, sure, I have made some mistakes but nothing serious. I also have never missed a day of work in the five months I have been working there. The reason that I think that dismissal may be coming is that a co-worker said that he will be taking my shift and my boss said that it is not true. That certain comments have been made to me about the side effects of the medications that I take. And it seems that my co-workers make jests about me to my face but in the form of private jokes that I clearly don't understand. Though the boss says I am doing a great job and talks of the future in a positive light. One the difficulties of being paranoid is that often one cannot act on their suspicions. Like I can't ask my boss: "do you think I am on drugs and are you planning on firing me?" Or ask my co-workers: "are you making fun of my disabilities?" You know, it sucks, I wish I could ask such questions and if asked I wish they would be answered honestly. But we all know those questions never get answered honestly. So what do you guys think? Please, please help. EDIT: The reason why I think it would be prudent to notify them is that way they know what is really causing the problem and that way, if they fire me, they can't say they didn't know. Or I could say that they are firing me because of my disabilities, the symptoms thereof and the side effects of the medication that I take, and that they know because I notified them. Anyway, I was thinking of sending my boss an email to make it formal. Here is a copy of what I wrote (but have not yet sent): I maybe should of spoke with you about this earlier but I didn't want it to effect opinions of me, but after careful consideration I thought disclosure would be a prudent action to take at this time. Primarily to squelch any wild speculation on the part of others that may occur or have already occurred. I take several medications for various aliments. One medication you already know of which is inderol for tremors (shaking of the hands) and a few various psychotropic medications for anxiety (which probably contributes to the tremors) and depression. These medications have various side effects such as minor vision impairment, drowsiness and other non-relevant things. These aliments and the corresponding medications should have no detriment to my ability to function at work. If you want, I could get a letter from a physician verifying my ability to work? As you can understand, this is personal medical information and should be kept at the strictest confidentiality. I would of preferred not to mention this at all, but I figured that the side effects of the medication or the symptoms of the aliments may sometimes be visible to you and I prefer you hear the truth from me instead of filling in the blanks with speculation yourself. NOTE: As you can see I said it was for depression instead of the real problem which is schizo-affective. I say depression because schizophrenia has obvious social stigma's attached to it.

Philo

Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy

Joined: 12 Mar 2007
Posts: 331
Location: Montreal

Thanks: 4

Thanked:0

Posted: 03-10-08 12:25pm


You better not do it. I gather there are no problems yet, just your fears. Don't try to fix something that isn't broken. Any mental illness has social stigma attached to it, and when the word spreads, you might be at a loss instead of a gain.

woops

Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy

Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Posts: 222

Posted: 03-10-08 15:00pm


I agree with philo, if you can take the emotional torture and not tell anybody you better not. These probably aren't the kinds of people that would be able to treat you the right way or think and feel the right things about your disease.

Galaxy

Supporter

Joined: 15 Mar 2006
Posts: 512
Location: U.K,

Thanks: 5

Thanked:0

Posted: 03-14-08 18:46pm


On the other hand, if you disclose this then you can claim protection from the Disability Discrimination Act which means that, so long as they are aware of your disability (verified by your GP or their Occupational Health Adviser) then they have to make 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure that you can continue to work to the best oif your ability. They also cannot fire you without very, very good reason such as gross misdemeanour. I would ask for a referral to their Occupational Health Adviser and discuss the matter with them. They are not obliged to report every detail of your disability but they should make recommendations to help you and also inform your employer that you are covered by the DDA. Do NOT send the email to your employer. An email is not a secure or confidential means of communication and you are NOT obliged to report the specific nature of your illness directly to him without first consulting OH and perhaps a union representative / lawyer.

wondering 1006

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy

Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 3

Posted: 03-18-08 12:02pm


it is good to be up front and honest and if he does give you problems get a advocate to help you at the local management agency at the local court house for the mentally illness office . i have had this happen to me they left me go because i did not say anything then i had a massive sezuire that could of endangered the lives of others the comments the other people gave you are nice but you need to tell him or her the truth . bring in the dr's prescriptions so he know you are not a drug user alot of the time the employer calls the dr to verify they can not fire you and keeping this out of fear is never good . We have rights under the disability act . some employers fail to obey to this act and you can file a complaint to get your job back everyone needs to work and everyone needs to eat . the advocate will be your right hand man through the process the dda act is there to protect us with problems like this. emails are ok the dr can email the employer people with comments that never exsperienced this shouldn't comment because they do not know about it. do what is right for you be upfront and honest when u get a job tell the boss what kind of illness you face and what medications you take so he can notify the other staff which is your peers that you have problems to either help you or to notify a dr when you become ill. some employers can even check on you at your residence if they seem to worry to the point but to the others that comment your doing more damage then good he needs to tell the truth not hide and cover it up that will be the worse thing he can do. if he has sezuires or commplacations from his illness and he covers it up that is grounds for dismissal. he can endanger the lives of others or him self if he was useing any kind of equipment like forklifts or press machines things of that nature you could get hurt tell the truth spare the humilation at the end of the tourment it will get worse if you are in the spot lite for a foolish mistake like hurting your self at work or hurting others at work the media thinks it is up front news an that could humilate you instead of what you are going through . galaxy is correct they can not fire you under the dda act and if they do you can file a complaint remember that we have rights too ................

Georgia59

Moderator

Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 5136
Location: Along the Mississippi, USA

Thanks: 52

Thanked:25

Posted: 03-18-08 12:18pm


Look into your rights and protections first, then do it. check with your state department of health, talk to some kind of advocate first.

Titus

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy

Joined: 08 Mar 2008
Posts: 2

Posted: 03-21-08 15:49pm


Thanks for the feedback people. I think I have further evidence of possible dismissal. The boss just did a review on me and gave me only a 3.1 out 5 which according to the document is just above meeting expectations. This would not be a problem if it were true but the fact is I have gone way beyond the call of duty. I have been working 50-60 hours a week for the last 5 months, doing extra projects that are beyond my duty, completing other coworkers responsibilities trying to be a team player, etc... I feel absolutely that I am beyond expectations. Anyway, when I complained to him about it he fed me a bunch of crap, but something stuck in my mind because he kept repeating it: "you will always have a job while I am working and am your boss." Earlier this month he said he would be taking off for a month because of some kind of surgery and I am afraid that's when they will can me. I think he is waiting because I have some dirt on him and I don't think he wants to be the one to fire me...I worked with him several years ago when I was 24, I had been ill for 6 years at that point, but it was mild and I was definetly functioning, and I was not on meds so the side effects of the meds were no apparent. Anyway he was fired from that job for, I feel, caca; kind of the same political caca that I am afraid of getting fired for. So my point is that I don't think he wants to fire me because he thinks I will expose him. I wouldn't do that because that's not who I am...but that is who he is so he thinks I would. Anyway, as you can see, it's quite diluted and very difficult, as always for me, to tell if what I am thinking, the schema that I am in, if it is real or not. Maybe I am blowing it out of proportion. However I have gone through this before when I became REALLY ill, kicked in full blown, about 4 years ago...and I was mentally/verbally TORTURED on a daily basis by my co-workers...they would say really nasty stuff to me in front of an audience, play cruel jokes on me like breaking my chair, unplugging my phone, putting in a bad light bulb above my desk, etc... it was hell! It's truly scary how evil people truly are also, and most importantly that I did nothing to deserve it except being weird. It got to the point were I would wake up every morning and be so afraid to go to work and then I started calling off allot...bla bla bla...long story. Anyway it hasn't gotten to that point yet at my current employment but I can see the beginning of it because I have been there. One of the reasons why I took the job is that most of the time I am alone with no supervision or social interactions which is perfect for me. (I work in IT) But these problems, believe it or not, arise from that mere 10% of the time I do have interaction. Anyway, I think talking to an advocate is a good idea. I will call them and see what they think. On another board they suggested writing a letter and attaching the disability act to it, what do you guys think of that? I guess the advocate will give me an opinion. I have SSD, so if I get fired it is not the end of the world. However I like my job and I like working...it gives me purpose and people need purpose. I would however quit or like to be dismissed before the torture kicks in because I don't want to go through that again. The last job I mentioned kept me for so long because they hired me to do a system upgrade for them and paid 7000 dollars for me to the head hunter so they wanted to get there money out of me before they canned me...which is totaly morally wrong because it was torture just so they can save a few bucks and it also goes to show you that my work is good and exceptable it's just my illness symptoms and side affects of the meds that gets me fired. EDIT: I work for a very large corporation and usually with large corps (one of the reason why I like working for them) is they have clearly defined rules, regulations and policies for every kind of circumstance. The point I am getting at here is: maybe I should go to HR instead of my boss...that way I could get it documented and retain confidentiality...it would be allot different if HR ois telling my boss what the rules are and what he can and cannot do...unlike if I told him he would probably just do what is instinctive to his personality which is probably being cruel, gossipy, etc... What do you guys think of that? Though one problem I could see me running into and it is a problem I wanted to avoid, is if I told them about my disability they may force me to get an okay from my doctor saying that I can work but I don't know how that would turn out.

Georgia59

Moderator

Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 5136
Location: Along the Mississippi, USA

Thanks: 52

Thanked:25

Posted: 03-21-08 20:05pm


Ok, well yes, talk to an advocate about all this and see what they say. But also, HR is a great place to go. And you don't have to say most of this stuff, just tell them that you have a disability and want to be sure your rights are being met. I don't think they would require anything from your doctor, but you can simply ask them about it. (An open-ended question like, "if a person had a disability what information would you need?") And of course, you have the right to keep your job and deal with some of the crap you've been dealing with- SS isn't really much, and jobs are just really great for everyone because they do kind've keep you in touch with the real world. Trust me, the one summer I actually had off (college student) I pretty much holed myself up and didn't interact with anyone... that is never good for you! But contributing in some way will help you out. So, talk to an advocate, and ask them all this. And also, if you are choosing between HR and your boss, talk to HR. They will be very careful to follow the rules and document everything. The idea about the letter and disability act was pretty good too, couldn't hurt at least.