Caught on the Horns of a Bipolar Dilemma

Before becoming self-employed 10 years ago, I worked for employers. When applying for a job, I was confronted with the issue of my mental illness. Do I disclose my psychiatric history? How forthcoming should I be? I asked myself what the ethics were of being less than candid about my history in the face of certainty that my background would cause an obstacle to an employer. Therein lies the dilemma for people who are capable, but have a mental illness diagnosis.

In the earlier years of my recovery I did not think I was in a position to divulge my history. The truth was, I hadn’t even thought about this side of the bipolar issue before. Caught between competing values, I debated over what was the truest ethic to defer to. Should I be honest and put a job prospect in jeopardy, or should I just juggle my past history to gain a position? If I didn’t report my past history, would I live under a constant cloud of being found out? And would that prohibit me from being candid in my conversations with co-workers no matter how close to them I became? I was caught on the horns of a dilemma.

I believed that employers of companies who had a strong work stress component were unlikely to be understanding of a mental illness diagnosis no matter how sympathetic they may be personally. I knew I did not want to divulge this part of my life; I just wanted to work a professional job.

At that time, I wasn’t interested in learning the facts about bipolar disorder or the moral dilemmas it raised. I just wanted to put my life in order and resume it as one more citizen.

There are no easy answers to the question of disclosure. We all have to make that decision on our own. It is a subject that arises for those of us with mental illness sooner or later. It is best to think about this disclosure before it becomes an issue. To be prepared rather than being confronted with it prematurely is wisdom. It may also strengthen your resolve to deal with life head on.