Jobseekers told to call their depression 'low mood' on applications

[firemonkey]

Welfare officials have urged jobseekers who have depression to hide their diagnosis and only admit on work applications that they are experiencing “low mood”.

Jobcentre Plus advisers have told people looking for work to “avoid words that sound worse than they are” and “avoid terms such as depression” when drafting CVs and filling in applications. The advice has been attacked by health campaigners as an “outrage” which will reinforce stigmas about the condition.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...n-applications

[Dougella]

I have one word for this, rubbish.

[3stacks]

It's enough to put anyone in a 'low mood'

[Bluebear]

grrrrr…..

[Gosties]

I've had my issues with Jobcentre Plus.

I had an accident last year which resulted in a double stress fracture to my hip socket. Required six weeks off work. I had just taken up employment a few months earlier therefore did not meet the criteria for sick pay with my current employer. Was given a form by employer to help in making a claim for Universal Credit/Sick Pay. I explained my situation with all relevant information such as details of savings, wages earned over the last few months. With the decision by their system that I merited £4.18 for a six week period where I could not work or earn anything. I had to travel by taxi to the Local Centre to process my claim and prove things. It cost me £24 for the return journey by Taxi. Absolute shambles.

I've always worked on the basis that you need to keep a little money for unforeseen circumstances which is just as well.

[Percy]

Yet again shows the toxic culture the Tories have helped to create within the DWP.

[Dougella]

^^ so you would have been better off not applying at all. It's people in your sort of circumstances that the welfare system is supposed to be designed to be a safety net for.

[Gosties]

It was not the issue that I did not get any money it was the time wasted and the journey to the local job centre whilst being in great discomfort.
Your employment coach leaves messages on a sort of client account which is why I had to call their call centre to be informed of my coming payment.
I remember the poor girl on the phone that had the task of telling me what I had been awarded !!!
I just kindly told her I would not be continuing with the claim without getting angry at her as she was just the messenger.
In the initial application surely the system should have flagged that I was not entitled to basically anything.
Which would have meant I would not have bothered with any subsequent application.

[Coffee]

I know this will be wildly unpopular here, but honestly I would not include anxiety or depression in a CV at all.

Partly because it's a private health issue that I see no need to promote, and partly because it would be quite naive to promote it.

It's very possible that I might think that alleviating money worries, being less isolated, making friendships, and feeling a bit better about my career prospects in general might all actually help my mental health challenges over the long term.

It's also worth remembering and having a little respect for the fact that employers are, in a word: terrified. If an applicant looks like they are going to be off work a lot, that does not happen in a vacuum. It affects all the colleagues around you who take up the strain. It can even make or break an employer.

None of this is easy or ideal, and nobody wants to perpetuate the stigma around mental health issues, but there is more to it than that.

[Jen.]

^ I assumed this was more a clumsy suggestion about how to explain any gaps in employment if asked in an application/interview than saying people should literally put "2016-2018: low mood" in the employment section between listed jobs on their CV?

The way someone explains how they have learned to cope or managed to get better is probably something they could turn to their advantage in an interview since they could link those skills to the job, but disguising it with "nice" words seems completely stupid.

[Coffee]

Well if it were to explain gaps in employment, the same rules would apply. Personally I would make something else up to explain the gaps if needed, like travel or time out to care for a loved one.

On your second point, as an employer I find this frankly a little naive.

In the unlikely event that an applicant with anxiety or depression wanted to talk about it in a room full of strangers, and in the even more unlikely event that they can make a convincing case that their experience overcoming it was applicable to the job...what about the 500 other applicants who either have solid CV's or the common sense to lie?

The reality is first things first. If you want to need to get into work, achieve that and stabilise your life first and foremost.

[Jen.]

Interesting how an employer is admitting to discrimination by suggesting they'd rather applicants lie about their mental health than to be open about it. It's this attitude that has led to people feeling they have to suffer in silence.

[Dougella]

Originally Posted by Coffee

I know this will be wildly unpopular here, but honestly I would not include anxiety or depression in a CV at all.

Partly because it's a private health issue that I see no need to promote, and partly because it would be quite naive to promote it.

It's very possible that I might think that alleviating money worries, being less isolated, making friendships, and feeling a bit better about my career prospects in general might all actually help my mental health challenges over the long term.

It's also worth remembering and having a little respect for the fact that employers are, in a word: terrified. If an applicant looks like they are going to be off work a lot, that does not happen in a vacuum. It affects all the colleagues around you who take up the strain. It can even make or break an employer.

None of this is easy or ideal, and nobody wants to perpetuate the stigma around mental health issues, but there is more to it than that.

I understand what you're saying. Would you say the same for a physical health condition though? Is it better not to disclose that on a CV to explain a gap in employment, whether the problem is still ongoing or not?

[Marco]

I think the harsh reality is that many employers, sympathetic or otherwise, feel they can't afford the risk of taking on someone liable to sick leave or who mightn't cope in their work environment.

[Percy]

^Depends on the level of anxiety and the specifics of that anxiety as to whether they'd be able to cope. Not all anxious people will be able to cope in a work environment regardless of their seeking treatment.

[Schmosby]

Originally Posted by Jen.

Interesting how an employer is admitting to discrimination by suggesting they'd rather applicants lie about their mental health than to be open about it. It's this attitude that has led to people feeling they have to suffer in silence.

Putting someone who is unreliable due to their mental health through to the second round of interviews while filtering out people that are unreliable for other reasons is discrimination. The interview process is supposed to find the best person for the job, not look after the interests of disabled people or women by giving them pity points.

[Dougella]

^ It's odd advice though isn't it, I don't think a person would be any more likely to get a job if they put 'low mood' on the application form than 'depression'. People are probably wise not to admit to any health or mental health problem at all. I know plenty of people who work full time who are on anti-depressants or who have a history of depression/anxiety/eating disorders/OCD, I very much doubt any of their employers know.

When it becomes less clear is maybe if someone had a number of years of unemployment due to ill health but they've now recovered and are no more likely to have to take time off than anyone else, surely they shouldn't be penalised for a previous illness?

[Schmosby]

^ If they have a history of being unable to work due to their mental health, that is unreliability. Why would an employer want to train someone up to just have them leave due to their mental health or go on long term sick meaning they have to be covered somehow. Obviously anybody could leave, but if someone has a proven history of leaving, it's not desirable. As Coffee said "If an applicant looks like they are going to be off work a lot, that does not happen in a vacuum. It affects all the colleagues around you who take up the strain."

@Dougella Yes I agree that is silly. I lie to cover the gaps in my employment, because I want a job and know that aspect my history is undesirable.

I'm sure if you were driving to Scotland and had the choice between a car that had broken down 5 times previously and one that had never broken down you would make the obvious choice. Interviews are competitive.

[Dougella]

^ I don't think that people are exactly like cars but I get your point

[Percy]

Originally Posted by mutedsoul

True, but I'm sure lots of people with anxiety can cope in certain work environments.

I guess it's harder for those who can't cope in a work environment though.

It also needs to be remembered that specifics of anxiety can vary. The problem isn't just one of levels but of the anxiety itself.

[Percy]

Originally Posted by mutedsoul

^True, at the moment I think a retail job would be really hard for me to do. Even an office job that requires lots of interaction.

There are people without social anxiety but with general anxiety who struggle to do any form of job, I know someone who's had to take early retirement because of hers. She doesn't have social anxiety but does suffer from general anxiety.

[Scott83]

I knew someone at a previous job who had time of with depression because her husband died. Her sick note actually classified it as "low mood".

[Dougella]

^ Would that not be classed as grief rather than depression? It's normal to feel very low and need time off work if your husband dies I would say?!