Schizophrenia and work
 

I have schizophrenia and I manage to hold down a part time job at a supermarket but only just. Theres this woman at work who is my team leader and i really think she has it in for me. At the moment im in a really low mood and feel depressed so just try to take each day at a time. Yesterday this women made a comment infront of my colleagues that my uniform wasnt clean which due to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia i do find it difficult to wash and iron my uniform etc. Noone i work with knows about my illness as i didnt disclose it when i took the job on because iv had bad experiences with that in the past. I cant stop crying now and I feel so humiliated. She says that if my uniform isnt up to standard again shes sending me home and it will be filed. In my opinion my uniform really wasnt that bad and my family never commented on it so I feel she just hates me. Im really worried to go to work tomorrow in case everyone knows and is talking about me behind my back. I just feel like this is the final straw. I scored 100% on the mystery shop score recenlty and was happy and shes just ruined it for me. Im seriousley considering disclosing my illness but im scared they would sack me for not telling them at the start. I just dont know what to do anymore!

To be honest they might discipline you for not telling them..My friend has a physical problem with her brain and didn't disclose it to her employer and when they found out, they disciplined her. However I guess her condition had a lot of impact on the job as she couldn't run very fast or her brain would shake if you like but perhaps as your illness is mental then they might take leniency as I can see why you wouldn't want to disclose it (Especially if you have workers like that other one). I would consult with perhaps another member of the team that maybe you trust or are friends with?

I'm very fuzzy headed but i'll try to type up a reply.

First of all congratulations on managing to hold down a job, that is worth a note and is something to be proud of :-)

It can be difficult trying to manage an illness whilst at the same time being employed by people who know nothing of it. There's always the fear of discrimination, and worrying about how you're coming off to others. It's entirely up to you whether you wish to disclose your illness, it depends on your relationship with your bosses and managers I guess.

If the person doesn't know about schizophrenia or how it can really affect people chances are she was just thinking that you were deliberately being lazy or bending the rules with regards to uniform. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions, and sometimes some people are just neat freaks when it comes to looking at other people.

Perhaps you could ask you family whether they think you look neat enough when in doubt before going to work? Chances are if they think you look fine, then the person was just being silly. It's entirely up to you though whether you wish to disclose your illness, maybe write to your manager that the staff member is causing problems for you and explain in the letter about why you didn't disclose the illness at first but that you'd like it taken into consideration.

Anyway, don't let one idiot at work get you down. You're doing very well maintaining a job as well as the scoring 100% on the mystery shopper thing.

I'd check your rights before disclosing now. I know that for my job it results in a disciplinary process and dismissal if you don't fill in the medical form correctly.

Did they actually ask if you had a mental health problem when you started or if you were covered by the DDA? Maybe talk to CAB about it first.

On a practical level I agree that you should just get your uniform double checked before you leave and that will help your confidence.

It sounds like you are doing a good job and maybe this is in reaction to you getting 100%? Could be jealousy on their part.