Denise's story - mental health at work

"When people make judgements about my mood, it takes away from the fact that I'm still me." Watch Denise talk about her treatment by employers, once she disclosed her bipolar disorder.

[alanbithell]

So much value in our society is placed on what you do for a living. People like Denise want to prove their value in the work they do. To deny them that opportunity is soul destroying.

[WORLDNSHKNIGHT]

I was rejected last year (2021) from service in the Royal Navy Reserves because I disclosed that in 2016, I was diagnosed with clinical depression.

After 5 months of online training, even visiting the local base, the third party assessor, Capita (a terrible company) decided to reject me on those grounds - I disclosed it from the start so my main contention was that all that time had been wasted

My recruiting officer said it wouldn't be worth appealing because the Navy would just go along with whatever Capita said

Disclaimer - I do understand that the armed forces is somewhat specific in terms of weapon-handling, high-stress situations etc but they could have told me at the start. It was the wasted time - and with that, false hope, that bothered me.

Credit to Denise for speaking out on her experience

[BldgOnMyMind]

This is so awful to hear. I hope people's knowledge and perception changes so you don't have to deal with this sort of stuff anymore 💕

[bevhunte]

It saddens me that workplaces can discriminate against mental illness. Things are getting better, but a lot more work needs to done to encourage the general public and companies like this to show willingness to take a step back and learn about mental illness.