Have you ever worked with someone who's been mentally ill?

FakePie

I'm talking, legit clinical disorders.

Not the, "oh no my dog died, and my GP gave me Lexapro", kind.

When I was like, 14, there seemed to be some kind of glamorization surrounding personality disorders: "oh goodness, he/she's a PSYCHO!! That is boss".

Probably just rebelliousness of that age group.

Again, I'm not talking about some kind of juvenile self indulgent self validation orientated, skew-ways interpersonal/social incompetence - desperately attempting to compensate.

I'm talking, devastating, life destroying illness, precipitated via endogenous neurologic dysfunction.

Primarily psychotic disorders, generally consisting of visual and/or auditory hallucinations; schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

And mood disorders - depression/anxiety - normally relative to serotonin/noradrenaline.


I know via Pieta house and the HSE, regularly mentioned on Newstalk fm - there's somewhat of a drive to deal with "stigma", surrounding mental health issues.

Surveys suggesting, 80% and above of employers, would hesitate to employe someone with a history of mental illness.

I worked for a company one time, that was basically - put it this way - we had homeless people working there.

It was a company, that paid the lowest of the low, and drained employees for whatever they could - but they took on, pretty much anyone; illegal immigrants - you name it.

I worked alongside what, in retrospect, had to be many people with mental illness.

I saw this primarily in terms of their deficit of functionality.
I walked in on a lady from Ghana one day (that's in Africa), and she was basically just - sitting on the floor.
She couldn't move.

Point I'm making - are the mentally ill - perhaps because of difficulty in dealing with them on a personal level - are they deemed, socially unacceptable??

Akin to, criminals; just unpredictable people?

That's the key point I'm trying to address.


Anyhow - enough rambling.

Stories plz.

AllForIt

Working with ppl you don't like is the real problem.

Bredabe

I had a boss who had one of those post viral conditions, which gave them mood swings. One second they would be taking me out to lunch and giving me lifts everywhere, the next screaming at me for not doing something they had told me to do(not).

They got a grant to employ new staff and they started trash talking about me behind me to them, the high point of this was the new staff and boss going to lunch for 3 hours while we were preparing for YE.

LSS boss made a tit of themselves in the media and the excuse was..........they have (named post viral) and isn't responsible for what they said. Opened the door for all kinds of legal issues re bullying.

They are still employed in the same job but demoted and I expect going psychio over it.

fineso.mom

Ghana is in Africa ??!!!

Stigura

Well, this has the makings of a hell of a fcuking thread!

Wanderer2010

Given the fact that mental illness in this country is so prevalent, regardless of whether the sufferer is coping in public or cowering in shame, its a pretty safe bet that every working adult has worked with or is working with a person who suffers from extreme anxiety, depression, mania, mood disorders etc etc. at some point in their working life.

And if you think you have either never worked with someone with a mental illness, or never had any mental illness yourself, then you are that soldier!

corner of hells

fineso.mom wrote: »

Ghana is in Africa ??!!!

Glad we sorted that out , now if only we could find New Mexico.

corner of hells

FakePie wrote: »

I'm talking, legit clinical disorders.

Not the, "oh no my dog died, and my GP gave me Lexapro", kind.

When I was like, 14, there seemed to be some kind of glamorization surrounding personality disorders: "oh goodness, he/she's a PSYCHO!! That is boss".

Probably just rebelliousness of that age group.

Again, I'm not talking about some kind of juvenile self indulgent self validation orientated, skew-ways interpersonal/social incompetence - desperately attempting to compensate.

I'm talking, devastating, life destroying illness, precipitated via endogenous neurologic dysfunction.

Primarily psychotic disorders, generally consisting of visual and/or auditory hallucinations; schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

And mood disorders - depression/anxiety - normally relative to serotonin/noradrenaline.


I know via Pieta house and the HSE, regularly mentioned on Newstalk fm - there's somewhat of a drive to deal with "stigma", surrounding mental health issues.

Surveys suggesting, 80% and above of employers, would hesitate to employe someone with a history of mental illness.

I worked for a company one time, that was basically - put it this way - we had homeless people working there.

It was a company, that paid the lowest of the low, and drained employees for whatever they could - but they took on, pretty much anyone; illegal immigrants - you name it.

I worked alongside what, in retrospect, had to be many people with mental illness.

I saw this primarily in terms of their deficit of functionality.
I walked in on a lady from Ghana one day (that's in Africa), and she was basically just - sitting on the floor.
She couldn't move.

Point I'm making - are the mentally ill - perhaps because of difficulty in dealing with them on a personal level - are they deemed, socially unacceptable??

Akin to, criminals; just unpredictable people?

That's the key point I'm trying to address.


Anyhow - enough rambling.

Stories plz.

You're looking for stories about people that are mentally ill , in AH of all places ?

You're hardly just looking for a laugh or giggle or is it some sorta voyeurism at the misfortune of others ? off you fcuk

Wibbs

Ask your coworkers?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Stories? You want stories about people we know who have mental health issues? Unbelievable!

retro:electro

I have worked with people who are mentally ill, worked for someone who was mentally ill and currently I work helping people who are mentally ill. Wtf even is this thread? Shameful

Bredabe

I don't have a problem with this thread, as is pointed out, lots of MH issues out there. OP may be trying to find a normalisation point in a chaotic situation, or genuinely trying to find a commonality in the kind of illnesses that get people above entry level.

I so could have done with someone or some evidence that the behaviour of my boss wasn't normal.

jaxxx

Does it count if you include yourself?

If so, yes.
If not, probably no.

Have worked with plenty of idiots though whose only ailment was a profound level of stupidity for an able minded person!!

AndrewJRenko

Everyone works with people who are mentally ill.

Most people with metal illness manage their condition day-to-day and work perfectly normally.

Teyla Emmagan

FakePie wrote:

Again, I'm not talking about some kind of juvenile self indulgent self validation orientated, skew-ways interpersonal/social incompetence - desperately attempting to compensate.

Honestly, fcuk off with yourself.

Mental illness isn't something to roll out so you can sneer at it.

whatever99

It sounds like you worked with people who weren’t managing their mental health conditions, or weren’t having them treated. Lots and lots of people with mental health issues live normal lives, and function normally day-to-day.

Franz Von Peppercorn

FakePie wrote: »

I worked for a company one time, that was basically - put it this way - we had homeless people working there.

You write like trump talks.

badtoro

This is about the same level as dole threads.

Raging_Ninja

Something like 1 in 10 people are on some form of psychiatric medication in the western world, be it for something like anxiety to full blown psychosis.

So yeah, pretty much all of us have worked with somebody with a serious psychiatric condition and would never have known about it as modern pharmaceuticals can turn somebody who 50 years ago would have been locked up 24/7 in a metal institution into a fully functional, productive member of society.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Probably, didn’t ask them though.

irishrebe

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

FakePie wrote: »

I worked for a company one time, that was basically - put it this way - we had homeless people working there.

You write like trump talks.

Jesus, I literally spat out my coffee.

garbo speaks

On a building site I used to work on, there was a mentally ill labourer who used to work with us during the summers. Some of the builders used to put cement into his lunchbox before lunch. When he would open the lunch and see the cement, he would throw a deranged fit and fall to the ground in the fetal position mumbling to himself. The builders thought it was hilarious to set him off like this.

doolox

Many jobs have people with some episode of mental illness in their lives. I recall a place i worked for tried to hire part time some people with intellectual disability. Some of the workers used to deliberately sabotage their efforts in order to get them laid off as they did not want to work with people with intellectual disability and did not want to be around them. People were a lot less enlightened about differences that time and the management simply imposed the scheme on the workers without consultation or guidance or buy in from the workers, something that would be second nature to most well trained management in a modern workplace.

There used to be a huge stigma about mental illness and life related stress and people used to do their best to hide any conditions they suffered from for fear of social ridicule and loss of a job, fear that had a very real basis in fact.

This is an issue that will need to be looked at very closely as jobs and work become more intense and demanding and automation gets rid of many routine and less skilled jobs. People need to be kept busy and occupied at something to maintain their mental health.

beefburrito

garbo speaks wrote: »

On a building site I used to work on, there was a mentally ill labourer who used to work with us during the summers. Some of the builders used to put cement into his lunchbox before lunch. When he would open the lunch and see the cement, he would throw a deranged fit and fall to the ground in the fetal position mumbling to himself. The builders thought it was hilarious to set him off like this.

Sick bastards, gaslighters they're the mentally not him.


Did you think it was funny ???

the dark phantom

Had an Alcoholic working with us years ago, Actually a great laugh to work with till he arrived in more steamed than usual one night, Some of our co workers were crying laughing as they were behind him as he drunkenly swerved all over the road to work, They knew it was going to be an interesting night as he couldn't even park in a straight line, Took up two spaces.
Same bloke would always have a naggin or two to sip on during work and he'd smoke hash on his breaks, But this night the boss had had enough of it, He got away with it for years as he was always fine at his work and tended to be quietly spoken as to maintain an illusion of soberness.
Was after the first break, He got sick spewed up all over the clean room, Production had to stopped immediately, And loads of products had to taken off the line and dumped, The clean room had to cleaned and the boss threw a mighty fit, Yer man had a complete breakdown roaring about his marriage etc
Refused to leave the factory and then the guards were called, He swung for the boss in the canteen when the guards arrived, Guards tore him out and he roaring away threatening us all.
Next morning by 11 he was already outside his local drinking away.

John_D80

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

You write like trump talks.

I would have said Alan Partridge.

Franz Von Peppercorn

John_D80 wrote: »

I would have said Alan Partridge.

Ha. I can see that, too

misstearheus

Yes she had Depression. Her Father died and there had been trouble at home. She generally was a false-but-cheery person. Did feel sorry for her, but when she was off more than she was in, it was difficult to feel sympathy for her leaving me to run the whole place on my own. I think she is doing well now and getting on okay in life. Was a very very busy Workplace and it still makes me angry a bit that I was left on my own and her Illness meant she took so much un-booked / un-known time off.

I call myself physically depressed. Somebody mentally-challenged mightn't be able to get up out of bed because of their mental illness, I can't get out of bed because of Chronic Pain and Chronic Fatigue. But unlike somebody mentally-challenged, - I'm able to get past it, despite my whole body seizing up or eyes burning trying to keep them open or just generally feeling like crap, - I can just see past it, and I know that I'll be able to get past it and get up and go out to work. With that said, I could easily do 3 running days too where I'm just too tired to conduct life safely! I don't know where the block in mental illness kicks in, but like there's obviously a certain point where it takes hold.

Chronic Pain / Chronic Fatigue is Fibromyalgia, and in that same family is a very similar Disorder called M.E. There was a Documentary on telly before about people with M.E., and Depression goes hand-in-hand with M.E., and it was interesting to see that every single person they interviewed conducted their life from their bedside. And they never left it.

Everyone just does what they have to do to get through and get by. And we all just have to keep on keeping on.

Every single one of us are flawed because that is the nature of being human. Our minds are often complicated places and sometimes things get a bit tricky inside of them. This thread only serves to feed the stigma around mental illness. I was diagnosed with clinical depression in my early twenties. I had a job. I struggled. Nobody knew of my struggles. The people I worked with also had their problems. Having a mental illness doesn't mean you will be a wreck and incapable of functioning.

The human psyche is to vast to assume that such one is the way they are because of mental ill health. A person going through a bereavement may act out of character but that doesn't mean they have an illness. Instead it is simply the nature of grieving. Or maybe your manager who on the surface has it all together self harms or has an anxiety disorder that's carefully managed.

Stop with the assumptions.

misstearheus

misstearheus wrote: »

Yes she had Depression. Her Father died and there had been trouble at home. She generally was a false-but-cheery person. Did feel sorry for her, but when she was off more than she was in, it was difficult to feel sympathy for her leaving me to run the whole place on my own. I think she is doing well now and getting on okay in life. Was a very very busy Workplace and it still makes me angry a bit that I was left on my own and her Illness meant she took so much un-booked / un-known time off.

I call myself physically depressed. Somebody mentally-challenged mightn't be able to get up out of bed because of their mental illness, I can't get out of bed because of Chronic Pain and Chronic Fatigue. But unlike somebody mentally-challenged, - I'm able to get past it, despite my whole body seizing up or eyes burning trying to keep them open or just generally feeling like crap, - I can just see past it, and I know that I'll be able to get past it and get up and go out to work.

Many people who are "mentally challenged" can also get past the fatigue, the need to stay in bed. It is like a huge big melting pot of difference. Some will manage to put one foot in front of the other and go about their day. Others will be incapable of lifting their heads from their pillows. Then you have all those people with no diagnosis who struggle in different ways emotionally and mentally.

Mrs OBumble

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Everyone works with people who are mentally ill.

Most people with metal illness manage their condition day-to-day and work perfectly normally.

That's true now.

But 20-30 years ago i worked with some people who simply could not be helped wiyh the drugs and treatments know then.

Was stressful, disturbing and difficult for the rest of us.

Hector Savage

I work with a proper certified fuking grade A lunatic !!
Don't wanna give stories to preserve privacy, but fuking hell she is a fuuukiiinnn MMAAAD YOOKEEE!!

ChikiChiki

At the age of 30, I've had the misfortune of losing 4 people to suicide. 2 were friends and 2 were family. Also I was raised in a household where alcohol abuse was prevalent. This has uncountably shaped the person I am today from a once outgoing person into someone who is extremely introverted and crippled by social anxiety and insecurities when meeting new people. Apparently its a side effect by feeling I cannot trust people anymore having been let down by people that were closest to me.

Every day is difficult and I wake up with a negative mindset as those memories do not leave. Some days are better than others but I plough through and present a facade. Outside of my professional life I am reconciling it all through ongoing counselling.

Never be to quick to judge people. No one knows what people are going through.

Creative83

FakePie wrote: »

are they deemed, socially unacceptable??

Good god :eek: I have been a lurker on Boards for a long time and I have never seen such an insensitive & stupid question put forward on here.

5rtytry56

Yes. For the benefit of the organisations legal position and her, She "was kept" as a "member of staff" after the rest of team was disbanded and given redundancy.

5rtytry56

doolox wrote: »

People need to be kept busy and occupied at something to maintain their mental health.

YES.

Graces7

beefburrito wrote: »

Sick bastards, gaslighters they're the mentally not him.


Did you think it was funny ???

steam coming out of my ears here.

Graces7

ChikiChiki wrote: »

At the age of 30, I've had the misfortune of losing 4 people to suicide. 2 were friends and 2 were family. Also I was raised in a household where alcohol abuse was prevalent. This has uncountably shaped the person I am today from a once outgoing person into someone who is extremely introverted and crippled by social anxiety and insecurities when meeting new people. Apparently its a side effect by feeling I cannot trust people anymore having been let down by people that were closest to me.

Every day is difficult and I wake up with a negative mindset as those memories do not leave. Some days are better than others but I plough through and present a facade. Outside of my professional life I am reconciling it all through ongoing counselling.

Never be to quick to judge people. No one knows what people are going through.

Old saying; Never judge how a man walks until you have walked a mile in his shoes.

Graces7

Creative83 wrote: »

Good god :eek: I have been a lurker on Boards for a long time and I have never seen such an insensitive & stupid question put forward on here.

The trouble is that it is so. I fell ill in my 20s and was misdiagnosed as being mentally ill an I learned how much prejudice there is out there

FakePie

I guess I wasn't so much looking for gnarly accounts of some unfortunate having a psychotic episode, as much as exploring our tolerance and competence as a society, in terms of accepting those with mental illness, unconventional personality traits (which I understand often go tandem with mental illness).

Perhaps we could in some capacity equate it to our ability to be accepting of alternate cultures?

People say as Irish, we're very welcoming, friendly etc.

I disagree.
I'd say we're kind of more just, oblivious.

Dublin is the most culturally diverse city in the country, and it is one horrible steaming melting pot - that is my impression.

It has done nothing to establish communal diversity; taking advantage of what the variety of cultures can offer via promotion of their specific values as an integral factor of the entire city's mechanics.

It's just thrown everything in there, in one big ugly mess.

However - perhaps the generosity of the Irish culture has shown through in that, as many countries do, we don't simply disregard the disabled, but have an outstanding support network available to them.


So putting all that in perspective of how we could be accepting of, as it were - what have been typically considered societal outcasts; certainly several pay grades above the most incompetent - but still certainly a ways to go.

To be fair though - I don't think there's any country that, as of yet, has established a perfect system.

Rothko

OP is one successful troll.

Stonedpilot

Rothko wrote: »

OP is one successful troll.

Worked in a call centre for a major company. Basket cases and boozers galore including me.

The backstabbin repetive nature of the business drove a work ethic of paranoia and utter boredom.

Sam Quentin

I SERIOUSLY lol'dddddd at this thread subject name.
Answer: Where do I f@%&#n start!?!?