When you suffer from a mental illness, it may create hurdles that make it difficult for you to maintain a functional lifestyle. Often, the discussion of disability revolves around physical conditions. Mental illness can be similarly disruptive.
Psychiatric disabilities are unpredictable, and this unpredictability can interrupt a person’s ability to sustain a work schedule. Certain features of mental illness can be disabling, beyond the illness itself.
The side effects of treatment
While the treatment of psychiatric illness can provide you with the stability necessary to hold down a job, the side effects can also interrupt your work schedule. Antipsychotic medicines, for instance, may have the following side effects:
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Shakiness
- Confusion
- Headaches
When serious, these side effects can force you to call into work sick. It can also interrupt your productivity, no matter the industry.
The stigma of mental illness
Unfortunately, many people carry shame due to mental illness. A person may seek to hide his or her illness and the symptoms and subsequently will not receive the proper care. If you have fear of your employer discovering your mental illness, then you may be under excessive stress. Stress and anxiety also cut into productivity time.
Interruptions from psychiatric treatment
Psychiatric disabilities can interrupt your professional life. Those who develop mental illness may do so from the age of 15 to 25. These are key formative years when most people are pursuing education or beginning their careers. When you develop a mental illness, it may delay your education or training. The lack of education and training can severely cut into your ability to work in a career that can sustain you.
Symptoms of the mental condition
Depression, anxiety and schizophrenia are only three common mental illnesses that can make it impossible to do minimal work. These illnesses may restrict your daily life by keeping you indoors, preventing you from thinking clearly or otherwise making it difficult to adapt to work situations.
