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Disability for Mental Illness

Noodlegawd said:
Sure you do, if you're advocating for all of us to be subject to expenses and potential legal obligations and liabilities based on a claim by someone that they have a mental illness.
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Spoken like an angry employer who cares about themselves and their bottom line.
 
JRTurner said:
A person with a mental illness can have scheduling accommodations for work (remote on some days, flexibility to go to therapy, etc.) or have environmental options offered--such as a quiet area to work in, or a space to retreat to if they need a few minutes to get through a panic attack, etc. Other issues concern leave of absences and the need to hold jobs for those in the hospital--for suicide attempts or medication regulation, etc.

That's how the law works, as I'm understanding it so far :) Hope that helps!
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And, with the ADA, the big thing to remember, its Reasonable Accommodation. Employers are never expected to offer unreasonable accommodation, that is how the law is written.
 
JRTurner said:
It takes a diagnoses, not an individual choosing a label for themselves. And the ADA does cover mental illness, but your sentiment is one I've seen before.

Do you recall where you developed your position? Which experts or people you heard give this sentiment in such a persuasive way that you agreed? That would be super helpful :)
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Some of the cynicism has arisen from abuse of the system, which many of us have witnessed from people we know. For every ten cases of genuine chronic back injury/mental illness, there may be one that is claiming a disorder to fraudulently obtain benefits they do not need.
 
ColdHardTruth said:
Yes, there is.

I do this every single day that I work.

Real mental illness has symptoms and is caused by something. In some cases, that cause is trauma, in others its substance use. Some mental illness runs in families (anxiety, bipolar, and a few others) and tends to be handed down.

I suggest you read the DSM5-TR and learn about this subject.
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You make this determination every day in order people to qualify for benefits? How do you know your determination is accurate? Have you done a blinded study?
 
beefheart said:
And, with the ADA, the big thing to remember, its Reasonable Accommodation. Employers are never expected to offer unreasonable accommodation, that is how the law is written.
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Yup, and defining what that is can be a good time...
 
BirdinHand said:
@beefheart has a strong understanding of ADA laws because of their career.

Can you claim the same?
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No, nor do I need to have such an understanding, because my comment had nothing to do with the ADA laws.
 
ColdHardTruth said:
Spoken like an angry employer who cares about themselves and their bottom line.
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I'm actually not an employer, but look how easily fooled you were.
 
JRTurner said:
Some mental illnesses can also be shown with imaging :)
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And in those cases, or cases where the condition can accurately and objectively be demonstrated, I'm 100% on board with accommodations for them.
 
Kelby said:
Some of the cynicism has arisen from abuse of the system, which many of us have witnessed from people we know. For every ten cases of genuine chronic back injury/mental illness, there may be one that is claiming a disorder to fraudulently obtain benefits they do not need.
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I'd love to have those stats for my paper. Do you have any sources for that?

I don't disagree that there are fraudsters out there--they infiltrate every corner of our society. If it wasn't this, it would be something else.

But that's the stigma talking because people commit insurance fraud all the time--but we don't suspect everyone with insurance is likely a fraudster. That's reserved for the mentally ill, the homeless, or addicts, and for some very unlucky folks--they have all three problems.

But I would love the fraud stats--it would really help with the 'anti' portion of my paper :)
 
JRTurner said:
I'd love to have those stats for my paper. Do you have any sources for that?

I don't disagree that there are fraudsters out there--they infiltrate every corner of our society. If it wasn't this, it would be something else.

But that's the stigma talking because people commit insurance fraud all the time--but we don't suspect everyone with insurance is likely a fraudster. That's reserved for the mentally ill, the homeless, or addicts, and for some very unlucky folks--they have all three problems.

But I would love the fraud stats--it would really help with the 'anti' portion of my paper :)
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Sorry, I don't, and I pulled the 1/10 number out of my rear.

There are insurance/SSDI fraud investigators out there, I bet some googling about their work will give you some useful information.

Good luck with your paper.
 
beefheart said:
And, with the ADA, the big thing to remember, its Reasonable Accommodation. Employers are never expected to offer unreasonable accommodation, that is how the law is written.
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Yep. Had a situation where our only warehouse worker had a letter from the VA stating he couldn’t lift more than 5 pounds and it was a permanent condition. Obviously that eliminated his ability to work in the warehouse so we offered him other jobs in the facility, which he turned down. The accommodation he wanted was for us to hire him an assistant. We declined as we felt that was not a reasonable accommodation and terminated him because he refused the other positions.
 
Kelby said:
Sorry, I don't, and I pulled the 1/10 number out of my rear.

There are insurance/SSDI fraud investigators out there, I bet some googling about their work will give you some useful information.

Good luck with your paper.
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Ooooo--great suggestion! Thank you! :)
 
JRTurner said:
Okay everyone! I need your help. I'm doing a paper on the American with Disabilities Act and while I understand we're all very generous with our grace when it comes to folks in wheelchairs or amputees with prosthetics, etc. but I'm hunting for the portion of the ADA that covers mental illness as a disability. Since this is a government regulation on how businesses manage their employees with mental illnesses--such as depression and anxiety--and also know the stigma surrounding mental illness, I figured I'd ask you all.

Do you believe mental illnesses like depression and anxiety are a disability that SHOULD be covered under the ADA? What is your position on this subject? Do you have links you can share?

Thanks so much for your help with my homework :)
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I do think severe mental illness should be covered by regulations.
People should not fear being fired for mental illness if they have gone to the doctors and been diagnosed with the condition and ordered to rest and recover.
They should have that time at full pay so they can pay bills and not feel presure from work to come back as that will only make the situation worse not better.
 
Moon said:
Yep. Had a situation where our only warehouse worker had a letter from the VA stating he couldn’t lift more than 5 pounds and it was a permanent condition. Obviously that eliminated his ability to work in the warehouse so we offered him other jobs in the facility, which he turned down. The accommodation he wanted was for us to hire him an assistant. We declined as we felt that was not a reasonable accommodation and terminated him because he refused the other positions.
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Yeah--I used to work receiving so I understand that! It's unfortunate that they didn't have a job coach to work with him if he was permanently disabled. Though usually they don't do the actual work, so that may have not helped either.

Yes, that would not be a reasonable accommodation. :)
 
Moon said:
Yep. Had a situation where our only warehouse worker had a letter from the VA stating he couldn’t lift more than 5 pounds and it was a permanent condition. Obviously that eliminated his ability to work in the warehouse so we offered him other jobs in the facility, which he turned down. The accommodation he wanted was for us to hire him an assistant. We declined as we felt that was not a reasonable accommodation and terminated him because he refused the other positions.
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I've had similar, and that is OK. ADA was written so that subsequent lawsuits would help define it.
 
Noodlegawd said:
If there was a way to distinguish between genuine cases of mental illness, and fraudulent ones, I would say of course they should be included. The problem is that there is no such way.
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What are you worried about? Let's say that person has severe anxiety issues. A company may accommodate them by allowing them to work from home or letting them attend meetings virtually. However, if they can't do their job, they can still be let go for performance reasons.
 
Noodlegawd said:
If there was a way to distinguish between genuine cases of mental illness, and fraudulent ones, I would say of course they should be included. The problem is that there is no such way.
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I think you've come around to understand there are many ways to be certain someone has a mental illness :)

However, I'm curious as to what made you think mental illness can't be diagnosed accurately? Do you believe that the medical team in charge of making those diagnoses are incompetent?

For instance, if a person is 'faking' schizophrenia, do you think that wouldn't be obvious to people who work with schizophrenics every day? Chronic depression, anxiety, PTSD, phobias, OCD, ADHD, etc. are all very real medical conditions, wouldn't you agree?
 
Noodlegawd said:
And in those cases, or cases where the condition can accurately and objectively be demonstrated, I'm 100% on board with accommodations for them.
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You can't judge everyone as being a potential fraud.
Most mental health experts can tell if someone has an actual problem or are just taking the piss, it's their job.

Forcing people into work with mental health problems will just make everyone around them work less productively as we aren't all careless robots who don't give a shit about our colleagues. It's counter productive and will just end in morale in the absolute toilet.
 
JRTurner said:
A person with a mental illness can have scheduling accommodations for work (remote on some days, flexibility to go to therapy, etc.) or have environmental options offered--such as a quiet area to work in, or a space to retreat to if they need a few minutes to get through a panic attack, etc. Other issues concern leave of absences and the need to hold jobs for those in the hospital--for suicide attempts or medication regulation, etc.

That's how the law works, as I'm understanding it so far :) Hope that helps!
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Yes that helps and in that case mentally ill people should be protected under ADA. BUT I don’t know of any that are
 
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