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> Just as the diagnosis of an ingrown toenail doesn't mean you need special treatment, neither does a mental health diagnosis. Nonsense. Try getting a top secu
by lutusp 11y ago
> Just as the diagnosis of an ingrown toenail doesn't mean you need special treatment, neither does a mental health diagnosis.
Nonsense. Try getting a top security clearance if you have a mental illness diagnosis. Try getting certain kinds of insurance, or preferential treatment in many professions, or any number of other examples in modern society -- a mental illness diagnosis is a burden for a lifetime. The fact that the "illness" may have resulted from a fantasy like recovered memory therapy or be based on a make-believe ailment like Asperger's or homosexuality, doesn't matter -- same burden, same stigma.
- DanBC 11y agoGCHQ have made a point of recruiting people with autism spectrum diagnoses. There's plenty of people with severe mental illness who have security clearances.
- lutusp 11y ago> There's plenty of people with severe mental illness who have security clearances. Yes, but only if they lie or waffle in their applications, because mental illness is specifically discussed as a reason to deny clearance. http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/security-clearance-jobs/psychologial-conditions-and-security-clearances.html http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/security-clearance-jobs...
- JohnBooty 11y agoYeah, there's definitely a stigma. Often an unfair one. You are correct. That does not conflict with anything I said. A mental health diagnosis does not generally mean that a person is dangerous, unemployable, or disabled. A negative reaction of others to a diagnosis, based on fear and ignorance, is a big problem that we need to address. But those erroneous reactions don't change the intrinsic meaning of a diagnosis.