Can you teach with a mental illness?

Question

If you have had a psychotic illness are you allowed to teach?
Serious question

Answer 1

I suspect the better question is would you still want to teach if you had NOT had a psychotic illness.

Answer 2

Not if you aer experiencing mental illness at the time, but if you can persuade the person who gives you a medical you have enough insight into your condition to control it when you are about to have a flare up, or to go off sick if it does not happen very often, you may be able to get a job teaching. Or, if the psychosis was a one-off, eg at exam time, you may be able to get a job. There are schizophrenics and manic depressives who teach. If you have a criminal record with or without mental illness it is a different story.

Answer 3

You know apparently 1in3 people will have a mental illness at some point, so quite a lot of teachers already have psychiatric problems. It will just depend how under control your illness is. If you are fit enough to teach the education authority cannot discriminate against you.

Answer 4

Yes ,but you have to be totally honest about your illness.
I am a teacher and I was diagnosed psychotic after my first child was born- I was hypomanic.Technically ,puerperal psychosis- it is thought to be a special illness in that you may have no incidence of illness before or after .I have always been completely open about this and I have never had any problems getting teaching work.
There is a stigma attached to it though and some people can be prejudiced in my experience.
good luck ,kind regards ...

Answer 5

I have a friend who happens to be bipolar. She has spent some time in a psych ward before in her younger years (before her diagnosis). She is now on medication to control her depression and/or periods of "extreme ups". She is a high school math teacher now, and is perfectly fine and adjusted.

There's no real black and white answer to your question. It all depends on the nature and severity of the illness, the likelihood of recurrence, what meds you have to take (and if you will continue to take them...many people take themselves off and end up having big problems NEVER do that).

Answer 6

If you are psychotic, then it's probably not a great idea. Or if you are a pedophile or a child abuser.

But if you have a mental illness that is treatable or control by drugs (Bi-Polar, manic depressive, ADHD), then I don't know if they can discrimminate against you - as long as it doesn't interfere with your work.

Answer 7

It will depend on the nature of the illness, whether you are considered 'cured' and what your health assessor says on your teaching record. You should find that part of the teacher training entrance interview will allow you to explore this

Answer 8

Yeah, Bronx, you can, no problem, but it is one of the most stressful jobs going so I think for the person with psychotic problems, things would have to be quite calm in their life, the positive voices very much in control of the negative ones, that sort of thing.

Answer 9

Yes, I suppose you can if it is regulated via mediction or otherwise. But it may result in a supervised teaching environment.

If by definition of mental illness you include depression, bi-polar or sociopathic episodes all of which come & go. If it doesn't affect your abilities or endanger anyones wellbeing (including their own).

Answer 10

It depends on quite a few things
1 are you under medical treatment
2 Is the medication working
3 when was the last episode
4 Did you commit any crime

as today all teachers must have a criminal check done

Good luck