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Gateways to the Professions

4. The legal background

4.3 Mental illness and fluctuating conditions

People with fluctuating conditions, of which mental illness can be one, often require a different approach at each stage. Regular reviews are important, as is awareness that the current ‘snapshot’ may not be the whole picture.

Mental illness sometimes also has the added and unwelcome challenge of stigma that can affect people at each stage of their course from disclosure onwards.

‘Mental illness is not like any other disability - it is the ‘black sheep’ amongst other disabilities due to the attached stigma. On top of that we often feel embarrassed about the fact that we suffer from a mental illness or about some of the symptoms we experience. All this can affect the confidence we have in ourselves and in our ability to be a doctor. It can make it very difficult to be open about suffering from a mental illness. There is also the fear of our career being adversely affected - not necessarily by the mental illness itself but by the reactions and actions of our surroundings.’

Trainee

‘Unfortunately the myths and stereotypes associated with mental illness are still very much alive even amongst health professionals.’

Trainee