Job Discussion Forums

[thirstie]

Hi all,

I'm applying for the 2005 JET intake and have just happily downloaded the application form. I figure I have as good a chance as anyone, CELTA, boss who will write me a good reference etc., but I got a bit freaked out about the question about depression.

I've just started a course of anti-D's after a recent relationship break-up and am now stable, happy and planning to stay that way. I've also travelled reasonably extensively through Asia from Korea to SEA so I have a fair idea of what to expect about life in Japan.

If I tick the "yes I have diagnosed depression" box, will I be discriminated against? I have wanted to do JET for years and have waited for a time in life when I know I can dedicate myself to it. Would it be easier just to lie?

Does anyone have personal experience with this dilemma?

Thanks in advance for all thoughful replies, no trolling required.

Cheers again,
thirstie

[Gordon]

[Laura C]

I concur.

Having had a period of depression should have no bearing on your ability to do a job, but not everyone thinks like that. I don't think JET would automatically disqualify you if you ticked yes, but, as Gordon says, they are going to have plenty of people who say no. I would always lie in this case.

Be careful though, since as far as I remember I had to have a full medical check before I left on JET, so if you do lie you could get caught out. I'm not sure though, as I can't remember the full extent of the medical (I got caught like that a few years ago, ticked No on a form, and got a call a few weeks later from my future boss asking why I hadn't declared medication).

[AgentMulderUK]

[TokyoLiz]

That's the last tidbit of information you should share with JET. They will definitely discriminate against anybody with a mood disorder.

Before you send in your app, consider how you're doing now, and how you think you would cope in a strange city in your own country, where you have to seek out doctors afresh, meet new friends and cope with a new environment. What would that feel like? Now, imagine you don't speak the language and you have few people around you with whom you can share your thoughts. The medical establishment can't even identify the meds you're on, never mind represcribe them.

I'm not trying to put you off, but caution you about the differences in culture that might magnify your symptoms.

[Glenski]

I am rather shocked at the ease with which everyone has told thirstie to lie. What are you people thinking? Positive thoughts will overcome his/her medical/emotional situation? Warm and fuzzy messages beat the reality of life in a foreign land?

Think hard, everyone, and especially you, thirstie!

You wrote that you just started taking this medication. Don't know how long that is, but even your doctor would probably advise you that changes in dosage or drug itself might be in order over time, perhaps the time you would spend in Japan. How are you going to deal with that, when you are likely to be posted in a rural area with a non-English-speaking doctor that has a totally different outlook on psychological treatment compared to your own western physician?

What about side effects of current medication?
What are you going to say when you have to refill a prescription that was set by your doctor back home?

thirstie said that he/she "also travelled reasonably extensively through Asia from Korea to SEA so (he/she has) a fair idea of what to expect about life in Japan". Traveling is very different from living and working. You are not going to flit from hotel to hotel, hostel to hostel, etc. You will be living in a cramped apartment, isolated from your friends and family (yes, even in this day and age of Internet and phone cards!) for 12 months. I'm not trying to scare you, but you have to face reality here. Being "stable" but still on anti-depressants does not mean you are 100% cured, and to relocate to such a totally different environment as rural Japan is a huge undertaking. Your surroundings will probably be almost all in Japanese (spoken and written). TV shows will be incomprehensible, as will most supermarket merchandise and newspapers, brochures, timetables, etc.

Work will entail side-by-side dealings with a Japanese teacher who probably has weak English skills at best, and you just might have to bounce to several schools in a month, leaving you with little to no consistency, several JTEs to deal with, and no real handle on the huge number of kids you will see. If your experience is like many JETs, you will not really teach, but you will assist, and that could mean doing very little other than being a human tape recorder. Is this what you expect of a work environment? Moreover, you may not be told of many school events that you would have liked to participate in, certain outings that the kids go on, or school holidays, until the last moment. Is this going to affect you in your current emotional state?

I know people who have lived in Japan for a mere 3 months, with other foreigners from their home country and own company office, and they often did not fare well. Some ate themselves to oblivion (gaining 40 pounds on ice cream alone), some developed a severe hatred for the Japanese business ethic because they (women) were not prepared for the way that women are treated here, etc......... and these were people NOT on anti-depressant medication.

Sure, hide your medical condition (if you can).
Lie to the people who hire you. (It may be grounds for dismissal, you know.)
Come here and discover an isolated community where you are expected to perform quite energetically every day that you work, despite colds, flu, or other medical conditions. (That's "edutainment" in the EFL business, plus it's regular life for everyone who lives in Japan, whether foreigner or Japanese.)

I write all of this because I am thinking of YOU, thirstie, not of a way to beat the system and fulfill a dream. Not all dreams come true. There may be ways to overcome the adversities you face, and we certainly don't know that much about you, but you really need to think about your situation SERIOUSLY before putting on that warm and fuzzy cap that everyone here seems to be handing you.

Why do you think JET puts that question on the application in the first place, people? They know that some people can't handle Japan, even without medication.

[canuck]

Living in a foreign country is a lot different than traveling through. If you have some metal/health problems, I would reconsider coming to Japan. You're better off in a familiar environment, closer to your family.

[Gordon]