Korean Job Discussion Forums

[denisehoja]

Hey guys,
I recently found out that Korea is not hiring teachers with 'mental illness' and you even go through a health check. Here, we are not talking about schizophrenia or being suicidal. Couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I'm on medication and in a very healthy and stable position. I have been working as an ESL/English teacher for the past 5 years and spent the past year working at a government school which is know as an 'extremely tough' one. I learnt to teach George Orwell to 15 year olds who cannot read or write. I stopped students from beating each other up with chairs in my class. I dealt with students calling me all kind of names in the schoolyard. I have dealt with extremely troubled students that would eat you alive. I don't have problem with culture shock as I have lots of experience living in different countries and being isolated -love it or leave it!-. While I am not ethnically Korean, I was raised in the Korean part of the town, been to Korea once and I am pretty familiar with the culture. It's obvious that If I don't crack under such pressure, I won't crack in Korea. I could easily lie in my application and tick 'no' for mental illness but I know that my drug test will have 'false-positive- result and I will be sent back home right away. Apologize for whingeing but I feel that the whole hiring procedure is extremely unfair for some teachers..... Ooooorrrrr am I being wrong??

[Allthechildrenareinsane]

[le-paul]

how do you define mental illness?

Others will have noticed this too maybe, but there isn't necessarily anything specific about teaching that will be a problem - not if you're organised and have some experience or are confident and know what you want. In most cases, a jobs a job and you'll need a month to settle in regardless.

Most people start to see the cracks when they realise they're isolated here. It'll start with maybe selfish or controlling behaviour and then other mental health problems will then be exacerbated.

The culture itself should be more of a novelty at the beginning, so shouldn't be a problem - you'll more than likely feel like you're on holiday.

When that wears off, thats when you see the change.

[Fox]

[ttompatz]

[young_clinton]

All you have to do is just tick no on the application and go off of your meds for a month to pass the test then go right back on them. If your meds aren't benzodiazepines (Xanax etc.) then you don't even have to worry about going off of the meds. Another poster has recently indicated they don't even check for benzodiazapenes, see if you can confirm that. It doesn't sound to me like you have a serious enough illness where you can't temporarily go off of the drugs for a month or so and keep low. Once youre back in Korea go to one of the clinics that don't contact employers for your meds. Actually just bring a prescription with you to hold you over for a while.

[denisehoja]

And how is that any different than the policies that apply to someone applying for a visa to work in the States (the country that Korea modeled its policies on), Canada, the UK or Aus?

.[/quote]


I don't remember Australian government being so uptight about depression and anxiety? People on working visa here are mostly from west and people pop anti-depressants like candy. During application, they question your physical health, not mental problems.

Also, thank you everyone for your replies. I guess the main issue teachers face in Korea is the' culture shock'. I moved to Australia at the age of 12 as a refugee. I know what that isolation feels like and sometimes it goes on and on.

[Harpeau]

[Hokie21]

Yeah I definitely wouldn't recommend going off your meds for a month without talking to your doctor first. Big no no.

[young_clinton]

[bobranger]

[ironclad80]

[drcrazy]

I think that having mental illness should be a requirement

[young_clinton]

[joelove]