Sharing your diagnosis with coworkers
I’m 95% sure I want to let my direct coworkers in my team know about my diagnosis. I was successful in getting the role in October last year (I started to get some odd symptoms in August and was only diagnosed in March this year). Only my manager and his manager know about my situation. I feel very fortunate with how they have handled the situation and made it clear I should not feel obligated to share any wider. There’s a huge focus on wellbeing and various other values where I work and it definately shows. They have been so supportive.
In all honesty I don’t think I could ask for a nicer set of colleagues too but since starting I’ve had to take time off due to a couple of relapses as well as the many medical appointments and now a monthly infusion. I also had to wear an eye patch due to some double vision and although people didn’t ask questions it was quite clear there were concerns I was OK (thankfully eyesight has since returned back to normal 🤞)
One of the other reasons behind the decision is that we mainly work remotely, meeting up for a couple of days a month. It has generally been OK but one of the previous times I was just too tired to go out for the evening meal. I don’t want to seem like I’m purposely being antisocial.
I appreciate I don’t have to share it with people but I feel like they deserve to know a bit more. I am however slightly concerned after reading peoples posts with how they have been treated.
Would anyone be comfortable with sharing their experiences and tips if they were going to do it again/have done it again? Is there anything you would avoid or anything you would absolutely do?
You’re going to get a lot of mixed reactions I think. Workplaces can be the most evil place and pretty sure we all have a story. I’m pro sharing if the situation presents and I value the person. It’s such a huge part of us! I sometimes say a chronic illness that I’m managing, other times I’m straight up and say MS. I don’t share symptoms with work colleagues though unless they’re obvious ones. All the best with what you end up deciding 💕
@I_am_Tom Entirely down to you. In my previous job, I was "encouraged" by my manager to do just that, inform the team etc, etc. It back fired but that was due partly to my limited knowledge of the disease (I was two years into my diagnosis) and several colleagues inability to deal with someone who is now, technically, disabled. However, since changing jobs, the response and reaction from my new team has been completely different. I now work on a needs to know basis, if they need to know then I give them the basics. I'm not the only "disabled" person at work, and that is probably true for most of us, its just that we don't know who they are because they look as normal as everyone else.