# Re-entering the workplace: trial, error, and resilience

- **Episode:** [153](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/153.md) (2024-12-12)
- **Type:** interview
- **Tags:** workplace, resilience, mental-health
- **Time:** 22:59–26:58 (start 1379s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/153?t=1379](https://truthliesandwork.com/153?t=1379)

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[22:59] Kody Green: Just like my journey with medication, it was, uh, a lot of trial and error. Um, the difficult thing about people with severe mental illness is a lot of us end up either struggling with addiction or we end up with criminal records, uh, both of which make it very hard to hold full-time jobs. So when I got out of jail, um, not only did I have this new schizophrenia diagnosis, I also had a criminal record, which makes it hard to even get in front of people to apply for jobs. So I had just another barrier. And then when I did get jobs, I didn't want to ever talk about my illness beforehand. I didn't want to disclose my illness because I was afraid I'd get fired. And so for me, I had to basically try to hide my diagnosis. You can only do that for so long because even, even people with no mental illness can go through burnout. And I was trying so hard to prove myself because I had a criminal record, I had a severe mental illness, I had a past of addiction. So I knew that I wouldn't get a lot of good opportunities. So when I got jobs, I found myself pushing myself into burnout, which for me probably came sooner than most people because I did have mental illness
[24:13] Al Elliott: I did
[24:14] Kody Green: Um, have this diagnosis. Um, but I see people do it all the time, and it can be anything from a really toxic work environment to trying to take on too much in their own role. And I started seeing a lot of similarities between, um, people with, uh, mental health issues, people with mental illness, and the ways they try to cope in the workplace and the ways they push themselves way too far. Um, and so I, I got fired from a lot of jobs early on because I wasn't disclosing my illness. I wasn't asking for accommodations. I didn't know my rights as a worker. And when I got somewhat stable on medication, right before I started doing mental health advocacy, I actually went back to school for human resource management, which gave me very good insights into not just employment But, uh, interviews and interview questions and preparing for all of these scenarios, which got me into some really, uh, good opportunities that I don't think most people with my mental illness and my, uh, criminal record would get. So I started getting out of the early jobs that I had, which were manual labor, production, manufacturing, distribution And I was starting to find myself in office roles and in leadership positions and in sales and like intricate jobs that I don't think people would see a schizophrenia diagnosis and assume that that person could do these jobs, you know. And so it was a long journey, but I eventually found that in order to be successful in the workplace, I had to, um, you know, as soon as I got hired, I disclosed my Uh, illness to HR and my direct manager. I usually informed some of my closer coworkers so they knew what to look for if I did start having symptoms. Uh, because I, I think it's also important to note that, uh, for anyone who's listening who doesn't know a lot about mental illness or schizophrenia, even with medication and treatment and being pretty high functioning, I still do have breakthrough symptoms like hallucinations
[26:25] Al Elliott: Mm-hmm
[26:26] Kody Green: Uh, and so I have to like be prepared for those. I have to know how to cope with those, and I need accommodations for if things like that happen. So learning about all of that is really what made it possible for me to work. Um, had I not learned, uh, from more of the HR side how to advocate for myself and how to, uh, know what to ask for in terms of reasonable accommodations, I think I would have just kept getting fired because I wouldn't have had the ability to Uh, speak up for myself or, or know, uh, what I can do as a worker