The Student Room Group

Will the GP give me a medical note to help get a job?

So I've had undiagnosed social anxiety my whole life. I also think I may have selective mutism as there were parts of my life ie when I was at secondary school and college where I couldn't even talk in certain situations like in front of the class like i couldn't talk even if I wanted to but I could talk when I had to like when I had to present/talk to the class that was graded or I could have some other similar condition I don't know. I've never had an employed job, applied for loads for many years, they're mostly scams, the legit ones don't reply, or do reply and say you made it to the next stage and then never hear from them again, I only ever had one employed job interview which was a video call for a remote job taking calls/customer service and they made a decision within 10 mins which was a no. It probably wasn't a good job for me anyway.

I was self employed for a couple of years which is my dream job it was all online and no verbal communication involved but recently I quit as the wage was barely anything so nowhere near enough to live off but I've done work experience and was fine, was able to communicate with the people I worked with but I didn't really talk much unless I had to.

Now I'm currently signing on at the jobcentre, went in for the first time today after signing off a couple of months ago but signed on again recently, the work coach said I didn't mention anything about social anxiety in the health section of my application which there was a note about on my record from the previous time I was signing on, the work coach I had knew I was quiet, could clearly see I wasn't very confident or talkative and I told her I had social anxiety which she must have made a note of, she was the best work coach I ever had she really understood me and I was always comfortable talking to her, she even said she'd noticed I had improved since we met, shame I moved and now at a different jobcentre. Anyway the current work coach said I should update it and add to my health section as there's support they could give me ie help me get jobs in quieter work places but I can't really do that as I haven't been diagnosed with social anxiety and it'd be illegal to claim I have it, they'd check and it could affect my claim so I've not added that I have social anxiety to my claim. I think there's been a miscommunication, they think I've been diagnosed but haven't been. I've never seen a doctor about it, I get terrible anxiety when I have to see a doctor, I get scared they're going to tell me I have something serious or will die so I only go if it's an emergency. If I did see a doctor about this they probably wouldn't diagnose me with anything anyway as it's not affecting my everyday life so what do I do? Do I add social anxiety to the health section and say it's undiagnosed? There's no way I could do a job that's in a busy and noisy environment where I'd have to work with the public no one would be able to hear me. It'd have to be somewhere quiet with few people, when I filled in what type of jobs I'm looking for or could do I wrote jobs like data entry, librarian, etc which would be ok for me as there'd be few people and they're quiet work places, I've got experience working in a small office environment and it was fine, there were only a few people working there at all times and was pretty quiet, they had no problems hearing me with my quiet voice. I think that's my main problem, I have a quiet voice and people either can't hear me or mostly can hear me but pretend they can't just to pick on me or get me to speak up but that won't work, if I'm not comfortable then I can't speak up no matter how hard I try, it feels like there's something stuck in my throat and my voice gets croaky unable to get any louder. Has anyone else been through this at the job centre? Any advice?

I want to book a GP appointment but I've been holding off I'm worried they'll put me on antidepressants when I'm not depressed or some kind of medication or say there's nothing wrong with me and say I just need to improve my confidence. I don't want to be on any medication. The doctors already know I have anxiety when seeing a doctor, I always tell them I have it because when I see a doctor I get a high heart rate and they get concerned but once I explain that it's only when seeing a doctor and always goes normal when I get home they don't mention it again

Reply 1

Original post
by Anonymous
So I've had undiagnosed social anxiety my whole life. I also think I may have selective mutism as there were parts of my life ie when I was at secondary school and college where I couldn't even talk in certain situations like in front of the class like i couldn't talk even if I wanted to but I could talk when I had to like when I had to present/talk to the class that was graded or I could have some other similar condition I don't know. I've never had an employed job, applied for loads for many years, they're mostly scams, the legit ones don't reply, or do reply and say you made it to the next stage and then never hear from them again, I only ever had one employed job interview which was a video call for a remote job taking calls/customer service and they made a decision within 10 mins which was a no. It probably wasn't a good job for me anyway.
I was self employed for a couple of years which is my dream job it was all online and no verbal communication involved but recently I quit as the wage was barely anything so nowhere near enough to live off but I've done work experience and was fine, was able to communicate with the people I worked with but I didn't really talk much unless I had to.
Now I'm currently signing on at the jobcentre, went in for the first time today after signing off a couple of months ago but signed on again recently, the work coach said I didn't mention anything about social anxiety in the health section of my application which there was a note about on my record from the previous time I was signing on, the work coach I had knew I was quiet, could clearly see I wasn't very confident or talkative and I told her I had social anxiety which she must have made a note of, she was the best work coach I ever had she really understood me and I was always comfortable talking to her, she even said she'd noticed I had improved since we met, shame I moved and now at a different jobcentre. Anyway the current work coach said I should update it and add to my health section as there's support they could give me ie help me get jobs in quieter work places but I can't really do that as I haven't been diagnosed with social anxiety and it'd be illegal to claim I have it, they'd check and it could affect my claim so I've not added that I have social anxiety to my claim. I think there's been a miscommunication, they think I've been diagnosed but haven't been. I've never seen a doctor about it, I get terrible anxiety when I have to see a doctor, I get scared they're going to tell me I have something serious or will die so I only go if it's an emergency. If I did see a doctor about this they probably wouldn't diagnose me with anything anyway as it's not affecting my everyday life so what do I do? Do I add social anxiety to the health section and say it's undiagnosed? There's no way I could do a job that's in a busy and noisy environment where I'd have to work with the public no one would be able to hear me. It'd have to be somewhere quiet with few people, when I filled in what type of jobs I'm looking for or could do I wrote jobs like data entry, librarian, etc which would be ok for me as there'd be few people and they're quiet work places, I've got experience working in a small office environment and it was fine, there were only a few people working there at all times and was pretty quiet, they had no problems hearing me with my quiet voice. I think that's my main problem, I have a quiet voice and people either can't hear me or mostly can hear me but pretend they can't just to pick on me or get me to speak up but that won't work, if I'm not comfortable then I can't speak up no matter how hard I try, it feels like there's something stuck in my throat and my voice gets croaky unable to get any louder. Has anyone else been through this at the job centre? Any advice?
I want to book a GP appointment but I've been holding off I'm worried they'll put me on antidepressants when I'm not depressed or some kind of medication or say there's nothing wrong with me and say I just need to improve my confidence. I don't want to be on any medication. The doctors already know I have anxiety when seeing a doctor, I always tell them I have it because when I see a doctor I get a high heart rate and they get concerned but once I explain that it's only when seeing a doctor and always goes normal when I get home they don't mention it again

Sorry to hear you suffer from anxiety. When you declare your health conditions for UC or Jobseekers etc, add you have anxiety in the relevant section and provide some context. You don't necessarily need to have a doctor's note. Say that you have anxiety, but it doesn't stop you from working, but you don't speak that much etc. With providing extra help, they mean things like putting you on a course or 1:1 interview practice etc. It would be wise for you to speak to your GP and ask what help is available. They don't prescribe antidepressants easily. They will advice other things first such as breathing exercises to help you cope or give refer you to CBT therapy on the NHS.
It is called NHS talking therapies and you will get around 8 1:1 free sessions. However there is a waiting list, so apply asap. You can then also add this on your UC case notes. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt/overview/

Furthermore, there are many podcasts and YouTube videos out there that tell you how to deal with your anxiety. There are many exercises etc. At the end the goal is to improve yourself and work on yourself to get better.

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