Not just any job: People with psychiatric disabilities build careers

Abstract

This article explores the career aspirations of thirty individuals with severe psychiatric disabilities who had been employed from 3 to 33 years. We included people in the study who had been hospitalized as adults or had been determined eligible for Social Security Disability benefits due to a psychiatric disability and were currently employed for pay at least 18 hours per week. Some had received assistance from vocational rehabilitation agencies; others had not. Through in-depth interviews, we examined how they view career development and how they set and obtain their long term goals. We found that the sample fell into two groups based upon their attitudes about the future and their employment aspirations over the next five years. Group One, consisting of 17 participants, said they wanted to change jobs or move ahead in their careers and had developed strategies to obtain their specific employment or career goals. The remaining 13 participants, those in Group Two, wanted to remain in the same position or obtain a similar job. We describe the factors Group One participants considered in establishing their career goals and the reasons why Group Two participants wanted to keep their current employment.