Sleep apnea and professional stigmatization?

[DougalMcDougal]

I was diagnosed with severe OSA a few weeks ago and initially mentioned it to a few coworkers but am now wondering if that was a bad idea and am not planning on mentioning to anybody in future

I work in a very technically intricate profession and my thinking is that the majority of the population are ignorant about sleep apnea and may assume that anybody with the condition may not be 100% able to concentrate and perform technical tasks/complex processing well

Eg if I heard that my cardiac surgeon had severe OSA it might make me think twice about letting him operate on me (rightly or wrongly)

What are your experiences regarding prejudice/ misconceptions about your apnea and any comments? particularly those in professional roles eg Drs, accountants, architects etc?

[eeckel]

I have not come out of the sleep apnea closet at work. I teach biomechanics and evidence based practice at a university. Academia is full of competitive massive egos. Its not worth taking the chance.

[tqpannie]

I did tell my boss about the Sleep Apnea because it is/was contributing to so may other health issues. I feel so much better when I do get 6 hours on the machine that my boss can actually hear it in my voice. I work in Project Management and with working about 14 hours a day I was able to get to start working from home so that I don't have to drive in the mornings. So it's been a win/win situation at work. At least there was a reason that I would get so sleepy in the afternoon and somedays just felt awful

[BlackSpinner]

I did tell my boss about the Sleep Apnea because it is/was contributing to so may other health issues. I feel so much better when I do get 6 hours on the machine that my boss can actually hear it in my voice. I work in Project Management and with working about 14 hours a day I was able to get to start working from home so that I don't have to drive in the mornings. So it's been a win/win situation at work. At least there was a reason that I would get so sleepy in the afternoon and somedays just felt awful

Same here when I was working. When I was waiting for my machine I was working a lot from home. I was writing software for internal websites. After I got the machine and was on it for a couple of weeks, people kept telling me I was looking so good and all that and what was I doing? So I told them. What surprised me was that at least half the people knew someone close to them who also had OSA and a cpap machine or knew someone intimately who should be using one.

Mind you in the industry I was working (airline company) OSA was well known and the use of the cpap machine did not compromise peoples jobs.

[chunkyfrog]

In my case, I believe that the people who I can help far outnumber the ignorant few who may think less of me.

[jencat824]

When I worked, I told my boss & co-workers. They seemed very glad something was bringing me back to my old self, and productivity. I think the decision to tell is personal, depending on what line of work you are in and if you think your boss & co-workers would be receptive to that information. I agree that knowledge is helping more people recognize what sleep apnea is and how it can help those with OSA, and possibly un-diagnosed OSA. Although, if you think it might jeopardize your job, it might be worth it to keep that info to yourself. Myself, I never thought twice about telling those I worked with, but my life is an open book to most people I know. Not everyone is able to share so willingly.
Jen

[archangle]

Good point. It could hurt your chances for hiring if any of the people who know end up at a company you want to hire on with. Or even your chances of keeping your current job.

Yes, it may be illegal to discriminate based on health conditions, but it's very common and the hiring company has a financial incentive to discriminate as long as they don't get caught.

[chunkyfrog]

As close as I am to retirement, I feel safe. Others may not.

[Captain_Midnight]

Every situation is different, so I'm not saying this applies to anyone else. At the time of diagnosis, I was working as a toxicologist in a governmental science agency.

After my diagnosis, I told my boss and some close co-workers. I told them that I was not going to make a secret of a sleeping disorder that was being successfully treated. I made the info public for a couple of reasons, naturally it got around quickly.

First, I wanted folks to realize that if the old me appeared dozy or slow for any reason, there was a reason for it (and conversely, when the new me appeared alert and peppy and had a memory, there was a therapeutic reason for that as well.)

Second, I had such a favorable response early in my therapy that I wanted anyone interested in the topic (either for themselves or someone they knew), to consider me as an info resource. And, that was successful, as I convinced some folks to consider sleep studies, and they are now happy pappers.

.

[fm1520]

Not that its a big secret but why would you discuss medical info with people at work anyway? Whether its OSA, allergies or anything else I tend to keep personal things personal.

[RogerSC]

I did talk about this with people at work, with the friends there with whom I talked about stuff like that. No problems, since it really didn't make any difference in the quality of my work...My profession does require a lot a focus, but my sleep apnea is mild enough that it didn't affect my work. So it goes, some people have more severe problems, or work with people that they can't really trust to not look at them differently. I think that you just have to use your sense about the people with whom you work, and if you trust them, then go for it. I've found that it's good to talk to people about this sort of thing, helps to process your experiences. And it seems that a lot of people have sleep apnea and don't know what it is that's waking them up, or that's making them sleepy during the day. One of the people that I talked to at work said that his wife had mentioned to him that he stopped breathing occasionally, but didn't give it a thought, since "he was fine". I talked with him about the risk factors associated with sleep apnea, and that he might think about having a sleep study done. Don't know if he ever did anything about it, he did respond positively to the idea. If it helped his health at all, that would be great.

[archangle]

I'm not suggesting we all hide it. However, I think it IS possible for others knowledge about your apnea affecting you adversely.