Can you have Schizophrenia and be a fireman?
A close personal friend of mine has schizophrenia and wants to be a fireman. Is it possible to have the mental illness and become a fireman still?
I fire man, probably not. I know police/military are definite no. Fireman probably is no also. They are just very dangerous, high stress jobs. Stress can trigger things because of the chemical changes it makes in the brain. And for a bad episode to be triggered at the wrong time could be deadly to him, anyone working with him and people he is trying to help
It depends on the rules in your area, and on the symptoms he has, and on the medicine he takes. This really hurts to hear, and I know because I am schizo, but hallucinations are often brought on by stress. Would you want the fireman saving your daughter from a burning building to be hallucinating while he is trying to do his job. I barely am hanging on a thread just keeping my driver’s license because they are afraid I will hallucinate and cause an accident, let alone being in a high stress and demanding job where lives are at stake.
Besides that, my father is not mentally ill in any way and he got rejected from the fire department because his eyesight isn’t good enough. They have some pretty strict rules.
References :
I fire man, probably not. I know police/military are definite no. Fireman probably is no also. They are just very dangerous, high stress jobs. Stress can trigger things because of the chemical changes it makes in the brain. And for a bad episode to be triggered at the wrong time could be deadly to him, anyone working with him and people he is trying to help
References :