I am considering setting up an E-petition when its back after the elections calling upon the government to recognise Ergophobia or fear of working as a recognised medical condition.

I am interested to know of any experiences from people who may have this condition or know someone who has and gauge peoples perception of how they view people who suffer from this condition.

Unfortunately the mental health community does not recognize work aversion / fear of work as an illness or disease and therefore no medically recognized treatments exist.

Can you imagine the hell sufferers of this condition go through each day in order to survive, not only do they have to cope with limited finances, hounded by the DWP and stigmatised as work shy and lazy, there is no help available to them should they mention their illness to the wrong person and could find themselves in severe financial difficulties.

The quicker this illness is recognised, the faster these people will get treatment.

Unfortunatly I have been unable to get Dumasphobia recognised as well so I fear you may be on a hiding to nothing

Unfortunatly I have been unable to get Dumasphobia recognised as well so I fear you may be on a hiding to nothing

I am sorry to hear of your troubles, if you have an e petition already set up for this condition I would be happy to sign.

Unfortunatly I have been unable to get Dumasphobia recognised

I fear you are being a little unkind....

trebormoinet: To some extent, I'm currently going through a patch of "really can't be a**ed to go in to work". More through general despondency and lack of enthusiasm rather than a fear of labour.

Ergophobia turns up in a few medical resources, so it is at least a defined condition. I wish you luck in getting it officially recognised by the DWP.

Dumasphobia is far more an important issue to understand esp on forums

dx

Just to give the OP one iota of credability, could you imagine if you really had this problem.

I ask, not in jest, as my eldest son has an abject fear of cooked mushrooms. So although the OP may be taking the Micheal, if you really had a fear of working, you would be knackered! Esp with the Tories in power.

Jmy eldest son has an abject fear of cooked mushrooms.

Indeed, to some it might seem a joke but if your a sufferer then it is an entirely different matter.

I have a fear of heights , I have a restriction on my job seekers agreement that excuses me from applying for jobs that involve working from heights.

I did not have to provide any medical evidence to back up my claim, I have not been assessed by anyone in the medical profession, yet I was simply believed with no fuss whatsoever and the restriction was added.

I also have a restriction for jobs that require colour vision, I no it is a physical condition but after I was asked apply for a job wiring electrical looms, I told them I am totally colour blind again no fuss, no test the restriction was added.

Is it discrimination to accept some physical and mental issues without question, yet others have to go through a long painful process, I think I am straying, but if you son ever had the misfortune to to be unemployed and explained their fear and requested restrictions to not work in any industry where they might come across a cooked mushroom would they be as amicable.

And how would you survive without income from working/

Fear of heights I have, but I went Mountain climbing to challenge myself.

And how would you survive without income from working/

 

Fear of heights I have, but I went Mountain climbing to challenge myself.

Not all work involves working from height and I think it is great you faced your fears.

I am scared to go to work every day.

I sign the petition

i recall an actual case where someone claimed a fear of the buzz of electricity/noise, or something like that. they were then housed in the country in the sticks! not bad, most have to pay for a house in the countryside!

It's not a new thing, it used to be known as 'Lazyitis' in the past.

So surely there must be one for fear of claiming benefits?

bureaphobia?

Then surely it'd come under IDS's 'you must get treatment to claim' category of illnesses.

Then surely it'd come under IDS's 'you must get treatment to claim' category of illnesses.

Then sufferers can get help and treatment if it is recognised, I think depression is sometimes mistakenly diagnosed as the cause rather than a symptom of this condition until that changes many people will be given inappropriate treatment and the issue will never will be resolved.

if someone has depression then its not a fear of work, its depression? ie depression being the cause of why someone may not be willing to/up for work. not a symptom. help the depression, then the desire to work shld follow. unless it is 'lazyitis'.

are you suffering from depression?

help the depression, then the desire to work will follow. unless it is 'lazyitis'.

Exactly, unless it is "lazyitis" as you call it, then the problem is never addressed.

The other end of the spectrum of this condition is workaholic which is a recognised condition has treatment available and does not carry the same social stigma attached as with ergophobia which is less likely to be reported by sufferers.

are you suffering from depression?

not as i call it, as was posted see #12. but it may seem apt

i wldnt be able to find any evidence, thats for your gp

I think what's interesting about this is that there are millions of people across the world who live with phobias every day and do 'get on with it'. I'm terrified of heights but know that if I don't face it head on then I'll spend my life wasting opportunities.

Likewise those scared of dogs, spiders, birds and people with beards. You can't live a life avoiding things, you can develop strategies and techniques to cope with even the most debilitating of phobias and as someone alluded to earlier, part of that is down to exposure to to learn that not every high bridge is going to collapse, nor every spider bite or even a bearded man do something 'beardy'.

'get on with it'.

That is a very telling attitude, would that be your advice to someone suffering from depression ?

I am hoping it gets recognised as a condition so that people who suffer can get the appropriate treatment, whatever the method and then they will have the chance to "get on with it".

It might mean the best form of treatment is supported exposure to the work environment over a period of time BUT if this issue remains hidden, unrecognised, people will not get the right treatment.

There is already help for sufferers of ergophobia (drugs, therapy).

About 50 years ago, 'ergophobia' was wrote on patients prescriptions.

A person genuinely suffering from ergophobia can receive help from their GP.

I am guessing that the GP may not use the word 'ergophobia' now, but may use some other term such as 'stress reaction'.

I really do not understand the purpose or point of the online petition.

Trebor, it seems that the purpose of the inverted commas is a bit lost on you.

My advice to anyone dealing with an issue that they find overwhelming would be to seek help so that they can continue to live as normal a life as possible.

As p3t3r says treatment already exists and provided that the individual seeks help then it's for the clinician to treat the symptoms. In all of my time working in the NHS I have come across people who want to be treated, not labelled.

There are already clinical classification codes for almost everything, I'll check for you later this morning exactly what the one is for ergophobia if it's there.

Trebor, it seems that the purpose of the inverted commas is a bit lost on you.

You could be right as grammar was never my strong point, please clarify.

In all of my time working in the NHS I have come across people who want to be treated, not labelled.

"The diagnosis and label made my actions and thoughts make sense. I've actually found comfort in the label. But I do realize not everyone wants to be labelled. "

In fact some people respond well to being labelled.

"I think it makes me special: I am creative, intelligent, and empathetic. When I look at my bipolar lineage (all the famous writers, artists, actors, and doctors), I feel proud. "

There are already clinical classification codes for almost everything, I'll check for you later this morning exactly what the one is for ergophobia if it's there.