Do investigators distinguish between different types of psychiatric disabilities?
In filing charges, individuals with psychiatric disabilities ‘self-report’ their impairment or diagnosis to the investigator taking their charge. Investigators then code that information as one of five possible psychiatric disability categories: anxiety disorder, depression, manic depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and other emotional/psychiatric impairments. Of the 19,454 people with psychiatric disabilities who filed charges under the ADA as of March 31, 1998, 43 percent were coded as having depression, 15 percent an anxiety disorder, 11 percent manic depression, 2 percent schizophrenia, and 36 percent “other”. Some individuals report having more than one kind of psychiatric disability. What kinds of outcomes can people receive from a charge? ADA charges can be closed in six ways. Three bring some type of direct benefit to complainants: Withdrawal with Benefits – These are informal, non-written agreements between complainants and employers that resolve charges. In almost all cases,
