Would you use a rival's admission of psychological issues against them?

What do you think? @The_Compassionate_Heretic

@lloydbird Personally, I would/did not. I have been in this position recently.
Work is not as important as people.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic Glad to hear it.
So why ask this question?

Depends on the dynamic of the relationship between you and your coworker and the goal you hope to achieve by doing so.

@lloydbird I’m interested in what others might do given a similar situation.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic Oh!

The only way I would act on it is if I thought the person was a danger to himself or others.

I am schizotypal, and I am very open about this to people at work. I am unaware that anyone has used this to gain favor with someone over me.
I wouldn’t have a problem with it, though, if it conflicted with whatever issues might occur. I wouldn’t want someone who has my difficulty in a position where things could go bad due to it.

I think this area is really out of bounds. Who among us is invulnerable to a similar charge? Wouldn’t using such a thing to assist you in a rivalry be so unethical that it would disturb your sleep? (If you answered no, then you are disturbed as well as your rival.)

If someone is a danger to themselves or others – yes.

Any other time – no. That would just be low. I’m all for getting ahead personally and professionally, but not by taking advantage of others. It would be like kicking someone in the knee during football practice if you knew they had a bad knee. I think it would just be very low class.

I will tell you that I have worked with several people who think the only way they can get the boss to think good things about them, is for them to slander others.

I’ve never had a rival.

I wouldn’t use such information simply to further my own situation. However if the person with the psychological issue was holding the codes to drop the big bomb then that changes the complexion of the whole scene, whether this person is a rival or not!

For personal gain, never.

I would use it only if said rival ever made an uncalled for move against me.

Ethics in the workplace is an oxymoron.

No, especially not for personal gain.

You are a lousy fucking softball player, @Blondesjon!!!

I’m cool as shit unless you’re crowding the plate.

Certainly not. Not ever. The secret would be safe with me.

If a situation arose in which it was important for the information to be known, I would expect the person in question to do the disclosing. If he could tell me, he could tell others as well.

I think this really depends on the circumstances. Why is this person my rival? How would I “use” his/her psychological issues? Is the issue something that directly affects the person’s work or is it completely irrelevant?

In general, I think learning someone has a mental health problem tends to make me more sympathetic. For instance, I have a friend who routinely flakes out on plans—she even ignored my phone calls and texts on her birthday, after we had all baked a cake for her and planned an outing sixty miles away. I was pretty irritated but I understand that she suffers from depression. When she does these things, she’s not being a jerk; she’s just depressed. So it’s easier to be forgiving.

You’d have to be crazy not to try to profit from someone else’s mental malfunctions. Nearly all my colleagues disparaged my work during the period I was strapped to my chair in my Hannibal Lector suit. (I didn’t get the promotion).

People on here do that all the time

Also, can I ask why you worded it this way “who in a moment of weakness, admits to being diagnosed with a psychological condition.” Why is admitting a psychological condition a moment of weakness?

This person was having a manic moment.
One of the things I told him was not to tell anyone else because there is a stigma.
I am understanding because bi-polar disorder has touched my family but people in the workplace are not so understanding many times. There are people I work with who would take advantage of the situation.

@casheroo I think we all know that it is stigmatized in the workplace. I can’t speak for the OP, but that’s how I interpret his use of the word “weakness”.

Ooops, I should have shut up.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic That’s very considerate of you. I hope the person is getting the help they need. A manic episode can ruin a life when they don’t seek help.

@pdworkin True. I guess I’ve always been quite open about my mental history, but I do know when I had my issues I didn’t want one boss I had to find out because I was afraid she would think poorly of me taking care of her children.

@casheroo Unfortunately his situation negatively impacts his position.
He is a superior in rank but his reactions to his condition mostly result in him not showing up to work which is unfortunate because his position is a very important one and when he’s MIA, his subordinates (that’s me) are left to pick up the pieces. In any event, his superiors are sharks and they smell blood in the water. His immediate superior is at the very least, unethical and would not hesitate to pounce on any perceived weakness and in a situation like there is now where heads are going to roll, his superior has indicated that he will not hesitate to serve him up on a platter for sacrifice to save his own hide.

In any event, my work sucks ass and I’m looking for new options.

Seeing as how I’m crazy, I’d find it a source of comfort to know someone else was crazy, too. I would try really hard to be sympathetic and understanding of them. If their work suffered, I’d hope they would get a fair shake from our employer. Personally, I think we need more crazy people, not fewer. Then maybe the world wouldn’t have to take itself so seriously.

I would not tell others of the cooworkers diagnosis, the secret would be safe with me. I would not try to use the info for personal gain. If their behavior affects work in a negative way, I might actually give them a little more slack than “normal” people, but only to an extent. Work is work. If you are making my job harder, or making me look bad somehow, I am going to speak up, I would NEVER tell the secret, but I’m not going to get screwed. There are plenty of supposedly mentally healthy people who suck at work and have bad personalities, whether you have a diagnosis or not doesn’t make a difference to me.

If my own job were jeopardized by this person’s behavior then yes, I probably would use them against themselves but only as a last resort.