Dare to tell

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Ziza Madani:

Many of us struggle to discuss internal difficulties and diagnosis. However, if you don't tell Arbetsförmedlingen you may not get the support you need to get and keep a job or even manage studies such as SFI.

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Ziza:

Welcome to the New in Sweden podcast where we explain, give tips and good advice for finding a job and working in Sweden. The podcast is aimed for those who are new to the country. The topic of today's episode is "Dare to tell Arbetsförmedlingen about your difficulties, get support and help to search and find a job". And today we also have a special guest who knows plenty about physical and hidden disabilities. She knows how Arbetsförmedlingen can support you. You will hear from her a little later in this episode. Those of us in the studio today are me, Ziza Madani, and my colleague Pär Axelsson. And we work here at Arbetsförmedlingen. Pär, do you want to explain what's meant by physical and hidden disabilities?

Pär Axelsson:

Yes. Partly it can mean that you have a physical limitation and find it difficult to do heavy lifting, use your body while working, or use your hands. But there is also what's known as hidden disabilities, for example difficulty focusing, concentrating, or remembering. You might have painful memories from a war, suffer from mental health problems, or have a diagnosis.

Ziza:

But how do you know if you have these hidden disabilities?

Pär:

It's not always so easy, but typical symptoms are that you find it hard to learn new things, concentrate, start, and finish tasks and have trouble remembering. You have, for example, difficult reading or writing.

Ziza:

Which are the most common hidden disabilities and how can they affect the everyday life?

Pär:

Well, some of the most common are that you experience anxiety, worry, stress, fatigue, depressions, have trouble sleeping or social anxiety. You can also have body pain, severe allergies, or heart problems. Another important thing, you can find it hard to hear or have disturbing noises in your ear. This can make studies such as SFI or vocational training harder. Of course, doing an internship or keeping your job will also make it challenging.

Ziza:

These are very sensitive issues, and it might be difficult to bring up the subject. But Arbetsförmedlingen can help, right?

Pär:

Indeed, it's a sensitive topic. But I would like to say something that I think might be comforting to those of you listening.

Ziza:

Yes, please tell us.

Pär:

Sweden is a very good country in the sense that the authorities want to help. Not all countries are as understanding. Because of this you might hesitate and find it hard to tell us. But in Sweden Arbetsförmedlingen must help you and wants to help you. That's what the law says.

Ziza:

I agree. And I guess it's extra difficult to talk about difficulties and illnesses that aren't outwardly visible. And in some cultures, I imagine it can be extra sensitive and shameful.

Pär:

Absolutely.

Ziza:

This sounds reassuring, but if I have a difficulty, how do I take the first step?

Pär:

Register with Arbetsförmedlingen. You can also book your planning meeting with us there. In this meeting you must bring up your difficulties. To get support, we need to know how this affects you when searching for a job, working, or studying Swedish. If you have already registered with Arbetsförmedlingen, contact us, and discuss this with us.

Ziza:

I'm wondering about medical certificates. Do you need one for Arbetsförmedlingen to help?

Pär:

Yes, you need a medical certificate from a doctor, an assessment by a psychologist or therapist.

Ziza:

But what if I don't have a certificate? What do I do then?

Pär:

Then Arbetsförmedlingen can help you to get a certificate, with your permission of course.

Ziza:

What do you say to those who hesitate to tell us?

Pär:

I really want to emphasise just how important it is to tell us, otherwise we can't help you.

Ziza:

OK, so let's say I've told, you what happens next?

Pär:

Then you have an in-depth interview with Arbetsförmedlingen and describe more about your difficulties. This meeting will also let you know how to proceed. It's also good to know that Arbetsförmedlingen has professional secrecy. Only the people working directly with the case can access the information. And of course, no third parties can access your data.

Ziza:

And then Arbetsförmedlingen can support you. This also applies to studying, which can be adapted to suit your needs. We will listen to our guest, psychologist Angela Fernholm, and what she has to say.

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Ziza:

Why is it important to tell us?

Angela Fernholm:

If you don't tell Arbetsförmedlingen about your symptoms or your disabilities or if you have a diagnosis, and this applies also if you have a praktik, or a job or even if you're studying for example SFI. If you feel like you have these symptoms that are coming up and it's really affecting you, and if you don't tell anybody, then you can easily get symptoms of being burned out. Or the diagnosis that you have can even become worse. It's about 30% of people who come from a war state that have developed difficulties, and these diagnoses can be depression, anxiety or even PTSD. Symptoms that you need to look after are that you start to sleep a little bit more or a little bit less. That you can feel tired almost all day, that you'll lose interest for most things, you can start even forgetting where you put your keys. You can forget appointments. Another thing that happens, that's quite common, is you become very sensitive to light and sound and you can think that it's very uncomfortable to be around other people. Another thing that can happen is that you can get panic attacks, and this could happen almost every day, that you get them where you usually have not had it before. Another thing is that you can get quite angry and come in conflict with a lot of people around you where normally this would not happen. And another more serious thing that can happen is that you start thinking about that you don't want to live anymore. And this is something that maybe you don't have to express verbally to others around you, but maybe it's something that you've been thinking about, and you've been carrying inside of yourself. So, if you experience any of these symptoms, it's really important that you first go and talk to your vårdcentral, your doctor, and to Arbetsförmedlingen. Tell Arbetsförmedlingen about these symptoms. Because if you do have these symptoms then we can help you with your workplace and with your praktik, or your education.

Ziza:

How can you get support?

Angela:

When you tell Arbetsförmedlingen about these disorders or disabilities that you have, then we can help you adapt and adjust the workplace. Or if you're taking a course through Arbetsförmedlingen then we can also adjust that for you. But I can give you an example: If you, for example, have a depression and you take medicine, and it's quite often that when you take medicine you can feel very, very tired in the morning and it's really difficult to wake up. If you have contact with Arbetsförmedlingen, then we will talk to your employer, and we can make sure that you have time to be able to come in a little bit later in the morning. Another adjustment that we can do is for example if you have anxiety, we make sure and we talk to the employer again and explain to them what anxiety is and what you have for needs. For example, if you get an anxiety attack while you're at work and maybe you need to go away to a room that's a little bit quieter, where you can breathe at your own pace, the employer will make sure that you have a space that you can go to.

Pär:

Very interesting to hear from Angela and many good insights.

Ziza:

Yes, right Pär. And now it's time to round things off. Do you have any final thoughts you want to share with our listeners?

Pär:

Well, as Angela said, dare to tell us. You have much to gain from it.

Ziza:

And that's all for today. Thank you for listening and good luck.

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speaker voice:

You have been listening to the New in Sweden podcast by Arbetsförmedlingen. You can find all previous episodes at arbetsformedlingen.se/play. Have you got any questions, tips, or ideas? Please email us at podcast@arbetsformedlingen.se. This episode was produced in the spring of 2023.