Is depression a disability?
Back to Topic
Click to Print
Useful Websites
Glossary Term Selection
This article is 9 years old.
Click here to view the latest articles for this topic.
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 and 2005 give disabled people the right not to be discriminated against in:
- Employment
- Education
- Access to goods, facilities and services, including larger private clubs and land-based transport services
- Buying or renting land or property, including making it easier for disabled people to rent property and for tenants to make disability-related adaptations
- Functions of public bodies, for example issuing of licences.
When is depression a disability?
The DDA defines a ‘disabled person’ as: a person with ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. In order to qualify as being disabled, someone with depression must show that:
S/he has a recognised ‘mental impairment’
- It is a long-term condition
- It is severe enough to have an impact on his/her ability to function day-to-day.
All three conditions must be met for a perso...
Want to see the rest of this article?
Would you like to see the rest of this article and all the other benefits that Issues Online can provide with?
- Useful related articles
- Video and multimedia references
- Statistical information and reference material
- Glossary of terms
- Key Facts and figures
- Related assignments
- Resource material and websites
