Who Is That Reasonable Person?

"Are you aware of mental or physical health conditions which a reasonable person would think might impair your fitness to undertake training?"

Julie wants to follow a career in a health related profession, so she must register with the professional body before she starts her training.  Her criminal record will be checked, and she also has to answer this question about her health.  If she declares her illness then the  professional body has to decide whether or not to allow her to continue.

What would a reasonable person think about Julie's condition?  I don't know: it's so long since Julie fell sick that I've forgotten what it was like to be on the other side.  Most people are very badly informed about mental illness, so I'm not sure that the thoughts of even the most reasonable of people would be worth hearing on this subject.  I know that some people find her illness frightening and unmanageable, but I don't know many people like that any longer because, understandably, events have tended to discourage them from remaining friends with us.  I now know a disproportionate number of people who are very familiar with mental illness, who feel that Julie is coping so well at the moment that she is not currently seriously impaired at all.  Both these sets of people could be considered reasonable.

Reading carefully through the notes that accompany this declaration I suspect that Julie will have to declare her illness to the professional body.  They do go to great lengths to try and reassure that they don't practice discrimination against anyone with a disability, but there's not enough information to tell us what they are likely to decide in any specific case.  It's impossible to know what experience and prejudices they might bring to bear in making their decision on her case, but its clear that withholding any information would put her in a bad light.

I know anecdotally that some healthcare professionals with mental illness have had to resort to subterfuge in order to practice at all, but I don't want Julie to begin her career with a lie.  Anyway, I don't think she has the ability to hide her illness for two months let alone the length of time it takes to qualify.