Depression diagnosed - do I tell the client?

[northernladuk]

This. A contractor is not an employee. While there may be some who have good policies for this sort of thing, there are plenty who dont as far as contractors are concerned.

Not being facetious either but anyone liable to depression, being a contractor is one of the worst career choices to make imho.

Putting the cotton wool away for a moment I'd say +1 to this. Maybe not the worst choice but certainly not ideal.

[Fraidycat]

Not being facetious either but anyone liable to depression, being a contractor is one of the worst career choices to make imho.

As someone who battles depression and anxiety (nearly everything makes me anxious, i suffer from generalised anxiety and worry, my username might have hinted at that already) on an ongoing basis i have to agree. Being out of work is bad enough when you don't not have mental health problems, if you suffer from anxiety it is much much worse. The only defence i have found is a very large war chest, and by that i mean several years worth. A normal person might only need a year or two, but i need a lot more to keep my anxiety down.

[SueEllen]

This. A contractor is not an employee. While there may be some who have good policies for this sort of thing, there are plenty who dont as far as contractors are concerned.

Lots of companies/organisations pay lip service to their policies so it doesn't matter what type of worker you are as they will force you out.

Not being facetious either but anyone liable to depression, being a contractor is one of the worst career choices to make imho.

Agree.

[Old Greg]

This. A contractor is not an employee. While there may be some who have good policies for this sort of thing, there are plenty who dont as far as contractors are concerned.

Not being facetious either but anyone liable to depression, being a contractor is one of the worst career choices to make imho.

The Equality Act and associated case law views contractors as employees for equality purposes in many cases. Enforcement is a different matter.

[d000hg]

If I thought my work was being affected then telling the client makes sense before they realise it's being affected, unless you want to drag it out as far as possible which doesn't sound the most honourable thing.
You don't need to go into any detail you could simply say "health issues" even.

There is also the aspect that stressing about how your client is going to react to the news or to your quality of work, can itself contribute to your illness. So I'd advise taking that factor into account.