I have a history of depression and ADHD, and I take (two different) meds for them and regular therapy for the depression. I’m also looking for jobs right now and I see this voluntary self-identification question all the time. It states it won’t hurt me, and I think it usually mentions they want to know so that they can report that they hire x% of people with disabilities.
So far I’ve always answered “no” because I feel like this is one of those things that shouldn’t hurt my chances, but in practice will. Either on purpose (manager passing me for someone “normal” and making up some other excuse if questioned) or cause of subtle bias (manager seeing yes and jumping to conclusions subconsciously).
In a proper system this is something that should be self-reported and not handled by the employer. An example:
$Employer gives you a form to fill out with your disabilities and their Employer ID#.
You fill out the form (if you get hired) and send it to $GovernmentAgency yourself.
$Employer lets $GovernmentAgency know that they hired you.
$GovernmentAgency gives a quarterly statement to $Employer without any specific information tied to individuals.
Same thing with race, sex, age, and all the other affirmative action qualifiers. These are really things that employers should not know or care about in the hiring process.
As it is, don't feel bad about lying on the forms with stuff like this. The system is rigged against you, don't give them any more ground if you don't have to.
So far I’ve always answered “no” because I feel like this is one of those things that shouldn’t hurt my chances, but in practice will. Either on purpose (manager passing me for someone “normal” and making up some other excuse if questioned) or cause of subtle bias (manager seeing yes and jumping to conclusions subconsciously).