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My Experience with Mental Illness in the Workplace
In college, I interviewed for a position in the lab of a professor at my university. I eagerly explained that part of why I was interested in his work and the role was because of my personal experience with schizoaffective disorder. He gently advised me that my diagnosis was something I should keep closer to my chest in job interviews. At the time, I was almost offended. I’m out here trying to break stigma. How can I do that if I’m not open about it? But, over the years, I’ve come to understand why he said that. At this point in my life, I’ve been through several jobs in some…
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A letter to myself on the day of my diagnosis
8/5/2020 I know your mind is spinning right now. It’s August 5, 2008 and the words, “it’s looking to be schizophrenia,” are turning over and over in your head. You won’t ever forget the tone in her voice when she said it or her red nails. This day feels like the end of everything you’ve ever known, but it’s actually just the beginning of something entirely new. Your diagnosis will ultimately be updated to schizoaffective disorder, and you will struggle at first – with understanding your disorder, with the symptoms, the medication, and also the constant anxiety of being found out. But contrary to what you believe, those close to you will…
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On opening up about a diagnosis
Opening up is easier said than done There’s so much fear involved in opening up about a diagnosis or symptoms. It’s incredibly common for people to feel like their loved ones will abandon them or think poorly of them if they speak up about what’s happening. Fear is often joined by denial, and these feelings can be so strong that many people remain silent even as their conditions deteriorate to critical levels. My struggle with speaking up I have a very supportive family who always made it clear that I could tell them anything, but I struggled to tell them about the depression I’d been experiencing since I was a…