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“Close to Your Chest”- On Working Openly With Psychosis
Dear Professor, Back around 2011, I applied for a position in your lab as a research assistant. I hadn’t been your student, but your research interests were near enough to mine that the job caught my attention. I eagerly told you that part of why I was interested in the position was because of my own experiences with severe mental illness, specifically, schizoaffective disorder. Your face became serious. You told me that that was something I should keep close to my chest when seeking a job. In the moment, I was fiercely upset. I vowed that I would not keep this close to my chest. Because I should not have…
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Society Shouldn’t Tell Me How To Experience My Mental Illness
Society tells us many things, but, when it comes to how people experience mental illnesses, it's time for society to stop and listen.
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The Right to Feel – How I Stopped Blaming Myself for My Mental Illness
I’ve felt like I don’t have a right to be as broken as I am. I grew up with a loving family. We weren’t wealthy, but I never wanted for necessities. Growing up, the largest trauma I thought I faced was my parents’ amicable divorce. My mom moved several times, remarried, and my brother and I had to change elementary schools, but I actually preferred the new school. I can’t look back and spot significant hardship until high school. Lately, I argue with my psychiatrist – that others have had it worse. That I don’t have a right to feel this emotional turmoil. Yes, I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder…
