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That's right, learn to be confident in your illness. We who suffer mental illnesses have nothing more to be ashamed of than the person who has diabetes, or any other medical affliction. I used to be ashamed of my depression and anxiety, and used to fabricate lies to hide my appointments from my employer. I would rather have said anything but "I need to go back to my psy.. my meds aren't working".
But I have learned that each and every one of us has something a little bit wrong with us, no matter if it is physical or mental. I am now open to all my co-workers about my depression and anxiety, and by doing so, I have been more encouraged to help myself. What I have also observed is that when you are confident and not bashful about it, other people don't develop the stigma we think they carry!
Be proud of who you are, and defend yourself if necessary. Once, I was sitting down at a workstation and pulled out my bottle of Xanex. I was having some bad anxiety about relationship issues that were occurring at the time. A co-worker, who happened to be diabetic, sat down next to me and asked what I was taking, I calmly replied with "Xanex". He started chuckling and said, "why, can't take the heat", at which point I asked "why do you keep taking insulin shots...". Never again did he confront me, or act differently towards me, in fact, he became more friendly and cordial.
Just a few thoughts for those of us feeling down, ashamed, or left in the shadows.
Quote: Be ready at any moment, to give up the person we are, for who we are going to be.
I congratulate you for being forthright about your illness. It sounds as if doing so is good for your continued well-being as well as perhaps, the well-being of those around you.
Unfortunately there are still many people who will hold a mental illness against a person, no matter how well adjusted they may be, both in the workplace and outside of it. The stigma is still strong, especially when the average perseon so often sees mental illness linked in the news to all sorts of shootings and murders, its so difficult to get the right sort of help (whatever that may turn out to be) in our medica system, and there is just so much plain old ignorance surrounding mental illness.
Excellent segments here on how hard it is to be "out" about mental illness with family and friends:
I'm trying to be confident but when I started to feel like I can't breathe or get strange pains, its like I can't get myself to stop worrying. Last night, I was worried about having diabetes or high cholesterol. I was overweight, until I started exercising and turning myself around. I'm losing weight but I feel guilty about the bad stuff I did eat when I was overweight.
Excellent post!
I'm 37 and have been bipolar with chronic panic episodes since I was 16. I spent many years trying to fit in and be like everyone else. I did anything to be "normal", but people were repelled by me (and many still are I guess, don't care).
Now I don't hide it. I can't be something I'm not, and have zero desire to.
Sure I wish I could hold a job and not have to base everything around my current emotional state, but I cant. Been a lone wolf since I was a baby, always comfortable by myself and now comfortable with who I am.
Being open about an illness, whether mental or physical, steals others power over you. When people think they can control you with "secret knowledge" they will. A lady I worked with had high blood pressure, which she was open about. She didn't make it a primary topic of conversation all day long, but didn't go to any efforts to hide it, either. Then, one day, we had a new hire---actually a transfer from another dept. She thought she had found out a "big secret" when she found out about Vera's BP, and acted like she was telling everyone some secret. We all just shrugged and said, oh, yes, we know.....
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