I am looking for a place to learn and practice how to talk about my depression and anxiety, so I can become strong enough to speak up about my condition in the workplace.
I have been highly functional in work settings for decades. After being diagnosed with Major Depression and Anxiety in 2016, I found myself unable to remember a time at which and didn’t have the underlying symptoms. My diagnosis came after roughly six months working with a therapist, as I was overwhelmed with a series of daunting problems that had taken over our lives. My therapist recommended that I see a psychiatrist, who then diagnosed my condition.
I am now, seven years after diagnosis, finding that my condition is beginning to affect my work, the one thing I had always avoided. I can legitimately point to significant external stressors, but I am tired of making excuses for myself. … and I am tired of the stress of hiding my condition. I’m currently on medical leave and in an IOP program. I want to get strong again. I want to go back to work as the person I truly am, complete with my condition. I want to go from hiding my condition to being open, and advocating for mental health in the workplace. But, aside from a very small group of closest friends and family, I can’t find how to even start the conversation.
Is there a place where we can come together, tell our stories in mutual safety, feel the words pass through our lips and experience telling our stories? … where we can learn to bravely tell our stories, so we become strong enough to tell our stories wherever we want?
