Magpie2Senior Contributor
'Wellness continuum' - ableist BS?
At work today we had a presentation on our EAP.
I'm on thin ice (thanks to my condition, and a pretty unconstructive approach from my manager) so I don't want to rock the boat.
The presentation was mostly marketing the EAP from our new EAP provider. I know they get paid per employee, not paid more the more we use it, but it just seemed like marketing spin to make their service look good to well managers, and make struggling people feel like crap.
The heart of it was a 'wellness continuum': a simple line showing a red zone of poor wellness, a green zone of wellness, and a shaded yellow zone in between. They say that people can move either way from time to time.
But to me, sitting here in the red zone, it just looks like able-ist crap. It's obviously one-dimensional, and neglects dimensions like physical health, job security (or not), and contributions to the workplace (as this was a presentation in the work context) and community.
I feel like we don't just move back and forth on the continuum over time, but that it's possible to be really well and functioning at the same time/on the same day as being really messed up in the head. I've had days where I'm totally anxious and stressed out of my head, but can get 'in the zone' at work and do really good work. I can also be doing really good work, but lose memory/dissociate, but know that there's a memory gap I can compensate for.
It's not just annoying that this is inaccurate, it's upsetting because my manager (who was also listening to the same virtual meeting) has that same approach. My mental health was getting much better until August last year, then deteriorated heaps again during lockdown. I mostly kept it together for work, but messed up on one project in November. I took a few days of leave, but since then they've been really full-on about my condition: making me repeatedly get medical certificates to say I can work, then another medical certificate to 'clarify' the first one, then really intense conversations justifying the whole hurtful and discriminatory process.
This workplace/HR is otherwise generally really open-minded and genuinely want to do the right thing. They talk about recognising people's lived experience, and have recently finalised a disability inclusion action plan. But this presentation was the mental health equivalent of offering free gym memberships and shaming anyone who can't participate in that.
Has anyone seen a presentation or 'wellness continuum' like this? Do you think it's possible to convey how this looks to someone with lived experience of poor mental health; how do we accept poor mental health as a disability at the same time as getting the most out of what capability we have?
Or just tell me you get it when someone bangs on about resilience, oblivious to how hurtful it is to be obviously in their non-resilient category.
