@Sakurapuss
Sakurapuss, you sound like a very nice lady trying to do the best thing by your family. In theory, a person can make anything happen. I turned up at an international airport without my passport once and convinced them to let me fly - SERIOUS.
Sakurapuss, you may have a few options (although why you're trying to hang in there with the workforce when discrimination is terrible and the mental health system beyond useless is confounding to me, but anyway): as I say, you MAY have a few options. Firstly, as I say you can SWING anything if you smile brightly enough, pretty much (god-willing). As your situation is very demanding but you are continuing to try to make it work (VERY admirable), would the govt consider giving you a healthcare card anyway so that you can go to the public mental health system? They might do this for you. Secondly, my advice is to keep away from the mental health system anyway. You probably have all the information you need about your diagnosis by now. Have a one-off meeting with a psychiatrist and get onto a medication regimen that works for you and then get your tablets from a G.P. and have rare, if any, meetings wth the psychiatrist. Someone at this forum mentioned that PIR (Partners in Recovery) paid for three psychiatrist appointments for them. See if you can get onto this program - i think they have a web-page. Secondly, there are many very kind and lovely counsellors out there who will give you counselling for free or cheaply as i mentioned in my last post. Christian counsellors are the best, I have found, and more likely to work cheaply or for free. Thirdly, at this point in history, discrimination is BIGGER THAN BEN HUR. You could try to let your colleagues know that you don't need discrimination as you already have enough to cope with but I don't like your chances of getting through to them. Maybe explain to them that mental illnesses are caused by trauma (they haven't isolated the gene/s yet and they may never do so. There may be no genetic basis). Keep looking for new ways to get your needs met. Why not try to find a psychiatrist that bulk bills or takes on clients for free (many psychiatrists actually will take on some clients for free on compassionate grounds; I forget sometimes that the little buggas aren't all bad). Try for the winning smile to get things done, and think outside the box. Can you get a social worker to do a lot of the leg-work for you? There are a lot of free services and YOU are the client: see what you can get them to do for you. You are very brave and hard-working. Good luck and god bless 🙂
I've just inspired myself. I might go back to the stupid workforce and not tell them about the stupid mental illness and put up with all the lousy comments they make about people with mental illnesses and live in fear of being 'found out'. Then again, maybe not 😞 ! Good luck, brave lady, and best wishes 🙂
