JTSenior Contributor
What does mental illness look like exactly?
Yes, this is a rhetorical question. I work within the mental health field and my mental illness is the reason I work where I do; without it I wouldn't have the position. One of the reasons I am where I am is because I am stable enough to lead by example and do what needs to be done yet still have the consumer perspective.
As a new position I've spent much of the last couple of months meeting people and telling them about the position to people who are on the whole welcoming, accepting and have used me (or perhaps utilised me would be a better terminology there) to achieve a result.
Naturally however there are still many who do ask what is my lived experience/my diagnosis and then scoff and say I don't look like I have bipolar or better yet I look too stable. When buying an apple you know you are getting something with similar colour and taste but no one expects any two apples to be identical lol.
My tongue in cheek comment to a colleague when I relayed that latest look of disbelief was that perhaps I should stop my meds for a while and then invite the "disbelievers" along for the ride?
