My mental illness didn't keep me from being a nurse, but it helped me know what kind of nurse I want to be. And I am so grateful for this chance to help those in my community and do what I love.
Viewing entries in
Prose & Poetry
When I paint I lose the sense of time, my surroundings and more importantly my thoughts. This has allowed me to learn to manage my mental health as it reduced a lot of my stress.
The once confident man I had been seemed to have vanished; I couldn’t even get out of bed to go to school without anxiety medications. Anxiety? What the FACK was that?
I am ridiculously open with my students about my mental health when I need to be. If there is a student who is struggling emotionally and is diagnosed or is wondering if they should seek intervention, I will tell them that I have biploar disorder, that it’s really hard sometimes, but that there is also hope that it won’t “ruin” my life. I think it’s good for them to know that you can have a mental health issue and still be a functioning member of society.
There is such stigma surrounding postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. We do not want to be seen as "crazy" or as an unfit mother. We are neither of those. Rather we are mothers, fathers and families trying to work our way out of the dark. If we focus on a perfect world in pictures and worry about what others think of us we stay lost.