….. let’s talk about mental health in the workforce.
Whether you’re a summer camp counselor, a waitress, an accountant, a doctor, or even a student- struggling with mental health is hard enough on a daily basis let alone in the workplace. It could be your anxiety, your depression, your OCD, etc. that’s affecting how you normally work. And you know which part sucks the most? No one can see it.
If I broke my leg and wasn’t giving 100% because I physically can’t walk at my usual pace- then everyone would know why I’m slacking a little and they’d be okay with it.
If I was really depressed, or suicidal, and wasn’t giving 100% because I mentally can’t process stuff how I normally would- then no one would know why and they would view me as a “poor worker.”
In my mot recent post, “Hold Me Accountable”, I wrote about how people can have a lasting impression of you because of your mistakes. To elaborate, during December- my bad month: http://infatuatedwithsimplicity.com/and-the-battle-continues/
I let things get out of control and I almost took my life again, I bought the medication and everything to overdose. No one else knew except for the people that spent a lot of time with me. I’m an executive board member for my dance crew so not only am I a part of a crew but I also help run the crew. I grew distant, I wasn’t smiling, and I stopped spending time with other dance crew members- but no one knew why. So everyone assumed that I was slacking, didn’t care about the crew, and they viewed me as a bad leader (and that stinks considering the fact that I’ve been on the crew for 2 years.) As I said before, one bad slip-up can change everyone’s opinion of you.
But no one is perfect. We are all human. We are all still growing.
And I can’t stress enough how important it is to start the conversation about mental health and why it’s so important. People that don’t understand panic disorders, suicidal thoughts, or depression tend to view people that do have that illness as a “cry for help” or a “bother” because they don’t function how everyone else functions. People who have those disorders already feel like a burden- don’t make them feel even worse just because you choose to be ignorant.
Nobody is the same. Everyone works at different paces.. and that’s okay!
But people need to understand mental health- so I’ll keep writing to help spread the conversation, until people do understand.
x
Jess
