Christina's story
Oh, my mental health. I have spent a vast majority of my life dealing with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. I've faced a lot of struggles. Basically I find it extremely difficult to be around, I guess, a lot of people for a very long period of time. I found it extremely hard to handle my anxiety while in a workplace.
I was on work trial at a real estate and I was having an extremely hard time with admin work and having all these people in my face and making demands, and I wasn't sure how to handle that. So I ended up asking the boss if I could maybe do something quieter like something where I could be away from everybody for a little bit just to calm down. And she basically just said, "Look, we don't have time for you because you are too much work and we've got too many people to deal with." She goes, "I think you should just go home."
Us those of us with mental health issues can feel like we are a part of the community. Like we matter instead of being completely ostracized. That had a huge impact on my life moving forward. Basically if I have a job to go to or if I have like an interview or something, my mind goes into overdrive, and I just start assuming the worst possible scenarios basically assuming things that more than likely won't happen, but in turn causing panic attacks.
If anyone with a mental illness has a problem with something that they're doing like as in a workplace or something, speak up. I think that they should take the time to understand and listen the best they can. And well, I feel that most bosses, if not all, should actually be educated in different mental health issues so they know how to deal with it. I feel that as a community, if we have that education, I think it would make everybody more relaxed and it'll make everything a lot easier.
