Work disclosure

Your disclosure turned out great.  And now you have an "ally" in the office to boot!  Must be feeling  good about it, Ariadnek Ph.D. 
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It's funny how thinks work in our favor sometimes.  It must have been a pretty awesome experience for you.  And your coworker is likely pleased the way it turned out as well. 

 

It's a small world, indeed.  Hope you can share time and experiences.....Judy

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After my son's suicide attempt, I was really hesitant to share any information with people at work.  We admitted him to the hospital and I went to work the next day like nothing had happened.

 

I felt so responsible for it and like a bad parent.  I did wind up having to share with my boss because I was a mess.  After talking to some people at his school, I just broke down and I had to tell someone.  As a teacher, you really can't sit there and cry.  So I told my paras I needed a minute and ran down the hall and talked to the principal.  She was very understanding, hugged me, and told me to take time off if I needed to.

Later, I was talking to a coworker about it and found out she had a daughter with the same exact issues as my son.  She gave me the number to their psychiatrist and told me of their experiences.

Their daughter is 17 now and doing well.  I was really thankful to find this out as I knew she was a good parent and a good person and she had the same problem I did.

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I'm noticing that many of us who have bipolar disorder say, "I am bipolar," rather than "I have bipolar disorder." To me identifying ourselves as the illness subtly perpetuates the stigma associated with it. I've never heard anyone say, "I am cancer," or, "I am MS." Diabetics identify themselves as diabetics, but I think this may be questionable, too, because as people we are so much more than our illnesses or disorders. Am I splitting hairs or denying the link between who we are and the illnesses we have, or might it be a small but important step to start identifying ourselves as multifaceted people who happen to have a brain disorder?
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