My name is Kate and I am 32 years old at present.
When I asked loved ones to describe me some of the words that were used include, positive, resilient, hopeful, quirky, courageous, kind and passionate.
I work in mental health and have done for four years. Getting into the mental health field is single handedly the best thing I have ever done, and I just love it so much. I started off doing PSW and then became a mental health advocate at Alma street and FSH. I’ve recently left this role and have now gone back to doing peer work fulltime at RUAH community services – and I’m very excited about this!
My passions (aside from working in mental health) include, writing and speaking – in relation to mental health recovery, personal development, and reducing stigma in society. I also love seeing friends and family and I like to have fun and laugh a lot!
I have written a memoir that is in its editing stages at the moment… and hopefully will be published soon! I write blogs and I also write presentations. My presentations are generally about one or several of the following topics: my lived experience story, my recovery journey, different recovery concepts such as hope and resilience, and reduction of stigma and self-stigma.
I am telling you all this information so you can start to form a picture of who I am, at this time. Generally, the picture that people form is quite a positive one… and this is important, because when I go on to talk about my experiences with mental illness, peoples vision of me can get clouded (when stigma tends to set in).
I have battled with mental illness for the majority of my life.
Diagnosis’ from beginning to most recently include anorexia nervosa, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder, social phobia, depression, psychosis, mania and schizoaffective disorder. These span from roughly the ages of 14 to 26
The important thing to remember about me, is that despite going through almost all mental illnesses under the sun, I have made an amazing life for myself. One that I am very proud of and excited about. In other words, remember that recovery from serious mental illness, does happen! And remember that people with serious mental health diagnosis’ are capable of living amazing lives!
I have purpose in my life now, to prove the nay-sayers wrong… to help society see that we (people with mental illness) can strive and thrive in life… to help society see how awful mental health stigma is, how unnecessary it is, and how much it can affect people’s ability to recover and move forward in their lives. So, say no to stigma!
Luckily, I didn’t succumb to the negative stigma, although I did battle with it and still do at times. I remember back when I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, my GP told me to go onto the disability pension because he figured I wouldn’t be able to work ever again. I remember when I first got diagnosed my “best friend” at the time, cut me out of her life entirely (I was going to be her maid of honor at her wedding, but after this I wasn’t even invited to attend).
I got over all this eventually, but the recovery journey was slow and arduous at first (and stigmatized ideas about schizophrenia probably had a lot to do with this). Now I am absolutely open book with everybody in my life… the more superficial friends fell by the way side, and I have been left with an amazing bunch of friends, work colleagues, and family, who know everything about my past, and who love me for who I am. They are all amazing; they are understanding when I have an off day and always encourage me to do my best and to strive for greatness.
Most of my recovery I would say was helped by my willingness to push myself out of my comfort zone, consistently. I can say with certainty that I would not be where I am today, if this wasn’t the case.
When I was diagnosed with the schizoaffective disorder I had very little in my life. I had a roof over my head and my immediate family… and really, that’s about it. Now I have my own gorgeous little place in east Fremantle, many wonderful friends and colleagues, a wonderful job, an extensive resume, including being a key note lived experience speaker at the very first WAAMH conference in 2016. I have a life full of passion and purpose and meaning, and I am motivated to keep striving and thriving – always moving towards my ultimate dreams and aspirations – personal and professional.
Some of my milestone decisions include – (in relation to pushing myself out of my comfort zone) :
- Making the decision that I wanted more for my life – rather than staying stuck in fear and isolation and on disability pension.
- Making the decision to start internet dating (was terrified)
- Making the decision to apply for a retail job (also terrified).
- Making the decision to start socializing again with 2 friends – and then the decision to go to a party that I was invited to (terrified x 1000).
- Making the decision to tell my partner about my diagnosis
- Making the decision to apply for a job in mental health
- Making the decision to do my first talk in public – and every other time after that!
- Making the decision to take up writing – specifically writing my book (which was confronting to say the least!)
- Making the decision to write blogs that upload to my Facebook – which means sharing my whole self with everyone on my Facebook
And the list goes on….
The thing to remember here is, if you’re not pushing yourself, if you’re not a little bit uncomfortable in your life… you’re not growing, and if you’re not growing, you’re not really living…
If there would be three things that you take from my talk today… hopefully they would be:
- Recovery happens! It can take a long time….and requires patience and strength… but it’s important to never, ever give up…. because you just don’t know what may be around the corner!
- Change can be uncomfortable, but pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is necessary for real, life changing recovery to take place.
- Don’t judge a book by its cover, or in other words, always look to see the person behind the diagnosis…
One final note:
Yes, it may be difficult at times to understand what is going on for someone effected my mental challenges, but don’t let that separate you from those people. Like me, those people are human beings, with families and friends and hopes and dreams. Don’t give up on them…
Believe in them, and they will better believe in themselves….and this is key!
Kate's Niche 