WELLNESS4PROS WELCOMES YOU

I have many intersecting identities, that to the visible eye, hold an enormous amount of privilege and power. The visible identities that give me my most unearned advantage include being a white, able-bodied male. I appear to be a well put together and well to do social worker without any discernable disadvantages. Others of you may hold a similar advantage, but I understand that there are many more that are put into a box and discriminated against for parts of your visible identities.

The goal and objective of this website is to bring all types of people with advantages and disadvantages alike that experience mental illness as a working professional. I have a hidden identity of living with schizoaffective disorder that has brought challenges and obstacles that would not be present if I had not chosen to share in such a public way.  

In the content and community of this website, I will highlight and honor diverse perspectives different than my own to counteract my privilege. I understand that people with many intersecting identities of oppression may be deterred by the privilege I hold, and I may seem unrelatable. Thus, I will bring diverse content and encourage those with different identities to share their own stories of intersectionality related to their hidden identity of living with mental illness on the website. As this website grows, it will be used to inspire and make visible all identities that are marginalized in tandem with the intersectionality of living with a mental illness. 

By sharing my struggle of living with a mental illness, those that share my identity will be able to identify with my story specifically. Importantly, those like me will also gain a diverse understanding of others’ experience that are marginalized and oppressed by their visible identity. Including many diverse perspectives will only grow the sense of community and respect for one another.  

Mental illness is a hidden identity that some of us have held as a deep secret to those that we work with, love, and interact on a daily occurrence. It can be shameful to have to admit we live with a mental illness, but I know that it doesn’t have to be this way. We fear to share that we have been psychiatrically hospitalized or take medicine for our ailment. Our narratives as successful individuals have protected us from complete social exclusion, but there are those that have been oppressed and destroyed by the stigma of mental illness. 

Another privilege in the world of mental illness is having access to private insurance. I have had insurance throughout my time living with mental illness. It has helped me on my journey of recovery, but there are many of you living with mental illness that do not enjoy the comfort that this brings. Even the working professional with insurance can be burdened with high co-pays, lack of coverage for mental health services, and other barriers to mental health treatment. Living with a mental illness is somehow perceived to be a character defect rather than a biological imbalance and disease. 

This website aims to improve the visibility of all types of people living with mental illness in the professional world. Sharing our hidden identity as a person living with a mental illness in solidarity can, and should, prevent others from experiencing the discrimination and oppression we may have incurred due to our hidden identity being unveiled involuntarily or voluntarily.  

My identity as a person living with schizoaffective disorder influences every choice I make each day. I often hear voices that others do not, and this causes me to have to filter and logically reason before making choices. I have grown in my strength of discarding the unimportant and destructive ones and highlighting and focusing on the positive ones. I choose to share in an open, honest, and authentic way. There are many dark stories and experiences that have occurred in my life, and I hope that sharing these with you will help you realize that living with a mental illness does not have to be social or even more serious literal suicide. 

Due to my many privileged identities, I know that I am risking less than many of you with several intersecting, marginalized, and oppressed identities by coming out with my story. Whether you choose to share your story as well, or just feel the support of people like you living with mental illness, I hope that this website helps bring us together. I pray that it gathers us as a community of fellow travelers in this world with the blessing of mental illness that helps us to be more empathetic and authentic with people that are struggling.