Hiding Mental Health

Its was a really strong urge at first to hide my mental health so that I still fitted into the 'Normal' model of society. After my first Hospitalisation I dilligently hid my mental health through careful covering up and a lucky coincidence that I happened to be the Director of a Limited Company when I was admitted and I continued to be for most of my recovery. So when it came to being well into my recovery and wanting to get back into full time employment I used this to my advantage. This time around I have now had a period of approximately a year where I have been in recovery and due to some side effects from my medication I have only been able to complete volunteering for a half day a week. There is no where I can turn to hide this length of time off of work. This time I have positioned myself in envirnments that advocate on behalf of those experiencing mental health conditions. I chose to volunteer for a mental health charity and have also decided to be one hundred percent transparent about my experiences and advocate and talk about my experiences with an openness and honesty that I have never done before. I have had mixed results even in what would appear a safe environment such as a mental health charity. IT appears that when it comes to recovery and returning to work we still have some way to go towards a healthy level of acceptance, dignity and respect.