Lisette
By day, I’m a consultant and a group fitness instructor. I’m an arts and crafts creative. The rest of the time, I’m a mom. I am a sister. I’m an aunt. I’m a friend. I’m an outside kid. And like Elle Woods, I’m a Gemini, and a vegetarian. I also have bipolar disorder. At other times, I could keep the fact that I was struggling to myself or a limited circle of people. This time, anyone around me could tell that something was wrong. My thoughts just weren’t working. I knew I needed help, and I admitted to the Skyland Trail day treatment program.
After the right medications started helping me communicate better, I enjoyed being in a diverse group of people. Even though my experience was as a mom, their experience was as a college student, and someone else’s experience was as a retired person, we all understood what it’s like to feel bad, and what it’s like to want to feel better. We learned a common language to share those experiences and to learn from each other.
Everyone at Skyland Trail understood that language. As someone having trouble putting my thoughts together, I appreciated that I didn’t have to explain what was going on with me to each person. From my psychiatrist to the nurse in the clinic – they knew. It was all connected.
In my individual therapeutic work, I came in with one stated goal: I wanted to get a job. I recently was laid off from I job I loved. That really rocked my confidence and changed the way I thought about myself. In my mind, getting the right job would fix everything. Once I started working with my therapist, we started unpacking everything bundled up in that seemingly straightforward goal: shame, self-esteem, people-pleasing, clarifying my values, and, practically, understanding what I really needed from a vocation to support my wellness. Of course, I knew all of that was there. But having the time and help to sort it all out was what I needed to move forward.
All the other connected parts of the Skyland Trail whole helped me heal too. As a crafter – and let’s face it, as a human – I loved ceramics! Music therapy reminded me that you don’t have to be good at it for it to be fun and good for you. In the wellness clinic, they discovered I had an undiagnosed heart condition and helped me find the right treatment. That was life-changing!
Today, I’m able to give myself grace without making a big deal about it. I’m spending less time analyzing what I did wrong. And I’m spending more time moving forward and getting towards what’s next. I hope that this gets easier for everybody. I hope that, the more people understand what mental health means to themselves and to other people in the world, I hope it gets easier for everyone to take care of themselves and make their mental health better.