“I Was Diagnosed With Depression And Anxiety”

I am a good mother

I am a loyal friend

I am a loving wife

I am a successful physician

I am a powerful female

I am smart, capable, hardworking woman

I have dedicated my career to empowering women, teaching them, and supporting them

I am happy and content at where I am in my life and what I have achieved

I am also not immune to the stigma of mental health

I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety at the age of 19. In retrospect, I had symptoms since early childhood. I was always high functioning, top of my class, and never missed a beat.

Externally I had it all together, but internally I struggled to get out of bed every single day.

I was lucky enough to be at a college that put mental health resources within easy reach for students.

Because of this support and easy access to care, I started therapy, I started medication, and I have been stable and more self-aware ever since.

But the reality is, even admitting this online, puts my entire career at risk. You see, the world teaches us that admitting mental health struggles is an impairment, a weakness.

I can be denied disability insurance or forced to answer excessive questions on my licencing applications. Physicians with a stable diagnosis have even had their licences revoked without any evidence of an inability to do their job (see Dr Jennifer Lincoln’s post).

Physician suicide rates are also higher than any other profession. While there are many reasons for this, one of them surely is the stigma to admitting we need help until it’s far too late.

This must stop. We must support our doctors, our children, our students, our new mothers, everyone, and relay the message to STOP THE STIGMA.

To know more about this initiative: Stop Stigmatizing Mental Health: Our Stories, by Women in Medicine