How has your Mental health affected you as a PWD? How do you manage your fears? What get's you going

SarahBosibori

Well! I am not going to use statistics on how bad Mental health affects us in these times and the era we are in, pressures of day-to-day living. Social media becoming the leading cause of how so many are rushing to belong, to be the next trend, be the next TikTok star. For a PWD our pressures revolve around our abilities which I hate, that statement alone is a label. Let alone with the expectations of being a breadwinner, someone who is to have a good job, have their own place and is paying rent monthly, you know basically be an INDEPENDENT individual in society.

Job opportunities are limited for us unless we have an experience of 2 years or 3 maybe, have a college degree or master's those are the job descriptions I see all the time. We have focused so much on qualifications that we forget that there are talents that can contribute to that particular job or even on-the-job training.

Now you see? those are the triggers that make us want to quit, we then go through depression because we feel like we don't belong. I have the opportunity to network and that's how I got my first job as a waitress at a space that accommodated me and my condition. I became really good at it and was very consistent at my Job, got so many tips and customers were always satisfied.

Despite the challenges, my anxiety and the situational depression I go through I normally say having the best safe spaces and supportive people are what keep me going and pushing myself to who I want to become as a person.

I wish to also encourage my colleagues that there is always going to be barriers but each and every one of us has a purpose in this world.

BKiwu

What you are saying is very true @SarahBosibori. Persons with disabilities have a lot of pressure within themselves especially with the issue of wanting to be independent in light of limited resources and abilities. We always ask ourselves questions at the back of our minds if things will ever work out. The solution is to focus on our abilities and take our time. All things will workout eventually. Look at Stephen Hawking. All he could move in his body was a facial muscle. Yet he became probably the best scientist of our time. Of course, this acceptance did not come easy but its best if we focused on the positive side.

BaskharReddy

True statement about Stephen Hocking