Have you experienced discrimination?

[embleton]

Write about your experiences of mental health discrimination on this forum.

[Ruthnaomi]

I have encountered lots of discrimination, now to think of an example. Hmmm. I worked at a special school as a volunteer just four years ago. It was challenging work for anybody, these children could not walk, talk, communicate or feed themselves. At least in the class that I was allocated too. At the time I was battling a deep depression, for personal reasons. The other teachers made my life a misery. They forced me to sit facing a wall by myself in the school staff room at lunch and break times. They would talk about me, and I thought it was just me being paranoid. I took two days off, spread over two months. The head teacher called me to her office and said that they would not need any volunteers for that class after the Christmas holidays, on the last day of term. I didn't even get a thank you for any of my hard work, and she said it was because I had depression. I really thought I had done something wrong, so asked? She replied that I am mad, and the staff disliked me.

Another time I did permitted work at a nursery, which shall remain nameless. They exploited my vulnerability at the time, a nineteen year old with severe enduring mental health problems. They paid me for the hours I was allowed to work, but gradually increased the hours I did there, with no extra pay. The younger staff there used to push me around and say things about me, as if I wasn't there. They used to put me on nappy run for a whole day at a time. One day a nursery nurse put my face into a nappy. I told my Cpn about this, and got really unwell as a result of this assault.