I'm a nurse and i work in community mental health, and also have bipolar disorder. I've been doing this work 10 years. I have hidden my mental health issues professionally, mainly because of stigma, but also shame and denial. It's a long story, and the details don't really matter. Anyways, in the past year i've been a little more open about it, but only if it is somehow relevant. And i don't tell patients, except vague things like that i've been to some dark places too.

Anyways, i've been under sone scrutiny because of a hospitalization 3 years ago, but that period of monitoring is ending in just a few months. I want to do something anti-stigma, to talk about what i've experienced, and to demonstrate that even so i am a really good nurse.

It would be a political, mad-pride kind of thing to do. And i could never take it back. But at some point i want to, maybe soon.

I became a nurse because i was treated badly every time i ended up in the ER at 19 and 20, and i knew i could do a better job, show people more compassion. And i get to do that all the time, and i love it.

Something to take a stance that there is no difference between the patients and professionals, we are all people, and no one is immune to mental illness. I want to make what i've been through meaningful.

So how to do it is the question, and when.