Stigma

So recently I shared my story of battling insomnia. And as I had said I had bouts of insomnia from time to time over the years but never like this time. I believe this insomnia was being cause by both a change in my medications and stress. I literally would sleep for an hour or so and be wide awake for the next fourteen hours, fall asleep for an hour or so and repeat. I don't care who you are: no one can live like that for days at a time and function properly let alone be effective and productive in a work place setting. I missed 3 days of work due to this, in those days I managed to get in to see my doctor (which was not easy because he is very busy), I managed to get a prescription for sleeping meds, use them and get back into a functional routine so I could return to work in a safe manner.

Well when I got back it seemed I was being punished for having missed the last three days. Agreements made between me and a co-worker for some reason became null and void due to my absence, even though my absence in no way affected my co-worker or would have changed our work arrangement in any way. Obviously I cannot go into specifics but suffice to say my co-worker took advantage of my situation to get one up on me; talk about kicking someone when they are down. Also a person above me helped to change the arrangement I had with my co-worker even though neither of us directly work for him; he chose to stick his nose in our business because he seemed to not be happy with my absences for some reason even though they in no way affected him.

Long story short I was going through a bad time and people took advantage of that and kicked me when I was down (metaphorically not literally). It has helped me understand what people go through with mental illness and all the stigma that goes with it. Insomnia is obviously not a mental illness (although mental illness can cause insomnia that is not the case here) I was judged for not going to work due to insomnia. I heard whispers and saw some eye rolls when I returned to work (Suck it up, quit being lazy, go to bed earlier, etc. were no doubt being floated around behind my back). In my experience I find this treatment is the same for people who suffer from mental illness. "Poor you, suck it up already, I've been through worse, etc." are often muttered behind the backs of people with mental illness. I like to think I'm better than that because my Mom worked in the mental health field and she taught me a lot but the truth is before I learned about mental illness I too judged others who suffered from it. I just didn't understand the affects of mental illness. Just like I didn't understand what true insomnia felt like or how it can affect the mind and body until I had it.

My final thought on the matter:
Unless you have suffered from something, whether it be insomnia or mental illness, don't judge someone who is suffering from it. You cannot truly understand what they are going through.
Be patient and be kind to one another and don't take advantage or kick people when they are down.