Over 50 years ago when I was first diagnosed with manic depression which is what bipolar was called then, I was overwhelmed by shame and filled with anxiety about ever leading an independent life.

Fast forward 50 years where there are many jobs in mental health where lived experience is seen as very desirable.

Among friends and close and extended family I have had people use my lived experience so they could get a job. What surprised me was that some of these people did not ask me first and also I had never discussed my experiences with them.

People with lived experience can identify either as someone with personal experience of mental health challenges and/or addiction, or as a family member, friend, supporter, or carer who has supported a person living with mental ill-health and/or addiction.

I know friends whose relatives not only never discussed their lived experience but never supported them yet used the relationship to help get my friend's relatives employment.

I am glad my mental health life skills helped people I know to get work but also surprised how so much has changed in under 50 years. Many years revealing one had a mental illness would usually lead to being unemployable.

I have used my lived experience for voluntary work which I enjoy as an opportunity to use my knowledge to help people just starting their mental health journey.

I am pleased those with no lived experience personally or those with lived experience can get employment. I realise there is still stigma for people with mental health but there are far more positive role models.

It doesn’t matter if your lived experience is for a few months, years or many decades. What changes have you noticed? What changes have you felt were helpful and what changes in attitudes to mental health are you still waiting for?

Have you had someone you know use your experience unknown to you, to help them with employment? How did you feel? What is the biggest change you have noticed in your lifetime with how people with mental health are seen by the community?

Leah 

A Moodscope member