engines half, straight ahead
As I mentioned in my overlong post about my bipolar disorder, the treatment plan informed by my new diagnosis is working quite well. Well enough, in fact, that I was able to give a short talk at the amazing CUSEC conference last week. That success was a major milestone for me, and a proof point that I was doing as well as I had hoped.
So this week, I’m going to be working half-time from the office (mornings), as I build a better structure to some parts of my life, and generally rebuild my brain strength. I still have some days with more anxiety than is usual or healthy, I still cry a little easily (like a bit while writing this post), and my stamina for difficult or frustrating work is about half of where I need it to get back to it. But hot damn, I can work again, and it feels fantastic.
I can’t write about my recovery without mentioning the support that’s made it possible. If someone dear to you is suffering with mental illness, know that your help and support — even just words of well wishing — can literally change their life.
Kia kaha! It gets easier :)
Hey Mike,
We never met, I went to Mozilla in Toronto to work for a bit over the Summer, but you were away.
One of my good friends has bipolar disorder, and it makes his life — especially in high school where certain kids can be brutal — very difficult. Great to see you’re back at work, hope everything goes well.
Glad to see you back and doing some work! I’ve got ADHD myself and my girlfriend is bi-polar, so I do have an inkling of a clue as to what you’re going through. Anyways, welcome back! =)
It is a rough thing to go through…but know that your words and experiences have been extremely helpful to us other sufferers.
Thanks for speaking briefly about mental health at the beginning of your CUSEC talk. Honesty and maturity like that is rare. Talking about it in front of a group of possibly immature students takes balls.
The rest of the talk was great too. I know you think you give answers that are too long, but the insane balance you brought to complex issues (e.g. IE) makes up for it. Don’t be hard on yourself; the answers were exactly the length they should have been.
OK, here you go then, srsly: words of well wishing words of well wishing words of well wishing!
Hey Mike,
We met at CUSEC, when you came by our table to ask our thoughts on the state of in-browser developer tools.
Just came here to say that your talk was the highlight of the conference. Although I graduated over 3 years ago, I was still really inspired to achieve more.
Cheers!