Lived Experience Forum

[creative_writer]

@Jynx I’ve done tons of uni stuff while sleep deprived, though I did crash eventually. My sleep is very sensitive, I have to wear those amber glasses in the evening or it’s just too hard. I just have really bad light sensitivity. 9-5 can be hard for many. Since covid I also prefer the mixed in person and online work, maybe because of migraines too. My placement will be in person, 9-5 I’ll need to try to make it work for those 3 months. Gotta find better painkillers or a preventative or something.

I hope you slept well last night💖. I had to wake up early today

[Jynx]

@creative_writer yeah a couple of my ND friends who are especially light sensitive also need amber glasses, and also get migraines. Bit of a theme here 🤔 lol 

My placement was pretty nasty on my sleep schedule - 9am start, but it was nearly 2 hours away via public transport so... 6am starts - which doesn't sound too bad unless you compare it. My usual, comfortable wake up time is around 11am-midday. So if it were a person whose usual sleep schedule has them waking up at 7am-8am, it'd be like them having to wake up at 2am every day for 8 months! Knowing it was short term was definitely helpful in getting through it hey. How long's your placement go for? 

[creative_writer]

@Jynx it’s for three months. I’ve already completed the first placement, so I’m going onto the second. I’ve also had placement changes to accomodate for full time as opposed to part time. There is no way I’m starting placement during my end of semester assignment period, they’ll all worth 60% of my grade. I also prefer for the placement not to go into second semester. I don’t know what to expect from the new organisation during the interview, I’m actually nervous. Though I am very passionate about MH. It’s just crappy that uni often means migraines are terrible by the end of the day, maybe my chaotic emotions lately haven’t helped

[Jynx]

@creative_writer oh yeah very wise, I did similar - ended up taking just over 4 years to do a 3 year degree (partly cos of not wanting placement overlapping, partly cos of receiving my ADHD dx halfway through and having to process my entire sense of self getting flipped upside down) and very glad I did. 

Ahhh interview nervousness is a big mood haha - but if you display your passion and your compassion I have every confidence that you'll nail it! Is it gonna be towards end of the day, after uni? If it's a gnarly migraine, do feel free to be transparent about it potentially impacting you in the interview. Fun little side story - when I interviewed for SANE, my ADHD meds hadn't quite kicked in and the first question they asked me I literally went completely blank, like a deer in the headlights 😂 So I was transparent about my meds and my ADHD and asked for a bit of time to think and they were all for it, and spoke later about appreciating my candour. I would hope that you'd get similar understanding ifyou highlighted that a migraine was making it a bit harder for you to think on your feet during the interview! 

[creative_writer]

@Jynx it does mean I’ll be doing 3 month full time placement, but I think it’s a better option than juggling coursework and doing it part time. You want to go home from placement not stressing about other uni stuff.

I haven’t heard back from them yet. I only have a week to go for classes after the Easter break. Then it’s just assignments. I would prefer it to be on another day. I’ve done some research into the organisation, and need to include a resume when they ask me for one. It’s lovely SANE was understanding. I’m hoping I’ll get an understanding supervisor

[Jynx]

@creative_writer 100%! One thing at a time for my brain to stress about pls and thank 😂

Bit of a waiting game eh? Well I hope this org turns out to be a super good match for you, and you learn heaps and get lots of support along the way 😊

[creative_writer]

@Jynx it is likely to will be contacted after Easter. The placement staff are working hard to get us contacted with organisations. It may seem like the placement is a while away, but it’s good to get a confirmed spot soon. Some placements are actually competitive, but I’m not sure where this one stands. In an ideal world placements shouldn’t be competitive because it works to disadvantage to those who don’t have as much experience. I don’t honestly have much experience. I may have some mental health volunteer experience and customer service, but I feel like a lot of my other peers have more experience. I can’t afford to work and study at the same time because of MH and physical health. It makes me anxious. Look I’ll love for there be MH clinicians with lived experience and from diverse backgrounds

[Jynx]

@creative_writer Aye, agreed - and in a general sense no one should have to compete for a job, since that is directly tied to whether we can meet our needs. But I feel you already know this rant of mine! 😝

I totally get you on the difficulty of combining work and study. I could barely keep a two-day a week hospo job while I was at uni, I dunno how folks can work five days a week and study, even part time! 

Would you go back into volunteering before you finish up your degree? I was still volunteering when I started applying for jobs, I feel like "I'm currently volunteering" sounds better on a resume than "I was volunteering"... though same thing applies with the limited spoons each week I suppose. 

[creative_writer]

@Jynx I do want to take something up after completing placement. Something that will be related to MH, and hopefully by then I would make more progress on my own stuff and won’t feel as vulnerable. I don’t want to do too much stuff before placement, and I’m pretty much drowning in coursework right now, it finishes up just before placement. I only get two weeks off this winter. September semester is lighter, so I may be able to do more stuff then too. This semester has been crazy and heavy on coursework, I’m doing three, but I don’t think I’ve ever had such a heavy semester before. I might also talk to the placement organisation to see if they have anything to offer too, whether volunteer or even casual job wise

[Jynx]

@creative_writer it's a juggling act atimes isn't it? Gotta keep those plates spinning 😵

What's made this semester more intensive than others you reckon, is it just the particular subjects you're doing? 

Yes definitely ask about more work! Even if they don't have anything it's always good networking, and experience in networking too 😉