22 SO MANY MOUNTAINS IN THE RANGE What kind of work is right for you? of people with a disability with a tertiary he sorted out a lot of his issues and education diploma are five per cent higher regained a fair amount of self-worth and than the employment opportunities of the self-respect. general population with a tertiary education His psychotherapist suggested that he wasn’t If a person with mental illness diploma. getting enough support from the friends he is really motivated to work he/ was hanging around with who smoked a bit of Jamie’s Story she should be willing to try out pot and were mostly on the dole. decided any job. that he wanted more positive energy in his life so that he wouldn’t fall back into patterns of Jamie is 19 and has lived experience of MYTH BUSTED self-hatred. depression and anxiety. He’s even had a People with a mental illness depressive psychosis that led to a suicide This is something he works on when life have the same right as anyone attempt and a three-week stay in hospital. In seems meaningless and he feels guilty and else to choose the kinds of 2009, he completed a Certificate II in ashamed of himself. He’s made new friends who work they do. Conservation and Land Management and are all studying or working and together they found some work building tracks in the Hartz get into fixing up old Holdens (never Fords!). In Norway, the employment rate of Mountains south of Hobart. Because he struggled to find more work people with disabilities with tertiary His health deteriorated though. His depression building tracks, Jamie decided to go back to education hit him hard and he overdosed on prescription TAFE to do a mechanical course. He’s now is 30 per cent higher than the looking for work employment rate of those without in an automotive workshop, seeing his tertiary education. medicine just trying to dull the pain and psychotherapist and saving up for a new carbie escape from life. With help from a In Ireland, employment so he can finish the engine of his green EJ. psychotherapist, opportunities
22 SO MANY MOUNTAINS IN THE RANGE What kind of work is right for you? If a person with mental illness is really motivated to work he/ she should be willing to try out any job. MYTH BUSTED People with a mental illness have the same right as anyone else to choose the kinds of work they do. In Norway, the employment rate of people with disabilities with tertiary education is 30 per cent higher than the employment rate of those without tertiary education. In Ireland, employment opportunities of people with a disability with a tertiary education diploma are five per cent higher than the employment opportunities of the general population with a tertiary education diploma. Jamie’s Story Jamie is 19 and has lived experience of depression and anxiety. He’s even had a depressive psychosis that led to a suicide attempt and a three-week stay in hospital. In 2009, he completed a Certificate II in Conservation and Land Management and found some work building tracks in the Hartz Mountains south of Hobart. His health deteriorated though. His depression hit him hard and he overdosed on prescription medicine just trying to dull the pain and escape from life. With help from a psychotherapist, he sorted out a lot of his issues and regained a fair amount of self-worth and self-respect. His psychotherapist suggested that he wasn’t getting enough support from the friends he was hanging around with who smoked a bit of pot and were mostly on the dole. decided that he wanted more positive energy in his life so that he wouldn’t fall back into patterns of self-hatred. This is something he works on when life seems meaningless and he feels guilty and ashamed of himself. He’s made new friends who are all studying or working and together they get into fixing up old Holdens (never Fords!). Because he struggled to find more work building tracks, Jamie decided to go back to TAFE to do a mechanical course. He’s now looking for work in an automotive workshop, seeing his psychotherapist and saving up for a new carbie so he can finish the engine of his green EJ.
mountain_climbing_doc.docx