Karen Liberman believes thousands of workers affected by mental illness are trying to hide it, unable to talk about it
Karen Liberman was once so ill with clinical depression that she would sometimes spend 24 hours at a time crying. Though she now says she was barely surviving at the time, she nonetheless continued to go to work through ten years of illness. “While suffering, I was ashamed, and I kept my illness a secret as much as possible,” she told the magazine Benefits Canada. “I did not ask for support. I learned that not acknowledging my illness left me isolated; it also meant my co-workers could not address the issue, which created resentment.”
Karen was eventually hospitalized and after a lengthy period of recovery, she joined the work of the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario. Her work included raising awareness about mental illness and reducing the stigma associated with it. Karen believes there are thousands of workers affected by mental illness who are trying to hide it. “People are afraid to talk because they don’t have the skills or the language,” she says.
We speak with Karen Liberman.
