Overcoming Trauma & Discrimination
Donation protected
Recently, I dealt with some pretty serious discrimination at work due to my gender identity. Some of these things include being forced to work away from others in a literal closet, being regularly called a “faggot”, physically threatened, and then fired for complaining about these things.
It’s hard to explain how humiliating this can be and how helpless it makes you feel as a person. So, it becomes easier to just shove all of this away and try to move on. I have bills to pay like everyone else, so I went on and found a new job. But, that didn't stop this experience from haunting me. Even with my new job, I had therapy & medical bills starting to back up. After being laid off a few months later, I started to have massive anxiety issues. I started to get panic attacks in job interviews and flashbacks to traumatic events from years & decades ago at night. It was clear I needed some time to process what I'd been through before jumping back into work again.
I had dealt with years of harassment and even incidents of assault regarding my gender identity prior to facing discrimination at work. On top of this, I lived through Hurricane Katrina and the trauma from that resulted with me being diagnosed with PTSD, which still impacts and compounds everything else. Despite this, I always felt like even though life can be tough for me, I can look around and always find someone it's tougher for and my problems seem so small. I've always tried to help others as a way to forget about my own issues. But, my problems are not small if they are disrupting my life this much. I can't help anyone if I can't help myself.
So, I've spent the past year, supported by my loving partner of 10 years, working through and coming to terms with these experiences to overcome the depression & anxiety issues they are causing. I'm at the point where I'm back to lining up interviews with companies that I know will respect me and my identity as much as my technical skills and experience within my field. I'm trying my best to make my story one of hope and triumph for those who suffer from these relatively invisible monsters of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and/or discrimination that afflict so many people. But, I still need some help from others to get there.
A whole year is a long time. I didn't expect this to take as long as it has. I have quite a backlog of bills as a result. For the past few months especially, I've had to choose between seeing a doctor, filling a prescription, going to therapy, or rent/food/etc. I'm currently flirting with eviction, which is a frustrating situation to be in after doing so much to get myself well. I'd love to get all of my bills paid up, but even if I can only get help with some of them, that should be enough to keep a roof over my head and moving in the right direction. In the event I find myself raising more than I need, I plan on using that to help someone else in a similar situation.
It’s hard to explain how humiliating this can be and how helpless it makes you feel as a person. So, it becomes easier to just shove all of this away and try to move on. I have bills to pay like everyone else, so I went on and found a new job. But, that didn't stop this experience from haunting me. Even with my new job, I had therapy & medical bills starting to back up. After being laid off a few months later, I started to have massive anxiety issues. I started to get panic attacks in job interviews and flashbacks to traumatic events from years & decades ago at night. It was clear I needed some time to process what I'd been through before jumping back into work again.
I had dealt with years of harassment and even incidents of assault regarding my gender identity prior to facing discrimination at work. On top of this, I lived through Hurricane Katrina and the trauma from that resulted with me being diagnosed with PTSD, which still impacts and compounds everything else. Despite this, I always felt like even though life can be tough for me, I can look around and always find someone it's tougher for and my problems seem so small. I've always tried to help others as a way to forget about my own issues. But, my problems are not small if they are disrupting my life this much. I can't help anyone if I can't help myself.
So, I've spent the past year, supported by my loving partner of 10 years, working through and coming to terms with these experiences to overcome the depression & anxiety issues they are causing. I'm at the point where I'm back to lining up interviews with companies that I know will respect me and my identity as much as my technical skills and experience within my field. I'm trying my best to make my story one of hope and triumph for those who suffer from these relatively invisible monsters of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and/or discrimination that afflict so many people. But, I still need some help from others to get there.
A whole year is a long time. I didn't expect this to take as long as it has. I have quite a backlog of bills as a result. For the past few months especially, I've had to choose between seeing a doctor, filling a prescription, going to therapy, or rent/food/etc. I'm currently flirting with eviction, which is a frustrating situation to be in after doing so much to get myself well. I'd love to get all of my bills paid up, but even if I can only get help with some of them, that should be enough to keep a roof over my head and moving in the right direction. In the event I find myself raising more than I need, I plan on using that to help someone else in a similar situation.
Organizer
Ed Clairmont
Organizer
Somerville, MA
