2020 February 17 - Jennifer Carter

Jennifer is a strong, independent woman on her own for 20 years. She was single during that time but had her beloved cats. She held a managerial role in a government office. In fact, she was the youngest female manager in the sector.

However, in 2014 she had a nervous breakdown in the office. Contrary to how that is portrayed in popular culture, nervous breakdowns aren’t always what you’ve been shown. Jennifer’s occurred over a number of weeks. One of her staff finally got her to her doctor. After that she was put off work  for 18 months.

One day, during those 18 months off work, struggling to not cry or to get out of bed, Jennifer found a therapist that focused on burnout and anxiety. Showing self-care and strength, she wrote to him and he found her a spot in his clinic.

She worked every day, followed his homework (for the first month or two, that was just learning to sleep again), focused on building self esteem and managing the anxiety attacks. In March of 2016 she returned to the same job.

It was the same office; the same staff. She has been there now for over 3 years without any breaks. Jennifer has learned how to draw her boundaries and how to take a day off for self care. 

Her director general told her that out of all the people he’s reintegrated into the workplace from mental health leave, she’s the only one who has succeeded - and this isn't a sign of Jennifer being better than anyone else. She believes it's a sign that she was more focused than a lot of people. 

Jennifer asked for help when she needed it to continue pursuing therapy. She bought a bicycle so she could get out of the house sometimes. She took charge of her own health and future.

Jennifer has since bought a house, met her now husband and has two stepdaughters to go with the cats! She takes care of herself and now Jennifer gets to be an example for little girls as to how to be a strong woman, who loves her family, is kind and generous without being a jerk, and is respected in her work after facing some real demons.