I am Hasmik and I have a psychosocial disability. About work challenges.

 

Hi. 

Thank you for being here with me and for your willingness to listen to everything I want to share with you.

My name is Hasmik, and I live with a mental health condition—I have bipolar affective disorder.

I've talked before about having a mental health condition, which you can find on my LinkedIn page, and what it's like from my perspective.

In this part, I would like to talk about the work-related obstacles I’ve been facing for many years.

By some strange imperative of life, my “little mischievous companion” tends to become active precisely when life is in full motion, when people are moving forward, when you’re supposed to enjoy the breath of spring or the golden sun of autumn—but instead, you find yourself fighting through each day, trying above all to be at peace with yourself. And that, I can assure you, is perhaps the most essential element of our inner harmony.

But what can you do when you have a natural and simple desire—to work, to create, to contribute positively through your efforts?

Of course, you choose the path of persistence, gather your strength, and get to work… only to suddenly be tormented by countless intrusive thoughts—thoughts that you are being watched, that people and the world are working against you.

You want to scream, to demand that they leave you alone, to stop “harming” you—but caught in the grip of fear, you remain silent, making it even harder to escape from that swamp.

And as a result, you become unable to work, your functionality becomes limited, your already fragile mental world becomes further disrupted, and you decide—again and again—to take a break. As if you’re caught in a constant spin…

So what is the reasonable accommodation that you, as someone living with this condition, need in the workplace?
Most likely, it’s a non-oppressive, empathetic, and supportive environment—a kind of attitudinal accessibility—where you can be heard and accepted, where you can work for a certain period, then rest, and continue again. Unfortunately, this is not always the case in our everyday reality, and that leads to the isolation of people with psychosocial disabilities.

To be continued…

I am Hasmik and I have a psychosocial disability.

 

Hi,

I would like to suggest that we engage in regular conversations around a topic that we might loosely call equal rights, fundamental human values, and everything that relates to the course of our lives.

I am Hasmik Buniatyan, a social worker, and I live with a mental health condition — bipolar affective disorder.

I developed this condition years ago and have been living with it ever since. I know that I will carry it throughout my life, yet it has not, and will not, prevent me from living my life as fully as possible.

I acquired this health condition following an interpersonal conflict, during which I fought for the rights that belonged to me. Losing that initial battle led me into the grip of death itself at the time.
But we will talk about everything gradually, in time, and according to priority.

Bipolar affective disorder leads you into an interesting and, at the same time, unusual world, where you begin to view the world, people, and even yourself through completely different eyes.

You wage a battle — first and foremost within yourself — to achieve inner peace and tranquility.

Bipolar affective disorder makes you both silent and expressive at once; this is how people describe you when they truly come to know you.

I have personal experience of fighting internal battles and celebrating victories on this difficult path.
And I want to assure you: each of us fights our own existential battles and faces existential anxieties, and along this journey of striving for existence, we are capable of overcoming every obstacle — so long as we aim not merely for what we desire, but for what is essential: the peace and harmony of our inner selves and souls.

To be continued…