Being bipolar is my strength
[Music]
[Music]
february 2009
melbourne australia my first internship
abroad as a law student at a women’s
rights organization
at least that’s what i thought
because after a week of my arrival i was
missing for 48
hours and i was arrested for breaking
into
the neighbor’s place a few days later
i woke up tied on a bed at the
psychiatric ward of royal melbourne
hospital
turned out i had a manic episode and i
was a danger to myself
and to society i can’t remember a lot
because of the high doses of medication
they gave me the first days
but i was having voices in my head
telling me to kill myself
and i was hallucinating according my
medical file i even thought i was
president obama
well nowadays i know better i am nadia
van der slaus
and i’m bipolar and having a manic
episode
is something familiar to have when
you’re bipolar type one
like i am and a bipolar condition is a
manic depressive disorder
and having a bipolar condition
is something terrible
but at least i can say that next to
being bipolar
i’m also a legal officer at the
immigration and naturalization service
of the dutch ministry of justice but let
me tell you that being bipolar and
having a job
is not something that comes naturally it
can create stigma
and discrimination and this applies to
all kinds of mental disorders
like for example post-traumatic stress
disorder
or schizophrenia living with a mental
disorder or an illness
is a disability but an invisible one
and if you look at the job market of
people with disabilities
it’s still terrible despite the
disability convention of the united
nation
which is signed by many countries like
the netherlands in 2015
and well i’m a legal officer so i love
the law
and i would share with you article 27 of
this convention
which says that states parties
recognizes
the right of persons with disabilities
to work
on an equal basis like others this
includes to have the opportunity to gain
living
by work which is freely chosen or
accepted
in a labor market or work environment
that is open
accessible and inclusive for persons
with a disability
but now let me take it to reality
because if you look for example
to the report of 2018 of the dutch
institute of human rights
says that the job market is still
terrible
and even the same like in 2012
so before the convention and i think
this is really a big problem and there
needs to be a change
because i want to address to you this
because tomorrow it’s the third of
december and that’s the international
day
of persons with a disability and
i can throw with numbers now about how
many people without a disability do not
have a job
but i already speak with about my
experience
because i was unemployed for more than a
year
with a master’s degree because of my
bipolar condition
and i was ashamed of my bipolar
condition for eight years
which makes it hard to go to an
interview
or search for a job and i think these
are the two causes of the problem
one organizations and companies do not
know
how to hire someone with a disability
and to the self-stigma of a person with
a disability
i’m happy i learned to be open on my
work and
because of my colleagues and my boss my
manager who understands me
and i remember a colleague clashaela
she was giving me a smile and she
connected with me
and had the courage to connect with me
just by simply giving me a smile
and that gave me a feeling to be open
about my bipolar condition and to tell
her about my struggle
and to be myself so i think the start of
a solution of this big
problem is just to simply be open with
each other by giving a smile to each
other
and start a conversation just by smiling
and have the courage to connect that way
and i dare you as an audience
to do the same and give that smile to
another to connect
and graciela this one is for you