Sharing Something Personal

For many years I have lived and worked while managing bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and seasonal affective disorder. These are not side notes in my life — they're part of my daily reality. Hard, exhausting, and also part of what shapes how I lead and advocate.

Like a lot of people with mental health disabilities, I've moved through cycles of stability, burnout, self-loathing, resilience, and rebuilding. I know the invisible labor of simply showing up — at work, in community, in relationships — and how powerful it can be when we choose to speak about it openly.

Starting Something New

I'm beginning a new treatment: Spravato (esketamine). It works differently than traditional antidepressants, targeting glutamate pathways rather than serotonin, and it's designed for treatment-resistant depression. I am hopeful — not because I expect a miracle, but because trying new approaches is what survival and growth can look like.

There are potential benefits: improved mood, reduced depression, more emotional stability. There are also potential side effects — dissociation, fatigue, dizziness, temporary changes in perception. It's a process that takes patience, trust, and support.

I'm sharing this because psychiatric disabilities are still misunderstood, especially in leadership. There's pressure to appear fine, productive, endlessly resilient, and that pressure is exhausting. Real inclusion means making room for the full reality of disability — including mental health.

Living with these conditions has deepened my empathy and strengthened my commitment to accessible environments, flexible workplaces, and communities where people aren't punished for being human.

If you're navigating your own mental health journey, you are not alone. If you're supporting someone who is, your understanding matters more than you know.

Here's to new chapters. New treatments. Showing up imperfectly and honestly.

Give yourself space — even when others won't.