I am an occupational therapist by trade, though I have no paid experience in Mental Health at all. Though to complete school I did work with several teenagers who were emotionally disturbed, had a history of enduring sexual abuse, and/or had intellectual disabilities of some kind.
During my time with them, I helped them as a job coach at a local sandwich shop. Higher-functioning or lower-functioning…it didn’t matter; each person was assigned a task and had a job coach there with them in case they needed help. I tended to work more with the autistic and/or mentally retarded teenagers when they were on the register and had to count out change and perform basic math and computer operation skills.
It was a great program. As a layman, it’s easy to pity people like them. “Oh, that poor retarded kid can’t do anything for himself.” “Oh no, that girl was raped a long time ago and now she can’t trust men. Poor her.”
The program existed to shatter these easy conclusions and show everyone that these kids could do something meaningful. And it was great for them too; they learned to trust in others again, were reinforced the math and social skills that they aren’t acquiring fast enough in school, gained friends, boosted their confidence in themselves and really just worked to become the best that they themselves could be. It’s really inspiring, working with those who have mental health issues. Especially when you know that it’s making a difference.
That’s my experience with mental health, in a nutshell.
