Cassandra’s JOURNEY Schizoaffective Disorder I was 19 and I had so many exciting plans and goals for the future as I started climbing the ladder in the corporate world as a legal assistant. Towards the end of 2007, I started to feel really strange and by early 2008 I had begun experiencing delusions, visual hallucinations and it became evident I was no longer able to work. I was hospitalised and had to stay for a few months. I was eventually diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder (Bipolar type). I felt scared, embarrassed and terrified of what the future now held. After returning home I found it very hard to adjust to my new life. I became very depressed, was adjusting to medications that I had never had before, lost contact with many friends and was binging on junk food and my petite 55kg frame ballooned to 96kg at my heaviest. Financially I was also struggling as I had lost my first real job; I was not in receipt of a higher disability benefit (at that time), however I was extremely lucky to have a very supportive family. I had many dark times but eventually, I started to focus on everything that was positive in my life and I counted my blessing because I had a lot to be thankful for. As the years progressed I began to feel more and more resilient and focusing on the good helped me to cope.
24
BROKEN 2 BRAVE
* Source - Lifeline
I joined a gym and participated in social events and made some new friends, this helped my confidence and self-esteem to grow and pushed me to do things I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing a year earlier. Today life is not perfect – I suffer from anxiety, experience some symptoms of mental illness and have side effects from medications – but I love living my life. I enjoy catching up with friends, swimming laps at the pool, doing classes at the gym (my favorite class is Zumba) attending Parkrun, volunteering at a respite center, doing office work from home and doing plenty of restorative yoga. I have recently completed my Certificate III in Business Administration (Legal) and I plan to take my studies further. I have a supportive doctor, psychologist, and naturopath who are also helping me to achieve my health and fitness goals. I wanted to share my story because I believe that no matter what life throws at you is it always worth living. I feel blessed that I survived what I went through and I hope to support others that are also all on our own unique journey
