The Ups and Downs of Science
Follow Michelle, a young professor at the University of Wisconsin, as she navigates the challenges of pursuing a promotion amidst the trials of mental health. With courage and determination, she faces setbacks and learns to embrace her diagnosis, ultimately becoming an advocate for mental health awareness in the scientific community.
This is Michelle, she's an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin. She looks just like any other scientist, but unlike other scientists she has to manage a severe illness. This illness is a non-visible disability that has significantly affected her scientific career.
Since she was very young Michelle loved biology. When she grew up she began to study it at the University of North Carolina. She loved her work and was great at it leading her to be very ambitious.
Her Science career led her to a time in 2017 when she desperately wanted a promotion to assistant professor. She began working on a Dossier to submit in September.
She furiously began to work. Part of achieving this she need to be awarded grants, publish manuscripts, review papers, and more. All while working to take care of her needs. Despite this busy schedule she was still excited.
Throughout 2017 she kept agreeing to more things. She ran out of time in the day to get everything done, so she simply stopped sleeping, only getting a couple hours a week. She started exercising late into the night. Some of her friends were concerned with her strange 'over-productive' behavior. When it became time to finish her dossier she start to barely eat to make even more time for work, shockingly not feeling hungry or sleepy.
On September 20, 2017, Michelle excitedly submitted her dossier. Finally able to get a break she slept for 14 hours. When she woke up her entire world had shifted. She felt incredibly tired and overwhelmed with a feeling of guilt, loss, and sadness. After jumping out of bed in the morning for months, this morning she couldn't get up at all.
Michelle didn't just feel tired and sad, she struggled with doing daily activities. Basic activities of life were skipped, and she struggled to reply to texts and emails.
After agreeing to every whim and project for months Michelle felt deeply embarrassed having to back out one after the other. People didn't understand what happened, she had seemed so excited about projects simply to back out with no explanation. This made Michelle feel guilty, think badly of herself, and avoid other people.
Michelle felt defeated. This time she wasn't bouncing back like she had before. She knew she need help and reached out to her therapist. In her appointment they talked about an illness called bipolar disorder.
With a diagnosis in hand, Michelle worked with a psychiatrist to find the right medication. It was a challenging process, filled with trial and error, but Michelle remained hopeful. - This is just another obstacle to overcome, she told herself.
Medications helped a lot but didn't suddenly solve all issues. She knew she needed some more help. Michelle sought accommodations from her university to help manage her workload. She was nervous about revealing her struggles, but knew it was necessary for her well-being. The support she received from her accommodations department was overwhelming.
Since then Michelle has become an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Her career has let her pursue a lot of interesting science. Including research on polyunsaturated fatty acids omega 3 and 6 and amino acids. Researching foods effect on health is important, and can really help peoples well being.
Michelle now works really hard to manage her illness and her workload. In her current position she has started to openly discuss having bipolar disorder. She has been happy to find how accepting people around her have been.
Michelle's openness on this as a scientist is important as there is a lot of stigma around mental health. Bipolar disorder has many different depictions in media - leaving a weight of stereotypes and misunderstandings on our shoulders. This is an incredibly difficult illness to have and her success at this high level is inspiring.
This is Michelle, she's an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin. She looks just like any other scientist, but unlike other scientists she has to manage a severe illness. This illness is a non-visible disability that has significantly affected her scientific career.
Since she was very young Michelle loved biology. When she grew up she began to study it at the University of North Carolina. She loved her work and was great at it leading her to be very ambitious.
Her Science career led her to a time in 2017 when she desperately wanted a promotion to assistant professor. She began working on a Dossier to submit in September.
She furiously began to work. Part of achieving this she need to be awarded grants, publish manuscripts, review papers, and more. All while working to take care of her needs. Despite this busy schedule she was still excited.
Throughout 2017 she kept agreeing to more things. She ran out of time in the day to get everything done, so she simply stopped sleeping, only getting a couple hours a week. She started exercising late into the night. Some of her friends were concerned with her strange 'over-productive' behavior. When it became time to finish her dossier she start to barely eat to make even more time for work, shockingly not feeling hungry or sleepy.
On September 20, 2017, Michelle excitedly submitted her dossier. Finally able to get a break she slept for 14 hours. When she woke up her entire world had shifted. She felt incredibly tired and overwhelmed with a feeling of guilt, loss, and sadness. After jumping out of bed in the morning for months, this morning she couldn't get up at all.
Michelle didn't just feel tired and sad, she struggled with doing daily activities. Basic activities of life were skipped, and she struggled to reply to texts and emails.
After agreeing to every whim and project for months Michelle felt deeply embarrassed having to back out one after the other. People didn't understand what happened, she had seemed so excited about projects simply to back out with no explanation. This made Michelle feel guilty, think badly of herself, and avoid other people.
Michelle felt defeated. This time she wasn't bouncing back like she had before. She knew she need help and reached out to her therapist. In her appointment they talked about an illness called bipolar disorder.
With a diagnosis in hand, Michelle worked with a psychiatrist to find the right medication. It was a challenging process, filled with trial and error, but Michelle remained hopeful. - This is just another obstacle to overcome, she told herself.
Medications helped a lot but didn't suddenly solve all issues. She knew she needed some more help. Michelle sought accommodations from her university to help manage her workload. She was nervous about revealing her struggles, but knew it was necessary for her well-being. The support she received from her accommodations department was overwhelming.
Since then Michelle has become an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Her career has let her pursue a lot of interesting science. Including research on polyunsaturated fatty acids omega 3 and 6 and amino acids. Researching foods effect on health is important, and can really help peoples well being.
Michelle now works really hard to manage her illness and her workload. In her current position she has started to openly discuss having bipolar disorder. She has been happy to find how accepting people around her have been.
Michelle's openness on this as a scientist is important as there is a lot of stigma around mental health. Bipolar disorder has many different depictions in media - leaving a weight of stereotypes and misunderstandings on our shoulders. This is an incredibly difficult illness to have and her success at this high level is inspiring.
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