Lana

AWE Scientist

World Mental Health Day 2019

I developed fibromyalgia at the age of 14, but it wasn’t correctly diagnosed until I was 20. I get asked frequently if I know what caused it, and often I lie and say ‘no, it isn’t fully understood and therefore can just randomly develop’ but that isn’t true.

Fibromyalgia is often caused by trauma and in fact can even be triggered by childbirth, but for me it was online sexual and emotional abuse which was exacerbated when I was raped at age 20.

Not only did I develop a chronic pain condition I’d have for life, but my mental health has never been the same. Through my teenage years I frequently self-harmed and had suicidal thoughts, but luckily due to the support of teachers at school I made it to university where I finally received a diagnosis, therapy and medication.

So where am I now?

I graduated with a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Reading in 2018 and came to work at AWE in September 2018 as a radiochemistry graduate. I had previously worked for the company as a Year in Industry student and was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to come back.

What I found here was a lot of support, understanding and willingness to assist me to be able to do my day to day job – I have a laptop where I can work from home if needed for either pain or anxiety and my line manager always has an open door for me to talk to him meaning that I have been able to be completely honest from the beginning.

That’s my main advice to anyone working at this company who lives with a disability, a mental health condition, or is even just going through a hard period – be honest and have that open line of communication with your line manager. It means that if I need to take a day off for poor mental health, I don’t feel guilty, I know I’m understood. This means that I can work to the best of my ability and hit all my targets whilst enjoying being at work.