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Shannon and J.R. sit down with Coming Out Coach Rick Clemons who talks about when you should disclose your diagnosis of autism or other mental health issue.
The holidays can be a stressful time for all of us and if our family and friends don’t yet know about our secret(s), when is the right time to let them in on it?
The holidays can be a crazy time and most of with any sort of mental health issue feel overwhelmed and we’re not always sure that we want people to know about it, but the reality is that we need those closest to us in our lives to know.
We need them to know so they can understand, so they can show us that they care and so that they can support us. Rick understands all that and more.
He started out working with gay men who were ready to come out of the closet, but now works with so many different types of people in so many different situations. We all have closets that we hide in, and for most people listening to this podcast those closets have to do with being an adult with autism, an adult with Asperger’s or an adult with some sort of mental health issue.
We hide in our closet, afraid to let the outside world in and not wanting them to see us for who we really are, but we need to let go of that stigma and not be afraid to open that closet door and proudly come out.
Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s part of who we are and we are all awesome people!
As Rick says on the podcast, “I think a lot of people hide because they’re afraid. They also don’t want to disrupt the holidays. And then they get into it, and suddenly it doesn’t become as much of a priority. And then lo and behold, it will be February, March, April, July, August. And suddenly I’m still not being who I’m meant to be.”
If you suffer from any type of mental illness or from an autism diagnosis and you;re afraid to let people in on your secret, this is a half-hour you will NOT want to miss!
You can find Rick online at www.rickclemons.com
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Photo courtesy Not Weird Just Autistic.