my story

My name’s Judy and I’m fifty two. And I currently work full time as a PA.  I’m married, two grown children.

I became depressed when I was sick, after I was sick actually. I had breast cancer and I went through chemotherapy. And I think during that time I was actually not too bad, because I was busy, trying to get well. But it was after that that I became depressed and I didn’t really know I think at the time that I was. 

You feel this spiral. If you're heading towards not feeling well this is, I liken it to a spiral. I mean, simple things can bring it on, like tiredness really, you know I can read my body now

my way through

Well when I seeked help, it wasn’t through me wanting to seek help. It was me being pushed in the direction, very kindly, had a lovely boss. He, you know, I did a good job but I just had these moments where I wasn’t coping. So yeah, he gently pushed me. 

It’s so important to get help. It’s probably quite hard to get out of that denial phase.  But I think once you admit that you need help, you're halfway there. It starts here. And I think having help with anti-depressants, helped me make a lot of good decisions as well because talking about my breasts cancer, I had a right mastectomy and because of all my worry in between, I actually became strong enough to have a second mastectomy, even though it was non affected and it was the best thing I could have done, just this load was just lifted off my shoulders.

staying well

My way through it is, to recognise it now, to accept it, to move on and it’s probably not as bad as you think it’s going to be and enjoy your life.

Definitely a work, family, life balance, definitely. If I’m tired or getting stressed, I’d rather go home.  Go out, see my horses, do something nice, go shopping. So and I stress that to if say we’ve got someone new like a new boss coming in, I say how very important it is that I take care of my health and that I do like that balance. But in saying that, you know, I’m happy to work long and hard too if I have to. And I think try and do as much as you can to make yourself happy 

I enjoy the little things. I love nature, you know, to see a beautiful bird or a butterfly. And out of where our horses are kept there's, you know, there's wood pigeons and Rosellas and Pukekos and ducks and ducklings. And it’s that kind of thing, I love the simple things. That’s probably what life’s about now, it’s the little things that are really important. I think the positive thing is to thoroughly enjoy your life because you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Love your family. Just love the small things.

I’ve got a very strong family support, very strong. Not just my immediate family, but my extended family.  All very understanding. And there's a few friends that I could talk to about it.  And it’s amazing how you actually discover that they're in the same way. It’s quite surprising. I’ve got workmates that I’m quite open with, because they’ve been friends for a long time.  So I can talk about it.