Mental health survivors: your colleagues

An increasing number of mental health survivors or people who have episodes of mental illness (EOMI) are seeking employment and training as mental health workers (Health Workforce Advisory Committee 2002). Problems for such individuals, as students and in the workforce, will be discussed with special reference to those who are training to complete the New Zealand National Certification in Mental Health Support Work. This article seeks to encourage health professionals to reassess their roles in regard to supported employment for people who have EOMI and to alert them as to the rising number of people who successfully work as trained professionals within mental health areas and have EOMI. The reader is encouraged to reflect on the recovery approach itself and the journey that people who have EOMI encounter when they choose to enter the workforce. This is especially useful to health professionals working in mental health such as consumer groups and nurses. An example of a student who has EOMI is included and the pseudonym "Joe" is applied to this student to protect his identity.