Hi all,
Just wanted to follow on from Chelsea Kauffman's great TLCC2018 forum thread. Living with anxiety and depression can be a difficult ask especially when we are under the intense pressures we get in the arts world such as Presales, Opening Nights and the holiday season. If you have a story you'd like to share, or just some comradery, feel free to share below.
I'll quote Chelsea (hope that's OK) as she said it better than I can.
"So how do you handle being a professional and having a mental illness? How do you cope with insecurities, anxieties, depression, and fear without destroying your team’s confidence in you or without throwing in the towel?
Tell me your story. How do you survive? How do you manage?
I just want to know I’m not alone and that there is a bright future and that I’m doing okay."
I'm our organisations Ticketing, Data Analysis and Tessitura Admin departments so there never seems to be an off season for me.
Chookas (as we say in Oz),
Heath
I'm not in arts, we are a zoo, so we have a different cycle. I haven't figured out when the off season is. Although when we open a new exhibit, it's very much like Opening Night. (My part time gig is at a theatre, and that was what my former full time gig was.)
In my last job, I was open with my supervisor about having mental illness, as I hoped it would lead to her being more understanding about needing to take a longer lunch because I had a appointment with a counselor, etc. However, it turned into a situation where if I were having a cranky day (as we all do sometimes) she would go to my office mate and say "Oh, is she off her meds?" Which was wildly inappropriate and awful. Obviously, I no longer work there. My current position has a wonderful, supportive team, but I will never be that open with a supervisor again.
I have now just given myself permission to use my "flex" days once a month or so, and I don't make up a reason, I just say to my boss that I'm booking a personal day or vacation day. I don't say it's for stress or mental health, nor do I say I have an appointment/sick/etc. It's a small thing, but very freeing.
Also, I have a great co-worker who keeps me laughing - that helps. When I was going through a very stressful time, every day at the end of the day she'd say: "See you tomorrow... you are coming back tomorrow, right?" Which would make me laugh, and end the day on an up-note.
Wow that sounds like a really tough place work - totally inappropriate. Glad that you are in a much more supportive team now. Thanks for sharing & stay safe.
I agree that launches, opening nights, presales etc are pretty much on the same stress curve. My last Theatre gig didn't really have an off season either. In ticketing we were either coordinating the 16 opening nights (overlapping 8 week lead time), building the new season, or building up-sells for the current season. Different departments had different timings though. We are closing in on our gala season though here so it's development's turn for the emotional support cheer squad.