Aishah’s Story – The power of lived experience
YOUR COURAGE IN ACTION – FROM COAST MENTAL HEALTH FOUNDATION
“I used to think my diagnosis would limit me. Now I know that’s not true. It might take me longer, but I can still achieve my goals.”
Each morning, Aishah walks into Coast’s Recovery and Rehab program feeling a sense of purpose. “I always come in feeling pretty good,” she says. “The environment is so warm and supportive, and I love checking in with clients. It’s a great way to start the day.”
Thanks to your generosity, Aishah works as a peer support worker, a role that allows her to connect with others who are navigating mental health challenges, using her own lived experience. But her journey to this point was not always easy and she continues to work hard to maintain her health.
A diagnosis
Aishah grew up in Coquitlam in a loving family. She was a dedicated student, excelling in the IB program before pursuing criminology at SFU.
Throughout her childhood, she struggled with anxiety and depression, but didn’t have the language to understand her experience.
“I grew up thinking like that I was maybe overly sensitive, that I couldn’t seem to cope with things as easily as my peers. It was a very confusing stressful and kind of a sad time. You have the same expectations, the same responsibilities, but struggling to meet those and cope with those, you know, like “normally”.”
But in her early twenties, triggered by the death of her grandma, she began facing serious mental health challenges. “I didn’t know what was happening at first,” she recalls. “I just knew I was struggling.”
Eventually, she was hospitalized and diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
“It was a terrifying experience,” she says. “But what stood out to me the most was the kindness of the people working there. That made all the difference.”
Managing Bipolar Disorder
Aishah lives with bipolar two. “There will be periods of weeks or months where I kind of see it like you’re wearing glasses. Your outlook on life, the people around you, on everything is coloured by this lens of depression or this lens of mania.
“On the depressive side, I struggle with motivation, and relationships. I feel like I’m glued to the bed or just like curdle up with the blinds down. And you might look at yourself and your self-esteem is lowered.
“And the mania, it’s kind of like the opposite. It’s like wearing like rose-colored glasses, right? Suddenly everything seems really beautiful, and you’re super engaged and you’re energetic and you’re social.
“And I think that’s what part of what makes bipolar so hard is that you get a taste of this, like, elevated inspiring, excitable times, but then you also have this taste of like these really hard, slow, low energy downtrodden times.
“And you never know quite what you’re going to get and you never know like how long it’s going to last, how severe it’s going to be.
Bi-polar is hard to treat with medication, but Aishah found that for her, radical acceptance of her diagnosis meant accepting that there were things she could do to manage it. : “When I really got into the swing of, making sure I get enough sleep, being med compliant, going to therapy, using my skills when needed, staying away from too much caffeine and things like that. When I really started to implement all that self-care, it got a lot easier.”
Thanks to you, Aishah works as a peer support worker, a role that allows her to connect with others who are navigating mental health challenges, using her own lived experience.
Turning Pain into Purpose
Aishah never forgot the compassion she received during her most difficult times. “I remember thinking, ‘I want to be that person for someone else.’” She first discovered peer support work when a friend mentioned a training program. “I bookmarked it in my mind,” she says. “I knew it was something I wanted to do.”
After gaining experience facilitating a Zoom support group with the Borderline Personality Disorder Society of British Columbia, she applied for a role as a rehab worker at Coast Mental Health.
The team recognized her lived experience and encouraged her to train to become a peer support worker: “It felt like everything was falling into place,” she says. “I knew this was what I was meant to do.”
Helping Others Heal
Now, Aishah runs support groups on emotional regulation and healthy relationships. She teaches skills that have helped her in her own journey. “I want to make these concepts easier to understand,” she says. “It’s amazing to see people engage and learn ways to manage their emotions.”
Her groups have some of the highest attendance, a testament to the impact she’s making. “One client told me, ‘Your group is the first one I’ve actually understood.’ That meant everything to me.”
Beyond her groups, Aishah provides one-on-one support. Whether it’s helping a client study for a job certification or offering a listening ear, she’s there to help in any way she can.
“Sometimes, people just need to know that someone cares,” she says.
A Message of Hope
Aishah is most proud of how her mindset has shifted. “I used to think my diagnosis would limit me. Now I know that’s not true,” she says. “It might take me longer, but I can still achieve my goals.”
She credits her role as a peer support worker with giving her a sense of stability and fulfillment. “This job has given me so much,” she says. “I get to make a real difference in people’s lives.”
For Aishah, and so many others, peer support is more than a program, it’s a lifeline. And it’s only possible because of donors who believe in the power of lived experience.
“I’m so grateful this program exists,” she says. “It’s changing lives. It definitely changed mine.”
Read more about your impact in Coast Mental Health Foundation’s latest gratitude report.
