BrainStorm Career Services
Linking Wellness to Work in El Paso County
A major trigger for mental distress and a huge barrier to recovery is sudden loss of income and/or the ability to be financially self-sufficient. People who were successful carpenters, social workers, school teachers and business managers now find themselves unemployed as a result of the symptoms of bipolar disorder. Returning military personnel find their lives and careers destroyed by the 'storms in their brains' that often fill their thoughts and emotions with disturbing memories, fears and other symptoms of PTSD. College students who are on the honor roll one day, later find themselves caught in a web of unbearable sadness the next. Promising careers and dreams of financial security die before they are even born.
Most people with psychiatric disabilities want to enter or return to the workforce. However, the unemployment rate for this 'population' is between 70 and 80 percent. This is the statistical reality and human tragedy of today. And the situation has remained relatively unchanged since the 1970s, despite the best efforts of mental health care providers and experts in vocational rehabilitation. This is the problem that BrainStorm Career Services seeks to tackle. As an integral part of DBSA Colorado Inc., the majority of the leadership and staff of BrainStorm is made up of people in recovery from a psychiatric disability. Because most of us have or are making a successful transition from recovery to work (including mid-life career changes or full-time volunteer work), we are the experts in helping our peers seek and keep employment.
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