# Telling your teacher personal things...



## tranquillo (May 26, 2012)

I've suffered from depression for years, I go in and out of episodes with a bit of frequency, but not enough that it actually cripples my life (maybe once every 6-9 months) to the extent that I can't work. I'm well medicated so I'm normally not that sick, but I'm going through what looks like another episode as we speak. I worked really slowly today, and I was so disorganised and I had no idea what on earth was going on. My teacher took me aside during the break time and asked me if everything was ok. I told him that it was personal... he said that's ok, he didn't need to hear it if it wasn't relevant to my studies... I said that it was. I've told my teachers before (in a different area of study - music) about my depressions, and they have seemed to all get it - probably because it's quite common to have some sort of psychiatric malady in the art world. I apologised for the extreme slowness and told him that I go in and out episodes, and that I'm normally not like this. I don't know if he understood ... he's French, and he speaks English fine... it's just normally when  tell teachers about my depression, they nod, and talk about it, or acknowledge it somehow, normally by commenting on it. He nodded and then asked me if it would help if I set up closer to him. I don't know if I did the right thing in telling him, but I felt like I looked like enough of a fool that he deserved a proper explanation.

Would you have done the same? I'm tossing up over whether I should tell my other teachers in the culinary world.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

Why not ? This is something you are living with on a daily basis. Lots of folks take meds for different reasons. If you realize that it is affecting your quality/speed/performance  etc....then by all means tell your instructor. You just may get sound advice.

Petals.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

I applaud you for a being an advocate for everyone suffering from depression by giving a proper explanation to your instructor. The only way to remove stigmas is by shedding light on them.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

I think it great that you had the guts to come forward and tell him. Its always best to be forthright and honest  with yourself as well as others.  Good Luck in all your future endeavors.


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## tranquillo (May 26, 2012)

Thanks petals, cheflayne and chefedb ... sometimes I wonder if I'm cut out for this. I guess it's never the right time to decide on something when one is full of (negative) emotions. Anyway, I do hope that it is somewhat common in this world, if not then I guess and hope that teachers would know a thing or two about depression.


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## ken suguro (Jul 3, 2012)

I think it's important and awesome that you told the instructor.  Depression and other conditions are a part of reality and especially in educational settings, both teachers and students need to learn about and work with the conditions.  Same goes for the workplace, but that's a little different because it's legally a different situation, but regardless of legality, I think it's part of the manager's responsibility to make the workplace hospitable and to bring the best out of everyone, which basically is very similar to teacher what a teacher does.


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