Stef has accepted her bipolarity and after three years of unemployment, she has just found a job as a truck driver.

At the microphone of Olivier Delacroix, on "La Libre antenna" of Europe 1, Stef is delighted to see his efforts to find work rewarded and looks back on his journey of accepting his illness.

TESTIMONY

Stef was diagnosed with bipolar at the age of 20 and took 25 years to come to terms with his illness.

She then refused to take her treatments.

Today Stef has come to terms with her bipolarity and is taking a treatment that she has chosen and feels well.

After three years of unemployment, she has just found a job as a truck driver.

At the microphone of "La Libre antenna", on Europe 1, Stef talks about his acceptance of the disease and his determination to find work.

>> Listen to Stef's testimony in full here

"It's going very well: I found a job and negotiated my salary, even though I had been unemployed for three years. I made lots of cover letters and I put my CVs everywhere. I forced doors, where no one wanted to let me in, because they weren't hiring anyone because of the Covid-19. So, I put CVs in mailboxes. I did crazy things. , but I'm happy, because it paid off.

It took 25 years for me to accept that I was bipolar.

In 25 years, I have always managed not to take treatment.

Whenever I was given them, I didn't take them.

So I had hospitalizations, but I weaned myself.

I even went so far as to drink seven liters of water a day when I was hospitalized, so that the drugs did not take too much effect and to stay clear-headed.

I was taking my meds, but I was drinking a lot to eliminate.

I don't know if it was good to do that, that was not the opinion of the shrinks.

"

Now that I have accepted the disease, I have also accepted a little treatment

"

I was diagnosed with bipolar when I was 20 years old.

It was already a taboo word 25 years ago.

It still is.

I never say it, and especially not to my bosses.

You should not say that you are bipolar to your bosses, friends and certain members of your family, because sometimes they are not able to understand.

You have to talk about it to people who can really understand it, because it's scary.

In the job I did before, if the people I transported had known that I was bipolar, they would not have taken the bus.

Now that I have come to terms with the disease, I have also accepted a little treatment.

But it is a treatment that I chose.

I read a lot of psychiatry books to find out which one was the best.

I dug and I continue.

I would like us to say tomorrow that we have found a solution to bipolarity.

I may be a dreamer.

Fortunately, I never had suicidal thoughts.

But I put myself in situations which could have been very dangerous for me and which could have been considered suicidal.

It is inevitably a lot of suffering, because in these moments, one is no longer oneself. 

>> Find Olivier Delacroix's Libre antenna every evening on Europe 1 from 10:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. as well as in replay and podcast here

In the same day, I was offered three permanent contracts!

I had to make the choice between transporting passengers and transporting goods.

In January, I took my truck license and got it.

I directly passed my FIMO (Minimum Mandatory Initial Training).

Then I started looking for work.

At first I told myself that maybe I wasn't going to find any right away.

But finally, after three weeks, I found it!

I did everything for, I went to look for the bosses.

I'm happy because it paid off.

So I was able to negotiate my salary. 

My future boss told me that there was no locker room for me, because they don't have a wife.

In the public transport company where I worked before, we were very few women at the beginning.

I had a boss who was way ahead of his time.

He absolutely wanted there to be a mix.

So when he hired a man, he hired a woman.

It was 20 years ago.

Transporting goods is another thing.

It hasn't evolved the same way for women, but it's coming very slowly. "