“A big part of my journey coming out LGBT is also a big part of my journey coming out with a disability.”
Mia Diaz Garcia Wells, May 2023
The interview below was conducted at the Disability Network in Flint, Michigan, May 2023.
In this interview, Mia shares their personal experiences with mental illness, highlighting their resilience and the importance of intersectionality in addressing these challenges.
Laura:
What is your name?
Mia:
So, my full name is Mia Diaz Garcia Wells.
Laura:
What is your age?
Mia:
32
Laura:
Preferred pronouns?
Mia:
They/she
Laura:
Would you mind sharing about your disability?
Mia:
Yeah, most of my life I've had a hard time accepting that I had a disability. I've struggled with mental illness for a long time. I don't do much detail you want me to get into.
Laura:
Like your diagnosis or the name for it, and then just how it impacts you and your life with it.
Mia:
Yeah, so I have Major Depressive Disorder, and between Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder. [How they] impact my life, I dropped out of high school my freshman year, got my GED, though. It's just been a persistent thing, and I have to take medication for it. And I've spent a long time, you know, refusing to take medication and going back on and going off of it. And then unfortunately, it led up to a suicide attempt. I'm finally back on the right path and accepting you know, that I'm on, I need medication to you know, keep stable and therapy and I need to work on you know, keeping myself stable.
Laura:
Yeah. When were you first diagnosed?
Mia:
13?
Laura:
Okay, with the depressive disorder?
Mia:
Yeah.
Laura:
Is it like hereditary in your family at all?
Mia:
Yeah, I think so. My dad probably hasn’t ever been diagnosed. My dad's from Chile, so didn't really grow up here. And then my mom has her own issues such as borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder.
Laura:
Gotcha. Okay, so were the services you received when you first got diagnosed, were they helpful? Were you resistant to it?
Mia:
It was here and there. I was on a lot of different medications when I was a kid. Which, you know, didn't address some of the problems because I was also in an abusive household. So yeah. Both of those things together kind of just, you know, made it hard for me growing up. Yeah. And, you know, doctors didn't know what to put on my mental illness or to put on PTSD. So sometimes they would just lean towards PTSD and not treat my mental illness. My wife has been great about having me, you know, accept what I have now.
Laura:
Yeah, a partner is so important. I know I have mine right over there. And yeah, wouldn’t be here without him. So um, alright, so then when you dropped out of high school, was that because of depression? Can you just elaborate on that?
Mia:
You know, my social anxiety got so bad that I wasn't going to school for days at a time and weeks at a time and then you just get behind and when I would show up, I would just be behind everybody. And eventually I repeated sophomore year, and then eventually I turned 18 and just dropped out. And there’s nothing, it wasn’t the school’s fault, the school was great. I wasn’t getting the help I needed at the time.
Laura:
Well that's amazing that you kept even going back and trying and then repeated your sophomore year like that.
Mia:
Then I dropped out. When I was 19, I took the GED test in California and was able to pass.
Laura:
Oh, cool. So are you from Michigan?
Mia:
No, I'm from Southern California.
Laura:
Oh, cool. I'm also a transplant here. I feel like there aren't a whole lot of transplants here. Everyone I ask, they're all from Michigan. So I'm like oh, gonna stop asking. Okay, so when did you get here and what brought you here?
Mia:
I got here in 2016. I was going to college down in California, but I was having trouble going to college and working at the same time. So, my mom was living up here with my stepdad and she offered to let me move back in with her, so I can go back to community college. So, I moved up here in 2016. Drove from California to here and stayed with her for about a year and then met my wife and I moved in with her.
Laura:
Yeah, that's great. Where did you guys meet?
Mia:
We met on a study abroad trip. We both went on a study abroad trip to the Dominican Republic. Yes.
Laura:
I never studied abroad, I wish I would have, but that sounds awesome. So did she go to the same school as you are?
Mia:
Yeah, same class.
Laura:
Okay, awww, and then your romance blossomed in the Dominican Republic. That sounds really great. Okay, well, that's awesome. All right. Well, sorry, I just was curious about those other ones, so I went off track a little bit. What do you like to do for fun?
Mia:
You know, I have a ton I like. I get fixated on hobbies for a little bit, and then I switch to another one. So, I have a ton of supplies. But lately, it's been crocheting. Okay, I have a little hippo that I made. A little hippo and I have it in my office. So
Laura:
I'd love to see it, maybe after this. What other hobbies have you pursued?
Mia:
You know, I tried guitar for a little bit. I tried different instruments. Um, drawing, writing, painting. I just, you know, I get really into it for a little bit. And then I switched to a new one.
Laura:
Yeah, I’m like that too, I get bored easily. God, your eyeliner is so good. Mine never turns out that well. I can tell you're artistic because you're very talented right there.
Mia:
It's just because I do it. every workday or most of the days. Yeah.
Laura:
Yeah, so you think practice is part of it. See, that's the thing, like now I don't wear makeup that much anymore. And so like when I was 16, and doing my makeup all the time, you know, I felt like I was better at it because I was doing it every day. But I'm just like, too lazy to do it every day now. Okay, but you've really inspired me and I can maybe do it. Also getting older makes it a lot harder to do. But anyways, that's neither here nor there. What motivates or inspires you?
Mia:
That's a hard question. Um, you know, I came out when I was 30; I’m 32 now. So, just trying to be that person that I kept hidden away for so long. Trying to be who I needed when I was little.
Laura:
Do you feel like now that you're more free to be yourself, are you like, excited by this time to see who you are when you are fully yourself?
Mia:
Yeah, I'm excited, you know, equally terrified, but excited, yeah.
Laura:
Yeah, I can believe that. Well, there's no time like the present to be your authentic self. All right, well, the last question is, what change would you like to see for disabled people in the future?
Mia:
I guess it's for any movement, I would like to see more intersectionality. You know, see, movements include all of us, because you can’t get justice for one without including everybody. A big part of my journey coming out LGBT is also a big part of my journey coming out with a disability,
Laura:
Do you? I mean, do you feel like the disability community has been accepting of the LGBTQ and has that then been accepting of the disability? Like, do you find that they work together well?
Mia:
Yeah, generally the disability community has been pretty accepting, I haven’t had anything happen. And with the LGBTQ community, because, you know, we've all had struggles coming out. We both had, unfortunately, trauma with coming out. Just experiences.
Laura:
It's really beautiful, that intersectionality. I could see it just being great support on both sides. And I know with disability, you really need help from everyone. So yeah, the more allies the better. Well, that's awesome. How long have you been working here?
Mia:
Only a few months.
Laura:
Do you like it so far?
Mia:
I love it. My last job was not as accepting of who I am. So being in a place that's, you know, not only accepting but also celebrates me has been nice.
Laura:
That's awesome. That's gonna make it a lot easier to work every day, I would imagine. Oh, and then what did you major in in college that got you a position like this?
Mia:
I'm still in college. I got my Associates in Liberal Arts at Michigan Community College, and I'm currently working towards my Bachelor's in Public Health.
Laura
Oh, cool. Okay, that's awesome. I was just curious, what led you here and everything. Awesome, great interview.