General / Mental Health Support Thread

[Celeste]

I'm starting to get very anxious about my operation. It's 3 and a half weeks away and I'm finding it difficult to focus on anything else. I'm scared and that's making it harder and harder to care about work and small talk and the million little things.

It is totally understandable that your whole focus will be on your surgery, everything else will seem so trivial. If I can help in any way please give me a shout - I’ve got a lot of experience looking after people who’ve had ops and work at the christie. Same goes for anyone here who may need a friendly person to chat to. All the best with everything

 

[Totnes Blue]

I struggled with anxiety for a while until I discovered something that made a significant difference for me: recognizing the impact of certain foods on my mood. Because certain foods may affect mood in individuals with food intolerances, leading to irritability, anxiety, or even depression.

After experiencing persistent anxiety, I decided to take a food intolerance test. It turns out I have an intolerance to gluten. I noticed that when I started avoiding gluten, my anxiety became more manageable. It wasn't an instant fix, but over time, I felt more balanced and less on edge.

I took the test from intolerancelab.co.uk for £49. It's not much, so it's worth the effort and money. And I encourage anyone struggling with anxiety to consider exploring the potential link between their diet and their mental health.

 

[richardtheref]

Haven't been on for ages. My wife has struggled with mental health for years and then last October lost her brother suddenly. The pair of them used to go to gigs every weekend & she has really gone downhill with depression & anxiety since. Then to add to this I have now been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my hands, knees and lower back/right hip. I am really not sure how I can help her now. I haven't even told her of my diagnosis in fear it will send her further backwards.

 

[dronefromsector7G]

I feel my mental health is much better recently. Don’t think it’s a coincidence I’ve been going to the gym 3 times a week and eating better.

 

[kaz7]

Tell me about it, I have won a tribunal for a overpayment in income support (DWP found that i didn't qualify for IS and should have claimed UC a Judge found that I did qualify for IS and should never of had that benefit stopped) However because I claimed UC when I should have still been on IS I now have been overpaid UC...Bless her the judge said "you need to go away and consider whether you want to continue with this appeal because when I find in your favour(which I will) you will be in a worse position, I urge you to get benefit advice" Tried that...It seems If doing a Benefits calculation online and being given UC claim phone number doesn't sort your problem...you are farked

It is so fucking complicated and set up to fend off people claiming what they are entitled too . The judge sounds like a gem , hope you get yourself sorted

 

[Kinkybyname]

I feel my mental health is much better recently. Don’t think it’s a coincidence I’ve been going to the gym 3 times a week and eating better.

good, - I'd give the TalkSport Stefan bollocks a wide swerve!

 

[TinFoilHat]

Post removed by moderator

We all live in our own perceived reality.

Some can live in ignorant bliss and it serves them well personally.

Others see what goes on externally and care so much they feel helpless to help others, as well as theirselves. They get mentally exhausted to the point where they feel like they are constantly failing. All we need is a shoulder to lean on and support us in a world that feels like it's gone to shit.

A man tried to throw himself in front of my train last week because he felt like a failure at the age of 30. Talking to him he came as across as a smart man. University degree but no one would employ him. Not even the Sainsbury's across the road from where we nearly hit him. Hopefully he's seen he has a second chance at life and his life will improve.

Some people just need to be seen and heard.

This is the desperation that some people have to go through to get help.

Even something like "Man up and be resilient" is difficult because of the situations that created mental issues in the first place.

If it was up to me therapy would be compulsory and free for everyone. Be it someone who needs a certain kind or just a safe space to rant about the world for an hour. It's amazing how just venting in a safe space can help mentally.

When I started therapy I said my brain is like a like a computer that needs defragging and the files needs putting in order.

Years of NLP/CBT/Shadow work and I've realised a lot of the issues I have are out of my control and I've been, for a better word, reprogrammed to recognise the trigger points and act accordingly. I will lapse occasionally and that's expected. But I have been lucky enough to embed tools I've been lacking.

I've had to pay for it but it's a valuable life skill in my eyes. I wouldn't be where I am in my life now if I hadn't.

I will never be perfect, no body is. But it's taught me a lot about the way I view myself and my reality and I will always be grateful for it.

 

[Lauz9888]

Post removed by moderator

My great-grandad spent 10 years in and out of a psychiatric hospital being given electoconvulsive therapy.

Mental health and illness aren't newfangled ideas. We use different words for things and we take different approaches to treatment, but people are the same as they've been for centuries.

There is something to be said for trying to have a positive mental attitude, to eat well and exercise and socialise and have hobbies and spend time with the people you love - these things are great maintenance activities, fantastic habits to get into while you're feeling mentally strong and well - they help to protect you from dropping too far in the bad times. But I learned a long time ago that trying to get into those habits while really struggling is often a recipe for feeling like a disappointment and a failure.

Some people find medication helps. For others, talking therapies are key. I've done both across the years, and have found both helpful and useless at different times - it really does depend on where your mental state is, not to mention how you react to the specific drug and therapist/approach. But there's no shame in trying or needing either or both of those things. They're just tools that you can use to make you feel better and hopefully more resilient in the future.

Sometimes, sharing how you feel - with someone you know, or with a stranger - can be therapeutic. That's why people talk about what's going on for them here. Getting the words out and receiving understanding, encouragement and reassurance can be a really helpful tool in understanding what's going on for you and that it's not the end of the world, that people empathise and care.

You can never really know what other people are going through, or how they're carrying it. But you can be sure that if mental health problems could be simply thought away, they would be. No-one would choose to struggle with their mental health, just as no-one would choose to struggle with their physical health.

I'm glad that you're in a position to feel positive about your own life and mental health. Long may that continue.

 

[ashytheblue]

Iv been really struggling lately, splitting up after 18years, kids to leave behind who is my main purpose in life, struggling with PTSD after a horrible event last year.

Everything I try to do to keep my family together just seems to fail. Had a scrap Friday and Saturday after time in the pub and now barred from my local. I just feel I get so angry when I have a drink and iv never been like this before.

If it wasn't for my kids I would just walk but I can't face it. I can't imagine not being there everyday.

 

[ob]

Thanks appointment was very good. Found it really useful. Still no meeting with manager, he has team meeting in calendar for tomorrow rather than earlier ones which just had my name in them

So after meeting rearranged for 15th time (3 times yesterday alone) in 2 weeks despite my anxiety I asked him about it this morning. It was in his calendar for 10 am. I said need to arrange cover for tomorrow as I'm off and he replied ok, we need to have catch up and I replied yea I saw it in you calendar but you keep moving it and it's been moved 15 times now in 2 weeks. He just laughed and said oh yea I do don't I. That was end of conversation. It still didn't happen at 10 and now in his calendar for 2 pm. Team meeting still not taken place. Every other team has them regularly. We've not had 1 in his 18 months. Meant to have 1-1 catch up 3/4 times a year. Had 1 in 18 months