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What is your experience of mental health?


AstonMartyn88

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Actually never thought i would be discussing this on a football forum but it shows there's a lot of football fans with a very broad knowledge unlike the ones on the cricket forum i run  who have zero knowledge on mental health.

 

It's an Aston Villa fans' forum. All of us are by definition just a hair's breadth away from pure insanity.

Edited by CrackpotForeigner
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I had a pretty bad episode of depression a few years back. Quite literally in bed for 5-6 months. It was shit and I can't remember much. I went to the GP and he was decent enough, although I was just given some standard questionnaire and a prescription. The drugs just make you numb, listless, and completely uninterested in sex. I can't really describe what it was like, but it was really **** dull. I think I remember Lars Von Trier talking about making Melancholia, and how he had to find a metaphor to express depression, because having Kirsten Dunst sit around in a bath for two hours would be very boring to watch. Well, it is like that. You're just there, sitting, lying down, day after day, completely locked up in your own mind. It is hard trying to describe it because it is pretty absurd.

 

The people around me hadn't a clue what to do. Many were of the 'just smile' camp, which was very **** annoying, although I do accept it is a hard concept to grasp: how can you just sit there, quiet, and not do anything for days and weeks on end? How can you not enjoy stuff? Still, others were supportive enough, and by supportive I mean they didn't judge or anything, but tried to help in little ways like taking me out for a walk or something, and gave me time to get over it.

 

In the end I just woke up one day and felt a bit better. It was that inexplicable. Although, it's still there, whatever it is, it always was really, and some days you suddenly feel awful and it can go away in a day or it can take weeks, most days you feel OK, but never great, from my experience at least.

 

On the 'stigma'. Well I don't know, most people I meet now just know me superficially, so it isn't an issue. Among those who do know me a little better, a few are a little unsure around me, but I haven't faced anything worse than that.

Edited by CarewsEyebrowDesigner
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I think depression is used as a catch-all for a number of ailments.

 

People might lose their job or split up with their partner. They may find it difficult to cope and start getting stressed and losing appetite/sleep. They get diagnosed as depressed.

 

Others have everything fine in their external life and suddenly get hit out of nowhere by a bout of depression. I've seen brain scans of severely depressed people and it's like half their brain is shut down. People don't criticise diabetics for not producing insulin so I wouldn't criticise someone who has issues with their brain chemistry.

 

I think the public is starting to understand mental health better but a distinction needs to be made between those feeling a little blue and those who can't function at all.

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Actually never thought i would be discussing this on a football forum but it shows there's a lot of football fans with a very broad knowledge unlike the ones on the cricket forum i run  who have zero knowledge on mental health.

 

It's an Aston Villa fans' forum. All of us are by definition just a hair's breadth away from pure insanity.

 

Or as I prefer to call it, 'On Topic'

 

Anyway, I've had depression for years, was hospitalised twice and yeah, it's shit. Situation not helped by the DSS and me continually **** things up. DSS because they're crap, and me because I'm ill. Haven't had any benefit since the end of July, which, funnily enough doesn't help my mood and increases my isolation. You sorry bastards are sometimes the only two way communication I have. So if you don't respond to my posts I will be ill and it will be ALL YOUR FAULT. Possibly.

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Work with young people with Autism, mainly Aspergers. I don't like to think of it as mental health issue in itself, but people with ASD are more inclined to suffer with mental health issues. As a result, I've worked with kids with loads of different labels and mental health issues, including their Autism. I don't claim to be an expert, but I have experienced some of the sorts of behaviours you'll see on 'Bedlam' (and aggressive/violent behaviours). 

 

The support is generally okay for children, but the school acts on behalf of the child to make sure they have the right treatment, when they become adults, they do not always know what is best for them, and neither do their parents. The support for adults is, in my opinion, poor. 

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Someone who used to be very close to me went to the doctors to seek some help for a problem they had.

The first time they were helpfully referred for some CBT, yet the appointment letter never arrived. When she chased them up, the doctors surgery didn't want to know, insisting that the letter would eventually arrive. It never did.

After a year of suffering and waiting, she went back to the doctors. Instead of sorting the CBT out for her, they shipped her off with a prescription for some SSRIs, which she didn't particularly want to take.

So, all in all, not particularly helpful.

She (or somebody in her behalf) needed to be firmer with them. GP's generally don't have a clue when it comes to mental health.

If you can afford it always go private.

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PompeyVillan I'd be interested in your opinion on whether there is even a small element of rushing to diagnose brats with the condition ADD? Don't get me wrong, I don't mean the genuine ADD cases. I sometimes get the impression that in an attempt to absolve a non-attentive or abusive* parent and to perhaps get someone onto a lucrative course of drugs while everyone remains blameless, that we do the genuine cases a disservice?

* in the hitting and or shouting sense of the word, not in the yewtree sense.

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Unfortunately if you suffer from mental illness the general conception is that its the person itself it's something wrong with and not his/her body.
Mental illness is your own fault other illness is not. But the truth is that a lot of mental health problems are related to actual physiological change in the brain or other parts of the body. It should be viewed and treated as any other sickness without the stigma, sadly it's not.
 

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Unfortunately if you suffer from mental illness the general conception is that its the person itself it's something wrong with and not his/her body.

Mental illness is your own fault other illness is not. But the truth is that a lot of mental health problems are related to actual physiological change in the brain or other parts of the body. It should be viewed and treated as any other sickness without the stigma, sadly it's not.

Mental health problems can often be avoided, most of the time even, by taking early account of what's going on and making changes to your lifestyle. But then again, can't most physiological illnesses?

I've had problems in the past with anxiety, anger and depression. I now see a psychotherapist, privately, in order to curb past any future issues. It's not the easy way out both financially and emotionally, but I want to live a long and full life and I'd rather not go back "there". Worth every penny.

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Unfortunately if you suffer from mental illness the general conception is that its the person itself it's something wrong with and not his/her body.

Mental illness is your own fault other illness is not. But the truth is that a lot of mental health problems are related to actual physiological change in the brain or other parts of the body. It should be viewed and treated as any other sickness without the stigma, sadly it's not.

 

 

What about if the cause of the mental illness was childhood abuse? hardly the child's fault. 

Edited by AVFCforever1991
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I have been diagnosed with a condition called Dysthymia in the last few years. In laymans terms its the inability to be happy, ever. I also have social anxiety disorder that's proably a side effect of my Dysthymia. In general it's shit and has pretty much ruined my life. I have had it since puberty and its incurable (from my experience). From the outside I guess people just see me as a quiet person who can be a bit sulky at times as nobdy know the true extent of my problems. Been to a therapist and done the medication thing (twice) and its good for social anxiety but doesn't do anything for my depression. I'm currently detox'ing from medication (which isn't a barrell of laughs) so I guess I'll see how I get on once I sober up. I'd say there's a 50-50 chance that I'll either be able to come to terms with my condition or else I'll go back to the dark days and end up being suicidal (again). To conclude its no fun being me, and it probably never will be.

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Someone who used to be very close to me went to the doctors to seek some help for a problem they had.

The first time they were helpfully referred for some CBT, yet the appointment letter never arrived. When she chased them up, the doctors surgery didn't want to know, insisting that the letter would eventually arrive. It never did.

After a year of suffering and waiting, she went back to the doctors. Instead of sorting the CBT out for her, they shipped her off with a prescription for some SSRIs, which she didn't particularly want to take.

So, all in all, not particularly helpful.

She (or somebody in her behalf) needed to be firmer with them. GP's generally don't have a clue when it comes to mental health.

If you can afford it always go private.

 

 

Absolutely.

 

Though it has to be said that she wasn't necessarily in the right state of mind to be taking control of the situation. It took enough convincing to get her to go, to ask her to force the doctor's hand on the issue would have been a bridge too far. She was happy to get in and get the hell back out of there again.

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After becoming a school governor years ago and getting involved with counselling pupils, I did a few courses and quite a bit of study.

 

I can't say I enjoyed the process of counselling much as it seemed that a lot of problems ran a lot deeper than the environment and relationships which were considered to be of immediate concern (school etc).

 

I wasn't that impressed with the professionals I met either because it is difficult to have faith in people who can't manage their own lives let alone advise other people.

 

I think depression is over-diagnosed and that drugs while being undoubtedly effective are not much good without an accompanying pathway to change, which needs mentoring and medium to long-term support.

 

The most difficult part is separating the merely unhappy from the clinically depressed: too many claim to suffer the latter when they simply suffer from the former.

 

I am too cynical for most people's tastes.

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I feel your pain villa89. My diagnosis was 'depression and dysthymia' - not a fun combination. I was once asked by a therapist, "What gives you joy?" I realised that the answer was, "Nothing. Ever."

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I have been diagnosed with a condition called Dysthymia in the last few years. In laymans terms its the inability to be happy, ever. I also have social anxiety disorder that's proably a side effect of my Dysthymia. In general it's shit and has pretty much ruined my life. I have had it since puberty and its incurable (from my experience). From the outside I guess people just see me as a quiet person who can be a bit sulky at times as nobdy know the true extent of my problems. Been to a therapist and done the medication thing (twice) and its good for social anxiety but doesn't do anything for my depression. I'm currently detox'ing from medication (which isn't a barrell of laughs) so I guess I'll see how I get on once I sober up. I'd say there's a 50-50 chance that I'll either be able to come to terms with my condition or else I'll go back to the dark days and end up being suicidal (again). To conclude its no fun being me, and it probably never will be.

Did the diagnosis help? By which I mean now that you know what you are dealing with, now that you are aware of it, could you then attempt to consciously try to overcome it? Almost make it the enemy that won't beat you?
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PompeyVillan I'd be interested in your opinion on whether there is even a small element of rushing to diagnose brats with the condition ADD? Don't get me wrong, I don't mean the genuine ADD cases. I sometimes get the impression that in an attempt to absolve a non-attentive or abusive* parent and to perhaps get someone onto a lucrative course of drugs while everyone remains blameless, that we do the genuine cases a disservice?

* in the hitting and or shouting sense of the word, not in the yewtree sense.

 

It's a difficult one for me. Although about 70% of the kids I work with have ADD/ADHD, they all have autism, and they are all considered extreme enough cases to send to a specialist boarding school. I don't really see 'mild' ADD/ADHD, and I don't see the sort of kids that would slip through the net with that diagnosis. I think a lot of mainstream teachers would though. 

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