Mental Health

[Fairmaiden64]

Things are supposed to be getting better for those suffering from Mental Health issues, but I have trouble believing this. Even trying to get some help or any documentation regarding your conditions is still a maze of red tape and too much for already mentally worn out people to handle. I suffer from Major Depression, Social Phobia, OCD, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Agoraphobia, Hodophobia just to name a few. Life is hell on my best day. Nobody understands unless theyre going through the same thing. It's like being in a prison you can never escape from. You think you're as intelligent as the next person, so why can you not get past this? Some days I just stay in bed altogether and some days I struggle just to do the most basic thing that others take for granted. Then I have to pat myself on the back repeatedly so that I can do another minor task. My brain is exhausting. Some people think you're just lazy. Would anyone really want to be this way if they had a choice? If I stay inside for a few days, I can't even get them mail because I have to check if anyone's outside first. I can't go to the shops anymore because of the Social Phobia. I have not been out anywhere in like, forever (decades), and I continually cancel appointments because I just can't do it. I find myself having short term memory issues frequently and I often wonder what I'm doing or what I was about to do. I've been called 'thin skinned' and plenty of other things due to not coping as well as others in normal situations. I procrastinate enormously. Two thirds of my hair has fallen out in the last few years, just something else to worry about. I always worry about what others think. Just like someone else on here I read a post from, no one likes  me, no family either and I am all alone. I don't like people, and I can't tolerate them for very long, I just want to run (unfortunately people think I'm arrogant because of this). But I'm also lonely and wish there was a group where I could meet others who understood. You don't want to be constantly moaning or be negative all the time. And I HATE being the centre of attention with a passion. I just want to merge right into the back of the group and hope noone sees I'm there. People have told me I'm "weird". And I don't even know why. I try to always be a good person, but sometimes I think to myself that even serial killers have friends and family, so I must just be really really bad.

[Flop]

Hello Fairmaiden,

I'm really sorry to hear about your struggles and in part I've been through some myself.

Around the begining of last year, I couldn't step in a store without feeling like I was going to have a panic attack, I couldn't stand in a line with out feeling like I need to run out of the store. It'd just come over me and feel all consuming.

It was a very gradual process for me, I'm now able to do those things and be completely fine. I'm not cured by any stretch, but little by little I've gotten, and am getting better.

For starters, maybe try and work yourself up to spending some time out in your backyard, gotta start somewhere, and bit by bit up the stakes. This is pretty much what I did and am still in the process of doing.

Each time you avoid a situation, you get immediate relief, followed by a little guilt as you feel like you should be able to just do these things. What that's doing in the background however is reinforcing in your brain that these appointments, these people and the entire outside world is to be avoided to minimize distress, and it'll be even harder the next time. It's your brain trying to protect you, but it doesn't understand what's innately safe and what's a threat. Something to note is a panic attack is awful of course, but it can't kill you, it's no threat whatsoever, you won't pass out either due to all the adrenaline. If you're able to sit through one, that tells your brain they're not to be feared.

It may take a lot of willpower, but perhaps organize a phone consultation with a GP to discuss how you feel. Even if you are extremely anxious, they'll understand and won't judge you at all. Looking into mental health resources online could also be beneficial, a lot of overcoming anxiety in particular is through education; knowing what your brain is actually doing. You could also look into online therapy, which again being extremely anxious here would be okay too. A lot of them bulk bill too.

For calming, look at breathing exercises if you haven't already, guided meditations or anxiety educational videos. When I first starting tackling my anxiety a channel on YouTube called "therapy in a nutshell" helped me a lot.

It'll take a lot of courage, but if you make a start I think you'll be amazed what you can do. I pray this has sparked a glimmer of hope or has been helpful. You don't have to make huge leaps for progress, smiling at a stranger or even saying hi to someone is a start. I believe in you.

You got this ❤️

[therising]

Hi Fairmaiden64

My heart goes out to you given all the overwhelming challenges you face, including the challenge of people in your life not wondering enough when it comes to how you feel and why you experience life in the ways you do.

I think it's so important to have people in our life who do no judge but wonder instead, when it comes to how and why we experience life in certain ways. Sometimes I think of how the world lacks a lot of wonderful people, the kinds of people who'd simply sit with those who suffer so much and help them brainstorm all the possible reasons in relation to why they suffer. It just doesn't seem right that we should have to pay people (mental health professionals) to wonder with us in the way of finding mind altering life changing revelations.

Sometimes I've wondered about certain traits of human nature in their extreme. I've wondered about how some abilities, in their extreme, can feel more like curses

• When the ability to channel certain parts of our self such as the adventurer, the analyst, the carer, the dictator (who dictates the best direction or action) etc are at their best, life is brilliant. All these facets of us can bring us a sense of flow, joy and achievement. When the dictator (at its worst), dictates everything we must do, life can become hell. 'If you don't wash your hands 15 times within in 4 minutes, you will have problems. Wash your hands. Now wash them again and again and again...'
• The ability to witness our body at work can lead us to feel the amazing activity inside us, such as when we put our finger on our pulse so as to connect with our heart beat and the blood pulsing through our veins. This can can feel more like a curse for some when they can feel every twitch, every glitch and every moment of hyperactivity in their nervous system. To feel our nervous system comes with challenges that may demand strategic management
• The ability to alter our state of consciousness can allow us to experience great compassion, such as with becoming more conscious of someone else's heartbreak (which can lead us to tears and greater love for them). When we become stuck being conscious of everything that's depressing, we can remain that way until something or someone leads us into a different state, through medical, psychological or soulful intervention
• The ability to recognise home as one of the safest places we can be is an ability most people have. Seeing it as the only safe place for managing our fears, our nervous system, the judgement of others and more comes with incredible challenges not everyone understands. When the goal is to live a fearless life because that's the only way of managing exhaustion, it can make sense to us that there is no fear in staying somewhere that is safe

Managing certain abilities in their extreme can be such overwhelming hard work and work that can be so incredibly hard to achieve on our own at times, especially without relatable strategies.

[Fairmaiden64]

It never ceases to amaze me how cold Centrelink and job providers can be. It doesn't seem that mental health issues matter at all to the Government (and it doesn't matter which side is in, neither care about those less fortunate). And to make matters worse, they make it as "simple" as "just going to your G.P to obtain a Centrelink Certificate". There is no money for food, petrol, electricity, nor the remainder of my rent after my payment, but I am just supposed to conjure up money for GP gaps, followed by somehow finding money for psychiatrists/psychologists' gaps once a GP is met with, due to needing a "mental health plan" for medication. I admit I sound as though I am ranting and raving. And I'm sure there'll be people that don't suffer from my mental health issues who will think I'm some sort of 'bludger', but I am absolutely not. I WANT TO WORK AGAIN ASAP. Even with my full body of arthritis and needing 2 knee replacements, diverticulitis, IBS etc etc......I would LOVE to be independently working if my mental health would allow, but on any given day I can have extreme to major depression and anxiety issues, no matter what activities I take on to work with my mental health. Getting out of bed is one of the biggest issues, as my anxiety is so over the top as I am waking, that I am sometimes stopped there in my tracks all day. I cannot even get my mail due to feeling everybody is looking at me sometimes. Despite all of this, I have tried to get this 3 month medical certificate Centrelink want, by not paying my rent this fortnight due to the gaps payments. I firstly went to Emergency for help with this, due to not a cent for this. No help from them. So I called my old GP, who is 45 minutes away for help with the certificate. But he is on leave. So, another doctor from the practice did a phone consultation but could only supply a short note titled "medical certificate", with my diagnosis on it. I then went up the street to a GP in my area and had to pay a second gap to see a doctor there. Unfortunately, she was not able to help and stated that I needed to get my other GP to put all of my medical history on a disc and that she may be able to help then, but as for any medication for treatment of my multiple anxiety disorders to assist me, she may not be able to help me as she had to be careful of how much addictive medication she could give patients and she might be at her limit. Honestly, I did not ask for any addictive medication

[therising]

Hi Fairmaiden64

Definitely a lot of broken or dysfunctional systems out there, not entirely serving the people who need them the most. My theory is...if you want to know exactly where the systems are broken, ask the people who are suffering through them. If necessity is the mother of invention, whoever works out how to have all the systems coinciding so as to create some sense of flow and simplicity will make a fortune off that invention. Until then, so much remains disjointed and challenging.

Nothing wrong with ranting and raving, aka having a good solid vent over what feels just too intolerable to keep inside. I truly wish the government would get it together when it comes to certain aspects of well being. While worsening stress levels (for example) can increase an inflammatory response, you could say the government provides incredible pain based on the way they don't provide a sense of ease through certain systems and in the way they don't subsidise certain natural stress management therapies that can offer some relief from inflammation. There's just so much that remains questionable.