Overwhelmed

[Gatherer]

I am a mum of 4, with a husband who hasn't worked for 10 years due to mental illness.

i recently lost my well paying job.

i have depression, badly managed diabetes 2, unfit, poor diet, poor sleep, on heaps of medication for thyroid, diabetes, depression, cholesterol, triglycerides, migraines.

feeling really hopeless and struggling with motivation.

[blondguy]

Hi Gatherer

Welcome to the forums and thankyou for having the courage to post!

I am really sorry that you are in this dark place right now. I understand the depression as I have had it for 21 years and 13 years of chronic anxiety prior.....It really is like being in quicksand. You also have many other issues to contend with at the same time....

To lose your job is devastating. I was made redundant in January 2016 and it was a huge low for me.

There are many gentle people here that can be here for you Gatherer.....no worries there at all

The forums are also a judgemental free zone.....you will never be judged here....

Being overwhelmed is the last place you (and your husband) want to be in

I think you are amazing to have posted on the forums considering what you are going through Gatherer

you will not be alone here and I really hope you can post back.....even if you just want to have a chat

my kindest thoughts for you and your family Gatherer

Paul

[Ken1]

Hi Gatherer, I'm so sorry for your struggles.

Sounds like between your mental and physical health things are really hard for you.

Are you seeing someone at all? And is your husband?

I understand due to low motivation and having 4 kids to look after it would be hard, but what are you doing to look after yourself/have fun? This is really really important - without having time ti enjoy life you can quickly lose motivation and feel hopeless.

Does the medication you're taking impact your ability to function i.e. Make you tired or anything like that? Would it hinder your ability to do some light exercise so you can feel more fit? Doesn't have to be much, could be going for a morning walk and soaking some Vitamin D (excellent for people with depression).

Would love to be of help to you!

Hope to hear back.

Bonnie

[geoff]

hello Gatherer, there has been so much for you to have to cope with, and for your husband to suffer from mental illness, always puts extra pressure on you.
With everything you have been diagnosed with must be a terrible struggle to even try to cope with, I now think that you have concentrate on yourself at the moment, because there is only so much you can do to help your husband, and unless he can recognise and accept he has to do that little bit extra to help himself, then there's not much you can do, this may have happened but it seems as though it could have come to a stand still.
I'm so sorry and hope that you have been able to contact centrelink just to cover your expenses until you are feeling better, because now you are the one who needs all the help you can get.
I presume that you still have expenses to pay for, rent/loan, plus for your own household, so can I suggest that you contact Anglicare or another charity for food vouchers, but what happened to me was that Anglicare was able to stop all those annoying phone calls as well as the 'demand letters' and arrange a payment plan to help you through all of this.
Please stay in contact with us. Geoff.

[MarkJT]

Gatherer, you have a heap on your plate that is for sure. I think the best thing to do when you have so much stuff to work out, is to break it down.

Unfit: As Bonnie has said above, can you please get out and go for a walk. Start off with just going to the corner and back or if you can, around the block. Once you have done that a couple of times, two blocks and continue to work it up. Walking is a really good low impact exercise. There are also some marvelous programs out there as well. A friend of mine did the "From couch to 5km" challenge. Setting a goal that is achievable but not easy can be really good for you.

Poor diet: Perhaps head to a dietician and get some food advice. Your diet has such a critical effect on your mental health that it needs to be managed. Changing diets is hard to do so you may want to start with the removal of one type of bad food per week. That way you are weaning off it. You can also change food, i.e. i swapped flavored yogurt to flavored Greek yogurt which is half the amount of sugar. Did this along with other foods in my diet and over a three week period i calculated that i cut out 1.5 kg's of sugar.

Migraines: How much water are you drinking? I know when i have not been drinking enough because a headache comes on and if i do not drink water, it will turn into a migraine.

Poor sleep: Does it take a long time to get to sleep? Are you sleeping to little? Are you waking up?

Along with the advice above, if you can answer these, I think we will be able to help you get back up and about sooner rather than later.

Mark