Staying well

Menopause, Anxiety...........and no Gallbladder

replies: 5

Hi all, this is my first post. I am 50 years old an anxiety sufferer, 4 months post op gastric sleeve and 3 months post op gallbladder removal. I am having many many symptoms of menopause, I see my GP next week. I was wondering if HRT has interfered ... View more

Hi all, this is my first post. I am 50 years old an anxiety sufferer, 4 months post op gastric sleeve and 3 months post op gallbladder removal. I am having many many symptoms of menopause, I see my GP next week. I was wondering if HRT has interfered with anyone's medication and whether you can take HRT without a gallbladder. Thank you in advance

Lost the plot

replies: 12

So after 8 months of sobriety. Last Tuesday I slipped and had a flask of Vodka at Lunch Time as my work load and some conflict got to me, My employers were told by a colleague and gave me a letter 3 days ago, asking for a meeting to discuss some conc... View more

So after 8 months of sobriety. Last Tuesday I slipped and had a flask of Vodka at Lunch Time as my work load and some conflict got to me, My employers were told by a colleague and gave me a letter 3 days ago, asking for a meeting to discuss some concerns colleagues had, which completely pushed me over the edge... I wound up leaving at lunch on the day of the meeting (3:30pm Friday), getting completely wasted and coming back getting sent home in a taxi by my boss (which he paid for), although I didn't go home I went to a pub near my house, so when my employer didn't get a message saying I'd got home safely him and his wife called me 9 times. I didn't hear my phone, they wound up calling my parents to find out if I was still alive. I went home and my best friend and parents called the cops and I spent the night in hospital under suicide watch and freaking out about losing my job (I have no coping skills for this sort of thing). So on Sunday the employer called me and rescheduled the meeting to next Monday (8 days away, as the hospital gave me a certificate for a week). I feel incredibly stressed, I'm in Australia, and If I lose this job, I might lose everything. It was a stupid decision on the Tuesday days ago, but losing it on the Friday resulted in a mess with everyone concerned about me. I was just going to lay it all on the table next Monday and explain my depression and anxiety, and how I am now on more meds and more frequent counselling, but I don't know what the best plan of attack is. I have a letter from my GP and My Psychologist outlining that i am now receiving additional help in both departments, how I have struggled for years and how they know I am trying to get better. My boss has always been quite understanding and easy to talk to. I mean I imagine that if this had been it they wouldn't have rescheduled the meeting to the following Monday they would have canned me on the spot. I just don't know what the best course of action is at this point. I want to improve, this was a one off and I will never let it happen again. I am seeking help for coping mechanisms and I am on anti anxiety and anti alcohol meds now (even though I am not an alcoholic. I just abuse it when I start drinking due to depression and make bad decisions because of unfounded guilt I have).

Setting yourself up for success

replies: 3

Thought I might start a thread for people to share strategies on how they force themselves to do things they don't like doing! For example, going to the gym, getting out of bed, procrastination, etc. Tell us what you struggle to do, and how you cheat... View more

Thought I might start a thread for people to share strategies on how they force themselves to do things they don't like doing! For example, going to the gym, getting out of bed, procrastination, etc. Tell us what you struggle to do, and how you cheat yourself into doing it! I'll start... Struggle #1: Getting out of bed in the morning - I put the alarm clock in the lounge room so I have no choice but to get out of bed! Struggle #2: Meditating daily - I put my phone into flight mode the night before and I'm not allowed to turn it off in the morning until AFTER I have meditated.

I’m having trouble sleeping

replies: 2

Help! I can’t seem to get to sleep easily. Even when I exercise during the day, drink warm milk in the evening and get off my electronic devices an hour before bed, I end up falling asleep more than an hour after I get into bed. I also wake up freque... View more

Help! I can’t seem to get to sleep easily. Even when I exercise during the day, drink warm milk in the evening and get off my electronic devices an hour before bed, I end up falling asleep more than an hour after I get into bed. I also wake up frequently during the night and have trouble falling asleep afterwards. Does anyone have any tips for me?

DAY ONE

replies: 27

Hi Im starting a journey on getting well, It has take me years to finally admit I am depressed, I've been terrified of the stigma and the medications. I have some therapy booked, and have seen a homeopath for health support. I am struggling with Alco... View more

Hi Im starting a journey on getting well, It has take me years to finally admit I am depressed, I've been terrified of the stigma and the medications. I have some therapy booked, and have seen a homeopath for health support. I am struggling with Alcohol, and it is making me ill, my digestive system is out of wack, is there somewhere I can talk to others who are trying to stop drinking? I need to talk about it, and I want to stop all together, I have tried so many times, but keep going back, I know it is making my issues unsurmountable, but I can only stay off it for about 2 weeks then it starts again, please Help, many thanks.....frustrated, alone, sick, not moving forward, like a duck swimming, feet going like mad but not moving anywhere..........thanks again S60

Alora here - dealing with lifelong depression and addiction

replies: 16

Alora here, I'm a newbie wanting to say hi. Been battling depression/anxiety since I was 13, lost a sibling at 17 which destroyed me. The solution I found for my pain at the time was alcohol, and here I am 23 years later battling an addiction that I ... View more

Alora here, I'm a newbie wanting to say hi. Been battling depression/anxiety since I was 13, lost a sibling at 17 which destroyed me. The solution I found for my pain at the time was alcohol, and here I am 23 years later battling an addiction that I know is destroying me, mentally, emotionally and physically. My life isn't where I expected to be: no kids, no job, little friends, and I'm stuck at home with an injury that's currently preventing me from work, outings or exercise. Trying to be positive and fight the cravings feels impossible at the moment. I hope to share my story, the knowledge and tips I've learned, and get advice from others. Most importantly, I could do with a friend.

Fostering feelings of excitement?

replies: 4

Hi. I think I am - and have been for most of my life now - rather disconnected from the kind of positive energy that drives people to do things. I remember, as a child, waking up on Christmas morning and being excited to open presents. I remember, as... View more

Hi. I think I am - and have been for most of my life now - rather disconnected from the kind of positive energy that drives people to do things. I remember, as a child, waking up on Christmas morning and being excited to open presents. I remember, as a child, being excited to read through whatever book I was engaged with at the moment. But that kind of thing feels very far away. I already know things that I think are worth doing with my time in the world, and that I want to will myself actually to do. But the excitement is not there to jump out of bed in the morning, or to do thing at any other stage of the day. And so I procrastinate. This feels like something that perhaps meditation (excitement meditation?) can help with. Or writing a gratitude journal (except for excitement). But how to write about things I'm excited about when I .. don't feel that? Do you have to bootstrap yourself into it?; "If the feeling part of me could cotton onto what my brain knows I *should* be excited about, I *would* be excited about.. X.. and Y... and Z"; and then eventually the feelings catch up? What things about yourself have you made concerted efforts to change in this way? How have you attempted this? Has it worked (become internalised - "I'm actually a different person to that person from years ago; I feel different, act differently, see the world differently") or do you just feel like every day for years you've been mechanically "handling" your unchanging underlying default dispositions?

How do you cope with the uncertainty and unpredictability of life?

replies: 9

Got some homework from my psych (as usual) relating to needing or craving certainty. I found some additional material on the web which included a worksheet. One of the questions on the worksheet included this... Talk to the people you know. Ask how t... View more

Got some homework from my psych (as usual) relating to needing or craving certainty. I found some additional material on the web which included a worksheet. One of the questions on the worksheet included this... Talk to the people you know. Ask how they cope with the uncertainty and unpredictability of life? Could you do the same thing they in situations where you have difficulty tolerating uncertainty? So I am opening this question to the people here at BB. This is one thing I do not have an answer to. I am hoping that others might be able to give some feedback so that I might be able to deal with uncertainty better. And maybe others will benefit from it? Over to you....

Long term anxiety and depression how do you deal?

replies: 5

For those of you that suffer this long term how do you manage? I have had panic attacks and bouts of depression since I was eight. Over the month or so anxiety, but most of all depression is seeping into my life. I've been crying for no reason, tryin... View more

For those of you that suffer this long term how do you manage? I have had panic attacks and bouts of depression since I was eight. Over the month or so anxiety, but most of all depression is seeping into my life. I've been crying for no reason, trying not to burst into tears at work and trying to keep my Mum hat on when I feel so tired and despondent all the time. It's like I am dragging myself through mud. I'm forgetting things and my body just aches. When I just feel like I'm finally through a period of severe anxiety or depression ( I was having severe anxiety attacks every few hours 18months ago) it seems to raise it's ugly head again. I've enrolled in a course to further my career but it's just making me feel anxious and I want to back out because I'm afraid it will turn into full blown panic. I feel such a huge expectation from people, why aren't I working more? why do I flake out so much.... I don't know how to find my balance. I really want the periods of when I feel normal to last. I want to achieve things that shouldn't be that hard. I feel like I've missed out on so much because I can't keep it together for any period of time and it's really really fricken frustrating.

Stressed

replies: 6

Hi everyone, recently I’ve been feeling really uneasy. Just the other day I burst into tears just because someone was rude to me. I don’t know why I couldn’t control my emotions. I feel overwhelmed by life and I honestly feel like there’s this weight... View more

Hi everyone, recently I’ve been feeling really uneasy. Just the other day I burst into tears just because someone was rude to me. I don’t know why I couldn’t control my emotions. I feel overwhelmed by life and I honestly feel like there’s this weight pulling me down. I feel alright at home, but as soon as I go out the door I feel a bit uncomfortable. When I’m out in public with friends, or with family I feel fine. It’s just when I’m by myself I feel vulnerable. As someone who has never felt self conscious, why do I feel like this now? Please let me know if you guys have any tips or suggestions! I just want to be feel good again:(

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