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Tracytron I don't have any hope left.
  • replies: 6

For as long as I can remember, my mother has been emotionally abusing me, whether she realises it or not. She has always punished or scolded me whenever I do something wrong, and then completely ignored me whenever I did something right. This might s... View more

For as long as I can remember, my mother has been emotionally abusing me, whether she realises it or not. She has always punished or scolded me whenever I do something wrong, and then completely ignored me whenever I did something right. This might seem like something stupid to get upset about, but over the years it has completely obliterated my mental health, and what made it even worse is that because of it I was always much more mature than my peers, so I could never even really socialise with them either. All of this has essentially conditioned me to hate myself and feel like I can never be good enough, and after researching the effects of this sort of thing when I questioned whether I was in the right to hate her or not I found out that this sort of thing literally causes the brain to develop and wire itself differently, and now I'm 18 so I'm way past my developmental period. What am I supposed to do? There's no way to rewire brains. I don't have any hope of getting help, and I don't see how it would be physically possible for me to get better.... Is there anything that I could possibly do that could help?....

Just Sara What's it like on a psych ward?
  • replies: 43

Hi all; This topic often comes up so I thought I'd create a thread to inform, and discuss concerns of people scared to ask for help from a hospital. I've worked as a mental health peer worker since mid last year so I totally understand the stigma aro... View more

Hi all; This topic often comes up so I thought I'd create a thread to inform, and discuss concerns of people scared to ask for help from a hospital. I've worked as a mental health peer worker since mid last year so I totally understand the stigma around being admitted. I spent two weeks on a ward a few years ago so my post is from lived experience as well. Depending on your circumstances, being admitted voluntarily or involuntarily isn't really any different except if you're violent or are at risk of self-harming. In these instances patients are sent to a ward where they can be monitored more closely than on other wards. Think of the MH system as a scale from 1 to 3; at each level you're being assessed to move to the next level of care with less monitoring and more independence, eg. wards can be closed or open depending on whether the patient is a risk to themselves or others and has proven themselves to be actively participating in their own recovery. Assessments are carried out by a psychiatrist assigned to the patient on admission or the next available time permitted as they are extremely busy or it's in the middle of the night. Nursing staff take daily, and sometimes hourly notes to support the assessment process. They follow the Dr's treatment plan which includes medication both regularly administered and PRN for crisis situations when people need something extra to help them cope. In my own case I was prescribed a daily anti-depressant with PRN anti-anxiety as a back-up which I only requested when I couldn't sleep or was distressed. People with more severe symptoms are treated with medication in alignment with their particular diagnosis and responses. Sometimes it takes a while to test what the best medication is, so letting staff know how you feel with any new drug is really important. Their notes are a direct link to your psychiatrist and are discussed every morning in a combined clinical meeting to identify the best avenue of treatment and ward movements for each patient. As you can imagine, patients at each stage of the scale will differ in how they act, respond and engage with others. Focusing on yourself and recovery is the best way to approach your stay. Hope this helps. Looking forward to comments from members. Kind thoughts; Sez

Lilly_of_the_Valley psychiatric assistance dog
  • replies: 1

Hi all, I am new here and this is only my second post. I have been looking through the forums at all the great topics and I noticed a few older posts asking questions about emotional support animals. I just wanted to put forth what I know. Here in Au... View more

Hi all, I am new here and this is only my second post. I have been looking through the forums at all the great topics and I noticed a few older posts asking questions about emotional support animals. I just wanted to put forth what I know. Here in Australia there is emotional support animals and assistance animals. There's a big difference. ESA do not have public access rights, if you are wanting your dog to accompany you out in public then you want them trained and recognised as an Assistance Dog. There are some great pathways available to allow you to do this and I am happy to chat further about it if anyone is interested, right now I just wanted to let people know the difference between Emotional Support Animals and Assistance Animals because the two are often confused.

qfskies18 Gag reflex irritation while on SSRIs
  • replies: 18

Hey all! Im relatively new to being on medication, having only started about six weeks ago, but I’ve had the same problem with two different SSRIs of having an irritated gag reflex. The first one was really bad, I always felt like I was about to gag ... View more

Hey all! Im relatively new to being on medication, having only started about six weeks ago, but I’ve had the same problem with two different SSRIs of having an irritated gag reflex. The first one was really bad, I always felt like I was about to gag or throw up, which was why I switched. This new one is definitely not as bad but still there and it’s very frustrating. Has anyone else experienced this side effect with any medications? How long did it take to go away if so? I’m highly considering not trying a third drug and going to therapy instead, as I feel I can’t cope with these side effects much longer, they’re impacting my quality of life. Someone suggested it might be the drug making my anxiety worse which is causing the gag response but I’ve never had this issue with my anxiety before these drugs Any insight is much appreciated! Thanks!

niha Does anyone know how to contact a psychiatrist without parental control/ guidance
  • replies: 3

Recently i’ve been throwing up after binge eating, i don’t want to self diagnose but i think i have a binge eating disorder. i just wish to professionally discuss it with someone, to tell them how i feel, what i do when i eat, what goes on. my connec... View more

Recently i’ve been throwing up after binge eating, i don’t want to self diagnose but i think i have a binge eating disorder. i just wish to professionally discuss it with someone, to tell them how i feel, what i do when i eat, what goes on. my connection with food. i asked to book in with one but my parents didn’t let me.

Nimi How to Discuss Emotional Abuse with Psych?
  • replies: 7

Hi guys, I'm not sure really if this is what has happened to me, but I want to talk about it with a therapist because I feel like I have to know if I'm overreacting. I'm not really sure how to approach the subject with them? I've been to therapy for ... View more

Hi guys, I'm not sure really if this is what has happened to me, but I want to talk about it with a therapist because I feel like I have to know if I'm overreacting. I'm not really sure how to approach the subject with them? I've been to therapy for anxiety and depression before, but I haven't felt the need to discuss a subject like this before and I'm still kind of in shock about the possibility of it even being true and I have a lot of self-doubt. I've tried to talk about it a bit before with a therapist but I ended up getting nervous and sad and just crying a whole lot. Maybe I wasn't ready to discuss it back then, I'm not sure. Is it normal to be scared about this? I just wanted to know if anyone has any strategies or advice for talking about painful subjects like this. The last two times I tried I broke down and couldn't talk about it, because I felt I was being cruel by claiming that I had been abused by someone, or that it wouldn't sound believable. I hope that makes sense and I hope I posted this in the right place. I'd really like to try again, I'd like to have the confidence to be able to talk about it. Thank you for reading.

Shaneos Does anyone know who enforces the mental health act.
  • replies: 12

Hey, my name is Shane and I’m in Perth I was hoping maybe someone in here could help with answers. Last year I was detained against my will under the Mental health act for 3 days. The entire process was like an experience out of the twilight zone and... View more

Hey, my name is Shane and I’m in Perth I was hoping maybe someone in here could help with answers. Last year I was detained against my will under the Mental health act for 3 days. The entire process was like an experience out of the twilight zone and very surreal. Without going into the finer details, it all stemmed from an ongoing dispute I’ve had with my family. They had been using mental health as a kind of tool or weapon against me because they are not the people I’d thought them to be I discovered . Anyhoo....in this particular instance, they managed to get me transported by police for a mental health assessment at the hospital. I calmly complied all the way along and was perfectly rational and coherent the entire time. There was no suicide attempt Or anything , I wasn’t anxious or requiring mental or medical assistance in anyway. After 5hrs of waiting in emergency until I was finally assessed by a self proclaimed mental health nurse. I was informed that I was to be detained against my will until further notice. I was never informed The reason why, or given copies of my detention forms, informed of my rights at any point or told I had access to a mental health advocates assistance etc etcThis twilight zone scenario continued on for 3 more days which included being transported to a maximum security mental facility, which apparently is worse than prison conditions my fellow inmates informed me whilst there. Not once did I lose my temper or composure whilst detained. Nor was I given any medication of any sort. Even though I found out later they had written down I was acutely unstable on my initial detention form which I never received. On the 4th day of my ordeal. I was released by the so called Chief psychiatrist with a diagnosis of recommending I seek counselling over my marriage break down. Of which happened years earlier and didn’t have the slightest relevance whatsoever for me being there. After my release I got straight into making a complaint over my experience and wanting answers. I studIed the mental health act for myself. Sure enough it turned out every single law and procedure had been broken in regards to detaining a person and of which I had plenty of proof to back that up.But none of that ended up mattering. Because Apparently nobody polices or implements the mental health law. No agency or government body. So in summary, I was locked up against my will illegally for 3 days and nobody was held accountable.

KazooRights Hospitalisation - risks, benefits, thoughts?
  • replies: 5

Hey guys, I'm in a pretty dark place right now (I won't go into detail because I don't want to trigger anybody), and I think I need to be hospitalised. I've never been hospitalised before though, and I really don't know how any of this works. My reas... View more

Hey guys, I'm in a pretty dark place right now (I won't go into detail because I don't want to trigger anybody), and I think I need to be hospitalised. I've never been hospitalised before though, and I really don't know how any of this works. My reason for believing I'd benefit from going to a hospital is that I just don't feel safe at the moment, and I don't want to be at risk of anything. I'm just wondering if anybody can tell me what it's like? I know they take away most things you could try to bring in, but I'm really scared I'll get bored or freak out if I don't have a distraction tool. I wouldn't bring my phone in obviously, but are we allowed books or TV? I know it's bad but I just have so much trouble being left with my own thoughts, and being in a safe external environment doesn't really discredit how distressing my thoughts can be. How would going to hospital affect my schoolwork? I'm sitting an accelerated HSC assessment in October, for one thing, as well as I've got all my other Y11 assessments coming up soon. I have a mentor figure who took a mental health break in Y11 and says she's still missing a lot of core content for her subjects, and that it negatively affected her HSC. I really don't want to miss out on my dreams or whatever just because I'm finding things overwhelming right now. I'm also worried about the risks of COVID-19 in hospitals. I have a very immuno-compromised family member who I fear would be unable to visit me if I was in hospital, because the risk of contagion would be higher there (as that's where sick people are). If I decide to go to hospital, how much would I need to say? Will it cost my family money? Thank you so much

qfskies18 Stopping SSRI - withdrawal?
  • replies: 17

Hey all, So after two different attempts, I’m stopping my SSRI for anxiety in favour of therapy. I did not like how sick I felt all the time. I started on one SSRI but after four weeks was still sick, so switched to another. The changeover was very e... View more

Hey all, So after two different attempts, I’m stopping my SSRI for anxiety in favour of therapy. I did not like how sick I felt all the time. I started on one SSRI but after four weeks was still sick, so switched to another. The changeover was very easy. After three weeks on this new one, I’m now stopping altogether (on doctor’s advice). Considering I’m on the lowest dose possible, am I likely to experience much of a withdrawal? I’m supposed to be flying in two days and the thought of flying while feeling sick terrifies me. has anyone stopped a low dose SSRI cold turkey? Or experienced withdrawal? thanks in advance!

calmseeker The search for the right GP!
  • replies: 15

Feeling super frustrated with accessing help on the GP level. My GP is a lovely guy but I need medical advice not a new friend. I know I know, get a new GP and that's where the frustration comes in. I feel so overwhelmed at the thought of starting ag... View more

Feeling super frustrated with accessing help on the GP level. My GP is a lovely guy but I need medical advice not a new friend. I know I know, get a new GP and that's where the frustration comes in. I feel so overwhelmed at the thought of starting again! GP's are the coordinators in accessing the help we require so I feel its important we have someone we trust in that role. Groan, I feel like its a mammoth undertaking. My anxious mind races trying to work out where I start and what I say in a ten minute appointment. Today my thoughts are that I am tired of anxiety, its exhausting trying to help myself.