Ben

[Guest_8148]

Hi I'm Ben

im 37years old. I have a 9mth old son and a partner.

Suffering from various degrees of mental illness for nigh on 20 years now.

Over it. Can feel my family slipping away.

Live in remote WA. Very hard to get regular services.

Feel lost and alone. And bloody helpless

[Guest_9809]

Hi Ben and welcome to the Forums .. a safe and caring environment where you will be welcomed and understood by the helpful and compassionate people who make up this community.

Thankyou for trusting us with your story. I do want to assure you that this site is secure and is moderated to ensure your ongoing safety and anonymity. Given you live in a remote or rural environment however, please just make sure you do not give away your actual location, name or any other information that may enable someone to identify you.

Firstly I would direct you to the excellent resources that BeyondBlue have here on their website. Have a read of the information contained under the headings on top of this page, namely: Get Support, The Facts and Who Does it Affect? I think you will find this information very helpful.

Ben, you havent said whether you have been formally diagnosed with a mental illness, although you have said that you've suffered from MI for almost 20 years. Can you be a little more specific - ie do you have a Depression or Anxiety related illness? It would also be helpful if we knew whether you have had any treatment over the past 20 years - eg Medication, Therapy, Self Help methods, etc. In other words, what have you already tried in order to help you overcome your symptoms, and how successful (if at all) has that been?

Living in a remote or rural area is very difficult when it comes to finding good professional services for any illness - physical or mental. And if there is something suitable available, it is often a long wait list to get in, and a long drive to get there.

I imagine with a 9 month old son, things are pretty hectic for you and your partner right now? Is your partner supportive (as she can be) and understanding of your illness/s? Do you have other family or friends nearby who you can talk to if you need a caring ear sometimes?

One thing to keep in mind is that there are on-line psychological and counselling services that you can utilise if a proper face to face option is not available.

If at all possible I would urge you to make an appointment to see your GP at your earliest opportunity to discuss with them how you are feeling currently. They will be able to advise you what your local or on-line options are with regards to any follow-up care or counselling.

Meanwhile please post anytime. We want to help support you, and will do so in whatever way we can - as a fellow peer going through similar issues to yourself.

Taurus

[Croix]

Dear Ben~

Like Taurus I'd like to welcome your here to the Forum. I can understand the problems you face with distance, something the government has not really addressed, though maybe the Skype related changes to Medicare billing as announced by Fiona Nash will help when they come in.

Here you can talk to other people who have the same mental illnesses as you, and you can see how they have coped and what has happened to them. for example I've PTSD, anxiety and had bouts of depression. I've learned a lot from being here, many of the things I thought were just me have turned out to be the expected symptoms of the illnesses.

I've also seen some of what has worked for others. A great thing has been no longer feeling so alone with it all.

So I'll echo what Taurus has already asked. Would you mind saying what the problems are you face, the nature of your illnesses, if you've been diagnosed and are under any sort of treatment?

Feeling family slipping away is terrible. I guess this can sometimes be though lack of understanding, it does take someone who has been down the same path to truly understand, though just reading up on things can be a help. There is a whole load of information, sensibly presented, in The Facts menu above.

It may seem a silly question, but do you have access to a landline? Many help lines have a 1300 number (as does beyondblue) and using a landline the cost is negligible. I'm aware some unlimited mobile plans include free 1300 numbers but am not sure of their geographic coverage. Other plans and PAYG seem to charge steeply. If available a help line can be a real boon.

In any event we would very much hope you felt welcome enough to post again and say more.

Croix