Relief

[Citrine]

After talking my situation down for the last two years and not accepting I am suffering with depression, today I 100% opened up to my GP and admitted I am really struggling. Fulltime working single parent with 2 teenagers that I have majority care of, financial constraints and just treading water every day is wearing me down. I have lost my mojo and sense of joy and the negative self talk is hard going. A car accident 6 weeks ago where I wrote off my car was the icing on the cake and each day is just getting harder and harder. I was also afraid of the impact of my attitude, etc on my kids....so that was the push I needed to finally ask for help. My GP listened and was so supportive starting me on medication and setting up a mental health care plan. I just needed to share so thank you to whoever has read this - my family think you should just be able to pull yourself out of a bad situation and not require medication, etc, so not able to share this win with them. Small steps, but I feel relief to have started this journey and just getting all the crap thoughts out of my head felt good 🙂

[quirkywords]

Citrine, I like that crystal,

Welcome and thanks for making your first post. I understand it takes a lot to admit that everything is not ok and I am so glad your doctor was supportive,.

Sometimes people who have not had depression find it hard to understand so offer easy solutions.

By writing down your storybyou May have given others the the courage to tell theirs and reach out for help.

Feel free to post here and browse other threads that may interest you.

Quirky

[Mummakins]

Well done for having the courage to ask for help, and I feel you do need courage as many people do not understand that it is an illness.

As my GP said if we had a heart disease, diabetes ect we are given medication to help us. ( I have been resistant to taking meds because I thought that made me weak)

i also thought that when I took the meds I would be healed. I have been on many different ones but on one now that works the best, but it takes more than medication to get well. That was something else I didn’t understand.

i am a single mum with 4 children, their ages this year are 27, 24, 22 and 19. In 2001 I was originally diagnosed with Postnatal depression. Later on it was major depression anxiety ocd and ptsd ( long term trauma)

i wish you all the best in your recovery, take care of yourself and be kind to yourself.

[Citrine]

Thanks, its great that there are forums like this which offer such support and understanding. I didn't really even want to admit to myself how bad things were getting.

Yes, I like citrine as well - one of the things it represents is joy and positivity and I have a lovely citrine ring I wear every day to remind me of this. Will definitely have a browse of other threads.

[Citrine]

Thanks Mummakins, I get the impression my family think I can just snap out of it! I also think part of the reason I resisted facing I had depression, was the thought that I was weak and 'should' just be able to pull myself out of feeling down. I know that it takes more than just meds to get through this, but hoping its a start and will give me a bit of a boost in feeling more balanced so feel more motivated to exercise, participate in life more, etc. I really do appreciate your support and also wish you well with where you are at. You sound like you have a full life with 4 children - I can hardly keep up with 2!!

[Mummakins]

I remember after having my first child and wondering how could I ever cope with more but somehow you do, sort of.

I think that people think that we just can “snap”out of it, if only it was that easy. They don’t realise that their comments don’t help and yet they may not be able to know what to do.

Perhaps you could direct them to Beyond Blue, as they have sections on to help people they know who are suffering from a mental illness.

There seems to be so many factors contributing to ones recovery, it is a matter of discovering what works and helps you and what doesn’t.

Take your time and look after you.