Thought I’d introduce myself. Have been lurking for a few weeks.
I live with PTSD and subsequent anxiety/depression. My PTSD came from a life threatening event which happened 15 years ago. At the time I was doing a PhD, something that I failed to complete, as anxiety makes me an unlikely candidate for complex thinking. My PhD was math based, I found it difficult to have the attention span to do the computational programming required. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time working on the trauma issue, so I’m knowledgeable about how I deal with stuff.
I now work in one of the big green tin sheds, I’ve always liked problem solving, DIY and renovating. I have enjoyed this job immensely, until an incident last year caused me to no longer feel safe.
Just before RUOK Day, I did a mental health check (@BB) because I was feeling like rubbish, and wanted to confirm that I was genuinely feeling like rubbish. By feeling like rubbish, mean difficulty getting out of bed, not much motivation to do stuff, and even sadder, don’t want to participate in the activity that I’m passionate about. I also struggle to go to work. I have an appointment to see my Psych in 3 weeks time.
I genuinely do not know what to do about my work situation. However, I know that what happened at work is the reason that I’ve slipped back into a v. poor depression/anxiety state over the last 18 months. I’ve been there for over 9 years, I’m female, 61yo and single - so looking for another job is probably not an option, and of course, I now lack any kind of self confidence to even pursue that option. Besides, as an older female I don’t have sufficient super, so it was always my plan to retire when I could qualify for the pension and continue working for 10 hours a week as a supplement, because I enjoy working, not just for the $$, but the interaction with people.
Working retail on a “flexible” roster, makes it hard to participate in local support groups that might be useful. I’ve been a user of online forums for my recreational interests for quite sometime, so it seems a good fit to choose to participate in an online forum for my mental health.
I’d like to offer support where I can. I’m also a member of the LGBTI community and work with quite a few young folk from this community, so I feel I may have something to offer there as well. That’s me in <2500 chars, thanks for listening 🙂
