Mental Health Support Thread (NOT for giving medical advice, or debating)

Can you pull anything constructive out of it?

 

To save Wrey a heap of trouble, I'm not going to say exactly what I think of your "advice."

But I will say you're wrong. I do NOT feed on drama. I'm sorry that my roommate sucked and I couldn't do anything about it. I'm sorry my husband was engaging in sexual activity online with other woman. I'm sorry I'm getting divorced. I'm sorry someone I thought was my friend went off on me.

I'm sorry my reaction to said drama wasn't good enough for y'all. I'm sorry I couldn't kick my roommate out without my husband's cooperation. I'm sorry I couldn't control my husband's desires. I'm sorry I couldn't fix my marriage. I'm sorry I had no idea that my good friend was secretly psycho.

But to think that I'm actively seeking this shit out is fucking ridiculous. Like seriously. Are you kidding me? Are you seriously fucking kidding me?

Nope. I'm done. You two are un-fucking-believable.

 

@Lea`Brooks

People genuinely cared enough about you here to give you their honest thoughts. That says a lot about them. If they didn't care, they would have just kept their mouths (fingers) shut and let you say whatever you needed to say. To lash out at these people is wrong. Everyone here has done nothing but support you in your crises.

I would suggest taking some time to get past your initial emotional response to what's been said here and revisit when you can critically evaluate the advice. Your anger is unwarranted and aimed in the wrong direction.

 

No, you're right. I should absolutely agree and accept that they're blaming me for my shitty roommate, my failed marriage, and my psycho friend that had never shown any indication of being psycho before. My bad!

Sorry, guys... Please, tell me more about how I've created all of the problems in my life!

 

Okay, @Lea`Brooks

1/ No one said one word about how those things were your fault.
2/ Please speak to me civilly, as I've done for you.
3/ Do you honestly believe that you have no control over your own life? You can't control other people, but you bet your ass you get to control your reactions to other people, regardless of how wrong the actions were.

 

Not blaming me, huh? That looks like blame to me!

 

1) See above.
2) No.
3) How would you suggest I react to the situations I found myself in? I've been doing the best that I can. I'm sorry if y'all don't find it fucking acceptable.

 

This thread needs an intervention.

I'm not closing it.

I'm pausing it.

I will reopen this thread when emotions have had a chance to settle. As I have stated in the past - and I have not changed my mind in the slightest, though I have been less vociferous - this is a Writing Forum. We are here to talk about writing. It is the purpose of the venue. We can absolutely talk about other things, so long as the engagement of those other things doesn't interfere with the primary reason for this forum's existence. I am pausing this thread because I don't want to have to take corrective action against anyone given the nature of the discussion herein, and I simply do not have the time to mediate this one discussion. I've just come back from holiday and I have a mountain of backlogged Real World work that needs to get done.

ETA: Pause released.

 

This thread is now open for business, but I want to make one thing clear. I am leery about this thread even existing in the forum. Its nature is that it is a problem waiting to happen, and I did not sign on to deal with this particular matter. I came here - and always come here - to discuss writing. That is the venue and the venue is all.

But The People will have their way.

Here's how it's going to work:

I have the power to deny people access to individual threads. I will make use of that power - as a first step - when I see that an issue is arising with someone that falls outside the scope of our venue. I will not allow other threads to be started as replacement to this thread (or any other) in order to circumvent that measure. Any attempt to circumvent that measure will be seen as open rebellion and the member will be removed, with all haste, from our community so that the remaining members may continue to engage.

 

To lighten the mood, here's my attempt at a humorous blog on anxiety: https://annakaling.com/2017/07/19/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-ball-of-anxiety/

It's based on a post I made in this thread, in case it sounds like you've read it before.

 

Oh God, if that's your life on meds...

I mean, I'm a worrywart, too. I go through every what-if I can especially before I travel because I want to be prepared for everything from the airline losing my luggage to a zombie apocalypse, and I do lose sleep over it, but I think it's of the normal kind of planning, you know? I'm actually convinced that if I tick off every Thing That Can Go Wrong, the universe decides to give me a break because it can't catch me off guard anymore for shits and giggles.

Like yesterday I had a job interview, and I was super nervous, but everyone gets that way, I think. Especially when it's a position they really, really want. And in the evening, I joined a thai boxing class that was way above my skill level because I wasn't learning anything in the class that was way below my skill level. I wasn't just nervous, I was scared to go. But again, who wouldn't be? These feelings aren't what I felt back when I did have real, life debilitating anxiety. It was of the full-blown panic attack kind, although toothpaste couldn't trigger it, it had to be something like a car ride (claustrophobia piggybacked on the anxiety) or a whole day of teaching and socializing with strangers. I was prescribed benzos, which really helped (I also took escitalopram for depression, another immense relief). I can tell a difference between the anxiety I felt back then vs. the manageable nervousness I experience nowadays (I'm also off the meds).

Glad to hear your medication has helped you. But I don't envy you. Your brain really seems to love to torment you.

 

Good luck!

 

Glad you're feeling well enough to consider it. Gradual weening off is absolutely the best way to go.

 

Some similarities in my situation. Often the cocktail in my head is Depression and Anxiety chatting in this nice little storm of emotions;

Anxiety -worried about going out because of what people might say-

Depression -reinforces this worry about what people might think and say and makes anxiety believe it is true-

Oh and add my paranoia into the mixture. And fun days.

^the tone in my response is meant to be more humorous or tongue and cheek about my own conditions rather then sad or depressing, just throwing it out there

 

i admit i've had a bit of a rough year, while i've probably seemed ok to everyone, i've had many days where i've just wanted to up, disappear and start a new life somewhere else, i failed my year at Uni because i was too balled up in my own mind to realise my work was suffereing, and even though i'm home now for summer, and i love my parents, i miss the solitude of my room at uni.

its unhealthy i know, but at least i didnt rage at people as frequently as i do now... I have a very strong feeling i suffer from some kind of mental illness, just I'm too scared/stubborn to go talk to a professional about it...

 

I might be getting better. I'm writing most days, I've reclaimed some of my hobbies, some people have noted that I laugh more and act more like I did when I was about twelve, which is actually a good thing believe it or not
I hope I continue like this. I want to reclaim reading from the clutches of depression next, its the thing i miss most.

 

Admitting you need a bit of assistance isn't the end of the world and, as for stubborn, stubborn is grabbing yourself a shovel, digging a pit and jumping into it. Seriously, what's the worst that can happen? Psych treatment is on a voluntary basis, unless you've been sectioned, and I think we can agree you're not quite there yet. It takes a wee while to get a referral from a G.P. so it might be worth putting the wheels in motion now you're home. The process generally takes a few months, so think of it as setting up a safety net for when you get back to Uni. It might save you brain strain later on down the line. If your mental state was a nagging toothache, you'd deal with that, yeah? You wouldn't wanna get infected and end up losing all your gnashers, would you? Mental stress is cumulative, don't wait until you're at breaking point. If it's already having a negative impact on your day to day life, the single worst thing you can do is make like an ostrich, bury your head and hope no one can see you.

 

Thank you dearie, i've been Ostraching for so long, its about the only thing i know now, my Dr is at Uni, (i went to go see my old one about something and they were like "sorry, cant help, you arent with us any more") i do want the help, but i feel like my Dr's dont really care + seeking the help i need takes weeks to even get an appointment (i know from trying to get an appointment for an ear infection)

I would talk to my parents, but recently, their reactions to anything seem to be of a more "suck it up and deal with it" fashion, which is different from their tune 7 years ago, when the problems first started...

i'm genuinely at a loss right now, any avenue i'd consider seems to be an impasse to me right now, and i'm not sure what to do...

 

If I ever talked to a psychiatrist, they would either quit the profession or lock me away in some far away bouncy room pumped on some of the best drugs on the planet.
--- come to think of it, this might not be all that bad of a vacation.

If anyone has tips on getting motivated, clearing the mind, and resetting circadian rhythms, I would appreciate it. Meditating and listening to relaxing music is something I already do almost daily. Writing seems to be helping for now. How long though I do not know.

Writing is kind of like my release valve; it helps when the brain refuses to shut down. The past year was less than kind with being motivated or desire to do anything worthwhile. Being in a rut while trying to get a business off the ground is not a good combination, and highly frustrating. The anxiety aspect has been translating into late night insomnia and daytime narcolepsy.

Found this place by accident, it has been a long time since I was writing anything on a regular basis. Feels like I'm beginning to recenter again, but the lack of motivation is something new. I can usually get knocked down and just get up and hit the ground running again. This last one though has way too much brain chatter, and it is taking me for a ride.

 

Pretty sure the same would happen if I talked to one. I have similar issues (minus the business part) and tend to find it impossible to sleep at night when stressed. Writing helps me as well, and I really wish I had something helpful to suggest, but I'm in the same place. The point to this being - hey, at least you're not alone in it. Though I'm not sure that's helpful.