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The Black Dog... WHO Mental Health Day (Read 129185 times)

tomtom

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Well done Chris - for posting and jogging.
I've nearly posted up a few times before but always managed to pretty much reel things back from where they were going.

Last week I started getting angry at people - in a fairly irrational way (though anger often isnt rational I guess!) - even more than usual. This culminated in a shouting standoff with someone (badly) parked at the car park near Blackstone in Sat - after I'd just had a very good and theraputic bouldering session (EG should have been at my most chilled). I was probably more 'snarky' on here than usual too - sorry. There was also the cycle of not sleeping then not sleeping because I was not sleeping.

This week I feel much better - the lockdown has reduced alot of the uncertainty of the last couple of weeks. Uncertainty in terms of how work works (for me and MrsTT), how school will (not) work, how shopping and home life will work etc.. even how climbing outside will end for now. I now feel like I have a set of rules and constraints within which I can plan. This has helped me see the positive in alot of things (even HIIT :D ) rather than descend into the spiral of mire that last week was. Sleeping has improved by moving to a different room (has helped MrsTT sleep too) and now 9-5 or whatever it was has disappeared - the daily structure and NEED to get sleep between 10 and 6 has relaxed.

I thought this post when it came from me would be a bit more of an outpouring - but its not left my fingers that way ~ which is probably a positive sign. I'll bet these last few weeks have not been easy for anyone - and hope you are all OK out there.

sheavi

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After several years of hinting at this, Dave MacLeod's experience with diet and mental health.



In August last year I started to suffer with IBS.  This required dietary changes.  The main change was no gluten.  A side effect was improved mood which I noticed dipped again if I ate gluten.  Anyway the improvement has been startling.  It was not something I expected so did a little research.  I know this is only anecdotal but there you go.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6266949/

Offwidth

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Well done Chris - for posting and jogging.......I thought this post when it came from me would be a bit more of an outpouring - but its not left my fingers that way ~ which is probably a positive sign. I'll bet these last few weeks have not been easy for anyone - and hope you are all OK out there.

Seconded that. My bipolar pal in Malaysia is saying things are weird but in some ways (maybe being used to controls) he is coping better than he expected. Do to their lockdown he can only jog around his block of flats!  Working from home is OK with him he can stop and start when he wants and support his elderly parents better. Not going out also stops him facing the constant social stigma... as many problems as we have in the UK, things are still a lot worse elsewhere.

Andy F

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Stay strong everyone. We're all in this boat together, let's try and focus on the positives.
Spending more time with the family has actually brought us closer (even the 15yo has been exceptionally pleasant!).
A prospective 3 months of fingerboarding and core can only help in the long run.
The weather has been great, so the crags may well be nice and dry when we can get back on them.
Pollution levels have dropped, the sky seems clearer at night.
The NHS is finally getting the recognition it deserves (along with all the other key workers - shop staff, delivery drivers etc).

Look for the silver lining. If all you see is clouds, shout. You will be heard

sherlock

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I don't often post (indeed don't think ever on this thread) but having suffered on and off for 40 odd years, I'd just like to say you folks are fantastic.
Stay well.

RobinB

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Morning - I am currently working with a team on the NHS.UK website (http://www.nhs,uk). We are currently working on a new set of web-pages to allow people with mental health issues to easily access telephone line support. Part of the design philosophy that we work to is that we research and develop new features based on feedback from real users who have experience of the issues we are providing solutions for.
However, because of the current Coronavirus issues, we are struggling to recruit and interact with volunteers via our usual channels.
We are currently looking for volunteers to help with some User research sessions this Monday (20th April). Sessions last about 30 minutes and are done via Microsoft teams (no prior software install needed - access is via a URL link). Any information given or discussions that take place would obviously be confidential and our team of User researchers are very experienced with working with volunteers in these sessions, I am not directly involved in these sessions myself. If you have 30 minutes spare and would like to help out, the link to sign up is as follows:

https://nhsdigital.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a4uXgzvTpz2Pj2R

If you do sign up but are not contacted, this will be because we have enough volunteers for the day.

If you want any further info, please feel free to PM me.

Cheers

Robin Barker

SA Chris

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Good stuff Robin. I'll see if I can spare some time. Your url in the first line looks a bit crook though, think you've linked wrong.

RobinB

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Thanks Chris - you're right - URL is a bit crook - should be:
https://www.nhs.uk/

shark

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Original link works ok

Andy F

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A bump for this important thread. I hope everyone is coping with lockdown/isolation. If you're struggling then say so. Talking always helps and things will get better.

SamT

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 :thumbsup:

Been fine of late, but fuck me I'm feeling super pissed off today for no discernable reason.  I have to help my dad log onto a zoom meeting he wants to attend at 7, via a phone call.  Christ, I'd rather poke myself in the eye right now the way I'm feeling.  >:(

Humbug.

Falling Down

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Thanks for bumping Andy.

lagerstarfish

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A bump for this important thread. I hope everyone is coping with lockdown/isolation. If you're struggling then say so. Talking always helps and things will get better.

Exactly.

Andy F

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Given the number of suicides increased during lockdown one, we all need to check on each other. A text, WhatsApp, Messenger, phone call. Whatever it takes. Too many of our community have been taken from us too soon.


Andy F

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I've a confession to make. Jon Pearson randomly, out of the blue, made friends on Facebook. I accepted of course, having known Jon from years back. I liked some of his posts, but never actively communicated with him. He them took his own life.
It eats at me that I should have reached out. I should have said hello. It might have helped. He might still be here if I'd have done something.
I don't want that to happen to anyone else.

Fultonius

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I was just reflecting on the "investment" thread, could be seen as a bit crass this year when a lot of people are really struggling financially, and mentally. I've had a shit year, with lots of really low mood and being generally negative. Been doing some coaching and had some counselling, the former seems to have been having the best effect. I think I'm more "stuck in a rut" than actually depressed, but it's certainly borderline. The episode with the crypto gambling was a clear sign things weren't going well.

I guess this year, with no regular interaction it could be easy to miss the signs someone has got withdrawn. One of my girlfriend's friend's committed suicide just before the first lockdown which was hard to deal with, to say the least. In a way, I'm glad she didn't have to deal with lockdown as she would have struggled severely.

Andy - just noticed your last post. Don't beat yourself up, there's always a million things you think you could have done. We missed the signs. My gf got a call from her, very distressed and acting odd (worse than normal, she was a regular depression sufferer). My gf jumped on her bike, went straight round, made her pack a bag and brought her round to ours to stay as long as she wanted. She was very distant, confused and kind of zombie like. The next morning she said to my GF she needed to go and do a few things, gf asked if she wanted her to come but she insisted not.

Later that day we'd not heard anything from her and started to get pretty worried; we discussed if she could be a harm to herself but we felt she was too apathetic to be able to do anything. We tried phoning her many times, went round to her place but couldn't get her. We phoned her GP to see if they could do anything, they said they'd call her but of course that was pointless. We found out that night she'd taken her own life.

If you know anyone who ever suffers from being down, isolation etc., give them a call.

 

lagerstarfish

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I've a confession to make. Jon Pearson randomly, out of the blue, made friends on Facebook. I accepted of course, having known Jon from years back. I liked some of his posts, but never actively communicated with him. He them took his own life.
It eats at me that I should have reached out. I should have said hello. It might have helped. He might still be here if I'd have done something.
I don't want that to happen to anyone else.

I know that feeling, Andy. Sometimes feels like it's the normal way for things to end for people my age. I don't like it.

Can everyone please ask for a chat instead of killing themselves?

If the first person you ask can't chat, ask someone else.

Actually, if possible, don't wait until it gets that bad before you ask for a chat.

Thanks

Herbert

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I think I know that feeling too. Look after yourselves Andy & Fultonius. That’s a good idea L.Starfish, let’s all give talking a go before it gets too hard to try.

Andy F

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Simple idea. Contact 5 people at random from your contacts. Ask how they're doing. Be nice.

lagerstarfish

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Simple idea. Contact 5 people at random from your contacts. Ask how they're doing. Be nice.

That's prompted me to contact a few people. Not at random, but people I haven't spoken to in a while.
Thanks Andy 👍

SA Chris

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This is a good call. 5 people.

SA Chris

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000n1gh/mortimer-whitehouse-gone-fishing-series-3-episode-6

In case anyone missed this episode, 20 mins in the have a conversation with the doctor about men's health, including mental health. Worth a watch, at least that bit, if not the entire series.

SamT

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Love that series.  :thumbsup:

bigironhorse

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Thanks for resurrecting this thread, I have been meaning to post for a while but have kept putting it off.

Around 2-3 years I started to develop obsessive compulsive disorder, I am not sure exactly when as I didn't realise that it was happening at first. Initially I just attributed it to stress in the third year of my PhD but it has continued long after. I had a pretty low ebb around 18 months ago and found myself retracing my steps everywhere I went incase something had happened (like what?) and washing my hands repeatedly incase I'd done it wrong. I managed to get a lot better on my own by October or November last year but still not 100%.

Unfortunately I've got a lot worse again since then. I mainly have a contamination type OCD, I worry about infecting other people with undiagnosed illnesses that I don't realise I have (eg if I cut myself when out bouldering and get blood on a hold I worry that the next person might touch it), or transferring dangerous substances to friends, family, and stangers. Covid has definitely not helped with this but my main problem is with chemicals. At work I am doing research on tissue clearing and microscopy, and this involves using a range of chemicals in a lab environment. I have struggled with this intermittently since I started last year but recently it has become unbearable. I become completely anxious and have to go home and thoroughly 'decontaminate' myself and anything I have touched since being in the lab. I'm pretty gutted that this has happened to me and I'm also pissed off about the major concern it is causing for my girlfriend and family.

I am currently seeing a psychotherapist weekly. At first this was really useful and allowed me to tackle a lot of the smaller problems. The way it works is that you put yourself in a triggering situation and then don't give in to washing your hands or retracing steps etc. Gradually you become less stressed in the situation until the compulsions are no longer necessary. The problem with the lab work is that the stress is absolutley intolerable and I think that is why I am struggling to deal with it.

I have not taken any medication so far but I am definitely considering it now.

Has anyone else on here experienced anything similar? I would love to hear from you if you have as I have not met anyone with similar experiences to this so far.

slab_happy

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Hi! I have some OCD traits as part of my general psychiatric clusterfuck, though not enough to meet the threshold for a separate diagnosis as it's mostly at a level I can keep beaten down (and I'm on SSRIs anyway). Mine's mostly pure-O type stuff, though.

One of my best friends has full-on OCD (leaning more towards checking stuff); she's done well with CBT, has a therapist she goes back to for "top-ups" when it starts flaring up again.

I have not taken any medication so far but I am definitely considering it now.

Yeah, I'm a big advocate of not having any shame over using meds if you need them. They're a valid tool.

Standard caveats: different people react differently to psych meds, can be a bit of a faff finding something that works for you without too many side-effects (or you might hit the right one first try), your mileage may vary, etc.. But SSRIs can be really great for OCD; it's one of the things they do particularly well.

Also, I remember "Brain Lock" by Jeffrey Schwartz as being good (DIY CBT-type stuff with a framework I found useful), but I've not reread it in ages.

By way of solidarity, here's Rachel Bloom doing a stand-up routine about her experience of OCD:

« Last Edit: January 20, 2021, 11:22:56 am by slab_happy »

 

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