...if you have it, give it a hug you never know when it may leave!

On a more serious note, mental health seems to be a growing problem though many reasons have been put forward for why (stress, social exclusion having more time to worry about stuff!?) there doesn't seem to be a concensus as to why. Hopefully though it will soon loose much of it's stigma and and be seens as a problem to be treated rather than something to be laughed at or scared of.

If this thread is going to be about encouraging less stigma about mental health. I'll start the ball rolling.

Hi, I'm Wilf, some of you know me, some of you don't. You wouldn't know it to look at me but I have 2 mental health problems, albeit mildly but that was never asked.

As soon as people hear the words Dyspraxia, they mostly don;t know what it is, while it is classed as a learning difficulty along the same lines as dyslexia, it actually differs wildly. I have a mild version of it. If you saw me write you'd see an issue, i don't form my letters correctly and cannot write joined up. There are wider issues with it which affect me much more though, I lack co-ordination for most physical movements and so I have to concentrate when making them. It's become such a habit that you would only see a difference if I was catching a ball or something like that. The thing that affects me, and hurts me the most is the total lack of organisation, I have no motivation and cannot plan anything effectively. This makes me a guy who often 'goes with the flow' and who can't work to a deadline if my life depended on it.

I also have a mild version of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, once again, you wouldn't recognise it unless you watched me very carefully. My symptoms for this are that I have a tendency to fixate on objects I decide are 'in pain'. A piece of paper tucked under something heavy gives me an urge to move the paper. The thing is people point stuff out and say 'why doesn't that affect you' and I'll not know why, I think it has something to do with function too, objects are in pain when not used for their function.

I'm not on any medication and I certainly don't consider myself disabled, I'm just me. I've always been this way so I don't know it other way. People ask me what it's like to live with my problems and I honestly don't know. I feel like asking them what it's like to live without them. How would I know otherwise?

Sometimes I get upset about the dyspraxia, especially the motivation thing. I never try and so can't achieve my potential. It's gotten to the point where I've not tried at anything for such a long time I don't know what I am capable of.

I hope some of you can identify with some of this and feel confident enough to share your own stories, one in four of us at some point in our lives will have a mental health issue.

For those that don't have them, thanks for reading, hope it was enlightening.

Wilf

Spell checked by the way, my co-ordination on a keyboard is one of the best things I have but I'm only human!

The Doctors thought I was Dyspraxic when I was very little... Now it turns out I have Aspergers syndrome, a mild form of Autism.

I was diagnosed at 23 (yes, you can have AS and not know it) after loads of to-ing and fro-ing between Doctors, Hospitals etc.. Had an ECG scan, and then the silly eejits at the Northern General went and lost my results into a black hole as they called it.

I now get 14 hours a week's support in day to day stuff from Thorne House Services for Autism (http://www.thorneautism.org.uk).

Thanks, BrainThrust, that was very brave and also very enlightening. You have written so clearly and movingly about your condition.
You are right, many people learn to accept that they are different and have different problems to cope with and just get on with life.
Many of us haven't a clue about the frustrations faced by those with "disabilities" on a daily basis and almost fall apart when some little thing crops up.
It is sobering to realise that most of us have so much and yet give so little thought to the challenges overcome by those such as you to face the world and succeed in making their existence worthwhile.
I hope that others benefit from this thread. It has certainly humbled me today.

Thanks for sharing that with us Wilf, it takes a lot to open up on any forum let alone one as near to home as this one.

Thankfully I haven't got mental health problems, but there again we could all say that, and it could change at any time.

I do however realise how difficult it must be to suffer or have someone in your family suffer with some form of mental illness, and see the hurt inflicted by people who make comments to the carers of sufferers rather than speaking directly to the sufferers themselves.

WOOOHOOO!!! dyspraxics unite!!!:clap:

<---my dyspraxic penguin :D

I'm also dyspraxic, i was finally diagnosed two years ago (I'm 27) after being labelled as 'accident prone' and 'disorganised' all my life! I was spurred on to getting the diagnosis after being accused of self harming (by a university counsellor) after my slight lack of co-ordination led me to slip on the stairs and seriously injure myself!
I'm also only mildly dypraxic, and not many people notice, until i get tired and start falling over or walking into walls and doorframes instead of avoiding them and similar silly things! It gets me down sometimes, when i've had a bad day/week and am covered in bruises, its disheartening, but most of the time i can laugh it off, once my friends are aware that i'm a bit 'clumsy' when tired or stressed they can assist me or laugh with (not at) me.
I'm also amazingly disorganised, I can rarely plan ahead and when i do i invariabley forget something crucial! I find it almost impossible (like dyslexics) to get ideas out of my head and onto paper in the way i intend, consequently University has been a struggle, but i've managed through a degree and an MA without help.

I also suffer from depression, another mental illness that gets stigmatised much more than it should do! I have had several counsellors (not least the one mentioned above!) and have been on and off medication for the last 12 years at least. It doesn't ruin my life like it could do, yes I have my bad days/weeks/months, but i'm still here and have so far a fairly successful life. Sadly I find that many other medications (i have a few medical problems) interfere with my depression and somehow make me worse when there is nothing to be depressed about! daft eh!!! Far too many people have told me to 'just cheer up' :suspect: when i'm going through a bad patch, a little hint for you all... there's nothing worse when you are depressed than being told to cheer up... if only it was that easy!

Anyway, thats my bit for this thread, I just hope that it helps people to understand some of the mental health problems that other people suffer and also help people who may be experiencing the same problems. Just because someone may have a mental illness, it does not make them insane!!

Em
xx

Just got my copy of Rethink magazine "Your Voice" but didn't know it was World Mental Health day till I read it on the forum.

It took me ages till I got a diagnosis from a doctor. I was taking medication, but no-one thought to explain to me what was wrong with me until I eventually asked years later. I have had mental health problems for ten years now. I get psychotic episodes. But thankfully I haven't had one for four years now. When I am ill, I am severely disabled, I can not function on a day to day level. At most I am a danger to myself. Most likely to get run over, or picked up by unsavory characters.

On one psychotic episode I wandered around the streets of Sheffield for two days. No one stopped me or asked how I was, although I was doing weird things. I was vunerable and anything could have happened to me. I have very little recollection of what actually happened during that time, just that I was lost drifting in and out of conscious thought.

But thankfully I have a better understanding of what is wrong with me and take medication to prevent me from becoming ill. I am able to lead a normal life thanks to my medication and hold down a job.

The only thing is sometimes I feel completely alone. I don't know anyone who has had psychotic episodes. There is huge taboo and fear surrounding it. And it is often something people don't talk about. So I'm very open about it. I think it is the only way to end the stigma.

I had encephalitis in 1995 which left me with problems with my short term memory..(did anybody watch that documentary about the guy with the 7 second memory??).

Fortunately for me over a period of 12/18 months and many sessions in psychometric analysis, I managed to achieved a 99% full recovery!

I also developed an OCD of writing everything down that I did like an hourly diary rather than a daily one.....I could not break this routine for months and months it was a nightmare....I was compelled to doing it ...as if I didn't.... the fear of not remembering filled me with absolute terror!!

To make life easier I insisted on getting up at the same time and watching the same TV, doing certain chores on certain days/times....absolute mumbo jumbo but it seemed the only way to exist at the time!!

I still can identify certain areas of my personality which I know did not exist until this illness but I just have to accept them as part of me now!!

Mental illness is very real and I am full of admiration and support for sufferers who endure 'the pain' everyday, so many suffer in silence!

Please don't...share your experiences too!

;)

I used to have a great life and then a traumatic event happened but life went on. Five years later depression and panic attacks have got me. Since then I have lost SO much - my job (a good one), my savings,my friends. So now I'm completely alone. My gf does care about me but this has just worn her out, seeing me unemployed for over two years when I had so much going for me.
I see a psychotherapist regualrly. I have been on numerous meds and none have helped much.

I'm finding I am living in a series of "this day" with no thought or expectation of a future. I'm scared that if I tell anyone how I'm really feeling, I'll be sectioned (as if that'd help). I'm also scared of carrying out these thoughts into deed.

So what does someone in this situation do? I know if I say what I'm thinking people will say "don't" and I was really, really hoping that this new med - Effexor (that was promised to be a "good" one) was going to actually help. But it didn't and I had been on it for 2 years hoping to wake up one morning feeling "good".

I have read widely on depression but the things I'm supposed to be doing like notebooks, diary, challenges, tasks etc. all seems just too much - I procrastinate and lack the drive or energy.

Has anyone any similar experience that they've been there and clawed their way out of the black hole?
What can I do?

Zens partner posting...


I've had depression pretty much my whole life. suicide attempts, SI unable to leave my bed etc..

Anti-depressants seem to have reduced the worst of it - instead they have made me fabulously agraphobic with the added fun of hallucinations when particularly stressed.

i no longer spend all my waking hours wishing that I could be bothered to top myself :)


...i *suppose* that could be considered an improvement :)

Originally posted by BrainThrust
If this thread is going to be about encouraging less stigma about mental health. I'll start the ball rolling.

Hi, I'm Wilf, some of you know me, some of you don't. You wouldn't know it to look at me but I have 2 mental health problems, albeit mildly but that was never asked.

As soon as people hear the words Dyspraxia, they mostly don;t know what it is, while it is classed as a learning difficulty along the same lines as dyslexia, it actually differs wildly. I have a mild version of it. If you saw me write you'd see an issue, i don't form my letters correctly and cannot write joined up. There are wider issues with it which affect me much more though, I lack co-ordination for most physical movements and so I have to concentrate when making them. It's become such a habit that you would only see a difference if I was catching a ball or something like that. The thing that affects me, and hurts me the most is the total lack of organisation, I have no motivation and cannot plan anything effectively. This makes me a guy who often 'goes with the flow' and who can't work to a deadline if my life depended on it.

I also have a mild version of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, once again, you wouldn't recognise it unless you watched me very carefully. My symptoms for this are that I have a tendency to fixate on objects I decide are 'in pain'. A piece of paper tucked under something heavy gives me an urge to move the paper. The thing is people point stuff out and say 'why doesn't that affect you' and I'll not know why, I think it has something to do with function too, objects are in pain when not used for their function.

I'm not on any medication and I certainly don't consider myself disabled, I'm just me. I've always been this way so I don't know it other way. People ask me what it's like to live with my problems and I honestly don't know. I feel like asking them what it's like to live without them. How would I know otherwise?

Sometimes I get upset about the dyspraxia, especially the motivation thing. I never try and so can't achieve my potential. It's gotten to the point where I've not tried at anything for such a long time I don't know what I am capable of.

I hope some of you can identify with some of this and feel confident enough to share your own stories, one in four of us at some point in our lives will have a mental health issue.

For those that don't have them, thanks for reading, hope it was enlightening.

Wilf

Spell checked by the way, my co-ordination on a keyboard is one of the best things I have but I'm only human!

cheers for posting that mate. You have always come across as one of the most open and Intellegent people on here. Mental illness still has a large stigma over here. I know it is far more accepted in the States. Or at least I know a lot of Americans on medication.

Originally posted by robbie
cheers for posting that mate. You have always come across as one of the most open and Intellegent people on here. Mental illness still has a large stigma over here. I know it is far more accepted in the States. Or at least I know a lot of Americans on medication.

Accepted in America?! Excuse me while I PMSL! :lol:

I regularly get called retarded on US based forums for having Aspergers.. So I'm sorry but if you think the Yanks are accepting of mental illnesses, think again.

I know these morons on the Yank forums are probably a minority, but so far my experience of Americans' "acceptance" of mental illness is that they just ridicule it.. :rant:

There was a very interesting programme on R4 about dyspraxia and this lass even wrote a book about it; www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/items/02/2005_35_fri.shtml

Also a friend's daughter was diagnosed with it and although I gather it prevented her doing quite a few things I can say it didnt stop her making a success of her life.

Having started this thread I feel I should also add my story. As with so many these days I seem to have what I would call low grade mental health problems, by which I mean they are distressing and may curtail some things I want to do but rarely interfere with day to day functioning. I suffer (and have done for nearly 20 years) from a mix of depression and anxiety/panic attacks. The two are commonly seen together though you would sort of expect them to be rather diferent. Part of this I know is an inherited condition so a low dose of SSRI's does help with them (though I certainly wouldn't advise it to everyone or as a first port of call). The panic attacks are still a major influence on my life though I work hard to keep them at bay. I've seen a number of therapists of different flavours over the years and while this has given me a good understanding of the condition they don't seem to have helped too much! Currently I'm having a mix of hypnotherapy, counselling and cognitive behavoural therapy which I have high hopes for :) Unfortunately as there just isn't the required quantity of therapists available on the NHS (e.g. a typical 9 month waiting list for CBT) I'm having to pay for this myself.

Dyspraxia can stop you doing things, but only of you let it....
I can drive, i climb, i dance.... I've got though GCSEs, A levels, college and two degrees without any help!!!

ok so i have it mildly, but so many people think a dyspraxia diagnosis is the end of the world, especially if its their child... I found it a help, it meant i had a name for my problems and wasn't just stupid/clumsy/accident prone.
There is lots of help available out there to help you achieve your full potential once you know what you are dealing with you can get round your problems so much easier :)

I don't agree, I don't think it is becoming more of a problem at all. I just think that it is becoming more recognised and diagnosed which is an excellent thing because people are *mostly* getting the help that they need now.

I was really encouraged to see the reflectiveness and openness of the posts on here. I work as volunteer director of a local sheffield mental health charity. There is so much stigmatism still attached to mental ill health. We find fund raising so very difficult when faced with the "heartstring" pull of the cancer and child health charities. Yet mental wellbeing affects so many people with many symptoms being somatised in a physical sense.
The charity aims to provide mental health care free at the point of delivery and yet we receive very little in the form of statutory funding despite having over 72% of referrals directly from GPs.
Now I've got that little rant out of the way, and Im probably preaching to the converted out there! please do give to the charities that do support this area of health - without support we are unable to provide the much needed services.
Thanks for reading!

i used to have a very mild form of OCD when i was at junoir school. mostly i did things like when eating a packet of crisps id have to lick my fingers after each crisp and rub my fingers on my hand for a certain amount of time until it felt 'right'.

i used to have to read things like certain parts in a book or newspaper over and over and over again before it felt 'right'. it used to do my head in because i would read something and then i would mis-read a part or the way that i read it out loud wouldnt be right and id have to read it over and over again until i did it right. or id read something but it wouldnt sink in so id have to read it until i understood what it was saying.

the same thing for numbers. when playing solitaire you have to set 7 cards out in a line and i would set them out in a line but i would count them and have to say it over and over just to make sure i had 7 cards.

thats all i can remember and i know only a mild form of OCD (i didnt know it at the time) but still its awful! but got over it somehow.

Something definately needs to be done about the care that the mentally ill receive. I feel in some ways I was treated like an animal by both family/friends and doctors, hospitals so on. When I was having a nervous breakdown I had to ask for help three times (turned away twice) and then even on the third attempt my doctors didn't want to take responsibilty or refer me to a psychiatric ward or somewhere I would safe. I had no family to look after me as they were 1000s of miles away. My housemates were useless.

It is actually very hard to get help. Even when I ended up in a psychiatric ward they didn't give me a drink or food for two days. I couldn't find my way to the restaurant and didn't know when it was open. Nor waqs I allowed to wash. They took away my watch, and the clock in the ward told the wrong time. And the date on the clock was also wrong. I was drugged up on Temazipan and it made me forget who I was. They wouldn't tell me what the drugs were.

When I eventually went home I was given funny yellow pills. They wouldn't tell me what they were, to this day I don't know what it was I was told to take. It made me feel like an animal. :rant:

But on a lighter note, there are success stories. My partners mother went to a psychiatric hospital near Hereford and was treated wonderfully.

I've had depression pretty much my whole life. suicide attempts, SI unable to leave my bed etc.. Anti-depressants seem to have reduced the worst of it - instead they have made me fabulously agraphobic with the added fun of hallucinations when particularly stressed. i no longer spend all my waking hours wishing that I could be bothered to top myself... i *suppose* that could be considered an improvement

I've experienced very similar thinks Zenmaster....

I've been taking anti-depressants on & off for a good few years now. It's been around six months since my last "relapse" :clap: .
I also have spells of agraphobia, but the medication seems to help! Welldone to the person who started this thread (cant remember the name, sorry) hopefully our stories and experiences will help others who havent yet sought help, or who are going through a tough patch.

I have never personally attempted to take my own life; allthough I occasionally self-harm when things get too much for me. Again it's been just over six months since my last "relapse".
Something I'm quite pround of :D

When I do experience a bad patch, I also suffer from hallucinations. These can range from really bizarre things, to pretty scary things. I also get extremely paranoid & believe people are out to get me.

I hope others share their experiences of mental illness here.

Originally posted by Zenmaster
Something definately needs to be done about the care that the mentally ill receive. I feel in some ways I was treated like an animal by both family/friends and doctors, hospitals so on. When I was having a nervous breakdown I had to ask for help three times (turned away twice) and then even on the third attempt my doctors didn't want to take responsibilty or refer me to a psychiatric ward or somewhere I would safe. I had no family to look after me as they were 1000s of miles away. My housemates were useless.

It is actually very hard to get help. Even when I ended up in a psychiatric ward they didn't give me a drink or food for two days. I couldn't find my way to the restaurant and didn't know when it was open. Nor waqs I allowed to wash. They took away my watch, and the clock in the ward told the wrong time. And the date on the clock was also wrong. I was drugged up on Temazipan and it made me forget who I was. They wouldn't tell me what the drugs were.

When I eventually went home I was given funny yellow pills. They wouldn't tell me what they were, to this day I don't know what it was I was told to take. It made me feel like an animal. :rant:

But on a lighter note, there are success stories. My partners mother went to a psychiatric hospital near Hereford and was treated wonderfully.


I am shocked to hear that you received such awful treatment in hospital and on behalf of mental health workers I would like to apologise for that experience. Sounds like diazepam? Only yellow pills I can think of that they would send you home with.

It's good to see so many people talking openly about Mental Health problems.

So great to see everyone talking about these problems so openly and without people critisising and making people feel bad about themselves.

I know it is a little off topic but could anyone who has been on or is on anti depressants give me any ideas about whether they do help you or not? I have been told by many people that they make things worse and by others that they dont, but nobody actually ever tells you why.

I have had mild depression in the past which being mild depression went away with a few lifestyle changes but now I am really struggling with Post natal depression which although did seem to lift for a few weeks now seems to come back in a slightly different way, getting incredible highs now, which i never had before but when i do come down then i am really hitting rock bottom. also i am incredibly paranoid and am getting no sleep. I need to find an answer for this quite quickly as i am worried that my daughter wont be cared for as well as i could, my relationship with my boyfriend has pretty much broken down as he does not even begin to understand and my college work is really suffering as some days i struggle to get out of bed never mind get a baby ready and to nursery to get into college. also, I have found myself turning to self harm again which I feel absolutely discusted about and is going to cause more friction with my bf when he finds out.

... counselling has not helped as i am very shy at times and cannot speak to people in that situation. the doctor has been pushing for me to take anti depressants for a few months now and even told me to stop breastfeeding to take them... however i am too scared of the side effects and dont want to risk things getting any worse.

sorry its a bit long and probably a bit muddled, but anybodys toughts on them would be very much appreciated!

X

Originally posted by SatanInHeels
So great to see everyone talking about these problems so openly and without people critisising and making people feel bad about themselves.

I know it is a little off topic but could anyone who has been on or is on anti depressants give me any ideas about whether they do help you or not? I have been told by many people that they make things worse and by others that they dont, but nobody actually ever tells you why.

I have had mild depression in the past which being mild depression went away with a few lifestyle changes but now I am really struggling with Post natal depression which although did seem to lift for a few weeks now seems to come back in a slightly different way, getting incredible highs now, which i never had before but when i do come down then i am really hitting rock bottom. also i am incredibly paranoid and am getting no sleep. I need to find an answer for this quite quickly as i am worried that my daughter wont be cared for as well as i could, my relationship with my boyfriend has pretty much broken down as he does not even begin to understand and my college work is really suffering as some days i struggle to get out of bed never mind get a baby ready and to nursery to get into college. also, I have found myself turning to self harm again which I feel absolutely discusted about and is going to cause more friction with my bf when he finds out.

... counselling has not helped as i am very shy at times and cannot speak to people in that situation. the doctor has been pushing for me to take anti depressants for a few months now and even told me to stop breastfeeding to take them... however i am too scared of the side effects and dont want to risk things getting any worse.

sorry its a bit long and probably a bit muddled, but anybodys toughts on them would be very much appreciated!

X

PM'd you!!! :D