Do You Have Mental Issues?

[Dozy 11]

thanks...i think the GP thing is pretty much not possible so i'll just see how things go again..they'll go away again soon

 

But even if they go away, theyll probably just come back again. You really need to tell somebody about your problems. I've just discovered the Samaritans link I posted was wrong - this is the correct one: http://www.samaritans.org/talk_to_someone.aspx. That is the direct link to the talk to someone page.

 

You can e-mail them in complete confidence for advice, if you don't feel you can talk to someone directly.

[elephantnellie 10]

thankyou i really appreciate the help

[purdyamos 10]

 

Anyway purdy I'm sorry I picked on you...if I did

 

Ah, don't worry, as I said, I'm sorry for being tetchy. It was just a bit of bad timing in real life terms, GB. I know your posts well enough to know that you're not one of those that tries to have a dig. As Cressy said, a misunderstanding (with a dash of bad temper on my part).

[purdyamos 10]

thanks...i think the GP thing is pretty much not possible so i'll just see how things go again..they'll go away again soon

 

Why is it not possible? If your current GP is not very sympathetic or is close to the rest of your family (even though s/he should keep it strictly confidential) you have the right to change your doctor to one who is more compassionate or who you feel comfortable in confiding.

 

Reading between the lines - and apologies if I'm misconstruing this - it sounds like you have a particular situation or event that you want help with. There are a number of specialist helplines for those in one or another kind of fix. A lot of them are listed in the front part of the local phone book. Alternatively you could phone NHS Direct, explain your particular need and they'll look up specialist help that may be available, or advise you further.

 

Sheffield Mind would also be able to advise about local self-help groups or helplines dedicated to people with particular problems. Their website is here and appears to have a lot of good leads. There is also the Smooth Guide on that site which you can search, and is a directory of all kinds of help in the area. Good luck. If you want to know anymore just pm me.

[donkey 10]

...............

Edited March 27, 2010 by donkey

[Harleykim 10]

There's something crazy going on in my head atm, it's causing me to have seizures, which are non-epileptic. I will be going to therapy to find out what it is that's causing my body to "shut down" at least twice a week.

 

I've suffered depression for a good few years of my life, and also think there's a bit of OCD in there too.

[funkymiss 10]

A major problem with a question of this kind is the difficulty in defining what a 'mental issue' is. The medicalisation of virtually all existential conditions (e.g. sadness, disappointment, fear or anxiety) is such that virtually every human being could be described as having a 'mental issue' of some kind. Where in previous eras we used to look to priests or such like for mental solace, we now head towards the doctor's or counsellor's surgeries. Having a 'condition' can be and often is a stigma, but it can also bestow benefits of various kinds on the sufferer, which is one of the reasons why the number of 'conditions' has multiplied. Feeling low is not a medical condition per se, it is an aspect of the human condition.

 

There isn't a medicalisation of all negative emotions. The criteria for the diagnosis of clinical depression is more extensive than that and involves a range of strong symptoms present over time.

 

In the time when people used to look to priests for comfort, people weren't as aware of their emotions and the attitudes meant that people probably suffered with the same things, in silence. Science has since found the biological bases for psychological symptoms and abnormalities, meaning that a lot of the conditions can be helped by drugs now.

 

What do you think are the benefits of a mental illness?

[Agent Orange 11]

Looking at recent comments here on the forum, it has strengthened my belief that there are some, to put it bluntly, loons out there, but these posters who I refer to are either in denial or daren't post on this here thread. You know who you are

[purdyamos 10]

I've just come out of avery long period (about 20 years) of being stuck in a cycle of anger and bitterness at the damage done to me by long term physical and psychological abuse in childhood.

 

My self confidence suddenly vapourised when I was 14, and I became something of a social outcast at school. The same year, I started drinking and using drugs (it wasn't that common at that age back in 1980). The next year, I left school, having failed all my exams, despite having a high IQ.

 

Seven years later, I made the connection between my sudden psychological plummet and the years of violence I had endured.

I became stuck in a loop, which was a self fulfilling prophecy. Put simply, it went something like this: ''I am angry and bitter because my potential was destroyed, because I am angry and bitter, I have no chance of reaching my potential, I am angry bitter because....''

 

Recently I became concious of the fact that, although I was damaged psychologically in my developing years, I myself have been using my own energy to keep the crippling rage and resentment going. I decided to go to counselling after meeting an old friend who had clearly made a transformation for the better, which he attributed partly to counselling. It seems to be working for me. I am now more focussed on the good things in my life, and what I can achieve rather than what I can't.

 

Bouts of uncontrollable anger I suffered for years have diminished greatly, and I generally feel a lot calmer and more positive. I now see that I am actually really lucky, because I have an opportunity to turn things around. Most people who get stuck in a menatal rut for as long as I did end up loosing all hope, and never recover their equilibrium. I can only hope that by focusing on changing my attitudes, I can stave off this negative mental loop, if and when it comes round again. Because once you're in their, it's not easy to see the way out.

 

Good for you, Donkey.

 

I keep falling back in the rut, because [edited]

 

I've destroyed it all again.

[StarSparkle 10]

I've just come out of avery long period (about 20 years) of being stuck in a cycle of anger and bitterness at the damage done to me by long term physical and psychological abuse in childhood.

 

My self confidence suddenly vapourised when I was 14, and I became something of a social outcast at school. The same year, I started drinking and using drugs (it wasn't that common at that age back in 1980). The next year, I left school, having failed all my exams, despite having a high IQ.

 

Seven years later, I made the connection between my sudden psychological plummet and the years of violence I had endured.

I became stuck in a loop, which was a self fulfilling prophecy. Put simply, it went something like this: ''I am angry and bitter because my potential was destroyed, because I am angry and bitter, I have no chance of reaching my potential, I am angry bitter because....''

 

Recently I became concious of the fact that, although I was damaged psychologically in my developing years, I myself have been using my own energy to keep the crippling rage and resentment going. I decided to go to counselling after meeting an old friend who had clearly made a transformation for the better, which he attributed partly to counselling. It seems to be working for me. I am now more focussed on the good things in my life, and what I can achieve rather than what I can't.

 

Bouts of uncontrollable anger I suffered for years have diminished greatly, and I generally feel a lot calmer and more positive. I now see that I am actually really lucky, because I have an opportunity to turn things around. Most people who get stuck in a menatal rut for as long as I did end up loosing all hope, and never recover their equilibrium. I can only hope that by focusing on changing my attitudes, I can stave off this negative mental loop, if and when it comes round again. Because once you're in their, it's not easy to see the way out.

 

Good luck to you - I wish you all the very best

 

StarSparkle

[StarSparkle 10]

I wonder if being 'picky' is a 'mental issue' ? I do seem to have a 'thing' about people meaning what they say/saying what they mean.

 

Anyway purdy I'm sorry I picked on you...if I did

 

I don't want to kick this off again, so can I just say quickly, Greybeard, I wasn't meaning you were 'picking' on Purdy in the sense of being nasty to her or anything. I think the word I should probably have used was 'pernickety'. Sorry if my choice of words caused any confusion.

 

Anyway, water under the bridge.

 

StarSparkle

[Dozy 11]

Good for you, Donkey.

 

I keep falling back in the rut, because [edited]

 

I've destroyed it all again.

 

Yes, but you will get yourself out of it again.

 

And one day you'll be able to get yourself out of it permanently - hopefully, before you develop RSI