Welcome! Introduce yourself here 🙂

[CatMom]

@tyme I am going alright. I was unsettled last Friday; my psychologist said at the end of our session, "you're doing so much better you're doing great". I found that statement surreal; the entire session, I was all over the place, and I couldn't focus enough to stay on any topic. I was disassociated.
So having her say I was great just felt weird.

Other than that, I "just keep swimming" I know that the song is stuck in your head now :).

[P0larBear]

Hi all,

I was diagnosed with BiPolar 1 disorder just over 10 years ago. Previously for a while I was just diagnosed with Depression and Anxiety so when I was diagnosed with BPD 1 I was glad there was a more thorough diagnosis. However I found out not long after that I struggled to come to terms with this. I was admitted to hospital twice at first with mania and then depression. I just didn’t know who I was anymore.

Gradually with the help of my Psychiatrist, Psychologist and GP I began to accept my diagnosis and realised the closer people in my life were more important, not how many likes you get on social media.

I’m employed and have a permanent job in a customer service related field where Ive been now for 15 years. Unfortunately, during the pandemic I dealt with a lot of anxiety due to the constant changes of laws and rules. I almost lost my job as well as a result  of budget cuts. My direct supervisors were supportive but some people in higher positions were not and showed ignorance towards my Mental Health.

Recently I have made an effort to eat more healthily, I have also taken up lawn bowls. I’m slowly meeting a few more people which is good. I also try and go walking more by walking to the supermarket, or to go and get a take away coffee. Adding a reason to walk seems to help.

I like to read as I find it relaxing and have been reading more and playing video games less.

Hope you all are progressing in your journey 😀

[tyme]

Hi there @P0larBear ,

Welcome to the forums and thank you for sharing a little about yourself.

It's true. We are all on a journey. Each person in some shape or form authors their journey and each person's journey is different.

Well done on making an effort to better yourself in terms of eating more healthily and engaging in lawn bowls. 

It sounds like you have a good support network around you.

What sort of books do you like reading? I like reading too, but I've found I've been doing less of it these days, only because of the other pressures an engagements I have in life.

See you around and hope to speak to you soon!

[CatMom]

Hi @P0larBear,

I love to read as well. What genre do you like? I have a kindle and subscribe to kindle unlimited, which has now opened me up to reading a lot of new authors I wouldn't have tried previously.

I am impressed you are eating healthy, playing lawn bowls, walking and working. I am struggling with all of those things at present.

However, as @tyme said, we are all at different stages in our journey.

I look forward to chatting on the forums. Have a great day.

[black_n_white]

Hi, this is my first time trying a forum, I have been told by some specialists that they are great, and others say otherwise. I have been diagnosed with Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression. I have been to multiple therapists before who didn't seem to help me. I am currently seeing a Neuro-divergent therapist who is helping me with social anxiety. Another big impact in my life is having Autism. It's been very hard for me to deal with as I was just starting highschool when I was first diagnosed with it. Then 2 years later I found out that my sister also has Autism. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having it, and I have experienced the typical stereotypes of Autism of basically being unable to do things for myself, having weird looks when I tell someone I have ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and now it gets to the point that I never tell anyone that I have it. I have recently been told that I mask my emotions, so I generally don't express my feelings by speech, rather I write them down to text a close friend who kinda understands. Anyways, enough about me for now😅.

[Backspin]

Hi Everyone

I hope you are making progress with your situation, i find the hardest is getting others to understand mental illness or depression?

Mankind has made so much progress over the last century, but we still dont have a cure for all the debilitating illness that we still have today.

I feel that government would rather spend money on submarines than medical research?

Something else i need answer from , another subject is if a child wants to leave their divorced mother and live with the father when they are  12 regardless of custody and without court orders, how can a child be removed from the father it they continually leave the mother?

I would appreciate any help.

Thanks.

[P0larBear]

Hi CatMom,

I love the name 😀 We have a cat living with us and she’s a tabby. She’s quite a lazy and funny cat!

I usually like to read crime/mysteries but now  I’m re-reading the Harry Potter books. They are light and quirky at first although they do get darker towards to the end of the series!

Yeah e-books are good like that. I find that with Spotify for music and podcasts.

I’ve been reading some non fiction books on mental health such as “Show me where it hurts : Living with an invisible illness” by Kylie Maslen.  

I try and just read a chapter when I read as I work 4 days a week so I think that’s a good enough and consistent goal.

I’ve only been eating better for the last 3 weeks. I’ll still have a  “cheat day or meal”. I used to eat too much junk food and fast food. It was definitely a vice. I just never felt good after I ate it. It was just emotional eating or getting cravings that made me think I needed it. It’s just a mirage now, hopefully I can continue this.

I substitute a protein bar instead of a regular chocolate bar and I drink more non-alcoholic beer these days than regular beer. Plus both are quite accessible at most supermarkets.

Lawn bowls is good because I’m not great at social events. Going to dinner with a bunch of people I don’t know is probably one of my biggest fears. But at bowls I can focus on the actual game instead of pretending to give a damn when people boast about their house/job/car etc or preach politics…

Anyway, it was nice talking to you CatMom 😀

[Asha80]

Hi

I'm running out of ideas on what to try next so going with the strangers online to see if that helps 😉

Fun fact or two...umm...I play lots of musical instruments (none particularly well but I enjoy it) and have an anaphylactic allergy that less than 6% of people worldwide have...fun times 😉 Thankfully it's *relatively* easy to avoid the allergen (ants) so there's that...

[Tone]

Hi all, just reading through some of your comments, it's good to know I'm not alone, I'm 53 and still want a way out, I'm married and have family, I think about it most days now, I feel inpatient, like waiting for a bus or taxi, tapping your foot, but I know I have to wait. I love my wife which ways on my mind, without her, I wouldn't be here to right this, she is my strength 

[Judi9877]

Hello and welcome to the forums @Asha80 @Tone @P0larBear @Backspin @CatMom! It’s nice to meet each of you. I hope you all find the forums to be an interesting and safe place to be and you find what you are looking for in regards to mental health support, advice and friendship! I’m a Community Guide here on the forums with a lived experience of mental illness including depression, schizophrenia and Borderline Personality Disorder and I’ve found the forums to be a great place to be.  I see some of you have met @tyme who is a great peer support worker. 

If you want to talk to others in the forums and notify them, use the @ function in front of their name and this will let others know you are on the forums. 

I hope you enjoy your time on the forums!

Take care!

Judi9877☺️💐