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My recovery journey

My recovery journey

Hello everyone 👋 I hope it's okay if I post my thoughts and musings here as a kind of diary. But anybody is more than welcome to comment here if they want!

I was in hospital last year with psychosis and I have a background of depression and anxiety. So, I am trying to recover from my hospitalization while dealing with these conditions, and with the ups and downs of life as well of course.

My first 'update' is that I had a job interview today. It was for a job that I applied for before my mental health 'team' (so to say) advised me to slow down on the job search and focus on my well-being and personal recovery for a few months. I decided to go through with the interview anyway for some experience and also because part of me still really wants the job. I find it hard to accept that I shouldn't be looking for a job. A lot of negative thoughts crop up about it - how will this gap look to future employers? What if this job was the perfect job for me and I'll never find another one? How will people judge me for being unemployed? Will money from centrelink be enough?

As for the interview, it went better than expected! So, it was a success in terms of a behaviour experiment (has anybody tried those for their anxiety?). However, they asked me to give two referees. I know this is standard for applying for jobs but I can only think of one person who would be suitable. I feel like such a loser for not having more experience and so anxious because I don't want to contact people who barely remember me and might reject the request. Even the thought of asking the one person who knows me well enough makes me anxious. It's so hard not to beat myself up for struggling with this stuff, but I'm trying to be kind to myself.

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In response to: My recovery journey

Re: My recovery journey

I'm glad you think it's a dilemma too @hanami haha, that helps so much because I wasn't sure if I was overreacting about it.

I've chatted with people about this dilemma and they suggested I could always just quit the job if it became too stressful but I've got worries about that too, like being unprofessional (because they told me the job would be busy) and being a failure (even though in theory I support the idea of doing what you have to do for your mental health).

The positive outcome would be that taking the job is manageable and the stress doesn't affect my recovery, but it's such a big risk to take ... especially since it's going against the advice of my psychiatrist.

I do want to go for it too! I've lived so long being afraid to do so many things. But at the same time, I've also always pushed myself to do things that weren't helpful to my mental health. Maybe this time I need to prioritize my mental health and focus on recovery seriously. I'm looking at volunteering now and there's so many options! That is reassuring (but also scary...)

Sorry for the wall of text 😅 And thank you for getting me xx

In response to: Re: My recovery journey

Re: My recovery journey

Yep @june23 I get all those thoughts. And I understand when you say you’ve lived so long being afraid.

It sounds like you have so many thoughts, would it help to write them all down. That often helps me ‘get out of my own head’ !
❤️

In response to: Re: My recovery journey

Re: My recovery journey

For sure, @hanami! So far, I have found posting here extremely therapeutic and it has cleared my head. I feel better about the job situation already, there are so many uncertainties but all I can do is face whatever happens when the time comes and I'm okay with that 🙂

In response to: Re: My recovery journey

Re: My recovery journey

Well, I've sent out the emails. My anxiety is through the roof. Emailing is such a major stressor for me, especially waiting for replies. But I'm glad I have conquered the task of actually sending them in the first place. The worst that can happen is everybody says no to my requests, that wouldn't be soooooo bad? Idk ... I want to go and distract myself but everybody, including me, is sick and the weather is horrible. Writing it out here has helped though.

In response to: Re: My recovery journey

Re: My recovery journey

Hi @june23

I'm new here 😊 :smiling_face_with_smiling_eyes:

May I share how much I relate with your email stressors! I hate waiting for them too - I tend to continuously go to my inbox and refresh.

Congrats on getting through that and I'm glad you found writing it out has helped you! Maybe I should do the same 🤔 :thinking_face:

Are you someone who likes tea? Maybe tea would bring some joy with the horrible weather and feeling sick?

flufflylight

In response to: Re: My recovery journey

Re: My recovery journey

Hi @fluffylight 👋

I'm glad somebody else feels the same way! I'm always checking for them too. As long as I'm waiting, it feels like the reply could be anything - from something nasty to just laughing at me. Or that I'll get ignored. It's awful. But luckily I have gotten one response so far and they were so so kind in their reply! It made me feel great and was such a relief.

And yes I would highly recommend writing here! It has really helped me so far, these forums are a great place.

Tea is a great idea! I can't believe I didn't think of that, it is perfect weather and circumstances (feeling sick) for tea. Thank you 🍵 Have you been having some tea today?

In response to: Re: My recovery journey

Re: My recovery journey

https://youtu.be/UJmbn1sQw2A

I've been listening to this song recently, it calms me down. I'm a bit nervous waiting to hear if I get a job offer or not. If I get a no, I''m worried I won't be able to cope with the negative thoughts that result. If I do get a job offer, I'm worried about making the right decision for managing my mental health. I really want the job. Fingers crossed I can get a job offer and be able to work part time 🤞 In the meantime, my energy levels are super low. I tried doing a youtube workout yesterday so that's a plus. But today, I'm just really struggling to find it in me to get up and do things. I just feel like sleeping all day. How can I be successful at a job feeling like this? How can I achieve my recovery goals? It's a bit overwhelming.

In response to: Re: My recovery journey

Re: My recovery journey

Also, I'm having a little trouble reading the laptop screen. I have my glasses on, but things still seem a little blurry/bright and hurting my eyes. Maybe I need a new glasses prescription, but the reason I'm worried is that when I was unwell one of my symptoms was the inability to concentrate on reading and feeling like words were jumping all over the screen or page. I'll monitor and see how things go.

In response to: Re: My recovery journey

Re: My recovery journey

I might make a separate discussion post but I'm worried it's happening again, my psychosis that is. I know I am not in a full blown episode but in the last few days I have been on edge, trouble sleeping, and I saw a face in the darkness and heard someone calling my name last night. I don't think it's enough to tell my psychiatrist and I'm lucky I have my mum with me watching me if I deteriorate. But it's just stressful.

In response to: Re: My recovery journey

Re: My recovery journey

Hey @june23 ,

That sounds so tough.

Do you have a safety in place?

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