Connect with people who understand what you are going through, seek advice and surround yourself with support. We're free, anonymous, and professionally moderated 24/7.

47,612Members
1,358,869Posts
1,400,000Visitors

FINALLY reached out!

ja96Contributor06 Sept 2023, 7:13 pm AEST

FINALLY reached out!

Last week I took the biggest step of my life and spoke to my GP about my mental health. I got given a survey and my scores came back extremely severe depression, anxiety and stress. I finally did what I needed to do in the last 10 years. I was prescribed medication and got a referral to see a therapist.

what got me down was that I ended up in hospital last night and once I told them I was on medication for my mental health I felt like I got treated differently. Why should we get treated differently just because we are struggling and need medication to help us? I feel like there’s still a stigma around mental health and it’s not fair.

16 replies

11 - 16 of 16

1 2

In response to: FINALLY reached out!

Leonie1Senior Contributor07 Sept 2023, 6:53 pm AEST

Re: FINALLY reached out!

Thank you. I wrote a long reply and it disappeared! Oh well, probably over sharing anyway. It took me a long time to reach that stage. Good on you for making the first step 💜

In response to: Re: FINALLY reached out!

ja96Contributor09 Sept 2023, 9:17 pm AEST

Re: FINALLY reached out!

@Leonie1 even if it took a long time you still took that step. Sometimes we need to do things in our own time.

In response to: FINALLY reached out!

Velvet_VanDettaSenior Contributor14 Sept 2023, 8:45 pm AEST

Re: FINALLY reached out!

Congrats @ja96 !!! SUCH a big and powerful step towards taking care of yourself. Well done you!!

I'm so sorry to hear the discrimination you then went on to experience when disclosing your medication. That must have felt extra sharp after stepping out of your comfort zone to begin it in the first place...

I can relate to the discomfort in disclosing medications taken for my mental illness to other medical professionals.. and having the feeling that they then take your unrelated symptoms less seriously. It often feels like it is us having to educate them!

I hope that experience doesn't continue to take the bounce out of your bungy after such a brave step toward seeking support for your mental health.

Take care

Velvet VanDetta

In response to: Re: FINALLY reached out!

ja96Contributor17 Sept 2023, 7:00 pm AEST

Re: FINALLY reached out!

@Velvet_VanDetta Thank you. It thankfully hasn’t had a bad aftermath on me but I feel sorry for anyone who may receive that treatment and are in a worse place in their mental health than what I was/am.

Yes exactly, it’s like once I disclosed my medication they thought my symptoms weren’t real. They quickly sent me home telling me nothing was wrong because they didn’t take me seriously but thankfully my GP was on top of it and I found out what was wrong.

We definitely need to educate some people on medications and mental health issues so the younger generation doesn’t experience the same.

In response to: FINALLY reached out!

ryeSenior Contributor18 Sept 2023, 9:18 pm AEST

Re: FINALLY reached out!

Hey @ja96

Just read your post and wanted to add my congratulations at asking for help. Especially after 10 years, it sounds like it was a really hard thing for you to do, but you can be so proud of listening to what you needed to do for yourself, and I really hope things start to improve for you.

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience with stigma at the hospital. I like to hope that this kind of thing is becoming less common, but it's a shame you had to experience it. I think generally people are being more open and receptive to discussing mental illness, so I hope it doesn't deter you from reaching out when you need to.

Well done again, and take care.

x rye

In response to: Re: FINALLY reached out!

Velvet_VanDettaSenior Contributor21 Sept 2023, 8:12 pm AEST

Re: FINALLY reached out!

I'm glad it didn't have too much of a negative impact on you @ja96 . While it is easy understand why we need to be our own advocate when it comes to our health, sometimes it just feels too hard on top of everything else we have to deal with - and we wish that medical professionals could just take care of us in the way we need them to...!

🤗

VVD

11 - 16 of 16

1 2