Advice

Hey there @PEB20

My name is Amber22 and I am a Peer Support Worker here at SANE. I just wanted to welcome you to our forums, and please feel free to reach out if you have any questions at all 🙂

Sending you lots of virtual hugs

Hi. I'm on medication for my anxiety and depression.

My sister suffered from anorexia thru here teens. She was in and out of hospital. I believe the butterfly foundation helped her. Also arts and crafts.

I know its easier said then done but try not to listen to the bad thoughts

That's a great point @BorderlineGirl ! The Butterfly Foundation can be very helpful @PEB20 - Have you ever reached out to them before? https://butterfly.org.au/get-support/helpline/

Hey @PEB20

I am currently doing TMS! I've had about 30 sessions and whilst it's been a bit of a rocky road there seems to be an improvement.

I was the same as you, great insight into my issues but I just couldn't seem to "fix" them. I'd also tried psychologists, medications and EMDR as well! My psychiatrist said "some things just can't be fixed by talking"

The TMS has actually helped with my anxiety quite a lot, and I have no depressive symptoms except that maybe my motivation is a bit lacklustre. But people have noticed a difference in me and the psych said there has been a huge improvement in my wellbeing.

TMS is a big commitment, and at times gets old fast. But I don't hate it and if you asked me if I would do it again, I'd say yes. (I'm not done yet, I'm still going once a week for a while but it was 4 times a week before that for a few months). I thought it wasn't working but I persevered and now I am glad I did.

I think, it's worth a try then you will at least know either way. What is it about it that doesn't sit right with you? I was a little reserved too, but at that point I didn't really have a choice if I wanted to get better, and I didn't have the money to try other treatments that were suggested.

You're worth it, worth getting better, give yourself the benefit of the doubt, what have you go to lose?

Hi @MissMuffet , thanks so much for replying and sharing your experience with TMS. I’m so glad that it has helped you and it gives me a little bit of hope.

I think I’m just concerned that my problems are more related to situational things in my life such as work etc and that TMS isn’t going to fix that. I also think because meds haven’t worked I have little faith in my psychiatrist because of it. It’s also been suggested that I have it as an inpatient so it less time and I have more access to supports in hospital etc. but I think the idea of going to hospital for it scares me a bit.

I’m still considering it because I’m running out of options.

Hey @PEB20

Yeah it can be really tough dealing with mental health issues when you have stressful stuff going on in your life. I can only give advice about my experience but for me the TMS helped deal with stress better too. For example I've had to move house twice in 2 years and my dad said to me recently during the latest move a couple of weeks ago "you are so much less stressed than last time!" even though we had problems with both the removalists and the cleaners. Previously I'd be breaking down in tears every time something went wrong but this time I managed to take it all in my stride, no tears at all!

As I said before TMS is a big commitment, l was going to hospital 4 days a week for about 2 months. It was a half hour drive each way, not something I would normally be doing. So I can totally understand your hesitation and depending on how many sessions a day and how many days in the week you have treatment, that could potentially be a long hospital stay for you.

Only you can make the decision, and if you don't have much faith in your psychiatrist it will definitely make decisions more tricky.

For what it's worth, the treatment itself only last about 4mins in total and then a few mins chatting to the nurse. So if you can build a sort of routine it's not so bad.

At the end of the day there aren't any miracle cures unfortunately and TMS is just another tool in the toolbox. If you can think of it like that an less of a be all and end all it might be a bit less scary for you. I understand it is scary when you feel like you're running out of options, but if TMS doesn't work there are still other things to try. Try not lose hope, you'll find something that will work xx