✨Sunday Intention Setting✨

@Cuddlebear @Kashmina hearing you both re: not feeling well, and wanting to extend some friendly hugs.

I am so glad and proud that you voiced to your GP that you are not coping with the pace and need to slow down a bit @Cuddlebear . It is not always easy to speak up when feeling pressured, so I am so proud to hear you have.

I agree with @Appleblossom that it is important to be able to discuss the need to be able to give honest feedback to the doctors around the effects of medication (be it from new, existing or dosage tapering). If people do not tell the doctor how bad it is, the doctors will not realise. Sometimes it can be scary to tell them exactly how bad and hope not-coping someone is. Fear they will dismiss or not believe . Feelings to cope with if they do not listen and feel unheard.

Earlier in the year I was experiencing very severe anxiety/panic attacks due to an adverse reaction to a brain stimulation treatment. My mother and I knew that it was highly abnormal for me (never had anxiety before despite trauma & depression for decades) and would pass once the treatment wore off. As an experienced psychologist she knew a medication would help me cope with the anxiety feelings and we had already been doing all the thing she would advise her patients. So she came with me to the GP. Ive seen this GP for more than 5 years. He did not want to prescribe me a single (no repeat) script (and i have no history of addiction or medication misuse), it was only because my mother was a trained psychologist and was able to advocate for me and what we had been doing and my symptoms and that it was very severe and not usual for me that he did agree to prescribe it for me.

And guess what? It helped! But because of his hesitance to prescribe i was then very hesitent to use it even at half the prescribed frequency 😅. It helped when i did use it, and I did find a middle ground where i could use less than prescribed but enough to be able to control the anxiety. (It was a "take as needed up to xxx per day", so it was OK to take less than prescribed!)

But i think, if i didnt have my mother as a trained professional advocating for me in realtime in the same room...?

And i believe my doctor had good intention. But sometimes they dont know exactly how bad things are if people "present well" relatively speaking. I know i have received a lack of adequate response a number of times due to this (ive been told by others i should find a diff GP for MH who has an interest in it), but i also recognise its not my GPs intention and when I do push back he does respecr it usually. But im not always in a position to feel able to push back.

Positive for me today --- I took a whole day of sick leave. Normally I try to push myself to do as kuch work as i can still, even though it sets back my recovery from the illness. But today I chose to evaluate it based on "if i work, will my cold/flu get worse for it?" And the answer was yes (due to excessive fatgiue weakening me), and so i took the day off on sick leave. And tomorrow i will ask myself the same question and assess myself again against that standard. 🥰 trying to do what is best for my health this time.

Thank you @AlwaysMyself for your story and hugs!

It is difficult navigating the medical system and doctors. Using their educated knowledge but also our lived experience is also very important

It is great to see you looking after yourself more and taking the day off. It is one thing I am still learning as before I used to push myself and well ...... it eventually catches up with you.

Hope you are doing ok @Cuddlebear thinking of you 😊

@AlwaysMyself Hello lovely. How is your cold today? I’m so glad you are putting your health first. Cold and flu need rest and it’s the best way for them to go away. I’m really proud of you for putting yourself first. 🙂

It wasn’t easy voicing my concern and he asked me again yesterday if I wanted to drop another dose down and I said no. It was obvious I was in no condition to drop more and it felt disappointing he even made the suggestion.

I can totally understand what you are saying having your mum who is a psychologist having to advocate. It shouldn’t have to be that way. I’m glad you were able to access what you needed it’s just awful that the GP was reluctant when you asked.

@Kashmina Hello lovely how are you? I’m sorry you felt really stressed yesterday. Whatever it was causing it I hope it is all resolved.

How are you today? I’m so glad you have your son with you and that he’s supportive.

I am in my 50’s and am alone. I have no real support and 1 friend who drops in every now and again. I’m pretty much on my own. I’m lonely and my mental health prevents me from working. I was working up till May this year. I have multiple disabilities and a chronic illness so it’s not possible to work anymore. I feel sad with the situation.

Hello @Cuddlebear I am doing better today. I dont feel sick and completely out of it!

The stress I was feeling is an ongoing stressor but it is a part of life and I have to learn to not let it take over. Difficult when you dont feel great. But yes I got through it and life continues.

I am really sorry you are on your own. I get the friend thing though. I have my son yes but you work out who your real friends are when you become unwell.

I can relate too, to the fact that my life has changed in a way that I dont believe I will ever function in the same way. There are limitations now.

Do you have a local community centre of sorts? I am trying to (once I am feeling better from this transition) to get out into my community. Taking a class that you have an interest in? I have volunteered in a community centre before and they had such a variety of classes to attend to. It was really welcoming and it broke that social isolation.

How are you feeling today?

@Kashmina @Cuddlebear support button not working, so please consider your posts support-buttoned! Totally agree re: pushing self, finding out who are true friends when sick, and the battle between supporting MH vs working (current topic for me in upcoming months).

@Cuddlebear I've been silent on my personal-topic thread because I've wanted to wit until I have a proper time to post there (both feeling well enough to think and type, and now when im in a more suitable place to be able to write it than on a public bus if i get teary lol). I have a lot of thoughts swirling about work currently.

@Kashmina community centre sounds a great idea. 😊 i wish i had a good one local. I have a few different organisations that do some community things, but no real centre to my knowledge. And there are quite few things that are free (many were replaced by paid services when NDIS was introduced). There are 2 thibgs I know of I could try out for free if only I was available at the times and had the energy. One of them is "free" to attend but its at a pub/diner, so prob expexted to at least buy a drink - but I guess $5 is OK if you enjoy it for a few hours.

@Kashmina Hello lovely. How are you today? I’m so glad you felt better yesterday and I really hope that today is even better for you. What are you upto?

Life stressors are difficult at the best of times and even harder when our mental health isn’t good. As it is something in going are there any things that help at all to bring you some relief?

It’s hard being alone and while I’m glad you’ve got your son I totally hear you in relation to having friends too. I definitely learned who my real friends were when I became unwell. It hurt a lot to learn that the friendships were all one way 😞 Just really amplifies the feelings of worthlessness.

There is a local community centre. I have had a look but there’s challenges. Firstly, I’m deaf/blind (I have a seeing guide dog) and a part foot amputation. This makes a lot of the activities they have impossible for me to do accessibility wise. The cost for activities is also prohibitive. I feel so frustrated about this. I’m struggling financially. Food, rent and utilities take all my pension. There’s really nothing left over.

I’m sorry it’s taken me a while to respond. I’m really feeling awful mentally and physically. Struggling to reply here at times.

Support button wont work!

Firstly @Cuddlebear no need to apologise about later response. I know that you are struggling a great deal and even typing some words would be difficult.

You do have a lot going on 🤗 many hugs to you.

Yes trying to even find some activities to do that would support you would be difficult. Gosh in all honesty I am struggling to respond well with words of understanding. Except to say I really feel for your situation. I hope that is not condescending or inappropriate to say, so I apologise in advance. The challenges you face daily must weigh you down.

And to top it all off, the burden of normal living to survive. I do understand this myself in the way that I was working full-time, I have been a solo woman for most of it so I have never really had that financial or emotional support - it has been limited. When I became sick the last time and could not work my life changed dramatically. I am able to live but minimally.

In terms of the ongoing stress, it is to do with the rented home I am in. Its ok but I am a part of a coop and it has its challenges. I do have to learn to not let things get to me but they just do.

Volunteered for a few hours but I did not sleep well last night so my shift was challenging. I just feel flat again and out of sorts.

Really sorry to hear you are still not feeling great.

@Kashmina I hope you get a good sleep tonight.

I know I feel much worse when I don't sleep well and/or are fatigued/exhausted. My mood just plummets and all my dark thoughts rush too. I hope you feel better tomorrow after a solid and refreshing sleep.

@Cuddlebear I didn't know you were missing part of a foot (more likely I have forgotten). That makes the way the support person treated you on the walk the other month even worse! 😮

Thank you for your words @AlwaysMyself.

Yes not sleeping well completely sets off the darkness again. Thank you for reminding me of that. Today I felt like I couldnt cope with anything and that all the things I had to engage with I could not handle - remember just a moment.

Do you work full-time? What is your current situation with addressing your MH issues with them, if I have understood that correctly? You dont have to answer if you dont want to.

@Cuddlebear I was going to ask do you receive any funding from the government for some support services but @AlwaysMyself just mentioned something? I was thinking maybe someone for companionship would be nice