NRL greats Braith Anasta and Kieran Foran throw their support behind SANE’s Better Off With You campaign

To kick this off I want to share Nathan's story:

“Being strong isn’t about hiding your struggles. It’s about opening up and staying connected.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUAlFCaBewM

You can check out Nathan's story and other's here.

Nathan talks about the power of connection - Connection to supports, connection to things that "feed you", connection to one's character, connection to a safe person or a safe place. In the spirit of this, I wanted to ask you all:

What role has connection played in your mental health journey?

Is there something that you're working to connect with currently?

Tagging some people who might be interested in this thread, but please feel free to tag anyone else who comes to mind! @Shaz51 @TAB @StuF @Bill16 @GezzaP @Meowmy @SmilingGecko @MissGremlin @Bunniekins @Judi9877 @PeppyPatti @Jacques @MDT @REDLINEZ750 @DownMoreThanUp @Mustang67 @MJG017 @Oaktree @Till23 @Chasingsunsets @rav3n @Jynx @tyme @ElephantEar3 @RiverSeal @AuntGlow

@Ru-bee

@Ru-bee Thanks for tagging me.

@Moose123 @heartathome @ENKELI @Appleblossom

Connection with others is great also online but as such does have its limitations as well. Still i think what helped me the most visiting depression forums is learning to understand the what and what nots of suffering a depressive illness.

For i quickly learned that depressed people who had let go of hope for better were basically impossible to reach until glimmers of hope lived inside of them again.

i also learned that people who had supportive loved ones in their lives do very much better overcoming depressive times than those who do not have such support in their lives. (Genuine care will always do good to those it is given.)

i also quickly learned to understand that to meet people where they are at while not judging them for being where they are but supporting them being there, is rarely done by (professionals) people looking on. Yet when such support is given to disconnected people, such approaches always cement possessive connections, along which more healing can follow over time.

So yes i'm with you on this - i'm all about connections and us suffering life connecting together against our common enemy.

Let us share our grief, pain and troubles so we can culivate acceptance, togetherness, and loving care instead.

@DownMoreThanUp thanks for tagging me.

@Appleblossom it hurts my feelings when I am always overlooked when it comes to tagging.

There are only about 4 out of the 15+ members I interact with on a regular basis that tagging me.

Or seeing a member acknowledge everyone else and not you when you've sent them a personal message.

If I have done this to you please let me know 🙂 xx

@ENKELI @Appleblossom

Yes it can be hard when people do not see what we have written or support us when what we wrote means a lot or is sensitive. i knw what happens to me at times is that i get side tracked before i get to the person who responded, writing to someone else who also replied first, but then forget about the other one who did.

This is one of the negatives of chatting online. One time, years ago, i was in the middle supporting someone struggling with suicide ideation, and just when she revealed something really personal and sensitive about herself, very much related to her wanted to die, the internet went dead, and i could not get back into contact. (which happened quite regular to us living in the country at the time.) i ended up ringing my wife at work in Town to contact her awaiting my answer online, and support her through that stressful time. Which was very much appreciated by her, but i know such is not always possible.

i found that if chatting with someone close to you, and something like that happens, to ask after their thoughts even if that can feel really unconformable doing at the time. i learned to see that the real situation and my fears about the situation, are hardly ever the same.

@DownMoreThanUp completely understand where you're coming from. There is a member who I have spent time with and often will write a post for them and they have acknowledged others on the same thread but not me. I have decided not to interact with them now as it is too upsetting while I am working through my spirit of rejection feelings. I will cope better once I overcome this problem I'm sure.

🙏😊

@Ru-bee I really value advocacy for men’s mental health.
💙

@ENKELI gentle hugs. thank you for including my thoughts from the other thread about feeling overlooked. Please don’t take it as a personal slight. I hope I explained my gratitude on the Christian chat thread. I think a lot my learning on this is opening up and finding those who do try and connect and understand. Maybe I covered my vulnerability too much in my attempts to cope .

Yes I know It happens to us all @DownMoreThanUp. We have both done a lot of work with marginalised and suicidal individuals but also have our own struggles. We need to be able to be human. It is very difficult to be able to get it right for everyone all of the time. I get it that you try.

Dinner is done. Beef and black bean and my son asked for lots of vegetables.

🙏💙🙏💙🙏🍎

@Appleblossom Yes indeed we all have or strengths and weaknesses. It does not have to be a shame when we understand all of us have weaknesses and strengths.

@Ru-bee @ENKELI @Moose123 @heartathome @Bunniekins @Chasingsunsets

What i like about meeting different people on these kind of forums is that people with different life experiences and different life views, sex and ages, still can find a meaningful oneness in their suffering down here.

i reckon such is mint!

For depressive lies always divide and isolate us in our difference, within as well as without, but togetherness because of our suffering shares the truths, strengths and joys of overcoming those depressive lies, despite, if not through, our difference.

Such is the power of connecting i reckon.😁

@DownMoreThanUp mint! I haven't heard that expression in ages! Gosh that brings back memories!

I like how interacting with people who are very different but with one thing in common makes us more tolerant of others. It shows us too that mental illness doesn't discriminate.

And now I have to admit that I have no idea who Braith Anasta or Kieran Foran are...