Saturday Soiree -- 24th January 2026

sorry that you have insulin resistance. @AlwaysMyself , @Ruby26

i have diabetes 2 and on meds and insulin

@Blackcloud wow, that is a huge commitment. I hope you are proud of yourself for giving it a go. I think you'll just get comfortable with the other participants in your own time and space. I had situational mutism when I started making the short film and I found the social anxiety improved greatly over the course of the months we spent meeting weekly.

Are you on NDIS @AlwaysMyself ? If so, they have links to orgs that provide meals.

Thanks @Shaz51 insulin resistance is better now. I'm sorry that you have diabetes.

@Ruby26 that’s awesome to hear that your social anxiety improved over the months within the course, you must be very proud of yourself for carrying on with it even if it got uncomfortable within the first few weeks or months! ❤️ when it comes to being in any sort of environment/setting that involves other people in it for me I find that I struggle mainly with just talking and maintaining a conversation, expressing myself, and I struggle to form my own ideas right away when I’m around people lol, that all came from when I had selective mutism back in kindergarten and primary school (I’m ND/autistic)

@Ruby26 i was fine 😊. I still have jumper in a wardrobe box somewhere lol. It still works, but the tummy-pocket has a burn-hole in it 🤣. One of those kangaroo pockets.

No NDIS @tyme , but might apply for it for MH after i see the MH GP i am waiting to see, since i won't have an income soonish to pay for supports. On one hand NDIS says it is not dependant upon a diagnosis (functional impairment instead) but on the other hand you need a diagnosis so that they can review that you have "tried all treatment/improvement options" and it is permanent. Thats fine re: MH because I have and it is. And its easy to show diagnosis for that. But for my chronic fatigue they basically don't/won't recognise it because there is no test or "evidence" or even any clinically-proven treatments. And for my physical pain i cant claim unless its also related to CFS, because "all treatment options" for my back pain would include surgery - and my pain/degradation isnt severe enough for that -- but it still prevents me from doing normal life things.

So i will only be able to claim for things related to MH. It can be argued that my fatigue *could be* related to my MH. Or that managing my fatigue and pain levels is vital to prevent MH deterioration / further impairment.

But my dietary restrictions are not due to my MH, so chances are they would say it had to be whatever is available premade by companies wouldnt they? No regard to what is palatable.

We have just started getting my grandma meals on wheels last year under age care. I havent read that menu, but the things i have heard she has would not be suitable for my insulin resistence, or if they are its because it is plain meat and veg 😬 or chilli/curry.

Sigh. I dislike food. Food is stressful.

Agree that the need to eat and food is stressful. I've often considered how much extra time we'd have if we didn't need to cook, clean and eat. The amount of shopping and preparation needed for a meal is just too much @AlwaysMyself . And there are only so many frozen meals one can eat... soon, they all start tasting the same!

@Blackcloud thanks so much, it's one of my achievements that I am most proud of. I'm also autistic. I also struggle a lot with maintaining conversations and having my own ideas in groups of people. I had situational mutism from when I was a toddler until I was 17. I think for me it all stems from a fear of feeling emotions, especially when around other people.

@AlwaysMyself I'm glad you were okay. I love the kangaroo pocket jumpers!

I'm sorry to hear you've had a loss of income. I hope you're going to be okay to meet basic needs as the NDIS can take ages to sort. The NDIS makes me angry with their attitude towards chronic physical health issues. Apparently, I have "conditions" rather than permanent physical disabilities (for health issues I've had for decades). If you are on any mental health related medication, you may be able to argue that your physical health issues are side effects of the medication. With mental health, I think what they do is that you have to say your mental illness is preventing you from making "healthy food choices" and then you can get a support worker to cook meals for you. Premade meals are quite difficult to get funded by the NDIS.

@Ruby26 omg are you me?! because same!! I also have a fear of feeling emotions when I'm with other people, and my way of talking in general is very monotonous that I feel like people are silently judging me for not sounding expressive in my voice lol 😄

ever since I started talking out loud (getting out of my selective mutism phase) through mid-grade 6, I still struggle to make and maintain conversations and making friends. I absolutely HATED both primary and high school and used to dread going to school everyday (if only my mum really listened to me even though she knew about all of these struggles I've been having). Sadly, the world expects us to be neurotypicals because being NDs is often perceived as 'unusual', 'weird' etc. and so its just sad how we don't get the equal treatment that we all deserve to be treated as people. As of now/recently, I keep wishing for myself time and time again that if I didn't become ND, that things would've turned out for the better in my life (who knows how better that might've turned out though to be honest lol)