The Challenges of Mental Health Wellbeing

Sometimes @Sans911 we cannot see the forest for the trees but sometimes there are just trees in front of us. By that I mean that not everything we do or engage with has to be difficult. History for many of us dictates that there is no reward without pain but that is not always the case. When we see the trees we may just be simply seeing the trees - there is no bigger picture or wider context behind things - it simply is as it is. This is kind of where I see you heading - in territory that is known to you and you are scared that if it seems too easy then there is no healing from that ...but sometimes that healing comes from being able to front up to something and move past it also - and that does not always have to be done in a hard or emotionally driven way. Hope that makes some sense to you.

How long have you been seeing her @Sans911 ? I can give you an observation perhaps, and see whether that makes sense to you ?

Ha ..... @Zoe7 has just very eloquently voiced my observation @Sans911 .

I was in conversation with a nurse yesterday, and she asked a few questions which I answered honestly, and that led to wide eyes and another few questions, that led to wider eyes ......

She then asked about how I was, and asked whether I had someone to de-brief to ...... just that ..... someone to de-brief to.

I think when things are so hard, and have been for a long time, we do expect support, recovery, and everything in between to be just as big a struggle. Sometimes it is. Often it’s a gentle hand and a listening ear helping us sort the chaff from the wheat, and occasionally encountering more challenging stuff. If that stuff is broken down into small recovery steps, it too can be a gentle incline.

I would say she is proceeding at a gentle pace, perhaps believing that life has been rough enough already that gently-gently is what you need.

Hey @Sans911 My last post to you was so hit and miss. I’m going ok after a heavy but ok day.

Heres my take on therapy. I don’t know if I’m right. I think it’s about understanding behaviours that are causing concern and then working on how to change them.

Sometimes therapy will hit a trigger spot and sometimes not. I tend not to cry so much in therapy at the moment but find it helpful in different ways. I think when you know the things to change there may not be as much sad or angry emotion involved and maybe more frustration.

There have been so many times that I’ve felt like I wasn’t getting the right therapy. The thing that hit this year is that everyone that I’ve connected with have come from the same angle in therapy and it’s been a really vague and not planned out way. It has been just dealing with stuff in therapy when it’s come up. The thing with my psychiatrist that has helped has been her asking me why questions around some behaviours or honing in on things.

I think that we all differ in what type of therapy suits us. Some really do well with directed CBT, DBT type of therapy, others not so much. It seems like I am not such a good candidate for those therapies. I need to know why and understand it and make connections myself before I can change behaviours. I need patience and understanding because nothing happens quickly for me. My psychiatrist that I see now is really getting to the bottom of some of my stuff now. It’s taken fortnightly visits since August last year for me to have confidence in what we are doing is working. Not that long ago I doubted that I could become unstuck with my issues. Now I’m just less sticky 😜. I’ve had much more confidence now that I feel like she knows me better. For me that has been so important, that I feel like the therapists knows me the person not me the diagnosis.

My therapist helps me with day to day stuff more but sometimes has helped me understand things better. She is patient and kind and always offers me hope which I think has been helpful.

So this post is all about me :face_with_rolling_eyes: but I hope you can think about it in terms of what might be helpful for you.

Do do you need a directed therapy with time frames and goals?

Do you need a therapy that slowly works at all the underlying things first?

Do you need to deal with past traumas?

Do you have specific goals that you want to work on now?

These are rhetorical questions to think about. I also think doing a google search of what do I need in therapy or picking the right therapist etc sometimes are helpful. I’ve dont it a few times in my time. I hope this helps.

Hiya @outlander , @Faith-and-Hope , @Zoe7 too. Just caught up on your responses. they all seem valid.

Good to see you a bit better today @Zoe7 . I’m glad psych helped. Just quietly you did scare the :pile_of_poo: out of me yesterday 💜😘. I’m really glad you are still around and posting 🙏