Sans911Senior Contributor
The Challenges of Mental Health Wellbeing
I'm not sure if changes from medication, my new role as Community Guide or something else, but something has shifted & this time I hope it lasts. Unfortunately, these shifts in the past two years have lasted mere days, weeks or months before I slip back down the slippery slope of deep and persistent depression. I have an extremely long, slow and painful way to go yet before I can even begin to say that I've started to recover (or whatever you want to call getting better from MI, particularly BPD).
Being a CG seems to have given me renewed purpose and reasons to stay alive, as I feel that helping others in this role means being responsible for my own health & being a role model for others in their journeys. I know I'm not always going to get it 'right'. I'm human after all, with MI, and I have my own frailties & vulnerabilities.
But I'm also incredibly fed up and dissapointed in my life in the last year in particular. I never could never have imagined that I would be in the position that I'm in now, chronically suicidal, repeatedly in Emergency departments that I used to work in that now I'm ashamed to present as a patient & I'm judged by my own peers that I so previously admired & respected.
I been incredibly isolated recently, and I live in fear that my life will come to a premature end by my own doing. But I also been fortunate to have good professional clinicians that I have sought out myself, and had to sometimes fight for. And I have the love and respect of a dear family member which means the world to me.
Through my journey in the last year, my clinicians and I have worked through and adapted a strategy that focuses primarily on keeping my safe, responding appropriately to my frequent crises that I bounce to and from, and supporting my fragile emotional and social needs. It's been incredibly challenging, but I believe it's finally working to improve my life one day at a time.
So now I'm feeling a little stronger and able to take more control over my MI & working towards improving my days and finding purpose again. In order to do this, I've had to be more honest with myself, my clinicians and my personal support about my behaviours that are so harmful and risky, and I have had to trust them that I won't be judged all the time which has allowed me to break down some emotional barriers & I be supported wholly.
By being honest, I'm reducing my harmful behaviours, even though it places me at greater levels of distress and increases my vulnerability. But these levels of distress are also reducing in the span of time I'm staying distressed because I'm reaching out for help earlier.
My GP and psychiatrist whom I saw today are satisfied and agreeable with my current focus, yet are still cautious but suppotive me to assist in steering my own course. So what now? I insisted on staying on 2nd daily medication pick up for safety, weaning myself from sleeping medication even though my sleep patterns are so chaotic and lacking, improving my social interactions a little at a time, finding something to enjoy each day (even if it's the daft cat and his antics), and staying on ad medication for the time being.
Why do I tell you all this? Because I still need your support, encouragement, and occasional guidance to stay on track and keep me focused. Remind me of these goals occasionally, and come on this journey with me. I know you are doing this already, but this is my new chapter (obviously of a very long book).
Thanks for reading
@Former-Member@outlander@Faith-and-Hope@Shaz51@Ant7@Bubbles3@Phoenix_Rising@Former-Member@Bunniekins@MDT@CheerBear@Owlunar@utopia
It is a major step for you Hon - just getting all the competencies you need is a massive step let alone applying for jobs - SO well done. Even if nothing comes of this one you are dipping your toe back into the job market and that is so very postiive. I understand your apprehensions and concerns if it all falls through but I also have faith that you can not only do it but excel again. Showing those that lost faith in you means something to you but honestly Hon I think it would mean more to just you - when it comes down to it it is only you that you have to show you can do it - other's opinions do not matter. They do not know what you have been through and how hard you have fought to get to this stage - but you know and it is truly inspirational that you have been, and are, going down the work road again. You have made my night Sans and I am behind you 100% 
