Hospital

Hi @Former-Member

The trouble is that the stigma is in other people's minds and there is nothing at all we can do about that

If you want to ask someone to visit check first - with yourself - if you are okay with this

Those of us who have been in private clinics know it is a safe place to heal - and that's pretty much what happens - we find out what's wrong and get it attended to - just as it is done in a surgical hospital or acute medical

You are sounding better - and you are not in a mental hospital - which to me sounds like a contradiction in terms - and you will feel better

Decadian

Hi @utopia@BlueBay@Former-Member

@utopia's idea of telling her friend what to do if..................is excellent - anyone can have a panic attack - if someone hasn't they just need to wait - whether or not they ever mention it is up to them but I am sure it's impossible to get through life without feeling pressure getting out of control from time to time

Of course - some panic attacks are worse than others

It's a long time since I was in The Melbourne Clinic but I was a frequent flyer back in the dark days - and it's a clinic - a place where people go to get the appropriate treatment - and it was not at all a scary place - I was surprised the first time I went there - rooms with tables and chairs - really comfortable - plenty of room - I was surprised - I think it was pretty new then

I am going to have to have a look on the internet to see what it is like now - so many years have passed

And also - as @utopia says - we can choose how much we tell other people - and it is a terrible sorrow that people regard what is termed MI (what I prefer to called Mental Discomfort) in a Jekyll and Hyde format - a madman making himself worse - or Victor Frankenstein creating a monster - or other literature

Certainly there are some conditions - pyschosis and schizophenia that are a lot more serious - and maybe require different situation for treatment - that are harder for people to understand - I don't understand them -

But most people go to clinics for treatment that is part of an on-going process of improving the state of their lives after various kinds of emotional trauma

I am glad @BlueBay and @Former-Member that you are both having this treatment right now and of course you will be up and down and all over the place. Imagine if you'd had surgery - you would be in hospital on a drip and having injections and getting your BP taken every so often but a machine that squishes your arm - and then - dressing on where ever - and maybe confined to bed with the sides up -

No one would think that was strange - after all - the treatment is appropriate

So this is what's happening - you have all the treatment for how far along in your journey you are

And I wish both of you a good sleep and a peaceful night and I am glad both of you are where you can talk to the staff when you need to

Decadian

Hi @Former-Member

I am interested in your comments too - and the Melbourne Clinic is a place for people to go when their life becomes too much for them - and it is society's illess that the people with PTSD, anxiety, depression and other similar disorders have this stigma attached

After WW1 the medical profession began to view what is now knows as PTSD as shell-shock. In this day and age it is no surprise that men suffer when they have been to war - and it is in watching programmes such as M A S H that through the comedy we can see the darker side of war briefly - but also now we know more about what happens to people after a prolonged period of stress - and are treated likewise

And you write that the first step in healig is probably accepting the illness and removing the stigma in your own head - probably true - I did that a long time ago - and when I remember that time in my past it was hard to get through the darkenss to the light - and for encouragement - I did.

The weather is getting me down - but this is the way it has always been - I have Seasonal Affective Disorder in a big way right now - but if honesty prevails - so do a lot of people

I hope you feel better soon - and you are allowed to smile even when on work cover

Decadian