Is anyone able to help?

You're sounding very spritely at the moment @chibam. Must be the xmas spirit.

I don't have much to add at the moment. Glad to hear your ankle wasn't as serious as it sounded.

I'll be back when I have something to say. All talked out.

Take care.

@chibam P.S. Were you aware that if you type in the title of our posts here for a general internet search, it will include our post among the listings?

@HistoryloverReally? You mean like a Google search? Didn't work for me. But I only went through 7 pages of results.

@chibam Yes - a Google search. Perhaps it depends on which browser you're using. I use Microsoft edge. Type in "do we all simply have to help each other?" and see if you find it. I found all but one of mine - on the first page.

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@Historylover wrote:

@chibam Yes - a Google search. Perhaps it depends on which browser you're using. I use Microsoft edge. Type in "do we all simply have to help each other?" and see if you find it. I found all but one of mine - on the first page.

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Wow. Okay, yeah. I got it that time. I didn't try searching for that particular thread before, but I tried a few others.

I guess that "do we all simply have to help each other?" must be a really unique phrase. Doesn't seem to occur anywhere else on the internet. That's surprising.

BTW, I meant to ask you, did you ever find your glasses? Or at least get some new ones? I hope you aren't still browsing with your nose stuck to the screen.

Either way, Merry Xmas!

@chibam Yes, but I was surprised that they come up at all. I thought they were confined to our forum. I guess I'm something of a novice regarding the multitude of computer functions. I was somewhat amazed.

No, I didn't find my glasses. I took them off in one of my shopping stops and put them on top of something. Can't remember what or where - so I didn't go back to search. I have ordered two more pairs from Specsavers - a spare pair, just in case. Three weeks wait. No - I don't have my nose pressed to the screen - that would be silly! I'm using a magnifying glass! Merry xmas to you too!!

Hi @Historylover !

Long time, no write. I hope you are doing well.

I remembered that you previously expressed interest in providing some input into government policy formulation on mental healthcare? Well, if you can believe it, the fedral government is now holding an inquiry into all the other inquiries they've recently been running in to mental healthcare/mental illness/suicide/ect.

Perhaps I shouldn't roll my eyes. It's another chance to be heard, so maybe that's a good thing.

Anyway, if you were interested in contributing, here's the link for the inquiry: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Mental_Health_and_Suicide_Prevention/MHSP. Their accepting submissions until the 24th of this month; that gives you just over 3 weeks if your interested in participating.

I think I'll have a go at preparing something, but sometimes I get burnt out trying to write submissions for these things, or I just can't complete anything worthwhile before the deadlines. I guess we'll see if I can make it this time.

Hope you are well!

Hello @chibam So nice to hear from you. Yes, it's been a little while since I wrote. I've been trying to take life on from a different angle and see how it progresses. I'm just a little too late to contribute to the inquiry but I don't think they would have listened to me anyway.

How have you been? I have probably been travelling worse than before - trying to find new directions. I have had some really promising moments, but relapse again when I realise they will only be temporary - then I am despairing again.

This site is good - has been my salvation, actually - but it does not contribute socially, which is what so many of us need. I need friends of like-minded souls who are trying to work their way out of the mess of their lives - not just accept it. Working towards recovery. We meet obstacles every step of the way and need each other's support in a productive way. I need friends like the people here - but we are all on-line friends. I cannot find any places for groups which are aligned with my own values, difficulties, respect for others, etc. I saw a fellow on-line recently who said there is no such thing as 'mental illness' - just people who are overwhelmed by the difficulties of their lives. I wish everyone understood that and stopped giving us more to deal with. These difficulties - not of our own making - change our personalities, our perceptions, our moods etc. I don't know how to get out of the mess I am in.

I've tried that 'mental health' group concerned with 'grow'th. It left me despairing more. So many people don't realize that they are not being helped - by any means - and continue to hope change will come from continuing to do as before. Repeat. Repeat.

What is the answer? Clearly we have to help each other - but where are the physical avenues for each of us to do so. Personally I need friends - real friends. I need my share of the good things of life. I just don't know what to do.

Sorry to burden you with this. I hope things are going well for you, chibam, and thank you for thinking of me.

Hi @Historylover

Sorry to hear about your dead-ends. I know what that's like; looking everywhere you can think of and finding nothing of value. Or worse, finding only more harm; more disillusionment.

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@Historylover wrote:

I saw a fellow on-line recently who said there is no such thing as 'mental illness' - just people who are overwhelmed by the difficulties of their lives. I wish everyone understood that and stopped giving us more to deal with.

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I knew someone like that a while back. TBH, people like that who deal in such absolutes concern me.

It is true that many of us, you and I included, are indeed debilitated by our real-world circumstances; we don't have a "mental illness", even though our impressions of life might contradict with the norm.

But I would never go so far as to say that "there is no such thing as mental illness". I've read enough testimony from others to be convinced it does; e.g. people who have idyllic lives - even by their own evaluation - yet feel an overwhelming, nonsensical (agian, by their own evaluation) desire to commit suicide.

Mental illness is woefully over-diagnosed, that's true. But it is not entirely a myth.

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@Historylover wrote:

I've tried that 'mental health' group concerned with 'grow'th. It left me despairing more. So many people don't realize that they are not being helped - by any means - and continue to hope change will come from continuing to do as before. Repeat. Repeat.

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Very familiar. My really bad therapist was all about this. I'd have nights that were absolute nightmares, then when I told her about it, I was told I had to keep doing it over and over again. It makes me sick to think about what ends she was ultimately trying to steer me in to.

The problem is that everybody tells you that therapy takes a long time. So you feel obliged to be very, very patient - even when your intuition is telling you that something is very wrong, that you are not walking a road that is headed towards where you want to go.

And the beauty of that system is that all treatment failures can be blamed on the patients' impatience, or uncooperativeness.

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@Historylover wrote:

What is the answer? Clearly we have to help each other - but where are the physical avenues for each of us to do so. Personally I need friends - real friends. I need my share of the good things of life. I just don't know what to do.

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Wish I knew. I've been asking myself this a dozen times a day for decades. Still haven't figured out any answers. If anything, things only seem to get more and more confusing.

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@Historylover wrote:

Sorry to burden you with this. I hope things are going well for you, chibam, and thank you for thinking of me.

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That's okay.

I've been feeling a little burnt-out over the past few days, TBH. But I'll plod on.

It sounds like a lot you've dealt with @chibam and I'm hearing your frustration. I can undertsand too how dealing with these types of things may lead to burnout, though I'm sorry to hear it. Please take good care of yourself and reach out for support if needed.