Does anyone suffer from mental illness on here?

[Danishfurniturelover]

I am not posting a joke thread,

The wife has demanded I get tested for Aspergers.

 

[El Guepardo]

Sorry to hear that, but it's worth being tested. Be honest about any symptoms that you may have, and open to the treatment that they may suggest. Fingers crossed for you mate.

I suffer from anxiety, and a level of depression. I've had cognitive behavioural therapy, and take 40mg of Citalopram every day.

Mental health illnesses are not a joke. It's about time the stigma gets removed. If anyone had breathing difficulties, it seems easier for some to be sympathetic to their plight, than to be understanding and supportive of someone with mental health illness.

I'm honest about my condition as I think the only way to remove stigma is to be open about it. Sadly there are those that will not understand, but hopefully the numbers will lessen soon.

I even tried to stop taking the medication, due to feeling that I should be strong. But, well, that went badly.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

Yeah I had CBT therapy a couple of years ago, I do not know I have a short fuse perhaps and I am not great in shops.

Had a bit of a meltdown in the food hall in marks and spencers yesterday and started shouting at a woman for keep walking in front of me, then i pushed over a young couples trolley for spending 5 minutes looking at bananas. The wife stormed off and sat in the car, I will be honest I am not easy to live with and the first wife said I was the biggest weirdo she ever met, but she still married me so whats that say about her.

I have been calmer when I have done my pilates, and sometimes I will admit that perhaps as I age i get a bit more crouchy. I do wonder, I am usually against thinking everyone has some sort of disease of issues, but I am wondering if some of my behaviour issues could be explained by something else other than just being a bit of a "cnut"

 

[awesome dawson]

I just got back from ten days in Japan with my best mate who is bi-polar and OCD. I've known him for 30 years but it was still shocking to see it first hand.

We had two nights where the police got involved, mainly as a result of too much alcohol and him being a loose canon. The downside of the fun nights out is a huge dip emotionally the next day. Its shocking and hard to comprehend. I had to report him missing on the last day, spent two hours in Shinjuku police station, then got back to the hotel and found him passed out on his bed with two cops in the room trying to make sense of the contents of his wallet. It was actually a nightmare holiday for me.

I actually don't think the stigma is as bad these days, I personally have no issue telling people I was depressed once and sought professional help. It did help. Stay off the anti depressants if you can because they can become addictive and exercise helps. Never underestimate the benefit of an eight hour sleep either. That's my thoughts, other than never think you are alone in this situation. Many many people will experience mental illness at some point in their lives. Having good friends and good habits will put you in good stead to overcome whatever problems you're having.

Good luck.

 

[braineclipse]

Never been diagnosed or received treatment, but looking back I'm absolutely sure I could have been diagnosed with some depression/anxiety issues at previous times in my life. Didn't seek professional help, but perhaps I should have.

I just got back from ten days in Japan with my best mate who is bi-polar and OCD. I've known him for 30 years but it was still shocking to see it first hand.

We had two nights where the police got involved, mainly as a result of too much alcohol and him being a loose canon. The downside of the fun nights out is a huge dip emotionally the next day. Its shocking and hard to comprehend. I had to report him missing on the last day, spent two hours in Shinjuku police station, then got back to the hotel and found him passed out on his bed with two cops in the room trying to make sense of the contents of his wallet. It was actually a nightmare holiday for me.

I actually don't think the stigma is as bad these days, I personally have no issue telling people I was depressed once and sought professional help. It did help. Stay off the anti depressants if you can because they can become addictive and exercise helps. Never underestimate the benefit of an eight hour sleep either. That's my thoughts, other than never think you are alone in this situation. Many many people will experience mental illness at some point in their lives. Having good friends and good habits will put you in good stead to overcome whatever problems you're having.

Good luck.

Strong story, I was actuall thinking "sounds like a nightmare holiday" before you wrote it yourself.

Wondeful advice in that final paragraph.

Sorry to hear that, but it's worth being tested. Be honest about any symptoms that you may have, and open to the treatment that they may suggest. Fingers crossed for you mate.

I suffer from anxiety, and a level of depression. I've had cognitive behavioural therapy, and take 40mg of Citalopram every day.

Mental health illnesses are not a joke. It's about time the stigma gets removed. If anyone had breathing difficulties, it seems easier for some to be sympathetic to their plight, than to be understanding and supportive of someone with mental health illness.

I'm honest about my condition as I think the only way to remove stigma is to be open about it. Sadly there are those that will not understand, but hopefully the numbers will lessen soon.

I even tried to stop taking the medication, due to feeling that I should be strong. But, well, that went badly.

Medication and mental health problems is (rightly) a very controversial topic. I will say that if someone plans to stop taking medication it should happen while cooperating with a doctor or mental health professional. Just quitting on your own can work out well, but it can also be rather dangerous. I think working with a psychologist before and while quitting is a good idea for quite a few people.

 

[braineclipse]

I am not posting a joke thread,

The wife has demanded I get tested for Aspergers.

Yeah I had CBT therapy a couple of years ago, I do not know I have a short fuse perhaps and I am not great in shops.

Had a bit of a meltdown in the food hall in marks and spencers yesterday and started shouting at a woman for keep walking in front of me, then i pushed over a young couples trolley for spending 5 minutes looking at bananas. The wife stormed off and sat in the car, I will be honest I am not easy to live with and the first wife said I was the biggest weirdo she ever met, but she still married me so whats that say about her.

I have been calmer when I have done my pilates, and sometimes I will admit that perhaps as I age i get a bit more crouchy. I do wonder, I am usually against thinking everyone has some sort of disease of issues, but I am wondering if some of my behaviour issues could be explained by something else other than just being a bit of a "cnut"

Good luck.

It seems you've come some way, but perhaps there's still issues to work on? Must be tough going through every day life with that much anger coming out.

 

[kb 1984]

Great thread

i was diagnosed with a personality disorder at the age of 8.
my life is a constant struggle i have good times & bad times i see my psychiatrist on a weekly basis the rest of the time i stay home away from the world.
I've been in & out of psychiatric units more times than i can remember. I've tried to take my own life 5 times i'm not very good at it.

through all the bad times I've had some really great times Tottenham was my only escape when i was growing up & i was lucky to see us win trophy's.
i moved to oz had two wonderful kids & i will continue to fight the good fight for my kids sake.

i would say to anyone struggling with any mental health problem go & get help not tomorrow or the next day or the day after get help today.

 

[StephenH]

Yeah I had CBT therapy a couple of years ago, I do not know I have a short fuse perhaps and I am not great in shops.

Had a bit of a meltdown in the food hall in marks and spencers yesterday and started shouting at a woman for keep walking in front of me, then i pushed over a young couples trolley for spending 5 minutes looking at bananas. The wife stormed off and sat in the car, I will be honest I am not easy to live with and the first wife said I was the biggest weirdo she ever met, but she still married me so whats that say about her.

I have been calmer when I have done my pilates, and sometimes I will admit that perhaps as I age i get a bit more crouchy. I do wonder, I am usually against thinking everyone has some sort of disease of issues, but I am wondering if some of my behaviour issues could be explained by something else other than just being a bit of a "cnut"

Sorry to here you going through this. Have you considered meditation?

My Son has suffered with a short temper and finds it most beneficial. He recently spent 10 days at a retreat and found that very helpful, though a little difficult due to the quiet and then returning to hustle and bustle of central London. But he was fine after a couple of days back.

 

[Lemonade Money]

@Danishfurniturelover, you like cycling, borrow a mountain bike and go and ride in the woods, it's very therapeutic. Not saying it's the answer to your problems, but thought i'd suggest it due to your love of bikes.
I've known blokes who are complete clams in public, and a nightmare on a night out, but put them on a bike in the woods or the mountains, and they are totally different people.

 

[Gilzeantoscore]

I reckon I'm depressed, but then again my life is pretty brick. At present, the best part are my dreams...but then I wake up. Seriously are you depressed if you actually have things to be anxious about?

 

[milo]

There's some very brave and moving first hand accounts in this thread. Thanks for sharing.

 

[monkeybarry]

Definitely talk to your GP and/or NHS Well-being team (I'm not sure if that has different names by region?) - that is the name in Herts.

I started suffering with Clinical Depression and strong suicidal thoughts at the start of 2016. It has tempered now, but still there.

Had a few meltdowns this year.
Undertook CBT which helped a lot - that has now finished so I'm dealing with it on my own using the tools from CBT and other strategies.

Talking about it is so important. I found it really scary at first (especially telling your mum you nearly killed yourself), but now I feel more comfortable and has no issue talking freely if needed.

For anyone going through depression or suicidal thoughts I'd recommend Reason to Stay Alive by Matt Haig. (I'm not much of a reader, but it was like medication).
Probably a useful read for anyone going into mental illness as many of the emotions will be the same.

Glad you have reached out.

 

[braineclipse]

Great thread

i was diagnosed with a personality disorder at the age of 8.
my life is a constant struggle i have good times & bad times i see my psychiatrist on a weekly basis the rest of the time i stay home away from the world.
I've been in & out of psychiatric units more times than i can remember. I've tried to take my own life 5 times i'm not very good at it.

through all the bad times I've had some really great times Tottenham was my only escape when i was growing up & i was lucky to see us win trophy's.
i moved to oz had two wonderful kids & i will continue to fight the good fight for my kids sake.

i would say to anyone struggling with any mental health problem go & get help not tomorrow or the next day or the day after get help today.

Well done you for working hard at improving your life and managing your problems. Sounds like some really rough experiences.

Best of luck going forward, and may Tottenham and other things bring you a lot of great times.

I reckon I'm depressed, but then again my life is pretty brick. At present, the best part are my dreams...but then I wake up. Seriously are you depressed if you actually have things to be anxious about?

If you have depression or not isn't something anyone on the internet can answer. It's a diagnosis and a question for a trained professional if you feel it's something that might be bothering you. A lot of people struggle with a lot of stuff in their lives, but that doesn't mean they have a depression or anxiety disorder. But at the same time people who struggle with anxiety or depression often have real problems and real reason to be anxious. One does not exclude the other in any direction.

There is help to be gotten for problems like anxiety or depression if that is in fact what you have. There is also help to be gotten for other mental health problems.

 

[monkeybarry]

I reckon I'm depressed, but then again my life is pretty brick. At present, the best part are my dreams...but then I wake up. Seriously are you depressed if you actually have things to be anxious about?

In short - maybe
But try not to think of it as a label or a weakness.
But do think of it as a medical condition - and something you should consider treating.

See the book I recommended (if I was reading this, I wouldn't buy it. I'd think "yeah I'm sure it's great and happy it works for you, but I'm not into self help books". I was brought for me and is the most important gift I've ever received. And its definitely not a self book!!)

Please take a look at this too.
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/Pages/improve-mental-wellbeing.aspx

Worry and anxiety are nothing to be ashamed of.
I'll won't say anything more as I don't want to overwhelm you.
But I'm on PM anytime.

 

[Craig_J]

I've had anxiety related isssues which tend to fluctuate to the point where I don't know whether it is an anxiety related disorder or if I am just completely justified.

But the one thing I defiantly do have is Seasonal Affective Disorder, AKA winter time depression, which is rather ironically abbreviated as SAD.

Supposedly the cause is that my skin has barely any exposure to sunlight during winter months and my body doesn't produce enough Vitamin D on it's own and so it causes me to have a Vitamin D deficiency. This seems like it is probably the cause because even as a child I never felt right and would often become depressed during the winter months.

In the past I have had medication to help with this but personally I don't know whether the medication is worth it.

Last year I was on sertraline and it certainly stopped me from feeling depressed but it also seemed to stop me from feeling any emotion what so ever about anything. I was in a very zombie like state and many people noticed. I literally felt like I could have been told a close relative had passed and not feel anything! well as that it made it incredibly difficult to ejaculate and sex without an orgasm is basically just exercise!

I've now decided that although the depression is horrible, torturous and comes with many side effects the medication can be just as bad and is certainly more expensive.

It's now getting to that time of year where I can feel myself starting to become miserable and it will only get worse once the clocks change this weekend.

Today I have ordered a 'lightbox' which seems to have good reviews for treating SAD and I will be going to Holland & Barrett to pick up some Vitamin D supplements. Hopefully this will help me to get through the winter without having to resort to medication.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

@Sexagenarianlover, you like cycling, borrow a mountain bike and go and ride in the woods, it's very therapeutic. Not saying it's the answer to your problems, but thought i'd suggest it due to your love of bikes.
I've known blokes who are complete clams in public, and a nightmare on a night out, but put them on a bike in the woods or the mountains, and they are totally different people.

Yep I am a lot calmer after a ride. I am also going up with the family to the velodrome on saturday for the 6day racing meet. It is my Birthday and should be a nice day out. But the wife is as tinkled as I have ever seen her.

To be honest I did not cover myself in glory. I do get stressed in crowds, not in a scared way just sort of why the hell cant everyone get out of my way and why don't people do as I think they should do.

 

[Gutter Boy]

I don't think it sounds like Aspergers from the brief description you have given. Aspergers is really just a form of high-performing Autism and is primarily about how you perceive the social behaviour of others. People on that spectrum can get frustrated by others, but I'm not sure eruptions of temper are specifically a symptom (they will more often retreat into themselves with their anguish, rather than express it outwardly). It's not technically a mental illness either.

Anger issues in particularly young men is a very natural thing, developed for perfectly useful evolutionary reasons. You usually learn to control it, but it never completely goes. Mine calmed a lot in my early 20s. I always put it down to mdma experiences around that time altering my perspectives for the better, but that may just be coincidence.

I totally get the freaking out in the shops thing. I've always thought of it as a form of claustrophobia though. Shops, airplanes and indoor tourist attractions do to for me, but not all crowds (no real problem at football say, but maybe that's because it's outdoors). I've definitely had a few mildly violent outbursts in those situations over the years. One of my worst was in hospital where I ripped all the wires/needles/pipes out of me and went full Hulk, because the restriction got so overwhelming.

My #1 solution for shops is music. I always do my Christmas shopping trip with some very loud, gentle, but completely immersive, music on my earphones - Joy Division or Disintegration by the Cure or something along those lines. And making sure I've got my own clear bit airspace helps too (being quite tall makes that easier to do).

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

Sorry to here you going through this. Have you considered meditation?

My Son has suffered with a short temper and finds it most beneficial. He recently spent 10 days at a retreat and found that very helpful, though a little difficult due to the quiet and then returning to hustle and bustle of central London. But he was fine after a couple of days back.

Well I think I might need to do something different apart from just cycling and pilates.

I quite like swimming but have not swam properly in years, I did watch a show on t.v. about a girl who had some mental problems and wanted to get off meds so went cold water swimming and it seemed to help, I know the is a sea swimming club in Brighton, that when the sea is to rough use an all year outdoor pool in Lewes, so maybe I will look into that.

I sat down with Lucy(wife) and she went through the symptoms of Aspergers, to be fair a lot of them nailed me quite well, but we went to saw the play about the curious incident with the dog in the night and I am nothing like that.

Yet sometimes I have to admit there are times when maybe I lack empathy. Yet I watch the news and I saw about these kids in Syria and they were 7,8 and 9 years old and they had lost their parents and they were looking for scrap in the boomed out remains of their towns for like a few pounds a day. I was so sad that they could not be normal kids playing and stuff that it made me really sad and I had to turn the t.v. off because it made me so sad. So it is not like I am a psycho who can not feel things. But I do have trouble dealing with people when I know someone is lying to me or doing something deliberately to get out of doing something else, then I will call them out on it. I always thought that was just being old school.

The last job I had was as a manager for a logistics company, I am good in talking to people but I can burn quite quickly and then get bored, I got everyone on side with my enthusiasm but it was very much my way or the highway but then I got bored and left and did not do a lot after that. I think I need to always have something to do in my life and despite getting older I can not slow down because what will I do?

I sort of understand why Alex Ferguson went on so long. I am not sure, when I have a lot on my plate I seem better able to control my "issues" and "anger" sometimes I just want to be on a farm or an island away from the whole world and then other times I realise I need to keep busy and do stuff.

I also wondered if you got a list of symptoms for Aspergers or other conditions and whether a lot of people would fit under them.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

I don't think it sounds like Aspergers from the brief description you have given. Aspergers is really just a form of high-performing Autism and is primarily about how you perceive the social behaviour of others. People on that spectrum can get frustrated by others, but I'm not sure eruptions of temper are specifically a symptom (they will more often retreat into themselves with their anguish, rather than express it outwardly). It's not technically a mental illness either.

Anger issues in particularly young men is a very natural thing, developed for perfectly useful evolutionary reasons. You usually learn to control it, but it never completely goes. Mine calmed a lot in my early 20s. I always put it down to mdma experiences around that time altering my perspectives for the better, but that may just be coincidence.

I totally get the freaking out in the shops thing. I've always thought of it as a form of claustrophobia though. Shops, airplanes and indoor tourist attractions do to for me, but not all crowds (no real problem at football say, but maybe that's because it's outdoors). I've definitely had a few mildly violent outbursts in those situations over the years. One of my worst was in hospital where I ripped all the wires/needles/pipes out of me and went full Hulk, because the restriction got so overwhelming.

My #1 solution for shops is music. I always do my Christmas shopping trip with some very loud, gentle, but completely immersive, music on my earphones - Joy Division or Disintegration by the Cure or something along those lines. And making sure I've got my own clear bit airspace helps too (being quite tall makes that easier to do).

That is a nice post and I agree about the Apergers thing because I am not show I have that, but also I am not so young. I think maybe it is just anxiety and though I am probably older then most on here I am open minded(very open minded sexually) and that is why I took up Pilates because it helped with my Achilles but I also feel calmer after it.

To all the other guys who posted about their problems, I hope this thread helps and I think it important the is a place we can all talk about it, we are spurs fans so we share a common bond and we can talk with each other without judging one another.

 

[StephenH]

Well I think I might need to do something different apart from just cycling and pilates.

I quite like swimming but have not swam properly in years, I did watch a show on t.v. about a girl who had some mental problems and wanted to get off meds so went cold water swimming and it seemed to help, I know the is a sea swimming club in Brighton, that when the sea is to rough use an all year outdoor pool in Lewes, so maybe I will look into that.

I sat down with Lucy(wife) and she went through the symptoms of Aspergers, to be fair a lot of them nailed me quite well, but we went to saw the play about the curious incident with the dog in the night and I am nothing like that.

Yet sometimes I have to admit there are times when maybe I lack empathy. Yet I watch the news and I saw about these kids in Syria and they were 7,8 and 9 years old and they had lost their parents and they were looking for scrap in the boomed out remains of their towns for like a few pounds a day. I was so sad that they could not be normal kids playing and stuff that it made me really sad and I had to turn the t.v. off because it made me so sad. So it is not like I am a psycho who can not feel things. But I do have trouble dealing with people when I know someone is lying to me or doing something deliberately to get out of doing something else, then I will call them out on it. I always thought that was just being old school.

The last job I had was as a manager for a logistics company, I am good in talking to people but I can burn quite quickly and then get bored, I got everyone on side with my enthusiasm but it was very much my way or the highway but then I got bored and left and did not do a lot after that. I think I need to always have something to do in my life and despite getting older I can not slow down because what will I do?

I sort of understand why Alex Ferguson went on so long. I am not sure, when I have a lot on my plate I seem better able to control my "issues" and "anger" sometimes I just want to be on a farm or an island away from the whole world and then other times I realise I need to keep busy and do stuff.

I also wondered if you got a list of symptoms for Aspergers or other conditions and whether a lot of people would fit under them.

First, I would suggest is go see your GP and ask for a referral to talk to a professional - stress to GP you are not ATM prepared to go down the medication route.
Keep the exercise up and have a read up on other treatments I.e Meditation etc

Take a printout of what you've written here.

Let me know how you get on - PM me if you prefer