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We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Read our community tips on mental health

Chris_Alumni

The word mental health spelled out in wooden scrabble blocks

If you're experiencing mental health issues or you're just looking to explore ways to improve your sense of mental well-being, it can be hard to know where to start.

Our new mental health tips page contains lots of mental health tips that can help you get moving in the right direction, including:

Understanding the reasons for poor mental health
Achieving mental balance
Reducing stress
Seeking professional help
Organisations that offer mental health support

Thank you to all in the community who contributed their tips. You can view our community mental health tips here.

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Comments

Charlottewaring9

I have depression

Chris_Alumni

Hi @charlottewaring9, I'm sorry to hear that. Have you had a look through our tips page yet, there may be some useful info in there which may help you. And are you currently seeing a doctor regarding your depression?

Barrylad1957

Hello everyone
I suffer from severe depression and anxiety. The anxiety is the bane of my life, as if I have an 'episode' whilst out in public, I can become extremely aggressive, and/or violent, if I feel threatened or trapped; Thus, I rarely go out, unless I am accompanied by someone I trust. My daughters particularly are a great calming influence. The solitary, nocturnal and often isolated nature of my job when I was working was ideal, as I had minimal contact with client staff etc., but, after I had to finish work due to problems with my physical health last year, I no longer have anywhere to 'hide', and the way modern day to day stuff (like attending jobcentre, going to the chemists, day time interaction with others, etc.) impacts upon me causes me difficulty. My GP asked me what my goals were, and I stated that I wasnt keen to be further medicated than I currently am, so she referred me to our local MHS who agrred with me that what would benefit me best was a mix of counselling and other therapies, such as mindfulness, but that I needed to commence both "urgently", and that I was to be considered "a priority case". That was in May of this year, and so far, nothing. I 'phone them every week, and they say my case is on a waiting list and that theyre extremely overworked, and understaffed. While I do appreciate that there are those who are in greater need than I am, I have become a sort of hermit; I hardly ever venture out, I cannot (will not) use public transport; I go to the supermarket at 6am with my son once a month ('cos theres never anyone out and about) to get my repeat prescription meds from their pharmacy. My shopping, rent and bills are all taken care of by my adult children and my sister, at least one of whom will visit me daily, and I spend one overnighter per week with my eldest daughter and her family, she collects me and drops me off the day following. I am beginning to wish that I had opted for at least some medication, and I would have had I known in advance that counselling etc., would take so long to come around. My self imposed exile means that at least I will hardly ever be in a position where I may harm others, or get harmed myself. My problems are compounded by the fact that I now have a replacement locum GP (mine is off long term sick) who adamantly refuses to prescribe me anything for depression and/or anxiety, saying that she feels I made the correct decision to choose other therapies in preference to medication, and has actually reduced my daily pain relief meds for reasons that she will not discuss and that I cannot fathom. I still have a lot of hope for great results from counselling when it actually begins, but my day to day life has become a sort of self-imposed imprisonment, with one day out a fortnight to the jobcentre (accompanied), and my monthly daybreak sojourn to the supermarket pharmacist.
My name is Baz, I love art, Italian scooters, animals, and heavy metal.

Sam_Alumni

Hi @Barrylad1957
Thank you so much for sharing, do you only have one GP at your surgery? Can you ask to see someone else? Though you both may be right that therapy will help, if you have been waiting for over 4 months can they not give you something to help you till you can start the therapy?

Barrylad1957

Thank you, @Sam_Scope
There are technically 3 GP's at the surgery I attend, but in the past 2 months, the senior GP has been off work due to illness, and the third 'appears to have disappeared'; this leaves just the woman GP I see now, there is never anyone else, thus she is, to be fair, stretched to her limit, perhaps. I've been there for my 'flu jab today, and spoke to the clinic nurse about my worries, and she said she will have a chat to the doctor at end of surgery, and try to raise the issue on my behalf. I 'scored', evidently, 28 on the PHQ test, and 18 on the GAD, whatever that means? There is another surgery on the estate, (a mythical place, where patients apparently get sent to actually see consultants, specialists, psychiatrists and the like) but rather than jump ship in mid-ocean, I want to hang fire here until I am certain that I'm getting the correct help. Always better the devil you know, as the saying goes.
I should have asked for meds from the outset, I think now, Sam, but I've gone from being totally medication-free up until June 2016, to now being on 6 different meds, at different times of day and two of which have an extremely soporific effect, and the prospect of increasing didnt seem like such a good idea at the time. I didnt, however, envision that it would take this long - words they used, like "urgent", "severe", and "priority" sort of lulled me into a false sense of security. Thanks for replying, Sam,
Kind regards, Barry.

Topkitten

I suffer severe depression, agoraphobia, anxiety, panic attacks, paranoia and suicidal thoughts. Over the last 6 months I have been trying to deal with the agoraphobia on my own, as I have persistently been denied help, and have made some progress. This has also helped with the anxiety and panic attacks but made the paranoia worse. Suicide is on my mind many times every day but I usually manage to ignore it.

I am not on any medication for MH issues though I'm told that Pregabalin is a mild anti-depressant. I take it for neural damage and pain and haven't noticed and improvement with my depression.

TK

leeCal

This looks like an old thread but I have found clonazepam to be extremely helpful with anxiety attacks, especially if I don’t take them regularly, ie only take the minimum dose when I actually need one instead of two in the morning etc. I take very small dose and it works after half an hour. It can make you very chilled so avoid driving, in fact I believe unless you are used to it it might actually be illegal to drive whilst taking it. Check this if necessary. Also I don’t take one unless I need to because they become addictive over several months of constant high dose, and apparently the withdrawal symptoms are horrid. I guess like all meds they are a double edged sword. Maybe hypnotherapy would be better thinking about it.