Hi, my name is johntotnes!

johntotnes

I have a long term mental health diagnosis which is paranoid schizophrenia for which I take medication daily. I am suffering from panic attacks, which have affected me on and off for quite a long time. I suffer from lack of motivation and feeling overly tired and sleep more than I used to. Some days I don’t feel like doing much at all for quite long periods. I had quite a bad leg injury when I was younger and experience some mild discomfort as a result of this. I also feel like I could do with more friendship in my life and definitely would like to talk with people who face similar challenges to my own.
I am quite stable with my condition and I volunteer doing shop work and gardening ....I am actually a Scope volunteer in my home town. I also like to walk and am into drawing/art a bit and am into sport on tv/radio. I’m looking forward to the football this summer (the Euros).

Sandy_123

Hi @johntotnes welcome to the forum, thanks for telling us a bit about your self, well done for being a scopes volunteer helping your community. I love art too but haven't had chance lately to do any. There are lots of us here that you can talk to and make online friends with, join in the topics on the forum, specially in the coffee lounge,
I'm pleased that your condition is stable at moment, if you need any advise we are here to give basic advise and of course your gp if you need them.

johntotnes

Hi Sandy 
Thanks for the welcome and thanks for giving me a bit of a heads up on how the site works. I can't seem to put a picture up at present, which is fine I'll try again later.

Sandy_123

@johntotnes your more then welcome, also a few people been having problems with loading pictures lately, so might be a site issue.

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community from me too 

You have lots of interests to keep you occupied and great that you volunteer 

As sandy said there has been problems loading pics for a while and will get resolved 

Feel free to join in with any discussions 

johntotnes

thanks @janer1967 for the welcome. I am really grateful for the positive things in my life. Sometimes its hard to remember them though! I lost hope a bit yesterday after having a panic attack on Friday when I was volunteering....but today's been much better....I've been out for a really good walk and met a friend for coffee

chiarieds

Hi @johntotnes - welcome to the community from me too. Thank you for joining & sharing about yourself. It's good to 'meet' a Scope volunteer. I'm pleased you're enjoying your day after having a good walk & meeting a friend.

A few of us had problems with our profile pictures a few days ago, which got resolved. Now again a few people have mentioned difficulty with this, so hope it gets resolved quickly for you too.

chiarieds

Hi @Ross_Scope - this member is also having problems with his profile picture. I hope you can pass this on too, thank you.

johntotnes

hi @chiarieds thanks for your welcome. Have just been lying down on my bed for a bit which is something I have to do otherwise I get overly tired. Thanks for referring my picture problem to @Ross_Scope. It will be nice to put a picture on when it's sorted 

Ross_Alumni

Hello @johntotnes

Welcome to the community, delighted to have another Scope volunteer join us  

Do you receive support to manage your mental health effectively? I'm glad to hear you are stable, but please ensure you speak with your GP if that changes.

The avatar problem is quite an annoying one at the minute, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I will certainly pass it on that you are also experiencing that issue.

I'm also looking forward to the Euros, what do you make of England's chances?

johntotnes

Hi @Ross_Scope
Thanks for your welcome, it is much appreciated. I am well embedded with the local community mental health team and have been for quite a while now....but thanks for checking. I'm currently thinking about my meds but am in touch with my support worker.
I'm hopeful England will perform really well. We certainly have enough talented players. I think players like Foden, Mount and Grealish should mean we have great creativity and do really well. Of course, it is England, so there is always the chance we could self implode but hopefully not this year!

Tori_Scope

Welcome to the community @johntotnes It's good to hear that you have some support for your mental health from the community mental health team, and your support worker. 

If you're into football, perhaps you'd like to take part in our weekly football competition? Kindly coordinated by @WestHam06, who I'm sure would be happy to chat to you about it. Here are the links:

• What the football competition is
• Current rankings
• Latest fixtures

Give us a shout if you need anything!

johntotnes

Thanks @Tori_Scope I'll check out the football competition 

Caz_Alumni

Hello @johntotnes

Just want to say hi and add my welcome! 

I can see that you've already started getting involved in some of our chats on the community, which is great. But I thought it might be nice to take the opportunity to stop by and introduce myself as well. 

I can see you're into your football then? So, as Tori_Scope says, I'm sure that you'll fit right in when it comes to some of our discussions. In fact, it sounds like you could teach folk a thing or two when it comes to a bit of footie punditry! I particularly like what you had to say about England's chances this year. That sounds about par for the course!

Of course, it is England, so there is always the chance we could self implode but hopefully not this year!

Anyway, a warm welcome from me and I look forward to chatting with you again.

johntotnes

Thanks @Caz_Scope for the thumbs up! I enjoyed the cup final yesterday.