Hi, my name is Ryanna! — Scope | Disability forum
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Hi, my name is Ryanna!

Ryanna
Ryanna Community member Posts: 19 Connected
edited December 2021 in Start here and say hello!
Hi, I'm looking forward to chatting about everything and offering support and exchanging ideas. I'm especially interested in mental health disabilities.

Comments

  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    Welcome to the community @Ryanna :) It's great to have you with us! It's also really good to see you getting involved in discussions on the community already. 

    Would you like to tell us a little more about your interest in mental health problems? 
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  • Ryanna
    Ryanna Community member Posts: 19 Connected
    Welcome to the community @Ryanna :) It's great to have you with us! It's also really good to see you getting involved in discussions on the community already. 

    Would you like to tell us a little more about your interest in mental health problems? 
    Hi there ?

    Yes, my husband has PTSD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder and therefore has a lot of difficulties so I do a lot to help him.

    I also had Anxiety myself and was once off work for 3 months. I had CBT for 6 months and it was "like magic" for me! 

    My husband very academically minded and has a degree in psychology as well as other stuff and so understands his condition well, just struggles daily with all the physical symptoms of anxiety.

    I've learned so much from him and by having CBT myself that it's a huge interest for me now and I want to spread the word and try to help others.

    I've also trained as a Mental Health First Aider, and I've informally helped out colleagues who feel comfy coming to me to talk to.

    I've recently felt my Anxiety start up again (that wibbly stomach dread feeling) in the middle of the night.

    I think it's a combination of starting a new, stressful job, on top of looking after my husband and also a friend has needed me more recently for her own issues, so I often feel exhausted and feel pressured to helping both of them when I'm just exhausted from work.

    I can't talk much about things to my husband as it just sets off his anxiety or gives him a severe headache, my friend doesn't really understand mental health and asks difficult questions, so I decided to reach out for help by joining this Forum so I can find some support in order to keep myself resilient so I can be strong for my husband and friend.
  • Libby_Alumni
    Libby_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 1,251 Pioneering
    Ryanna said:
    Welcome to the community @Ryanna :) It's great to have you with us! It's also really good to see you getting involved in discussions on the community already. 

    Would you like to tell us a little more about your interest in mental health problems? 
    Hi there ?

    Yes, my husband has PTSD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder and therefore has a lot of difficulties so I do a lot to help him.

    I also had Anxiety myself and was once off work for 3 months. I had CBT for 6 months and it was "like magic" for me! 

    My husband very academically minded and has a degree in psychology as well as other stuff and so understands his condition well, just struggles daily with all the physical symptoms of anxiety.

    I've learned so much from him and by having CBT myself that it's a huge interest for me now and I want to spread the word and try to help others.

    I've also trained as a Mental Health First Aider, and I've informally helped out colleagues who feel comfy coming to me to talk to.

    I've recently felt my Anxiety start up again (that wibbly stomach dread feeling) in the middle of the night.

    I think it's a combination of starting a new, stressful job, on top of looking after my husband and also a friend has needed me more recently for her own issues, so I often feel exhausted and feel pressured to helping both of them when I'm just exhausted from work.

    I can't talk much about things to my husband as it just sets off his anxiety or gives him a severe headache, my friend doesn't really understand mental health and asks difficult questions, so I decided to reach out for help by joining this Forum so I can find some support in order to keep myself resilient so I can be strong for my husband and friend.
    Hey @Ryanna :) 

    Welcome to the community and thank you for sharing a little bit about yourself and your partner. I really appreciate how honest you have been and it's great that you're speaking openly about mental health. It's something that I also deal with and I know how difficult it can be to sometimes disclose information to others. 

    I'm so glad CBT worked for you, I know of others who have used it too, and it changed their perspective on things and helped them a lot. It's great that you're a Mental Health First Aider too; I also have taken the course and I really enjoyed it and learnt a lot. It allowed me to understand my own mental health more and better support others. 

    It does sound like there's a lot of change going on at the moment in your life and I understand that change brings a lot of uncertainty and fear sometimes. Do you feel as though you have some good coping strategies in place when things get a little overwhelming? I know when I experience anxiety, I try and slow down and stay off my phone and really try to ground myself in nature or through breathwork :) Do you feel as though you can talk to anyone at the moment about how you're feeling?

    We're here for you and it's great that you're motivated to learn more about Mental Health etc. I will tag this conversation in the hope that it reaches more users who are also interested in Mental Health.

    Libby
    Online Community Information Coordinator
    Scope

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  • Ryanna
    Ryanna Community member Posts: 19 Connected
    @Libby_Scope Thanks for your reply :) 

    I'd be interested to know how your Mental Health First Aider course went... I think the large handbook we were given was much better than the info the trainer gave us.

    We are encouraged to share information, and so I spoke openly about my husband's difficulties, which I'm happy to do as it's all very much a part of my life... but I was shocked that he laughed and make a joke about some things about it.  I should have probably said something at the time, but I didn't, though I did write an essay in the feedback form to show my disappointment!

    We were discussing phobias, and I mentioned my husband's phobia of washing up... when at his worst, he'd not been able to wash up for 5 years himself before I met him.  I could relate to this as when I had my 3 months anxiety, I also could not face the washing up and so my parents came over to help with that.  But the trainer thought it was funny and said that my husband was just trying to get out of it... I can understand why he thought it was an opportunity for a joke, but it is also remains a serious phobia for my husband.

    This year, as I've been out of my comfort zone applying for promotions and finally getting one, I've finally found my voice and have found a level of confidence... my voice no longer wobbles when talking in team meetings... in fact I'm now leading the team meetings, and it feels like such a relief that I've finally found a bit of confidence.. it has only take me 51 years!  lol!

    As for coping strategies, I know that meditation works for me, especially if I do it often, but I usually forget or can't find time to do it as I'm either working, eating or sleeping and want to do something "fun" and meditation just feels annoying sometimes as I would rather spend what little free time I have doing something more fun!  I've been writing to penpals for 40 years now, and so I share lots of things with them, they keep me going.

    Also playing a bit of heavy metal music (and a bit of air guitar!) changes my mood and helps reduce my anxiety.

    It's the late night 3am tummy wibbles I can't really control much other than deep breathing and trying to meditate, but that's hard to do when I'm so tired. This is my main issue right now... I want to stop the anxiety so I can go back to being strong and resilient and therefore manage to support my husband and friends.
  • Libby_Alumni
    Libby_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 1,251 Pioneering
    Ryanna said:
    @Libby_Scope Thanks for your reply :) 

    I'd be interested to know how your Mental Health First Aider course went... I think the large handbook we were given was much better than the info the trainer gave us.

    We are encouraged to share information, and so I spoke openly about my husband's difficulties, which I'm happy to do as it's all very much a part of my life... but I was shocked that he laughed and make a joke about some things about it.  I should have probably said something at the time, but I didn't, though I did write an essay in the feedback form to show my disappointment!

    We were discussing phobias, and I mentioned my husband's phobia of washing up... when at his worst, he'd not been able to wash up for 5 years himself before I met him.  I could relate to this as when I had my 3 months anxiety, I also could not face the washing up and so my parents came over to help with that.  But the trainer thought it was funny and said that my husband was just trying to get out of it... I can understand why he thought it was an opportunity for a joke, but it is also remains a serious phobia for my husband.

    This year, as I've been out of my comfort zone applying for promotions and finally getting one, I've finally found my voice and have found a level of confidence... my voice no longer wobbles when talking in team meetings... in fact I'm now leading the team meetings, and it feels like such a relief that I've finally found a bit of confidence.. it has only take me 51 years!  lol!

    As for coping strategies, I know that meditation works for me, especially if I do it often, but I usually forget or can't find time to do it as I'm either working, eating or sleeping and want to do something "fun" and meditation just feels annoying sometimes as I would rather spend what little free time I have doing something more fun!  I've been writing to penpals for 40 years now, and so I share lots of things with them, they keep me going.

    Also playing a bit of heavy metal music (and a bit of air guitar!) changes my mood and helps reduce my anxiety.

    It's the late night 3am tummy wibbles I can't really control much other than deep breathing and trying to meditate, but that's hard to do when I'm so tired. This is my main issue right now... I want to stop the anxiety so I can go back to being strong and resilient and therefore manage to support my husband and friends.
    Hi @Ryanna :) 

    I did enjoy the course and the instructor that we had, was very open and provided a safe space for us to all speak about different experiences. I also found the booklet a lot more useful, I guess the instructor can only get through a certain amount of learning material over the two days, but the booklet is a great resource to keep and refer back to!

    I'm glad you provided constructive feedback about the course as understandably, that is not a response that you should have to encounter during a Mental Health course. Hopefully your feedback will be taken seriously and the instructor will reflect on their actions.

    That's fantastic news about being successful for promotions. Well done :)! I hope that's installed some confidence in you, moving forward. I understand that anxious feeling when walking into meetings/presenting. I'm also a current PhD student and I experience some anxiety when public speaking. It can be daunting and you feel as though everyone is judging you, but really, they're there to listen and respect you. When I feel anxious, I just remember to take lots of deep breaths and repeat positive affirmations. You should be really proud of yourself though for accomplishing so much this year :)

    I understand that about meditation...it can seem like a bit of a chore at times. Do you use a specific meditation app? I try and set a structure with meditation (i.e., 10 mins every morning/night). Don't get me wrong, there are some days that the routine goes out the window, but I do try and stick to it as much as possible! That's lovely to hear about your pen pals, are they all based in the UK?

    Just know that you are already strong and resilient and providing fantastic support to your loved ones. We all have periods in life, where our mental health fluctuates, it's just about giving ourselves grace and being kind to ourselves during the heightened periods of stress/anxiety etc.

    Libby

    Online Community Information Coordinator
    Scope

    Concerned about another member's safety or wellbeing? Flag your concerns with us.

    Did we do a good job at answering your queries or concerns? If so, complete our feedback form now. 

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