Didacticism, on here? surely not 🙂

Time to hand my credit cards to somebody else and hide everything I can take to pieces.:)

I’ll look after those for you if you want 🙂

Nah, it’s ok, from what I’ve read you’re almost as bad as me:)

I didn’t get on with stabilisers, was first on valproate, and then Lithium. I’ve been off them since last September. I take seroquel if an episode brews, and try to maintain harmony with loraz/zopiclone as needed.
Altho by far the most effective for management is a wife who takes no crap, who also works for the local mental health trust, and knows my CPN very well indeed. 🙁

Well, on the one hand my OCD stops me buying anything (cos i just destroy it anyway) so it sounds like it would save you a fortune.

On the other hand i would probably get a nasty thought about your credit cards and rip them up as well so on balance probably a wise choice 🙂

Phil I see what you’re saying but I think it is healthy for us to shy away from mental illness. It is something to be avoided if possible, and we should all strive to cope with life as best we can.

When I was referred to my local Mental Health team I was horrified to be classed as having need of such help, and like I said earlier I see other people using ill-health as an excuse. Much like far too many people claim to be physically disabled these days because it makes life easier. 30 years ago it made life more difficult. When I was at school there were a handful of people in ‘remedial class’ (none of whom was ill; my best mate was one and they just didn’t fit in the system) but now schools have to allocate extra resources for ‘special needs’ children.

Now I’m sorry but the children I have met who have ADHD etc I have thought there was nothing wrong with them other than parents who don’t live up to the mark. Not being unduly critical, but an ex very good friend of mine had 3 kids, and just passed the eldest off as ADHD because he played up. Maybe when kids are unhappy they should diagnose the parents.

So I agree that we should be more understanding of mental ill-health, but at the same time let’s not celebrate it. Otherwise it’s like being gay – normalise it and everyone starts jumping on the bandwagon because it is trendy. Do we need any more Kerry Katonas or do the rest of us have real, unpublicised problems to deal with?

The sodium valproate works pretty well for me fortunately,the seroquel, if I don’t take it i can pretty much guarantee an episode so I’m on that permanently now. Zopiclone….. I just couldn’t get along with, after about two weeks it stops working,then if I leave it a few weeks, it’ll work again. In the gaps between zopi, I have diazepam. It drives me round the bend somedays just trying to remember what to take and when. I’m sure I’ve probably spent days at some point taking smarties and dried chick peas.

I’ve reached one of those moments when I really wish I could reach out and help someone, but in reality I can’t actually help myself.

“I think it is healthy for us to shy away from mental illness. It is something to be avoided if possible, and we should all strive to cope with life as best we can.”

I mean this in the nicest possible way but you’re a ‘kin idiot. It’s exactly that kind of attitude that ends up stigmatising people for being ill, and ends in people being to ill to mend or killing themselves because they’ve been intimidated into not talking about it about it or getting help early enough.

When I had to have a brain scan after having blackouts, my mother was really pleased that it might be a brain tumour rather than a mental illness. You say you were horrified to be classed as having need of such help? well, simply pretending you’re not ill and babbling about just coping with life as best we can won’t make it go away. Believe me I’ve tried.

That’s my final word and I’m off to bed.

I would suggest that now, more than ever before, the majority of folk are treading a very fine line. We must all, as decent human beings, be vigilant concerning our friends and family.

ghengis….i have to be completely honest… there’s a lot in your post that i disagree with, comments like ” Otherwise it’s like being gay – normalise it and everyone starts jumping on the bandwagon because it is trendy” confuse me, are you saying its not ok to be gay?

at the risk of sounding all american, thanks for sharing guys, reading how bad it can be for others has helped me put my own problems into perspective, although that may just be cos im in a good bit at the moment. i seem to be on a 9 month cycle and the bad times are linked with the shortening daylight. keep fighting, the next world could be worse!

What I really struggle with is having a full and flowing head of hair on Thursday but a number 1 shaved head on Friday with no recollection of how the hell that happened.
Another good one was engaging the services of an estate agent, conveyancing solicitor, surveyor and a mortgage company to buy myself a house without mentioning it to my wife or daughter (who weren’t invited to move to the new house) and believing it would be OK because they won’t notice
It’s a right laugh.

“I would suggest that now, more than ever before, the majority of folk are treading a very fine line. We must all, as decent human beings, be vigilant concerning our friends and family.”

Sorry, I know it’s probably my inability to comprehend but could you be kind enough to be a little less cryptic? Awfully sorry.

“Another good one was engaging the services of an estate agent, conveyancing solicitor, surveyor and a mortgage company to buy myself a house without mentioning it to my wife or daughter (who weren’t invited to move to the new house) and believing it would be OK because they won’t notice.
It’s a right laugh.”

That’s spectacular,even by my standards……… well done Sir:)

The best I ever managed was buying a Corvette being convinced that parking it around the corner, and that my wife knowing my passion for muscle cars would never notice.

monksie – sorry and I’ll translate! Obviously huge pressures on people right now due to economy, job insecurity, money issues etc etc., some may struggle to cope. Important to recognise when people are in a downward spiral and to support them.

Actually, it’s been quite an eye-opening thread to read how tough it is for some.

this thread is of interest to me.

finally plucked up the courage 2wks ago to discuss my insomnia, general gloom / doom, want to go biking but my mind wont let me…get seriously peed off / physically upset about not doing anything, getting fat (people mentioning this)…leading to feelings of seriously low self esteem etc etc spiralling downward cycle etc with the doc.

just had an “assessment” and apparently im depressed, something i knew but didnt really want to admit. How embarassing (sp) is it to break down in front of the doc! long chat with various options – sleeping tablets (wont help my waking up through the night), counselling and anti depressants. lots of good practical advice given which i have been trying to do already.

we decided to give the anti depressants a go to see whether this would boost my motivation to go out the house and get biking to get some natural endorphin/serotonin going.

tbh it felt great just to get it off my chest. ive also decided to go to compressed hours at work (rather than loosing 15hrs+ flexi per month in a stressful environment) and make some time for myself. Hopefully i will be using this to go biking.

sounds small fry compared the some of you guys 😳

haribo… dont ever feel embarrassed about breaking down in front of the docs! well done for taking some steps forward… exercise is great for depression and its a great time of year to get back on the bike 🙂 good luck dude!