Recognising Mental Health Problems

[petergray]

Hello,

I am writing this to try to raise a bit of awareness for a mental health, specifically but not limited to, anxiety.

When I say naivety, a lot of people will read this and just think, oh that people who get nervous or worried about things. Some of you will actually read this and think, oh yeah, I understand what he means. While anxiety can just mean worried, sadly it often means a lot more. So many people today disregard the damage that anxiety can do to people. Simply mistaking it for worry and thinking people are making a big fuss. This is not the case and it can lead to terrible consequences for people suffering from it, as they feel like nobody understands them and they think they are just making a fuss.

It is a horrible mental health condition that affects children and adults and can make them feel secluded, misunderstood and horrible. I am an adult who has been suffering with this for over 10 years, I have never made an effort to try and face it because it has made me feel weak and feel like I am weaker than everyone else, having to see someone to make me feel better about things. It came to a point where I couldn't sit in an exam because I had a panick attack and started shaking in the middle of the exam. People laughed at me behind me. I am learning to drive and I often have to pull over because of a panick attack.

Tbis is is not the most extreme case that happens with people with anxiety, but it was my extreme. That was a few weeks ago, I am not writing this to say I am better because I'm not. This is to show that the effects can be terrible and we need people to be more aware of the issue that this actual mental condition can cause so much pain. Please help me to make this condition more well known about. It will help a lot of people.

thanks,
Pete




Thread moved by Cerys (Forum Moderator) from Discuss Anything

[Evanora]

yes there is big difference between being scared to talk in front of ppl like zoella and having speech problems due to real anxiety

[Bionic...]

Ah Pete! It's a shame that you have to live with that condition and i really hope for your sake that it will get better.
I used to get very nervous myself for exams, i think that it was because of all of the time i'd spent learning key phrases and all of the content. But i didn't have panic attacks in the exams rather i just sat there and didn't do anything - thought about other things and essentially wasted my time. I wish that'd I have been able to tell people about it and try and get it sorted because it didn't do me any favours and looking back now it was a real shame.
I hope for your sake that your condition improves :) !

[-:Undertaker:-]

Not to put a downer on this or anything as of course many people have serious problems but I do not understand the recent, within the past couple of years, constant attempt to make me "aware" of mental health problems as though I didn't already know. In addition, what does being "aware" actually achieve at the end of the day? I am aware of a lot of things but it seems to me that we're now being led to treat everybody like glass as though they're going to break any second. We cannot expect everybody we meet to never be angry, say the wrong thing at the wrong time or to not joke around: it'll always happen and part of growing up is realising that/coping with it.

A lot of people will always have various problems and especially when it comes to school/younger people you'll never be able to stop banter or even real bullying.

[lawrawrrr]

Not to put a downer on this or anything as of course many people have serious problems but I do not understand the recent, within the past couple of years, constant attempt to make me "aware" of mental health problems as though I didn't already know. In addition, what does being "aware" actually achieve at the end of the day? I am aware of a lot of things but it seems to me that we're now being led to treat everybody like glass as though they're going to break any second. We cannot expect everybody we meet to never be angry, say the wrong thing at the wrong time or to not joke around: it'll always happen and part of growing up is realising that/coping with it.

A lot of people will always have various problems and especially when it comes to school/younger people you'll never be able to stop banter or even real bullying.
The awareness has worked if you are aware then! A lot of people still aren't. I opened up to my parents a bit about it and they said they didn't really know much about it at all. I do feel like some people want to be wrapped in cotton wool (with the excessive trigger warnings on Tumblr etc) and I also equally feel like some people wrap people in cotton wool when they don't need or want to be - I've had people do this to me and it's so frustrating!!

[OldLoveSong]

I've had diagnosed social/generalized anxiety in the past during highschool nd went to therepy and took pills for it, thank goodness i no longer have it, you really have to face the things head on about what ur anxious about which a majority of the time they're just little things that we really amp up in our minds to make them seem like such a huge thing than they really are, in some situations. Once you face those things head on and have support from others, you realise that oh, this isnt as bad as i thought it might be and feel a sense of power and being in control of the situation for ovecroming those obstacles. best of luck to you mate x

- - - Updated - - -

Also in regards to being aware of mental illness i feel that now a days alot of the younger generation are totally aware of things like this thanks to social media and mental health programs. but its the older generation like parents and so on that arent aware- simply because back in the old days these mental illnesses were all hush hush and not heard of or just not treated at all.

[_HeyyItsHannah_]

I've been diagnosed with anxiety, panic disorder, severe depression, some doctors even think SAD. It would get to the point where I would have 1-3 panic attacks a day. I got on some pills, which were then later on taken away from me for issues that could not be helped, and I still have panic attacks from `2-3 a day. On bad days it can get up to 6. After my mum and dad passed things started to get worse. There really is a difference between being a worry-wart and having anxiety.

I'm so glad you're trying to get this more out in the public.

[FlyingJesus]

There really is a difference between being a worry-wart and having anxiety.

I feel this is a hugely important point to make, and probably where a lot of the "awareness" for most people ends. Anxiety and depression as moods are very very different things to anxiety and depression as long-term diseases, but because we still use the same word for each people who've suffered the symptom but not the illness often dismiss these as things that are easy to get over or that will simply pass with time - because their experience with the terms are temporary. We probably at some point need to redefine these terms medically, as it's really not any fun to try explaining to someone why you feel you can't leave the house for days on end and then hear a dismissive "oh yeah I get anxious too sometimes but you just have to push through". ‎

[Artpops]

Yeah sometimes I worry so much I get anxiety. It's so horrible I get a panic attack and it's so horrible.. yeah.

[RuthOnToast]

This is a funny topic with being diagnosed with autism i just take the social anxiety as sort of part of autism. I pretty much spend most my time stressed about simple stuff but nevet severe. Don't think ive ever had a panic attack but mental health is a serious matter not just from a personal point of view but seeing how it can affect people close its nasty.

[buttons]

This is a funny topic with being diagnosed with autism i just take the social anxiety as sort of part of autism. I pretty much spend most my time stressed about simple stuff but nevet severe. Don't think ive ever had a panic attack but mental health is a serious matter not just from a personal point of view but seeing how it can affect people close its nasty.
excuse my ignorance but the link between autism and social anxiety never made sense to me. just from working and knowing people with autism, autistic people often aren't interested in socialising and i couldn't imagine the autistic people i know caring about what others think of them? but feel free to explain how they're linked to you :)

funnily enough, my mum thought i was autistic when i was young because i never seemed interested in playing with children but i was actually just shy and felt more comfortable being with adults.

[RuthOnToast]

excuse my ignorance but the link between autism and social anxiety never made sense to me. just from working and knowing people with autism, autistic people often aren't interested in socialising and i couldn't imagine the autistic people i know caring about what others think of them? but feel free to explain how they're linked to you :

Now that is ignorance. Autism is a very wide spectrum with some people who have severe autism and no they don't socialise then there are the not so severe who can and do like socialising they might not understand the rules but they do like to have a social life. But remember there is far more to autism than that.

Autism affects everyone in different ways. I was digonoised when i was 13 but it was really obvious so it wasnt a supprise. I wasnt shy and don't like being called shy. I do notice i make little eye contact which is probably the most noticeable. I had obsessions but not just something i liked alot it would be the only topic id talk about as a kid it was dogs and space. Now its planes and rollercoasters. There is also the need for routine and someone who has severe autism will most likely have to stick to a rountine. This guy would eat the same food in the same order at the same time. He was on a mental health ward in hospital and he would only use the same toilet he would refuse to use any other. Im not that bother about rountine ok i am i could never miss a lesson at school because it was the rountine i used to get excluded alot and i didn't like that as it changed the rountine. I swim 4 times a week but as we train on Mondays we often have to miss them for bank hoildays. When ever this happened id be stressed having the rountine Change would really make me stressed. Then there is the sensitivity. Some can't cope with lound sounds or bright lights. Im fine with them but certain smells i cant cope with like the smell of books. We had this english room that smelt like books and i hated it couldn't cope with it (but I still went cos it's rountine). People urga people i hate crowds.

I've looked into social anxiety and it explains alot of my problems pretty well. And im pretty much autisc but doenst mean i dont want to and i do i dont sit in all day and have my swim team pals but i still get stressed having to deal with people. I don't want to talk to people incase i say something stupid. Remember autism affects people in different ways and these many different parts to autism. Some of us are willing to socialise and we do care what people think.


Thats alot about me but yh sorry

[Empired]

Oh god I hate writing this on my phone but I'll give it a shot.

Firstly, anxiety (or social anxiety in my case) fucking sucks. I suffered from it for years and it got to the point where my GP wondered if I had agoraphobia because my fear of the outside world (because of the inevitable social interaction, even down to just having someone look at me) was so bad. This sounds ridiculously melodramatic but it quite literally ruined my life. I had no friends because I wouldn't meet them outside of school, I couldn't walk into a shop, get into a bus, respond to a stranger, or go ANYWHERE.

But this is the bit that's important: anxiety and social anxiety, unlike some other mental health issues, can be resolved. I think someone above (cba to check on my phone) said that it's a terrible thing you have to live with. It is not something you /have/ to live with; it's not a life sentence once you've got the diagnosis. But YOU have to work to fix it, which is bloody annoying when the anxiety disorder is the reason many people feel like they can't take steps to get help.

I fixed myself with the help of a therapist and CBT. It took years of going through therapists who were no help (for example I found sitting round and ranting about my problems for an hour no help at all) but eventually I found one who I didn't actually like as a person but whose methods worked really really well for me.

I walked into the first session sure this wouldn't work, and my social anxiety meant I couldn't talk to the receptionist to let her know I was there (awks). And I walked into the tenth meeting ten weeks later chatting to the receptionist I'd gotten to know over the past three weeks or so (took me that long to be able to talk to her) and basically walked out a free woman.

Looking back it seemed like the easiest thing in the world, as Tim (my therapist) was just offering me alternative perspectives on how people see things (I'd be happy to share these if anyone wants to know) and 'simple' (with hindsight) homeworks like asking a shop assistant where I can find eggs and picking up the housephone when it rings.

So sorry for the essay because I guess I'm just making the "get help and it gets better" statement. But I can assure you it really DOES get so much better and that I wish wish wish I'd sorted myself out sooner - it's a constant source of regret that I wasted so many years of my life too afraid to enjoy myself.

Thanks ladies n gents sorry for such a long post xox and it nearly killed me on this goddamn phone

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