Depression Society MKVI

is it really that difficult to understand mental health problems ?? my parents think it's from watching to many horror films , without even considering they could be part of the problem

I can sympathise. The majority of my family members have had depression or some other mental health diagnosis at some point/throughout their life. Hell, I lost my mother to depression 15 years ago.

Yet it's still hushed up. If you admit it, then you're weak. That's the attitude in my family. Just to make it clear, I think that's complete bull****. Frankly, I think admitting that there's a problem there is a MASSIVE step - and will more often than not lead to a quicker recovery - especially if you get help quickly.

But my family don't seem to understand that when you're six years old, your mother dies because of her terrible depression, your father subsequently becomes an alcoholic and an empty shell of whom he was and your entire family decides to lie to you for the better part of 15 years about how she dies, it can have a very profound effect on one's mental health/sanity.

They also seem to ignore the fact that I have a very serious chronic pain problem (which they put down to my being weak rather than the fact that my right knee is largely composed of titanium and really needs to be replaced) that also heavily contributes. I've never once said "You try being in pain all the ****ing time and see how happy you are" because it wont do any good and they'll just say its an excuse.

Sorry, this was supposed to be an 'I understand how you feel response', not my life story.

But I suppose it really does illustrate the point that I really can empathise with you, I know how you feel and I'm very sorry you've had to deal with ignorance from your family as well - it makes you feel even worse a lot of the time.

I don't believe I've ever spoken to you on here before, so I'd also say that it's very nice to meet you (although I wish for both our sakes that it was under better circumstances). That being said, DepSoc is the closest thing I have to a real, understanding and caring family. I dropped off the face of the internet and isolated myself from social contact for the better part of three months, and everyone here was more worried about me than my family was

If you ever want to talk to someone that understands (although just about everyone here also understands this very well too), then feel free to pm me. I'm almost always about when I'm not at college or doing my volunteer work. Don't hesitate if you want to chat

Chris x

So yes, good day thus far despite a horrible night's sleep, which makes it all that much better, because I feel that if I can function and do well in a practical exam on 3 hours of sleep then I can do just about anything right now.

If I said that, you'd all be worrying about how manic I was. So not fair.


Congrats though, and make sure you get some proper rest at some point.

I had two massive lattes (I don't know how to put the accent on the e on tsr and I can't be bothered to copy and paste ) when I got into college at 8am, my dear.

It's kept me going, now I'm relaxing with tea. Besides, I'm not bipolar

Hehe.

Thank you love, I'm very happy with how today went. I have my over the phone appointment in a few minutes - will drop you a pm after that. You doing ok?

I'll get an early night tonight I think - got to be up at 6:30am, so I'll go to bed at 9-10 if I can manage it, I'm sure the coffee will have worn off by then and I'll feel exhausted!

Woohoo, you felt it across the interwebs! :3 Glad to see it cheered you up, from how much i've seen you on here and what i've read from you, i've gathered you have it real tough.

I would of given hugs at the last meet up, but i've had a lot on my mind and a lot of work recently (final year project), so didn't go :| I fully plan on going to the next ones though, whenever and wherever they are, since i won't be tied down by uni by then.

Hope you are feeling better today

x

hi, nice to meet you too, I don't post on here often but its easier telling people who are in a similar situation to me I suppose, don't worry it made more sense including your life story, if your or my family had been more open about it , it would have made things so much easier, there is no mental health problems in my family which probably makes it difficult for them to understand what it is like but they could try at least rather than ignore it. hope your feeling better now and hope your trying to sort out your knee, just saw the post about your chemistry practical well done good luck with your exam.
I comparision this is a very short reply to your long one but Im not very good at talking to people even if there on the internet , thanks and Im always here too if you want too talk.

It's still not fair

Why've you gotta be up so insanely early?

As for how I am.. more or less ok I suppose.

This is probably a daft question, but have you tried explaining it to them? It didn't work with my family, but the few of my closer friends that I have left certainly understoon a lot better when I took the time to explain it to them. I don't like talking to them about it, mind, but it helps - for instance they understand if I'm really not up to going out with them.

I don't know if it would help with your parents. If you haven't tried it, it might be worth sitting down and trying to have a conversation with them?

No need to worry about the length of your reply - yours was far more concise than mine, I have a tendency to waffle - besides that, it's quite understandable if you find it difficult talking to people.

My knee is about as better as it's going to get, but I'm trying to learn to cope with it better (without much success thus far, however)

I'm glad to have got the exam over more than anything, but the fact that it went well is certainly a very positive bonus! Thank you.

Chris

I might try to explain it to my mum because i think she's really worried at the moment but my dad couldn't care he told me that he never want's me seeing his family again because social services got involved (my parents still live together though)
glad today is going well for you
thanks

That sounds awful.

What strikes me most is that it seems like you could really do with a break from everything, like maybe a short holiday. I don't know what your financial situation's like, but even if you don't have much money you still might be able to do something cheap like borrowing a tent and going camping for a while. I find that having a change of scenery can really help me to stop stressing so much, and go back to normal life afterwards with a better sense of what's actually important and worth worrying about. Or if you can't get away at all, at least try and devote some of your time just to doing things that you enjoy (I recommend baking) or that you and your boyfriend can do together.

And remember that you're not worthless - you've spent years looking after your mum and your brother (hope he's coping alright with everything going on), despite all the difficulties that must have brought, you're clearly loved by your boyfriend, and have good intentions with regards to your college work (by the way, maybe you could talk to college to see if they run any stress-reduction workshops or mentoring schemes that might help you study more efficiently?). You should like you totally deserve to do well in your exams and go on to lead an awesome life.