Off Topic Mental Health Discussion Thread

Good article.
Another possible cause of sleep deprivation may be sleep apnea. For anyone over 45 I'd recommend discussing this with your family GP to determine whether you may be suffering from this ailment. Modern day stress and the natural weakening of muscles with age can bring it on, and long term effects should be and can be avoided if diagnosed early. Of course many factors can contribute to having difficulty getting quality sleep, so be aware of other factors & remedies also.
The reason I mention it is recently (for the last 2-3 years - I'm 72 years young), I've been feeling exhausted constantly, primarily I thought through lack of sleep (and a reduction in physical activity (football, golf, even regular walking).
A couple of sessions at an overnight sleep therapy clinic determined I had sleep apnea. It showed that every 40 seconds when I was asleep my breathing temporarily stopped.
So many of these seemingly innocuous "ailments" can impact your health - and mental health issues are not excluded from these triggers. There is a great tendency for many of us to worry given the pressures of life, so being aware of these types of issues can reduce our internalization and hence reduce their impact on our general physical and mental health.

This thread is an excellent idea. Another form of support.

 

That's interesting.

 

I was diagnosed last year, although they forgot to tell me. I found out in July after my Cardioligist casually mentioned it. I’d had a 48 hr study done last August as part of my ongoing cardio problems & presumes I was ok as I’d not heard anything back from them. I was averaging an interruption in breathing 52 times a minute so not sleeping properly at all. They think it’s been ongoing for about 5 years & gave answers to many questions whilst creating many more.

Get yourselves checked for everything, regularly.

 

You bring up 2 critical points here Ben - both which can be easily overlooked, but really need to be broadcast far more.

1) The medical professionals are themselves under severe pressure these days - underfunded, overworked and often stressed out themselves. It is so important for patients to press for answers from them. Most of us are in awe of medical professionals, but they are only human and when under pressure can overlook passing crucial information on to their patients. It's really up to the individual to not be afraid to ask and push the medics for answers to prevent things from falling through the cracks. Males in particular are loath to do just that.
2) Do not ignore regular check-ups, do not procrastinate. A few hours per year of attention to this important task can save so much heartache later in life. As Ben suggests - JUST DO IT.

 

I think you have hit the nail on the head Askew, with your relaxation observation. I do get engrossed in projects and such like but i dont actually ever relax. I struggle to do it, i know when i try my mind is off like a jet engine, but i have always been the same. I remember when the wife and i would go on holiday to a hotel somewhere sunny with a pool. I would be on the sun bed for about 10 minutes before i was bored and needed to be doing something.

If i do have a day or so with nothing to do, if i dont occupy myself i know i can go downhill into a bout of anxiety, where i get into a bit of a vicious circle where i can spend the day worrying about aches and pains that appear, which then just make the anxiety worse as i worry about all the aches and pains, which then produce more aches and pains. The daft thing is, on good days i can see the spiral for what it is, yet in the middle of a bad day i allows the anxiety to take over.

If i keep myself busy i dont go into the anxiety spiral, although i realise i must be constantly higher up the anxiety spectrum than most (normal??) people. I guess relaxing is all about finding something you really enjoy that is not too physically taxing.

I thought i might have stumbled upon a perfect relaxation opportunity when my 24 yr old son asked if i could fill in with his indoor football team last Sunday night......... I have spent every day since, being Cardboard man.... I was only supposed to be a sub or even go in goal..... I spent most of the game running up and down the pitch, although i did actually get to kick the ball when everyone else had walked off the pitch... In hindsight i think this was payback for taking my son to watch City for many years.....

 

This thread is a superb demonstration of how awesome this forum is.

Puts a lot of the **** we’ve seen on here into perspective too.

It’s good to talk.

 

Might be worth adding to the sticky at the top the national free phone number for Samaritans = 116 123 , excellent listening organisation for those who just need to talk to someone any time of day or night.

 

I’ll add it in when I get home. Good shout.

 

Get yourself checked regularly Mr Ben ?

Sod that I do everything the opposite way .. Bloody docs make stuff up everytime I see them.

I do EVERYTHING the ostrich way ... Somehow it seems to work in my case.

Last time I saw heart bloke he said I have a leaky valve and one that sticks . So I just ignored him

Bloody female friend keeps grassing me up to specialist and doc.

Me ?

I am always fine as always

 

Very rare poster so forgive me.

For those of you living in hull or in the east riding with a hull gp there is a nhs service called lets talk.
Telephone number is 01482 247111.The service covers depression, anxiety, stress and bereavement and so on. Great thread btw

 

The East Riding GP version = Emotional Well-being Service, 01482-335451 or text TALK to 60163, there's a website thing as well ...

 

i have a huge problem and it severely effects my life
it's the reason i've been seen to post ridiculous things on here

generally i got on ok until a couple years ago, when on the way to a date, i had a huge panic attack, i hate public attention, like i couldn't bare it but i was in tesco st stephens with my good friend, and suddenly, bang, i suddenly felt pure pure panic, i felt a tight feeling in my chest, and i remember the the incident sat down with paramedics around me while members of the public walked past me
i genuinely thought i was about to die.
so i got in an ambulance, sent to hospital, they said it's a panic attack, i was with my friend at the time, and then i got home and i felt genuinely scared to leave the house incase i had another panic attack, my friend stayed over night with me, what a good guy he was, i've lost contact with him, i feel like he's moved on, i feel like that with a lot of people, i can't contact anyone because they have moved on and i'm just a hinderance

i did and got on with my life, a few weeks later, an even worse event happened
i felt surging through my body pulsing, i was sat on the kitchenfloor, screaming for my life, i thought i was about to pass out at any minute, i genuinely thought i was about to die again, so i got to hospital in a bed, and it kept pulsing, i was laying there then suddenly a rush of shaking and i couldn't even see properly, i was the most fearful scared i have ever been, this time my mother was there and i held her hand saying ' i don't want to die' and it kept happening, they came and tested my vitals and they were fine, and that's one of the biggest problem, i kept feeling guilty, i used an ambulance and then i thought, people will think i am disgusting for wasting an ambulance, people that actually needed it, missed out and that made me feel really guilty and it made everything worse, anyone i know will think how pathetic i am, getting an ambulance, sat in a hospital, and that made me feel really empty, i felt like i was really pathetic and weak, and i basically pushed myself away from everyone
i had some amazing friends, some amazing experiences, i felt like i had so much

and just before these two incidents, i'd been to liverpool with my best mate on his brothers stagdo, had an absolutely amazing time, 3 months prior, i'd walked from glasgow to fort william in 5 days, fittest i'd ever been in my life
happiest i'd been, i had a really attractive girlfriend, i was so happy, i felt so proud of doing that walk etc

then i just slowly started to feel scared, i was scared to even walk, incase i had a heart attack. and this is the problem, saying this makes me feel so pathetic.. like im a weak pathetic specimen, but i genuinely felt it, like it's real fear, i couldn't even bare walking nevermind running because i was genuinely terrified of having a heart attack
and it was such a devastating fear, that i slowly started to stop doing regular things
i said i didn't go to the kc cos of the allams, in reality
i went to the lokeron game, i remember getting to parkers before the game and suddenly, every noise felt sharp, like really loud, it felt surreal, i felt like i was somwhere else
i had a season pass for the premier league season. didn't go to a single game



i couldn't bare going to a city game, from feeling about exercise and dying, i was panicking about how every single person would view me, and going to a place where thousands of people are i couldn't bare it, so many people looking at me and judging me, i felt like everyone would judge me, thinking im disgusting
that im worthless

and then it lead to, i couldn't even watch the news, anything related to health, would cause me panic attacks, i was absolutely panicked i had serious health problems, and again i thought im so pathetic, people actually suffer from these, and that made me feel even worse, where i felt so ashamed, i just lost in touch with friends, with everything, i had everything i could ever want bar being very wealthy, but in a year it had all gone, the only relief i had was
getting drunk
i felt confident, i felt like a normal person, and i drank so much i started to post things that people hated me

the truth is, i wish i could go to that scarbrough game
i wish i could have an extended friendship in hull
and if people hear about my problem, i feel that they think im some pyscho that can''t do anything

 

Brady mate, are the docs doing anything for you? You’re not a psycho - some brain chemicals are a bit out of whack, that’s all. If it was your heart or guts or a back that was injured then no one would judge you for it, so why think that if it’s your brain that is the bit of you that’s off-kilter?

Drinking's a short term fix that’s going to make things worse in the long run as that can seriously mess up your brain too, as well as all the other things it does. You don’t want to add alcohol problems on top of everything else.

 

acting like
i dont need mental drugs
i will never take mental drugs
i do not believe ever that drugs are good for the brain

maybe i am wrong but i will never take
brain drugs


you are mocking me
but i was hanging with a bundesliga player last week

 

Have you tried any professional help to help you manage this Brady?

As i said previously I went on a course but didn’t get much from it, but that isn’t to say you wouldn’t get anything from a 1 on 1 with someone who may be able to help you.

You sound like you have endured some very major attacks, but remember, you actually came through the other end. You are still here so that means you didnt have anything physically wrong. Your mind isn’t allowing you to forget what happened which is why you need to seek a bit of help to show you some techniques to change your mind set.

You put in a lot of effort to get fit, so why not put the same effort into managing this condition. As Kemps said previously just because you have suffered attacks doesnt make you weak, its the opposite. You showed some amazing inner strength to get through them. There is some amazing inner strength there, its just channeled in the wrong direction. Hopefully that professional help can help you turn that inner strength around.

 

Sounds a horrible thing to have gone through, Brady, I guess your brain's coping mechanism is telling you to avoid getting into similar situations? You don't mention getting emotional professional help. Certainly don't try to fight in on your own.
I wonder if your friends actually 'move on' or is that your perception?

 

you do realise you already are? You’re self medicating with the booze to cope. It’s affects the brain massively, causes depression, anxiety and basically rots it from the inside out if you disappear down the rabbit hole of alcohol dependency.

A drug is just a chemical that has an effect on the body. And they don’t stop at the neck and say “oh I won’t go up to the brain, I’m not a “mental” drug. I’d encourage you to consider why you don’t want that kind of medical help. Would you refuse a pot on the leg if it was broken? Or insulin if you were diabetic? It’s just another tool to help your body heal - and your brain is part of the body. Or do you worry that if you take a drug for a mental health condition this somehow confirms that you’re “mental”?

Please still go and see the doc, and see what help they can offer - it doesn’t have to be drugs if you’re dead set against it. You’re valued by your family and friends, I hope you value yourself too - enough to get yourself right. We’ll cheer you on from here too.

 

This is a brilliant post Brownbag. Good work mate

bRadY mate, please take all of this on board and get the help you need. I'll do the same and I hope that goes for everyone else on here.

Sometimes, as much as you want to, you just can't do it on your own.

And always remember, whoever you go see, they won't judge you. They see people with the same problems everyday.

Just look at how many people have owned up to having mental problems on here.

I bet you thought a lot them were cool dudes and didn't have a care in the world.

It has to start with you.

 

Sad to read your post Mr Brady..
Your Not pathetic or weak not at all.
People don't get problems on bloody purpose it's not your fault how you feel.

I am hopeless about medical stuff, I don't even know what my body temp should be or blood pressure

You need to tell all this to your GP who needs to refer you to someone .

Don't. Sit back and let life pass you bye...you need some help

You better ask for some right !

Such a shame you can't get to Scarborough it must drive you nuts .

But your NOT nuts ...no way

There was a time when I could not get out of the house but my Mac nurse was brilliant and got me going to city games again.

You CAN get better and you WILL get better but you need to be helped .

I know this post won't help
I wish I knew more about medical stuff

You need to see someone who does Mr Brady

All the best

PS...you have a lot of living to do and lots of great times I am sure of that ...

Take that first step to seeking help ok.

 

This ...