A good article, well written by a woman who gives the reader an inside looking out view. If you have never suffered depression or any other mental illness, it is terrifying and many sufferers try and do carry on masking the hollow, empty inside shrieking silently for help as they go through their day.Can you imagine anyone expecting a person with serious physical injuries to carry on, to not mention their broken limbs or bloodied wounds ? They would probably not expect to be asked to carry on until healed.Excellent article.
Yes I often wonder how bad you actually have to be to get help. My baby died and I was severely depressed and barely functioning but I was told I âdidnt meet the criteria â to get help by maternal mental health. Unbelievable!
I so relate. I recently asked my GP if i could see a hospital psychologist. I saw the gatekeeper person who decided whether i was unwell enough to see one. She decided i wasnt depressed despite telling her i had thoughts of suicide. She asked if i had a plan- i said i didnt have one as such. So I was declined treatment. I felt let down and ashamed. And still just carrying on like the author did. Its a very hard thing to tell someone close that you are feeling that down- you dont want to burden them.
so sorry...and makes me furious..its just wrong.
Thanks for sharing your story, no words of wisdom, finding a way out in todays world gets tougher by the hour.
That section below the article, headed âWhere to get helpâ, is just a sick joke. Well-meaning volunteers, who basically tell you they wish they could help, or maybe a referral to a long long waiting list, even when you go private ..... there is damn all real help available, so stop pretending there is. Weve all got to take care of ourselves, take care of each other, and demand a better deal from the health system.
A close friend couldnt get to see a psychologist after his fortunately unsuccessful, serious suicide attempt.I think you actually have to manage to kill yourself before you will be seen.
This mirrors my own experience very closely, and was the basis of my submission to the Mental Health Inquiry. I have resources, and information, and for the most part, motivation - I have deployed all of those towards trying to get help. I havent succeeded. My father was the same - it ended in suicide for him. I am trying my best to stay afloat as long as I can, but I expect at a certain point I too will get tired of fighting alone. It is not enough to tell people to ask for help - you have to actually give it to them when they seek it.
Thanks for writing this, I too am white, privileged, great career, and for me very grateful to receive incredible support 16 years ago. Your words are what my life was and at times is, I am blessed to be able to verbalise the struggle when it happens for me. Kia kaha ehoa.
Find someone to talk too that will listen without judgement or even offering advice, just listen, not repeatedly telling you that ... everything will be alright,.... but just listen and validate your feelings by listening. There will be someone. You are not alone.
Thank you for posting...... pseudonym or not that takes courage...... reading your post was like finding a someone in a thick fog who âgets itâ Thanks again.
This was so heartbreaking to read that your friends just didnt acknowledge your depression or worse just dismissed it. I have a best friend who has told me she has had depression and all I could think of is how can I be of any help. I asked her what she needed from me as I wanted to help. I have also recently met a wonderful man who told me he suffers from occasional depression as a result of PTSD. My first reaction was to ask him, what do you need when you feel depressed. I also asked if there is anything I can do to help. I am by no means a professional and both of these people get professional help but I think understanding, compassion and most of all love is what they need from those around them. Thank you for sharing your experience and hope you will get the right help and support from those around you.
Wow.... never thought I would read something 1 and real, like this. Born with a depressive disorder that was not diagnosed until I was 37, after spending years asking, looking for, begging for help, 7 suicide attempts, multiple misdiagnosis... and passed from person to person like a parcel in a kids game. Then when I got the right diagnosis, all the doors shut in my faceEven with grief counseling after my mother died, I was told sorry the counseling is only for people that are depressed over the loss of a loved one, not people with depression that have lost a loved one.........I spent years trying to get help... and while its easy to suggest that you just get trying and trying and trying, I know the toll it took on me mentally and emotionally...... and how hard it was to get anybody to listen, friends, family, mental health etc....My advice is be careful and take each day at a time, not everybody that thinks they have an idea that will help you, has any idea what they are doing...... like when I wanted to quit smoking and I said clearly, I have depression, mental illness and history of suicide.... I was given champix... read the warning on it on who it should not be given to... people like me
Thanks for sharing your storey, youre a brave person & stronger than you think. Best wishes for your future happiness, one day at a time
Wow this article is bang on the money!!
Afger eorking for 20 years in MH my suggestion is even if you are going privately ensure you manage your own expectations, nothing is going to be fixed in a single session, there is no magic wand - so you are probably going to need to schedule time for a series of visits. If you are feeling so debilitated you want to die/not exist it is really important you respect your problem at least as seriously as if you have a broken leg, ie dont go to work - prioritise your health, dont expect mental health services to fit around your work life, they just dont - Drs need time off too. Talk to your GP about medication options, if you donf qualify for talk therapy go online and help through CCI in Perth, they produce a great web resource page with CBT workbooks for self directed CBT- good place to start if you cant see a psychologist quickly- covers all sorts of issues and its free! Good luck, keep safe, it will get better.
Dear Writer of this pieceI am so sorry you were treated so appallingly by the psychiatrist your GP recommended. I am also so sorry she recommended only a psychiatrist. Only this psychiatrist even. There are many other skilled and wonderful counsellors of all sorts out there more available less expensive and fabulously helpful. Please do seek out one of those. As hard as it might be to look up who is available near where you live and work. As hard as it seems to dial another number for an appointment. And the first one you talk with might not be the one. You might have to try another and then another until you get the right fit for you: a professional experienced counsellor who will commit to listening with focus and empathy to you and walk with you to healing. I wish you the strength to go on in your search. Kindest wishes to you.
Your story is my story. What changed for me in my 40s was coming across â˜The Body Keeps the Score (book) and finding a psychotherapist who has advanced training in EMDR. Three years later, my life is now my own.
I dont agree with your one solution to fit all depression sufferers. In fact I found taking medication to produce side effects that were problematic. Coming off them is another challenge as the reliance (or addicition) factor takes hold. Talking to the right people helped immensely. A psychiatrist didnt work for me as it meant re living trauma, exasperating the situation. A positive, future focused life coach was my key in moving toward. It reinforced the good eating and exercise I was doing and eventually all came right. Talking with others and there challenges helped normalize the condition, providing moral support and the knowledge your not alone. Anything remotely related to our mental health professionals was time consuming to access, never specifically targeted my needs and showed up some woeful practitioners. Thanks to the author for sharing her story and eaders providing there insights as the more we learn from each other the better we all can be. Hope those facing challenge can find a suitable formula for there remedy.
Depression IS a mental illness Please dont try to minimize it
A good article, well written by a woman who gives the reader an inside looking out view. If you have never suffered depression or any other mental illness, it is terrifying and many sufferers try and do carry on masking the hollow, empty inside shrieking silently for help as they go through their day.Can you imagine anyone expecting a person with serious physical injuries to carry on, to not mention their broken limbs or bloodied wounds ? They would probably not expect to be asked to carry on until healed.Excellent article.
Yes I often wonder how bad you actually have to be to get help. My baby died and I was severely depressed and barely functioning but I was told I âdidnt meet the criteria â to get help by maternal mental health. Unbelievable!
I so relate. I recently asked my GP if i could see a hospital psychologist. I saw the gatekeeper person who decided whether i was unwell enough to see one. She decided i wasnt depressed despite telling her i had thoughts of suicide. She asked if i had a plan- i said i didnt have one as such. So I was declined treatment. I felt let down and ashamed. And still just carrying on like the author did. Its a very hard thing to tell someone close that you are feeling that down- you dont want to burden them.
so sorry...and makes me furious..its just wrong.
Thanks for sharing your story, no words of wisdom, finding a way out in todays world gets tougher by the hour.
That section below the article, headed âWhere to get helpâ, is just a sick joke. Well-meaning volunteers, who basically tell you they wish they could help, or maybe a referral to a long long waiting list, even when you go private ..... there is damn all real help available, so stop pretending there is. Weve all got to take care of ourselves, take care of each other, and demand a better deal from the health system.
A close friend couldnt get to see a psychologist after his fortunately unsuccessful, serious suicide attempt.I think you actually have to manage to kill yourself before you will be seen.
This mirrors my own experience very closely, and was the basis of my submission to the Mental Health Inquiry. I have resources, and information, and for the most part, motivation - I have deployed all of those towards trying to get help. I havent succeeded. My father was the same - it ended in suicide for him. I am trying my best to stay afloat as long as I can, but I expect at a certain point I too will get tired of fighting alone. It is not enough to tell people to ask for help - you have to actually give it to them when they seek it.
Thanks for writing this, I too am white, privileged, great career, and for me very grateful to receive incredible support 16 years ago. Your words are what my life was and at times is, I am blessed to be able to verbalise the struggle when it happens for me. Kia kaha ehoa.
Find someone to talk too that will listen without judgement or even offering advice, just listen, not repeatedly telling you that ... everything will be alright,.... but just listen and validate your feelings by listening. There will be someone. You are not alone.
Thank you for posting...... pseudonym or not that takes courage...... reading your post was like finding a someone in a thick fog who âgets itâ Thanks again.
This was so heartbreaking to read that your friends just didnt acknowledge your depression or worse just dismissed it. I have a best friend who has told me she has had depression and all I could think of is how can I be of any help. I asked her what she needed from me as I wanted to help. I have also recently met a wonderful man who told me he suffers from occasional depression as a result of PTSD. My first reaction was to ask him, what do you need when you feel depressed. I also asked if there is anything I can do to help. I am by no means a professional and both of these people get professional help but I think understanding, compassion and most of all love is what they need from those around them. Thank you for sharing your experience and hope you will get the right help and support from those around you.
Wow.... never thought I would read something 1 and real, like this. Born with a depressive disorder that was not diagnosed until I was 37, after spending years asking, looking for, begging for help, 7 suicide attempts, multiple misdiagnosis... and passed from person to person like a parcel in a kids game. Then when I got the right diagnosis, all the doors shut in my faceEven with grief counseling after my mother died, I was told sorry the counseling is only for people that are depressed over the loss of a loved one, not people with depression that have lost a loved one.........I spent years trying to get help... and while its easy to suggest that you just get trying and trying and trying, I know the toll it took on me mentally and emotionally...... and how hard it was to get anybody to listen, friends, family, mental health etc....My advice is be careful and take each day at a time, not everybody that thinks they have an idea that will help you, has any idea what they are doing...... like when I wanted to quit smoking and I said clearly, I have depression, mental illness and history of suicide.... I was given champix... read the warning on it on who it should not be given to... people like me
Thanks for sharing your storey, youre a brave person & stronger than you think. Best wishes for your future happiness, one day at a time
Wow this article is bang on the money!!
Afger eorking for 20 years in MH my suggestion is even if you are going privately ensure you manage your own expectations, nothing is going to be fixed in a single session, there is no magic wand - so you are probably going to need to schedule time for a series of visits. If you are feeling so debilitated you want to die/not exist it is really important you respect your problem at least as seriously as if you have a broken leg, ie dont go to work - prioritise your health, dont expect mental health services to fit around your work life, they just dont - Drs need time off too. Talk to your GP about medication options, if you donf qualify for talk therapy go online and help through CCI in Perth, they produce a great web resource page with CBT workbooks for self directed CBT- good place to start if you cant see a psychologist quickly- covers all sorts of issues and its free! Good luck, keep safe, it will get better.
Dear Writer of this pieceI am so sorry you were treated so appallingly by the psychiatrist your GP recommended. I am also so sorry she recommended only a psychiatrist. Only this psychiatrist even. There are many other skilled and wonderful counsellors of all sorts out there more available less expensive and fabulously helpful. Please do seek out one of those. As hard as it might be to look up who is available near where you live and work. As hard as it seems to dial another number for an appointment. And the first one you talk with might not be the one. You might have to try another and then another until you get the right fit for you: a professional experienced counsellor who will commit to listening with focus and empathy to you and walk with you to healing. I wish you the strength to go on in your search. Kindest wishes to you.
Your story is my story. What changed for me in my 40s was coming across â˜The Body Keeps the Score (book) and finding a psychotherapist who has advanced training in EMDR. Three years later, my life is now my own.
I dont agree with your one solution to fit all depression sufferers. In fact I found taking medication to produce side effects that were problematic. Coming off them is another challenge as the reliance (or addicition) factor takes hold. Talking to the right people helped immensely. A psychiatrist didnt work for me as it meant re living trauma, exasperating the situation. A positive, future focused life coach was my key in moving toward. It reinforced the good eating and exercise I was doing and eventually all came right. Talking with others and there challenges helped normalize the condition, providing moral support and the knowledge your not alone. Anything remotely related to our mental health professionals was time consuming to access, never specifically targeted my needs and showed up some woeful practitioners. Thanks to the author for sharing her story and eaders providing there insights as the more we learn from each other the better we all can be. Hope those facing challenge can find a suitable formula for there remedy.
Depression IS a mental illness Please dont try to minimize it