The Mental Health Thread

[Orikoru]

This is exactly the sort of mental block I get at work at times and without fail, once the initial panic settles, the projects slot into place nicely when I’ve had a chance to sit down and work through them.

Yeah, I'm currently just in a process of writing everything down, and I mean everything. Even if it's the same stuff I wrote down yesterday, I'll write it again until my brain starts working.

 

[SocketRocket]

I've been getting this weird kind of paralysing anxiety with work this week. I was taken off my project (not because I did anything wrong, it's just staff allocation and they often move people around), and effectively put on three new projects at once. Two of them will be handed over when other people become available but I'm doing start-up stuff for them. I'm just struggling to get it straight in my head what I'm doing for all of them, remembering which project is which or what I'm meant to be doing for each. I know that I know how to do this stuff but I just end up blanking, just sitting here with my head in my hands ignoring emails and phone messages. It's too easy to hide when working from home. Coupled with the strong lack of motivation I've seemingly always had, I just can't make myself do what I need to do. It's a weird feeling, like a wall in my head blocking off parts of my brain.

You can't work on three projects simultaneously, it's only possible to be doing one thing at any time (unless you are a woman ?). I can understand that you may get interruptions while you are concentrating on something but try not to let your mind jump around from one matter to another.

 

[GreiginFife]

I've been getting this weird kind of paralysing anxiety with work this week. I was taken off my project (not because I did anything wrong, it's just staff allocation and they often move people around), and effectively put on three new projects at once. Two of them will be handed over when other people become available but I'm doing start-up stuff for them. I'm just struggling to get it straight in my head what I'm doing for all of them, remembering which project is which or what I'm meant to be doing for each. I know that I know how to do this stuff but I just end up blanking, just sitting here with my head in my hands ignoring emails and phone messages. It's too easy to hide when working from home. Coupled with the strong lack of motivation I've seemingly always had, I just can't make myself do what I need to do. It's a weird feeling, like a wall in my head blocking off parts of my brain.

I regularly have to work multiple projects (4 at the moment, albeit one is pretty much in delivery).
I keep on top of them by setting up basic Trello kanban boards and keeping task tickets up to date (can add commentary and attachments to a ticket etc) and just manage the 4 projects like one big piece of work.

Its worked for me for years (although only started using Trello on 2018 after being introduced by a previous client).

 

[Piece]

I've been getting this weird kind of paralysing anxiety with work this week. I was taken off my project (not because I did anything wrong, it's just staff allocation and they often move people around), and effectively put on three new projects at once. Two of them will be handed over when other people become available but I'm doing start-up stuff for them. I'm just struggling to get it straight in my head what I'm doing for all of them, remembering which project is which or what I'm meant to be doing for each. I know that I know how to do this stuff but I just end up blanking, just sitting here with my head in my hands ignoring emails and phone messages. It's too easy to hide when working from home. Coupled with the strong lack of motivation I've seemingly always had, I just can't make myself do what I need to do. It's a weird feeling, like a wall in my head blocking off parts of my brain.

This is your brain telling you to find structure and order to bring clarity of thought. If you don’t have a clear picture of what you need to do, your brain blanks out and the anxiety sweats start as you don’t know what to tackle and when. It becomes overwhelming and out of control. The key is to get back control and plan ahead - don’t fire fight. As a manager of many bids at once sometimes (7 at one stage!), I find that writing short sharp lists one project at time works for me. I then put a * next to the important items so they don’t get lost. This way you see the size of the problem on a per project basis, rather than a tangled spaghetti mess of three projects.

Good luck!

 

[NedPizza]

Mentally feeling crap today and that was reflected in my golf lesson. Didn't manage to hit one ball out of a bucket of 50.

I apologized to the PRO and said hopefully tomorrow will be better.

 

[Kellfire]

Follow up to my last long post and hopefully someone gets something from this if they’ve found themselves feeling in a bad place recently.

I recently joined Noom to help me break some of the habits around eating rubbish and to give me added incentive to increase my activity. Would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to lose some weight - there is a trial period which you don’t have to pay for but I did pay £14 for it as an added incentive to me.

The premise is simple - you get a base amount of calories to eat per day based on your weight loss goal. If you do more steps or exercise you can “earn” more calories. It really makes you think about what you’re eating when you have to log everything. It makes you read the packets and make better choices.

I have set quite an ambitious goal of 2.5 stone off by Christmas, but I also give myself Saturday and Sunday off logging my meals as a “treat”. Even doing that I am 12 pounds lighter after three weeks and that has included a four day weekend with some friends at a beer festival and eating takeaway all weekend.

I’m back playing football every Wednesday, playing badminton every Monday and I do a 40 minute weights session on a Tuesday and a Thursday.

The good habits spill into the weekends too. I’ll walk around town rather than getting a taxi where I can. I’ll have a fruit filled breakfast with some oats and fat free yogurt at home instead of a fry up in town before beers with the lads.

Looking after yourself when you’re feeling down is an incredibly hard thing to do but one will lead from the other so take that step and ask a mate if they fancy going on a long walk, to the gym or even just an hour kicking a football with some mates in the local park. Get your heart pumping and let those endorphins soar.

Look after yourselves, everyone.

 

[Fade and Die]

Follow up to my last long post and hopefully someone gets something from this if they’ve found themselves feeling in a bad place recently.

I recently joined Noom to help me break some of the habits around eating rubbish and to give me added incentive to increase my activity. Would high recommend it to anyone who wants to lose some weight - there is a trial period which you don’t have to pay for but I did pay £14 for it as an added incentive to me.

The premise is simple - you get a base amount of calories to eat per day based on your weight loss goal. If you do more steps or exercise you can “earn” more calories. It really makes you think about what you’re eating when you have to log everything. It makes you read the packets and make better choices.

I have set quite an ambitious goal of 2.5 stone off my Christmas, but I also give myself Saturday and Sunday off logging my meals as a “treat”. Even doing that I am 12 pounds lighter after three weeks and that has included a four day weekend with some friends at a beer festival and eating takeaway all weekend.

I’m back playing football every Wednesday, playing badminton every Monday and I do a 40 minute weights session on a Tuesday and a Thursday.

The good habits spill into the weekends too. I’ll walk around town rather than getting a taxi where I can. I’ll have a fruit filled breakfast with some oats and fat free yogurt at home instead of a fry up in town before beers with the lads.

Looking after yourself when you’re feeling down is an incredibly hard thing to do but one will lead from the other so take that step and ask a mate if they fancy going on a long walk, to the gym or even just an hour kicking a football with some mates in the local park. Get your heart pumping and let those endorphins soar.

Look after yourselves, everyone.

Well done mate, great effort.?

 

[Robster59]

Follow up to my last long post and hopefully someone gets something from this if they’ve found themselves feeling in a bad place recently.

I recently joined Noom to help me break some of the habits around eating rubbish and to give me added incentive to increase my activity. Would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to lose some weight - there is a trial period which you don’t have to pay for but I did pay £14 for it as an added incentive to me.

The premise is simple - you get a base amount of calories to eat per day based on your weight loss goal. If you do more steps or exercise you can “earn” more calories. It really makes you think about what you’re eating when you have to log everything. It makes you read the packets and make better choices.

I have set quite an ambitious goal of 2.5 stone off by Christmas, but I also give myself Saturday and Sunday off logging my meals as a “treat”. Even doing that I am 12 pounds lighter after three weeks and that has included a four day weekend with some friends at a beer festival and eating takeaway all weekend.

I’m back playing football every Wednesday, playing badminton every Monday and I do a 40 minute weights session on a Tuesday and a Thursday.

The good habits spill into the weekends too. I’ll walk around town rather than getting a taxi where I can. I’ll have a fruit filled breakfast with some oats and fat free yogurt at home instead of a fry up in town before beers with the lads.

Looking after yourself when you’re feeling down is an incredibly hard thing to do but one will lead from the other so take that step and ask a mate if they fancy going on a long walk, to the gym or even just an hour kicking a football with some mates in the local park. Get your heart pumping and let those endorphins soar.

Look after yourselves, everyone.

Well done. Good to see that you're making some progress for yourself. Keep up the excellent work.

 

[Beezerk]

Follow up to my last long post and hopefully someone gets something from this if they’ve found themselves feeling in a bad place recently.

I recently joined Noom to help me break some of the habits around eating rubbish and to give me added incentive to increase my activity. Would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to lose some weight - there is a trial period which you don’t have to pay for but I did pay £14 for it as an added incentive to me.

The premise is simple - you get a base amount of calories to eat per day based on your weight loss goal. If you do more steps or exercise you can “earn” more calories. It really makes you think about what you’re eating when you have to log everything. It makes you read the packets and make better choices.

I have set quite an ambitious goal of 2.5 stone off by Christmas, but I also give myself Saturday and Sunday off logging my meals as a “treat”. Even doing that I am 12 pounds lighter after three weeks and that has included a four day weekend with some friends at a beer festival and eating takeaway all weekend.

I’m back playing football every Wednesday, playing badminton every Monday and I do a 40 minute weights session on a Tuesday and a Thursday.

The good habits spill into the weekends too. I’ll walk around town rather than getting a taxi where I can. I’ll have a fruit filled breakfast with some oats and fat free yogurt at home instead of a fry up in town before beers with the lads.

Looking after yourself when you’re feeling down is an incredibly hard thing to do but one will lead from the other so take that step and ask a mate if they fancy going on a long walk, to the gym or even just an hour kicking a football with some mates in the local park. Get your heart pumping and let those endorphins soar.

Look after yourselves, everyone.

Respect ?

 

[spongebob59]

?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1464905857020399621

 

[damacau]

There are three members of my family with a mental illness diagnosis. It's crap, and these mental health centers are a kind of escape from reality for the relatives

 

[Hobbit]

A nod to the recent discussion in Random Irritations about suicide. At 3:30am on a beautiful August morning in 2007 I stood half a yard away and split second from a cliff edge. I didn’t consider pills and vodka would be a less painful way out, or of the pain and inconvenience me taking the step would cause so many people. All I wanted was a release from the constant pain, physical and mental, I’d suffered for almost 2 years.

Managing the physical pain should be easy but you can only take strong pain killers for so long, and in itself is a battle to manage the side effects, and damage they themselves bring on. The mental aspect of the later diagnosed PTSD… where to start… stopping going out… getting as far as the car and going back in the house… arriving at friend’s or family’s home but only staying for xx minutes… going into a restaurant and not even finishing the starter, not to mention sitting with my back to a wall close to the exit. Imagine what this behaviour does to your family, your friends and your career.

I travelled a very dark road to that August morning. Standing there thinking one small step would end all the pain, and free Mrs Hobbit… I couldn’t put my family and friends through the sorrow and pain that final step would cause. I made a decision that as soon as we returned from Italy I would go and see the doctor.

I travelled that dark road for another 3 years, slowly winning the battle. Many downs but at least I learned coping strategies, thank god for CBT, and I learned to enjoy so many simple things again. Suicide hasn’t crossed my mind for many years, not even fleetingly, and I’ve filled my life with so many great things in the last 10+ years.

Is suicide selfish? No, it’s the last desperate grab at release from horrendous pain.

 

[IanM]

Many people can identify with the above... tablets, CBT and the love of a good woman saved me!

 

[fundy]

A nod to the recent discussion in Random Irritations about suicide. At 3:30am on a beautiful August morning in 2007 I stood half a yard away and split second from a cliff edge. I didn’t consider pills and vodka would be a less painful way out, or of the pain and inconvenience me taking the step would cause so many people. All I wanted was a release from the constant pain, physical and mental, I’d suffered for almost 2 years.

Managing the physical pain should be easy but you can only take strong pain killers for so long, and in itself is a battle to manage the side effects, and damage they themselves bring on. The mental aspect of the later diagnosed PTSD… where to start… stopping going out… getting as far as the car and going back in the house… arriving at friend’s or family’s home but only staying for xx minutes… going into a restaurant and not even finishing the starter, not to mention sitting with my back to a wall close to the exit. Imagine what this behaviour does to your family, your friends and your career.

I travelled a very dark road to that August morning. Standing there thinking one small step would end all the pain, and free Mrs Hobbit… I couldn’t put my family and friends through the sorrow and pain that final step would cause. I made a decision that as soon as we returned from Italy I would go and see the doctor.

I travelled that dark road for another 3 years, slowly winning the battle. Many downs but at least I learned coping strategies, thank god for CBT, and I learned to enjoy so many simple things again. Suicide hasn’t crossed my mind for many years, not even fleetingly, and I’ve filled my life with so many great things in the last 10+ years.

Is suicide selfish? No, it’s the last desperate grab at release from horrendous pain.

Wow, amazingly honest and open post Hobbit! glad it has worked out well for you! Can resonate with some of it for sure as I expect many more on here can

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Working in ICU we see a lot of suicide cases (with a spike after the first lockdown ended) and the damage it can do if the attempt was unsuccessful not only mentally and physically to the patient but to the families. Sometimes the patient will succumb to the effects of the attempt but it is often a protracted and painful process. It is sad that there are still so many holes in mental health care and people aren't getting access to the care they need. Some of the stuff on here has been gut wrenching and so I hope as a collective we can make time for one another and be there when needed

 

[SocketRocket]

To suddenly receive a message from one of your loved ones saying goodby and they are ending their life now is gut wrenching. I've been through it on around six occasions and every time it leaves a scar on your well-being. Fortunately it's never resulted in a death but it's been close.

 

[Robster59]

The impact on suicide on those left behind is substantial. My brother took his life 10 years ago, and the face of him waving goodbye from his window when I visited him shortly beforehand will forever remain fixed in my mind. I had no idea he was going to do it, and to this day I still wish I'd known the full background as then, maybe, I could have helped him.
I fully appreciate that anyone who takes their own life has a different logic, and believe the world would be better without them, or they just can't face it anymore, and it takes a lot for Hobbit to share it as he has.
Sometimes sharing these things with people you don't know, and can listen non judgementally, can help.

 

[ColchesterFC]

A nod to the recent discussion in Random Irritations about suicide. At 3:30am on a beautiful August morning in 2007 I stood half a yard away and split second from a cliff edge. I didn’t consider pills and vodka would be a less painful way out, or of the pain and inconvenience me taking the step would cause so many people. All I wanted was a release from the constant pain, physical and mental, I’d suffered for almost 2 years.

Managing the physical pain should be easy but you can only take strong pain killers for so long, and in itself is a battle to manage the side effects, and damage they themselves bring on. The mental aspect of the later diagnosed PTSD… where to start… stopping going out… getting as far as the car and going back in the house… arriving at friend’s or family’s home but only staying for xx minutes… going into a restaurant and not even finishing the starter, not to mention sitting with my back to a wall close to the exit. Imagine what this behaviour does to your family, your friends and your career.

I travelled a very dark road to that August morning. Standing there thinking one small step would end all the pain, and free Mrs Hobbit… I couldn’t put my family and friends through the sorrow and pain that final step would cause. I made a decision that as soon as we returned from Italy I would go and see the doctor.

I travelled that dark road for another 3 years, slowly winning the battle. Many downs but at least I learned coping strategies, thank god for CBT, and I learned to enjoy so many simple things again. Suicide hasn’t crossed my mind for many years, not even fleetingly, and I’ve filled my life with so many great things in the last 10+ years.

Is suicide selfish? No, it’s the last desperate grab at release from horrendous pain.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and allowing others to read about it, and to try to help them understand what leads people to that position.

In 2008 I was pulled, unconscious, from a car that had a pipe attached to the exhaust that led into the passenger compartment. I'd reached a point in my life where I could see no other way out. Debt, drugs and alcohol led me to drive my car to an underground car park and put the pipe on the exhaust. It was only because of the actions of a complete stranger, who called an ambulance and then smashed a window with his bare fists to drag me out of that car that I'm still here today. I can't imagine the pain I would've caused my mum if I'd been successful on that day, but thanks to that random stranger I'm still here and I can never thank that man enough for the fact that I'm still alive.

I'm so glad now that my attempt was unsuccessful, but at the time it was all about ending the pain I was feeling. Yes, suicide might be a selfish thing to do, but for some people it might be the only way that they can see to end their pain.

 

[Orikoru]

My birthday is next week. Every year now, around this time I start feeling down - my fear of death (diagnosed a long time ago as an 'anxiety disorder') means that getting a year older just brings it all up again in my mind. What hasn't helped recently was a football injury sustained a few months ago that's taken a long time to shake off, now making me feel old and past it in that sense as well - have certainly put on a bit of weight having not been able to play anywhere near as much sport as usual. I went to our training last night and just felt a hundred miles off the pace. Just feeling completely useless physically and mentally at the moment. We have a baby on the way next year, which I'm genuinely excited about, but also trying really hard not to see it as the 'your life's over' moment that some people take glee in trying to portray it.

Last year on my birthday I actually cried. Admittedly had had a few beers, but still, it shouldn't be that bad should it? Maybe won't get much sympathy here as many of you are 20 or 30 years older than me, but I just can't bear the feelings I get around getting older.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

My birthday is next week. Every year now, around this time I start feeling down - my fear of death (diagnosed a long time ago as an 'anxiety disorder') means that getting a year older just brings it all up again in my mind. What hasn't helped recently was a football injury sustained a few months ago that's taken a long time to shake off, now making me feel old and past it in that sense as well - have certainly put on a bit of weight having not been able to play anywhere near as much sport as usual. I went to our training last night and just felt a hundred miles off the pace. Just feeling completely useless physically and mentally at the moment. We have a baby on the way next year, which I'm genuinely excited about, but also trying really hard not to see it as the 'your life's over' moment that some people take glee in trying to portray it.

Last year on my birthday I actually cried. Admittedly had had a few beers, but still, it shouldn't be that bad should it? Maybe won't get much sympathy here as many of you are 20 or 30 years older than me, but I just can't bear the feelings I get around getting older.

Every sympathy mate, you can't help what you feel.

Your life will improve with kids, honestly. Everything changes but so much for the better.

Anyway, keep posting, keep doing stuff.