Lived Experience Forum

[BryanaCamp]

hi @Former-Member sorry to hear your son has been suffering and you have been too on his behalf. I can hear you're very focused on & ambitious for his well being  which is a wonderful thing. I had no family support for MI and underwent about 10 years of unsuccessful, & at times traumatic, treatments until I finally found my current psychiatrist who is so helpful and inspiring for me. I suppose there is a limit to what you can do for your son, like a lot of us here he may have to go through some trial and error before finding effective MI treatment. I'm sure it won't be anywhere near as long as me as you're such a source of support & wisdom. I'm sure things will improve for both you & your son in time.

Tha'ts awesome your meds are helping. Such a wonderful feeling. I'm really happy for you. Yes, even a small improvement is a significant achievement and likely an indicator of further improvement to come, at least that's my experience.

I'm having a nice weekend. I had my first week of a new job last week so was exhausted & had fun yesterday at a lovely meetup, I met some gorgeous, friendly & kind new people and let my hair down. I'd like to see them again so the awkward challenge of forcing myself to meet new people went well this time.

Hope you've had a nice weekend & enjoying your walks in the park & eating some good, healthy food. Are you organising a psychologist for yourself?

[Former-Member]

@BryanaCamp I'm so happy for you with the new job, that's fantastic. And that meetups are going well. You give me inspiration that it's possible to reclaim life with MI. Thanks to the new meds, I'm thinking differently and able to review my feelings without getting dragged down by them. I feel like I'm slowly regaining some control. Slowly, I just need to take it a day at a time a step at a time.

Yes, my son will have to go through his own process and have have to trust that he will work through it. As you said, he has my support and I can share with him what I have found to work. I can honestly say it's the way I think that causes the most distress. I think it's the same for him. We are also very hard on ourselves too. It'd be nice to lighten up a bit and just take life as it comes.

The park walks are a lifeline, I'm out now as I write this. It's so nice as quiet and fresh. It gives my mind a much needed break! 

Hope you have a lovely day 🙂

[Former-Member]

@eth how are you today? I just want to thank you for taking the time to chat to me about my stuff. That's really kind and so generous considering you also have your own struggles. I'm so humbled by the care shown to me here, it's a lovely community. 

I'm finally able to say that the past is in the past, yes those parts of my life will always be there, but they're not dominating my thoughts like they use to. It's such a relief. But now is the task of learning how to live, what life means for me. That's going to take a day at a time right now and I have to be OK with that. I'm embarking on new territory. 

[eth]

No worries @Former-Member  I'm happy to chat with you.  Haven't been around much since yesterday morning coz our power went out and didn't get fixed til this morning.  Hope today has been one of the better ones for you.  Great to hear that the past doesn't bug you as much as it used to.  I'm starting to have some better days in that respect too.  New territory sounds wonderful.  Sometimes for me it's half a day or even one hour at a time.

New job sounds excellent @BryanaCamp 

[BryanaCamp]

Thanks @Former-Member and @eth for your well wishing with my new job, it's kind of you.

@Former-Member I believe if I can get better anyone can. I was unemployed & totally socially isolated for 7 years due to my mental illness. I had no friends or family and went to MI support groups just to have human contact but felt alienated there and had a lot of trouble connecting to reality due to my psychotic symptoms. It was terrible but now that I'm on the right meds I finally am getting back into employment and have worked hard for about 2 years to build friendships and family bonds. So yes, I believe there is great hope for you to feel better and build any kind of social life you'd like to. For me it just took time and persistence. 

That is great your meds are helping and you've noticed your thoughts are more positive. It is also a big strength that spending time in the park is restorative for you. How are you & your son travelling today?

I was a bit exhausted yesterday at work but had a good night's sleep so hopefully will not be yawning on the job so much today! Hoper you have a peaceful Tuesday.

[Former-Member]

@eth good that you have your power back on! And it's a slow process healing from the past. For me it's taken 4 years of being in floods of tears every morning just bombarded with memories and sadness. Now there's an emptiness which I'm going to view as a blank canvas upon which I get to draw my life with who and what I want in it. I pray a lot lol, because I really don't know what I'm doing! 

[Former-Member]

@BryanaCampI can relate to you so much. I became and am still feeling detached from reality, like I'm just going through the motions but I'm not really anywhere. It means I feel lonely even in crowds or groups and feel alienated too. My son has the same issue. It's hard for me to connect with people and due to being stuck in my head for so long, I don't really have much to say. I just melt into the background and find it hard to talk. 

I'm so happy that you have found work and are building friendships. What an incredible achievement! It does give me hope that with time I can rebuild a life for myself. I don't know what that may look like right now but I have come a long way from where I was even 6 months ago, so I feel at least I'm moving forward. 

I do my park walk every morning to get some routine and I see many other people out doing the same thing at that early hour and I figure I'm not that much different to others after all. I see people going to work and think that could be me too and how good it would feel to have a purpose. The money would help too!

Thankyou for asking how my son is, he was back at uni yesterday, long day for him. He is struggling with the social aspect but he is doing well with his studies. We just have to figure out how he can overcome his social anxiety so he can connect with others. I'm going to google some strategies for him and encourage him to reach out to others even if it feels weird and difficult at first. 

I'm glad you had a good sleep, it certainly helps. Have a lovely day at work! 

[Former-Member]

@eth @BryanaCamp @Shaz51 @Ali11 good morning! Sending you all hugs xx

[eth]

Hi and good morning to you too @Former-Member 

Wondering if there are on-campus social groups that your son might be interested in?  There are usually a wide range available at uni's.

[Former-Member]

@eth he tried that at the beginning of last semester, a film club I think. He's just been rostered onto so many shifts at work that he's exhausted to attend their get togethers. As soon as he get his shifts sorted at work, I'll mention it to him again. He seemed to enjoy it, found some like minded people.