Hey Friends, My name is Gav and I'm currently recovering
from depression and manage living with a Health Anxiety. I say currently
because I know I will beat this as I have before. The latest depression was
caused (I'm pretty sure) on New Year’s Day when I found a deceased person
behind my work (sorry if this causes anyone anxiety) and I pretty much shook it
off as I wanted to make sure my staff were OK and they had access to work counseling
if needed. What I didn't do was get support for myself. Through the months my mood got worse, found
no pleasures in anything and the another common symptoms of depression.
Just jumping back a bit, my Anxiety goes back about 13 years
and I have been hospitalised a few times, gone through a gazillion Dr’s, psych’s
and other health professionals. This
didn’t need to happen like this but I was not accepting what I was being told
and was uninformed about what was really happening. Not accepting the support didn’t do well for
me and found myself doing self-harm, wanting to sit in a corner afraid of some physical
health issue that wasn’t there but going to kill me anyway, and wanting to just
die to end the mental suffering. A very
strange paradox indeed ;)
Now is a lot different.
I seek and accept support from health professional, family and friends, I’ve
done a lot of self study on mental health (the science behind it) which I share
and discuss with my psychologist and others. Being proactive, taking those hard
steps and being honest is allowing my inner light to slowly get brighter (I can
live with slow because that’s how it is).
Sure there will be times I may take a step back but accepting this as
not a personal failure makes the forward steps so much easier to do.
I don’t really have any point about sharing my shortened
story (*shakes fist at 500 word limit*) except a few vital tips I’ve learned:
1. Never be afraid to seek support. You are not, or ever
will be a burden to anyone and no-one will judge you for doing so.
2. Know there are people out there going through similar things so you are not
alone on this planet us much as it feels like you are.
I hope I can contribute on the forums based on personal experiences
of my own and people I have met. I enjoy putting smiles on faces and just
listening if that’s all that’s needed.
Take care,
Gav
p.s. only 429 words ... I win!