Mental Health

[nuttinnew]

Hopefully it'll translate into more/better resilience over the next couple of months.

[Gavster]

Damn my mental health is poop today Was glad to get through November as I always get a seasonal low mood, especially around my birthday. Now it feels like I'd simply been holding everything in and today it's all decided to come out

Anyway, the fact it's coming out is a good thing, kinda like an emotional purge.

Are you having emotional diarrhea?

I used to just not process stuff at all and stick it in a box and ignore it. I work hard to not do that any more but I can understand how rough an unboxing can be.

If that means having little control over when stuff comes out then yes

Gonna go to the pool and have a big swim. Swimming is great because the no.1 concern on my mind is making sure I breathe air, not water, so it's a great distraction.

[mik]

Damn my mental health is poop today Was glad to get through November as I always get a seasonal low mood, especially around my birthday.

Hope you feel better soon dude.

And HBYOC.

[Jimmy Choo]

Gonna go to the pool and have a big swim. Swimming is great because the no.1 concern on my mind is making sure I breathe air, not water, so it's a great distraction.

On of my friends has an extremely stressful job and when he started getting depressive episodes started open water swimming. He credits it with getting him back onto an even keel and keeping him there.

[Gavster]

Thanks guys. Had enough of this stuff to know that "the only way out is through"

@Jimmy Choo Wild swimmers, especially in winter, are a different breed. I once hung out with the swimmers at Hampstead Pond, guys who swim every day of the year and without fail every single one had experienced some major traumatic life event, like being hit by a bus and being in a coma for weeks, going blind etc. Really seems to help them.

[dinny_g]

Long before Cold Water swimming became ‘cool and ‘a thing’ , my Aunt would swim every day of the year, without fail, in the Atlantic off the west coast of Ireland.

Walk a mile and a half to the beach, swim, walk home.

She only stopped in her mid sixties when the walk bit of it became an issue

[Swervin_Mervin]

Long before Cold Water swimming became ‘cool and ‘a thing’ , my Aunt would swim every day of the year, without fail, in the Atlantic off the west coast of Ireland.

Walk a mile and a half to the beach, swim, walk home.

She only stopped in her mid sixties when the walk bit of it became an issue

It amazed me this year seeing Swedes of all ages wandering down to the sea in their dressing gowns getting in having a swim and then wandering back home.

[IanF]

When I lived in Mallorca, I used to do a 500m swim to a small island near me.. I’d do it every day I was home all year and it was a fantastic, energising experience, even when I was stung by jelly fish (thankfully a rare experience). I did look at open water swimming recently at Eton lake but it’s a lot less appealing for some reason!

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[Gavster]

When I lived in Mallorca, I used to do a 500m swim to a small island near me.. I’d do it every day I was home all year and it was a fantastic, energising experience, even when I was stung by jelly fish (thankfully a rare experience). I did look at open water swimming recently at Eton lake but it’s a lot less appealing for some reason!

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That looks amazing! I want to live somewhere warm, I always here when then we get into the winter. Not because of the cold per se, I'm fine with that and have a German perspective: there's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. However, living somewhere with a more moderate climate and more evenly distributed sunlight throughout the year would be a game changer.

[Gavster]

Fuck me I've not taken any real time off work or a holiday this year that will be contributing to the fuck it, I'm done for the year kinda feeling.

[Jimmy Choo]

Thanks guys. Had enough of this stuff to know that "the only way out is through"

@Jimmy Choo Wild swimmers, especially in winter, are a different breed. I once hung out with the swimmers at Hampstead Pond, guys who swim every day of the year and without fail every single one had experienced some major traumatic life event, like being hit by a bus and being in a coma for weeks, going blind etc. Really seems to help them.

My ex who introduced me to it sent me pictures of her sat on a sheet of ice, smashing a hole with a rock to get in. She was diagnosed with autism as an adult and this gives her a bit of control in a world that doesn't fit with her brain.

[dinny_g]

I've broken Ice to get onto a river to Kayak before - Not quite the same mind with a fully fleece onesie and a Dry Suit.

[duncs500]

That does look ace @IanF, I can imagine it's great to be able to swim in the sea regularly, it's really appealing to me. Unfortunately not practical at the moment for me, but I often day dream about moving to the coast.

@Gavster re the climate, I think the problem for me in wintery weather is that yeah, I can do everything I need to do, but it makes the things I like to do less enjoyable.

[V8Granite]

I’m the opposite, a really cold day, must, light rain etc and once out I love it. The dogs don’t care but can go for longer when it’s really cold out.

Plus it can put another enjoyable factor into the house, come in, dry dogs off and set them down to relax, have a hot shower, some comfy clothes and the house takes on a nice cosy vibe even though it’s not changed temp since you woke up.

Dave!

[ZedLeg]

Another cold weather lover, I'd rather be cold than hot. Crisp, bright and cold day with some snow is ideal.

I feel the cold more now than I used to. Don't know if it's diet or age related

[nuttinnew]

Word of the day; https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/condit ... illomania/
Falling down stairs has at least refocused me a bit.

[Gavster]

This is a weird start to the year. Usually I feel a buzz around start of Jan, a renewed enthusiasm after the holidays, however this time it feels fundamentally uninspiring. Almost everyone I speak to seems to be anxious, apathetic, or simply depressed right now.

Gonna press on with work as best I can, the only way out is through etc...

[StangMan_]

I am already a member/infrequent poster on here, but set up a new account to post this (please don't expose me if you work out who I am!) as I’m very embarrassed to admit that I have been suffering with generalised anxiety (with a particular focus on health and social anxiety) and OCD for a long time now.

In fact, I’ve had this since I was about 18 and I’m 35 now. While the severity of my symptoms fluctuate, it’s hard to know where your mental state truly is when you’ve lived it for so long because you start to normalise feelings of anxiety, catastrophic thoughts, etc.

I have a bunch of CBT coming up. However, as it’s NHS provided, the number of sessions is very limited. 8 sessions @ 45 minutes. This essentially means that just as you begin to uncover the deep-rooted problems that cause these issues, and start to make a bit of progress, they discharge you and move you on. Incidentally, there’s a good chance you’ll end up being referred back to the service as a result.

Good thing is, a lot of the therapists run private clinics, so if I get on with the one treating me, I’ll ask if we can continue outside the basic level provided by the NHS.

I'll admit that the GAD has been pretty bad as of late. My current thing is lead poisoning - I've convinced myself that I have it because I swept down my small outbuilding which does (now I have discovered) contain lead in the paint that I brushed. Utter meltdown.

It's the inability to deal with these issues with rationality that is the problem. Instead of being calm and measured about it, it's all panic stations.

Which is the same as the last time, when I was sure I had myriad other things wrong with me.

There's no real point to this post other than to get it off my chest a bit. I think I'm a classic anxiety sufferer who portrays an image of stability and level-headedness, when I'm actually jumping from crisis to fucking crisis!

[ZedLeg]

Nothing to be embarrassed about mate, I was also around 35 when I got my generalised anxiety diagnosis.

Getting diagnosed and medicated was genuinely life changing for me. CBT didn’t help me much but it’s been good for other people.

Good luck with the journey.

[nuttinnew]

Ey oop. As Zed's said, no need to feel embarrassed (especially here), and - and I may well have this wrong - there's no need to feel you're admitting to anything, because there's nothing shameful about it, despite what some members of society would try to have you believe.

I hope the sessions/therapist click with you