struggling
Moderator: talkhealth
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Dr Shirley Lockeridge
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:34 am
Re: struggling
Hi ButterflyGirl
First, I’m glad to hear that you’re recovering from what sounds like a very serious and frightening medical emergency. I’m thinking that the medics will have told you that you really do need to take it easy and give your body and mind time to heal. I don’t know the details and extent of your treatment in ICU but from your description of life support and dialysis it sounds like it was life threatening, so it’s a tribute to your inner strength, courage and endurance that you are here, so please feel free to ‘rant’ as much as you like!
I have to say though, it doesn’t sound like a rant to me, it reads more like someone trying to make sense of what has happened to them, its impact on the present and how to manage in the future.
It sounds like you’ve been struggling to manage your depression and self-harm for some time prior to your recent illness with support from your mental health team and that your medication helped you with this, but because the medication was stopped while you were in hospital it may take a few weeks to reach a therapeutic level now it’s been re-started. It sounds like you are feeling pretty trapped by negative depressive thoughts at the moment. It’s disappointing that you can’t speak to your mental health team sooner; do you have a Crisis Care Plan with details of who to contact in an emergency? Is that what you tried, when you got through to the receptionist?
I really suggest that you do talk to someone about your suicidal thoughts if they are distressing you, even if you don’t feel suicidal at the moment. It doesn’t have to be your mental health team. If you have a sympathetic GP, they should be your first port of call but if not, have you tried talking to the Samaritans? They are sympathetic listeners and are not judgmental and sometimes it can be really beneficial to share what’s on your mind with someone who’s impartial but on your side. It could also be a trusted friend or member of the family who might be a good listener and someone you could be open and honest with.
The other options I’d recommend are self-help resources from MIND who also have a helpline and information on understanding self harm http://www.mind.org.uk/mental_health_a-z/8006_self-harm
and depression
http://www.mind.org.uk/mental_health_a- ... depression
Other useful info and support for self harm can be found here
http://www.lifesigns.org.uk/
http://www.nshn.co.uk/
I just wondered if you had ever thought about or tried any other approaches to managing your mood? You don’t mention other approaches in your post but there are alternatives that might be useful while you’re waiting for the medication to kick in… so that you’re not trapped with all these thoughts going around your head in a negative cycle.
One approach some people find helpful is Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, it’s a mixture of meditation and cognitive behaviour therapy and there's a lot of research that shows it’s very effective for recurrent or persistent depression. You can explore this option at http://www.bemindfulonline.com/ a lot of it is video, so you get a flavor of how it’s done. If you think it might suit you ask your GP or mental health team if you could access this therapy in your area.
One final thought from me is…Be kind to yourself! It sounds like your expectations of yourself and your recovery are very high and you're being quite hard on yourself.
You are in the early stages of recovering from a serious illness so please pace yourself. You could set yourself some small achievable goals for example, going for a walk… rather than going to the gym, start small…and reward yourself for your achievements, no matter how small they feel at the time. It also might be beneficial to join an online support group so that you have a space to have the occasional ‘rant’ if you need to, might also allow you to share experiences and ideas with others, if you feel you could do this many people find it beneficial.
On a practical note it might be a good idea to monitor your mood, feelings, thoughts and behaviour to see if you can notice what takes your mood up and what brings it down and if you can identify any patterns and triggers that you can discuss with the mental health team when you next see them.
Hope you find some of thee ideas helpful,
First, I’m glad to hear that you’re recovering from what sounds like a very serious and frightening medical emergency. I’m thinking that the medics will have told you that you really do need to take it easy and give your body and mind time to heal. I don’t know the details and extent of your treatment in ICU but from your description of life support and dialysis it sounds like it was life threatening, so it’s a tribute to your inner strength, courage and endurance that you are here, so please feel free to ‘rant’ as much as you like!
I have to say though, it doesn’t sound like a rant to me, it reads more like someone trying to make sense of what has happened to them, its impact on the present and how to manage in the future.
It sounds like you’ve been struggling to manage your depression and self-harm for some time prior to your recent illness with support from your mental health team and that your medication helped you with this, but because the medication was stopped while you were in hospital it may take a few weeks to reach a therapeutic level now it’s been re-started. It sounds like you are feeling pretty trapped by negative depressive thoughts at the moment. It’s disappointing that you can’t speak to your mental health team sooner; do you have a Crisis Care Plan with details of who to contact in an emergency? Is that what you tried, when you got through to the receptionist?
I really suggest that you do talk to someone about your suicidal thoughts if they are distressing you, even if you don’t feel suicidal at the moment. It doesn’t have to be your mental health team. If you have a sympathetic GP, they should be your first port of call but if not, have you tried talking to the Samaritans? They are sympathetic listeners and are not judgmental and sometimes it can be really beneficial to share what’s on your mind with someone who’s impartial but on your side. It could also be a trusted friend or member of the family who might be a good listener and someone you could be open and honest with.
The other options I’d recommend are self-help resources from MIND who also have a helpline and information on understanding self harm http://www.mind.org.uk/mental_health_a-z/8006_self-harm
and depression
http://www.mind.org.uk/mental_health_a- ... depression
Other useful info and support for self harm can be found here
http://www.lifesigns.org.uk/
http://www.nshn.co.uk/
I just wondered if you had ever thought about or tried any other approaches to managing your mood? You don’t mention other approaches in your post but there are alternatives that might be useful while you’re waiting for the medication to kick in… so that you’re not trapped with all these thoughts going around your head in a negative cycle.
One approach some people find helpful is Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, it’s a mixture of meditation and cognitive behaviour therapy and there's a lot of research that shows it’s very effective for recurrent or persistent depression. You can explore this option at http://www.bemindfulonline.com/ a lot of it is video, so you get a flavor of how it’s done. If you think it might suit you ask your GP or mental health team if you could access this therapy in your area.
One final thought from me is…Be kind to yourself! It sounds like your expectations of yourself and your recovery are very high and you're being quite hard on yourself.
You are in the early stages of recovering from a serious illness so please pace yourself. You could set yourself some small achievable goals for example, going for a walk… rather than going to the gym, start small…and reward yourself for your achievements, no matter how small they feel at the time. It also might be beneficial to join an online support group so that you have a space to have the occasional ‘rant’ if you need to, might also allow you to share experiences and ideas with others, if you feel you could do this many people find it beneficial.
On a practical note it might be a good idea to monitor your mood, feelings, thoughts and behaviour to see if you can notice what takes your mood up and what brings it down and if you can identify any patterns and triggers that you can discuss with the mental health team when you next see them.
Hope you find some of thee ideas helpful,
Dr Shirley Lockeridge
Chartered Clinical Psychologist
http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... eridge.php
Chartered Clinical Psychologist
http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... eridge.php
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