mental health will never be understood by the commoners...

i worked 40 years construction through breakdowns and depression never having more than a couple of days off to get straight. FAST sports cars DRINKING, WOMEN , FIGHTING. you name it i did it . I was ill but so what i was alive and i was going to live it, because i new what was comming and i new i would not be able to fight it on my own without help. I earned a fortune and spent it on me and my family , i made sure i bought us a house with every thing they wanted. I payed a fortune in NATIONAL INSURANCE PAYMENTS out my earning that go to the NHS. I retied 5 years early through to many break downs i had hospital stays for mental and physical illness all bought on with being damaged. Now i get me and the wifes pention, disabilaty , no council tax to pay , free meds and dental care plus free eye test. We have enough to live on but i payed 3 times has much in my life time in national insurance , STRANGE TO THINK THAT SOMONE WHO NEVER WORKED IN THERE LIFE GET JUST THE SAME HAS ME, the moral is never have money in the bank and you will recieve , have money and you get SFA

There is only you putting the pressure on,chill you been there done it now. I have loads of friends who new i was damaged from a early age , there still my friends . I have never had a problem getting and keeping a job, in fact i was sort after for my bricklaying skills.

Our system is far from perfect. Instead of being milked, it rejects people who really need help which sometimes is a death sentence.

And you indirectly say I don't make efforts to support myself.

You know.. sometimes it's not ONLY about that. Even if I cannot for my life have a real job even part time, I don't have a leach attitude. I pay back the ways I could, even if it's not in money. I try to make a difference best I can. For example I dog sit 6 time a week so my friend can work. I offer a support site online since 2002. I learn things every day and I share my knowledge freely. I help in the ways I can.

I'm not perfect at all in your eyes, I take meds and I'm on disability. But I refuse to see things in black and white and judge myself from the eyes of my healthy surroundings. I base my beliefs and morals in something within myself. That means I'm NOT going to beat up on myself for my inability to work for money.

You don't need to apologize to me, but know I'm will question things when I have a different opinion. If you say what you think, you have to allow me to do the same.

Of course you have theright.

And worry not, I am not perfect either. And I don't judge people on their meds or no meds thing. I don't judge their contribution to society based on how much income tax one pays or earns. What you do is worthy. I myself been lately "contributing" more with effort....

I actually think more people would be able to work had they been given the right direction, right work conditions and all. Throwing people disability and no assistence, re-education or whatever is not solution, imho. I don't know... they make "protected workplaces" for severly mentally retarded (is that the right term?), so why not for people with other mental disabilities?

This is a good point and I agree.

To provide a little more background on that for clarity:
when one is on disability [or SSDI] in the US, that individual is eligible for a program called Ticket to Work. The point of this program is to foster vocational rehabilitation and in fact it encourages and fosters this end. If one call to intitiate a ticket, they can request the assistance of either a private employment group- the services of which will be paid for by the state- or a state/government run voc rehab facility. These facilities offer services including vocational testing, resume and interview assistance, community connections to specific employment opportunities, job site assistance, guidance regarding job related accommodations and career training- up to assisted funding toward a degree for a career more appropriate with better chances of success. I'm sure there are some services I missed.

So these programs are available. I will say that not everyone takes advantage of them. But... Even if these programs work [and for some individuals they make an amazing difference. some they dont fix life in general] they could still be seen as providing advantages not available to everyone.

They do just that, they offer assistance to those who can't make things work just by wanting it. Even then, there are situations where it just won't happen.

I have been working on my bachelors degree for ten years...

I'm not an idiot. Far from it.

There are simply things about my illness which impede my functioning that I cannot simply wish away. So I face constant obstacles in completing my degree, though continue to struggle toward that goal. For about a decade.

That likely is a pretty excellent illustration of why my opinion may contrast as it does with some other individuals.

Very similar to the way I used to feel. And I think that world view, which went along with how my parent saw it, was one of the things that made me crash in the first place!

Hmmm, last I heard 1 out of every 4 people will deal with some form of mental illness in their lives. That is a lot of people, MI is more common then many think it is.

It is "very important" to understand that not "everyone" stands in judgment of those who struggle. It often feels like the end of the world when in the struggle, but it is also important to realize that many mental illnesses can be treated and do not necessarily mean "doom and gloom". However, sometimes when the illness is in a difficult stage it can most definitely feel hopeless or that no one cares or will even target the sufferer.

((Mowtown)), I can totally relate to feeling that by struggling so much and reaching out for help via a psych ward has disappointed you deeply and felt very "demeaning". It is also not unusual for someone who is going through a breakdown and struggling with PTSD to be misdiagnosed either. And PTSD already presents an overwhelming feeling of "vulnerability coupled with anger and defensive behavior" yet can be so crippling and confusing that "yes" it really feels that no one will understand you and you are doomed to continue to fall apart somehow. So reaching out for help and being misdiagnosed and misunderstood will feel like you "really did lose something". After all if the professionals mess up then how is "anyone" ever going to understand and help? When someone is traumatized and developing PTSD the last thing they need is to be misunderstood and further "frightened or made to feel helpless in some way".

Well, unfortunately psych wards these days are inadequate and the people who work in them, even the psychiatrists sadly, are only doing their best to "stabilize and set up something in outpatient care". My therapist explained to me that unfortunately when someone is struggling in a PTSD crisis, many of these psych wards miss the red flags and misdiagnose and mistreat the patient, it "is" a big problem. And when a patient is admitted with Suicidal thoughts they are taken seriously and medicated and monitored in a way that for someone with PTSD can be very intimidating and triggering, even making them feel worse. I know this so "well" myself. It is no wonder a patient ends up feeling that "something was really taken from them when they broke down and was treated this way".

My therapist talked about how it "should have been, even used to be" when someone broke down and simply could not manage to pull it together somehow. They were given rest, a safe quiet room and someone was attentive and took time to talk to them. He used to work in a place like that, however these places are "too expensive" to have now and instead we have a system that simply focuses on getting people stabilized with drugs and out the door as soon as possible. Oh there "are" places like this, but a patient has to have some "money" to get that now.

I knew what I needed and begged for it, I didn't get it, not even close. In fact, now that I "know" about what I have and what I was really experiencing at the time, the treatment I did get was a prescription to "add to the trauma and punish" rather then actually "address a patient like me". God, I was so overwhelmed and exhausted in every way, so much damage and loss, way too much for me to process and even think about "how to sort it all out emotionally", never mind physically because I was just at the point where I was totally exhausted.

Well, the answer is not about giving up or withdrawing completely, and I sure do know that that desire can be very strong for a while too. No, the answer is to keep trying and get strong enough to have a voice and be insistent, because that is the only way "change' eventually takes place.

My therapist has told me that "many" of his patients complained about how badly treated they were by the same psychiatrist that treated me. It isn't "just" me and if enough people "speak up" and insist something "will be done", it doesn't happen overnight, but eventually it does happen. A gradual effort "is" being made in how to identify trauma patients and address them better, my therapist has told me this, but it "will" take time.

I know you are really struggling right now Mowtown, I know what you are going through because I have definitely been there, but you need to give it time, work on healing so you "can" have a stronger voice and even be there for others "knowing' how much that is needed. Even though you don't think others will understand, there actually "are" people that are working on finding better therapies for trauma patients. How trauma affects the brain is constantly being studied in an effort to understand it better and find better ways to address it.

It is better to focus on those who are out there working at it, respecting it, then those who are "ignorant bigots" whom are in their own way demented and an unproductive useless burden to the overall society.

OE

That was a great and true post by OPEN EYES , Mental hospitals are there to get you out has soon has they can mostly about 2 days, it is a damaging experience , they do nothing more than your GP can and you in a very hostile environment . AND if you do have the miss fortune of having to stay in a month you will hit a very big wall when released, it damaged me badly. Now work fore the mentally ill walking wounded, no one want to set you on , you are not reliable like the normal,s, you cant go having days off every time you crash an employer cannot afford mental patients they have schedules to meet and half the work force off sick wont work. YOU have to do like me I worked self employed , so worked when I could and found my own work I developed my own skills has a bricklayer. That way nobody will ask if you have any mental problems you are your own person I looked after my family this way all my working life , in hospital odd times the rest working my butt off

It's hard when healthy people can't get jobs even.

This is just me and I know we're all different, but my type of disability (one of them) gives me the opportunity to work in any field I want, any hours I want. It doesn't come with a lot of extra income at all, but it is full of choices. I chose to work with animals once a week. Sure it was fun and maybe I even did some good, I don't know. But right now I can't do it. I can't even do one day a week. So even if it was totally tailormade to my abilities, sleep hours and interest, I ended up not able.

Also we have a solid tradition of night classes in every subject you can fathom, from languages to cooking, to self help, to arts, to accountancy, to yoga, to navigation, to hunting license and so on. I used to take one night class a week. But I can't do that anymore either.

Sometimes it's just dang hard to just function and keep track of the "simple things". And I'm not very exceptional. I don't have severe mood swings, I don't have psychosis, I don't have social anxiety or agoraphobia. None of the biggies for not being able to work. And still I can't.

Since I'm very talented and intelligent I would probably be self employed if I could work. I would probably make at least four times my disability check. For me at least, it hasn't been a choice not working, I'm not one just thrown into disability and forgotten about.

I wish my opportunities were for everyone. But even with that, I'm not sure how many could work. More than today maybe, but we also have people on the opposite end, people who work that shouldn't, or should work much less. I know several ill people that work through sheer willpower because they have to, they don't have any options, and they are stealing all the energy from their future. I see their mental health get worse, I see them crash and burn, I see them developing new illnesses from the stress of working with an illness.

Sometimes I wished I lived in one of those rare disability/therapeutic communities where everyone has a task they really can handle, and that is worth house and feed. No matter if you can do a little or a lot. Then maybe I could find a task that simply doesn't exist in this kind of existence. Actually one of my dreams is to win a lot of money and build one myself.

Given the topic matter, and the unsupportive comments in this thread - it will now be closed, as per our Community Guidelines.