[DocJohn]

Be a part of the national conversation today -- all day! -- about mental health. Here's how:

1. On your mobile or smartphone anytime today, text "start" to 89800.

2. When it asks, "If you have a unique code from your organizer, enter it now”, enter the code:

314TTA

3. Participate in the discussion and polling questions by contributing to the Talk, Text, Act thread that will be posted on Monday to this forum (Other Mental Health Discussion).

We're looking forward to sharing in the discussion and conversation with you about mental health.

Best,
DocJohn

[DocJohn]

Here's the video they want you to watch before you begin...

[DocJohn]

Here are the ground rules for this discussion thread:

- Listen with respect
- it's OK to disagree
- Don't make it personal
- What's said here stays here
- You can choose to pass on any topic you'd rather not discuss

[DocJohn]

If you find mental health hard to talk about, why?

A - Fear about being judged
B - Don't know what to say
C - Lack of info
D - Privacy issues
E - Afraid to say the wrong thing

[DocJohn]

Topics to discuss

T1: What do you do to take care of your mental, social, physical or spiritual health?

[DocJohn]

T1: I try and exercise regularly, although I sometimes find the motivation hard to do. I also take time to make sure I'm "offline" every day for hours... it helps me reduce my stress level, allows me to read (books!), and take time to spend with loved ones.

[MoxieDoxie]

oh are we suppose to type our answers here? I was wondering how we were going to discuss as a group.

T1: I strength train and exercise 5-6 days a week for my mental and physical health. Because of my eating disorder and distored body image, I have to take care and absolutely take rest days otherwise I will workout through extreme muscle soreness and pain.

I started blog(along the lines of journaling I guess) to help me with my self worth, to try and come out of hinding, come out of denial and sit in vulnerability.

[DocJohn]

Yes, sorry, this is our group! So I thought it would make sense to discuss here... thanks for participating!!

[DocJohn]

T2: Think back to a challenging time in your life. What happened? What helped you get through it? What wasn't helpful?

[Sometimes psychotic]

T1: So I have a pdoc and T that I see regularly. I take medication as well as fish oil supplements. I walk 40 minutes a day and have recently started to do yoga. One of the most important things for me though is remembering to play----it doesn't come naturally for me to remember to make plans with others so I have to schedule that in at least once a week, but also just to have fun----so things like painting I find help stabilize my mood and make me happy, but it could just as easily be any thing creative like a great Halloween costume I also have a rule if I want to do something and its not going to hurt me or any body else I let myself do it-----so buying a blue wig and thigh high socks was a little odd for my uptight scientist self but for some reason I wanted them---if there is no harm then why not right? I'll probably be the only one cleaning the house in rainbow thigh highs

[Sometimes psychotic]

T2: My first psychotic break was challenging to say the least. What helped me through it was the acceptance of friends and family and good mental health support including cbt and meds. What did not help was self-stigma and self-doubt...I was absorbing a really negative view of schizophrenia type illness and imposing it on myself.

[Sometimes psychotic]

T3: What did your friends or other people do, or not do, that made a difference?

They didn't treat me like and alien, we joked about it. One of my friends said other people paid good money(for drugs) to experience they types of hallucinations I did. Basically they didn't walk on eggshells but treated me like me. We laughed about the crazy things I thought and that made it better...

[alk2601]

T1: I feel like my healthy coping strategies are lacking. When I do choose something healthier approach, I find that exercise is crucial. Daily focus on spiritual activities also helps me (such as prayer), and forcing myself to be social at least some couple of times a week (this could include volunteering, community events, church, or just visiting friends).

[alk2601]

The most challenging time I can remember was when I was first diagnosed with depression. It was rippling and I was young and inexperienced, so I lacked the coping mechanisms and maturity to help myself. What helped were the few people in my life who showed support. What didn't help was so many others' judgments, insensitivities and lack of understanding. I also ended up turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms that have followed me for many years. Those seemed to help at first but have ultimately caused more trouble than they were worth.

[DocJohn]

Thank you all for your participation. You're welcomed to join the group at any time, and answer any topic question you'd like (you don't have to go in order)!

[DocJohn]

T3: What did your friends or other people do -- or not do -- that made a difference?

[TheWell]

T3
They didn't try to learn about depression. They make hurtful comments thinking they are funny. They don't realize it hurts me.

[TheWell]

T2 what helped me get through it. A good mental health team.

[eskielover]

T1: What do your do to take care of your mental, social, physical, or spiritual health?

Mental care, I have a wonderful psychologist & DBT group that I go to & also I have friends who we share & are able to be open together about the things that bother each other & we give wonderful encouragement to each other & push each other when not feeling like doing things.

I have another group of friends who I do my horse riding with & that along with working on my farm keeps my physically going but after fracturing my back several years ago....I'm realizing that I seriously need to do some specific exercises at my age of 61.

Spiritual is my highest priority & my whole life is involved with my relationship with God....not religion...but my relationship & all my friends & my church family & even my horse group all support each other spiritually.

My social, physical & spiritual life are all together in one package....my life. It's only been this way for the last 7 years since I finally left my bad marriage.....& the difference in my life is sooooo amazing.

I still struggle with stress & not eating well, but living alone I'm more conscious of taking care of myself & I have more desire to live & have a meaningful life.

[Sometimes psychotic]

T4: Some schools/communities do amazing things to improve mental health. What is working where you are? What could be better?

What is great about Chicago is the have a first episode psychosis clinic where they offer things like cbt for psychosis that aren't readily available in this country. They integrate a world view on treatment rather than simply assuming that what they have been trained to do is already the best.

What could be better is inpatient treatment----I think that nurses tend to be afraid of you as a patient before they know you even if you aren't remotely violent in any way. There is an assumption that your talking rather loudly is a consequence of mental illness rather than a natural response to the idea that you just found that you are to be imprisoned for an entire weekend despite your voluntary status. Being lied to and locked up isn't fun for anyone. I think if they made it more like the Hilton people wouldn't even need the locks and at $2000 a day why not make it nicer? There really should be a concierge---"puzzles are located in the common room as are snacks for your convenience" etc.

[eskielover]

T2: Think back to a challenging time in your life. What happened? What helped you get through it? What wasn't helpful?

There have been several seriously challenging times in my life.....first was when I lost my career & had a total breakdown & on top of that the Northridge Earthquake hit & destroyed the freeway between my home & where I had been working. I fell apart.....sadly nothing helped me get through it. The mental health care & I didn't tie all the pieces together nor take into consideration the bad marriage. I had been so used to living a normal life as a computer engineer who was playing racquetball with the guys at lunch.....I had no idea what was even going on with me to start with......ended up having more suicide attempts than I can even remember.......& I honestly don't know how I survived through it........

That started in 1994.....10 years later after not really recovering from that, my mom was dx'ed with cancer......& she was always a screwed up part of my life.....& in her normal bad choices, at the age of 80, a home care person manipulated her way into the situation & the trauma that she caused was something that still haunts me.....caught her stealing my Mom's ID....physically fought for the phone & she ended up cutting the base phone chord when I was trying to find out who she had been talking to.......caught checks written to my mom's account & she kept telling me not to bother my mother to get a stop payment....I didn't listen & even though my mother really didn't understand what was going on by that point, we got the payments stopped....later on found out from the police that I protected my mom so well that they didn't have anything to catch the person with.....the final straw was her OD'ing my mom on her morphine the morning after she had anonomously called the police telling them that I was the one abusing my mother when all the time it was her.....I finally got my mom out of her home & back into the hospital & the hospital thought it best for my mom to be in there with an ailas...but her BF, the neighbor of the home care person found her anyway. My head was spinning by that time & I had no idea what this person would do to harm my mother or me as I wasn't sure what she was really after other than maybe my mother's home......there were a lot more things that happened in those 5 days.....but it messed me up for a long time & triggered my anorexia so bad that I landed in the medical hospital at the time my mom actually died......I left her 2 hours before to go to the hospital because my MD was concerned about my health. NOthing really helped me get through that except for maybe because I was in the medical hospital being cared for.....but no one understood the trauma I had gone through, even I didn't really understand what I had gone through......& the only thing that really gave me the will to live at that point was that my mare had just had her foal in September & caring for her & the bonding I had for her & the love that was there really was the only thing that kept me going.....my pdoc didn't even comprehend what I had gone through & blamed my inability to see what was going on as not as serious as it was on my weight loss at the time....my psychologist was having back surgery so he wasn't there......I felt like I was back in the black hole.....the tornado that just kept spinning me around & I kept getting hit by all the debris..........

What helped was a few years later I was finally able to get back into my mother's home (the one I had grown up in)...got it sold & took my inheritance money & left my H....moved 2100 miles away to a place where I didn't know anyone.....& I started my life over.....still haunted at times (fall is the worst) with the memories....but being away from the memories & the bad marriage was the first step In my healing.....& it's been a wonderful experience since then.....have come a long way in the last 7 years......& I thank God for placing me in a place where I am surrounded by caring people....something I realize I never had all my life even though they all thought they were.

[DocJohn]

T5: What are your ideas for ways to reach out and better support friends and peers who may be dealing with mental health issues?

(If you want to share your ideas with the larger Talk, Text, Act community, go ahead and post it anonymously here:

http://tta.onecounts.com/

[eskielover]

T3: What did your friends or other people do, or not do, that made a difference?

In reality I didn't have any friends.....acquaintances didn't know what I was going through, people I met in the psych hospital were more harmful on the outside. Church people had no idea how to handle my suicide attempts & had no understanding & just couldn't comprehend what could be so bad......but in reality....I didn't know either I just knew that I felt trapped where I was & at that time didn't realize just how much my bad marriage was a part of the problem....so how could anyone else understand either.....it wasn't like he was physically abusive.....& over the last few months, I have come to understand that it was the serious dysfunctional behavior that was the problem that came across as emotionally abusive. In all his dysfunctional being, H did the nice things there just was NO emotional connection which was what I really needed....but I always blamed in on myself....only lately I have come to realize after leaving him that it wasn't me that was the problem & I am finding that I am more normal than I ever imagined......growing up with dysfunctional parents......my mom was there during my major depression & suicide attempts....but she was like my H....she was there because it was the right thing to do....but there was NO connection that I could ever feel.....I really feel that the lack of connection was the most serious of problems not having anyone to connect to.....& there was no one in my life that I could find that kind of connection with.....so I ended up just surviving.

[MoxieDoxie]

T3: I have found no reason to tell anyone. I feel like I would just be defending myself for actions or lack of actions. My husband ignores me and the subject entirely. He just says " see who you need to see to deal". I do not want people to think I am using it as an excuse for anything. I rather people just wisper to each other and suspect something is wrong with me. Let them keep guessing.

[doyoutrustme]

Catching up..

Originally Posted by DocJohn

If you find mental health hard to talk about, why?
A - Fear about being judged

People already have their own pre-set perceptions on mental health issues that are very hard to undo. By admitting your issues, your opinion is already invalid by the fact that they believe you are incapable of thinking properly.

Originally Posted by DocJohn

Topics to discuss

T1: What do you do to take care of your mental, social, physical or spiritual health?

I go to therapy and do my best to mesh it into my life; and do my best to keep my pdoc informed. I take my medications as instructed.

Originally Posted by DocJohn

T2: Think back to a challenging time in your life. What happened? What helped you get through it? What wasn't helpful?

My parents were very abusive, and I (thought I)helped maintain the facade that they weren't for a very long time. One day I was in the middle of a very bad row with my mother and I was having an all out fit, when a neighbor popped over. Normally, I would have shut up, but that time I continued even worse and called her a child abuser with my neighbor right there. I thought for sure there would be some backlash for leaking this stuff out. Nothing got me through it. Just time. And the neighbor didn't do anything. It did absolutely nothing, because people want to 'mind their own business'

Originally Posted by DocJohn

T3: What did your friends or other people do -- or not do -- that made a difference?

I know of some neighbors who did try to get involved/help, but my parents were just enraged at their 'butting in' (suggestions). AFAIK, nothing went further than that.

Originally Posted by DocJohn

T5: What are your ideas for ways to reach out and better support friends and peers who may be dealing with mental health issues?

Encourage better understanding of mental health issues in the media.