I have just moved somewhere new so I don't know if this is making things worse.
I lie in bed all day doing nothing and lie awake all night. I have a few job interviews lined up and I have no idea what I want to do with my life as I no longer want a future at all. The thought of spending all day in a dull, prospectless miserable job is horrible.
Also, my dog is being put down today or tomorrow - I know that may seem silly but he is the only thing that keeps me going, the only thing I can cuddle up with and feel ok. I hate physical contact with people after the attack so he is all I really have to spend time with and cuddle up to.
I tried to organise counselling, but they didn't get back to me to confirm a date and I don't see my GP for another two weeks.
Would love to just curl up in bed, go to sleep and not worry about waking up
I'm sorry to hear about your dog. I have a few and tey are my rocks too. It is difficult to explain how much they mean to me. I am so sorry for your loss.
I'm glad you are reaching out. There are some good people here.
Hey. Starting over in a new place is difficult but more so with Mental Health. I just moved to a new place 6 weeks ago an tbh my feelings stuck with me. The only thing, for me anyways is the anonymity. Some folk don't like n of course comes the anxiety. Stick with your gp. Hassle them till they listen. They will listen when u r foning them. So sorry to hear about dog, that's always a tough thing to deal with. But use here to vent, there's some proper nice people here. They always reply. Look after yourself and to other Paul who posted, so sorry to hear about your loss my friend.
I was recently in a situation where I needed to see a doctor as an emergency and my practise said nothing until 5pm. I rang the NHS number 111 and went through all my symptoms. I was told to hang up, ring surgery and tell them 111 had said I must see a doctor within the next two hours.
Half an hour later I was in front of a doctor and two hours later I was in a Surgical Assessment Unit. To cut a long story short - it seems that if you ring 111 and go through your problems, they can step in and instruct your surgery to see you right away.
Your depression sounds severe to me and losing a dog is the worst thing ever, I lost both of mine so I understand your loss. Are you on any antidepressants? Are they working? Ask for a different one of they aren't. Sertraline seems to be the drug of choice lately but it did nothing for me except make me worse. I've been on Prozac for three months now and I can see the light at the end of the depression tunnel. Don't just ask for help, insist on it! Good luck and I hope things improve for you. X
To be honest I really thought moving to a new place would help me but, it seems to have all gone so much worse I'm sorry to feel those feelings stuck with you too - I lived in a nice country area and now I'm back in a city which, I struggle with. I like having a nice, green, open outside area to walk in rather than a busy, grey city.
Wow, I'm glad you got seen to! I never would think to ring an NHS number to be honest - I'm glad you did, it obviously worked a charm!
I find it hard to be quite assertive and my meds aren't making a lot of difference, I also have such high anxiety and find it so hard to talk on the phone so, I don't help myself a lot I suppose!
I can totally appreciate that. Cities stress me out. Its a dark and rank. I would much rather go for a walk in my awesome homeland......Scotland! It stimulates so many good things out there. hang in there x
Hi fee25, can you understand the reason for the anxiety? Do you know what triggers your anxiety or has it been there since the trauma you suffered? These factors will be required when relating to a professional.
I know many of the members of Patients have had bad reports regarding the lack of understanding from the medical profession. Having worked as a professional in the NHS, I came across nurses mis-understanding people with a mental health crisis.
Once you are in the system you tend to become labeled. Which is still going on today. For most of the time mental health services CPN's are 9-5 jobs. They don't work weekends and people with mental health problems have their problems 24/7.
Not like the weekend 45 year old midlife crisis guy who fell off his motorbike and ended up in A/E. Quick get him into triage and save his life. The medics there are on duty 24/7 to cope with that emergency. So why not for psychiatry. I think, well I know mental health services in the community should run 24/7 too. It's a bloody simple thing to do really. Ditch the community services and relocate the staff back to the wards so you have more staff on the wards. Then each psychiatric nurse could have a case load along side their ward based parients. You would then be seen at a time to suit you. There should also be emergency beds for crisis patients who could use the bed for 24 hours until the crisis had passed.
As for the attack? It is obvious that you did not get much if any professional support. A therapy called EMDR is used for people who have faced trauma of attack. So ask your GP or psychiatrist to reffer you to a specialist practitioner practising EMDR. As for mediction Serteriline is not one of the drugs of choise espessially for severe anxiety and thoughts of self harm. Thanks for listening to me go on. Peter
I've always had anxiety issues, irrational thoughts and fears but it had died down a lot as I got older, then the attack brought new anxieties and an inability to socialise and leave my own room.
A lot of people will have bad experiences, I am lucky in that my GP genuinely is the sweetest, most understanding and hardworking doctor. The help I am being pointed towards is all self referred, so my GP gave me the details and would like me to make the contact myself, which I am trying to do. But life and anxiety often pull it back, I basically can't help myself.
I definitely agree with you there. Psychiatric appointments are all 9 to 5 despite the fact that a lot of people suffer more greatly in the evenings, as well as the fact that many people suffering deeply are still bravely attempting to go about daily working lives, and just don't have the time to fit into that. Mental health should not be considered lesser than physical health, but - mental health is complex, it takes a lot of time to fix which, I suppose is time they don't feel they can apply for patients.
After my attack I was treated for necessary health issues/precautions and handed some leaflets for places that I could go, but there was no way in my state that I could face talking at that point or again, helping myself. Serteriline would definitely be a bad option for me then, I do self harm and my anxiety is awful!
Hi no wonder you are feeling so bad as moving is incredibly stressful, coupled with job hunting and having to put your beloved dog to sleep. I do feel for you as I have had to do this too and it never gets any easier. As a loving caring owner sometimes this has to be done - you know that it doesn't help really does it?
Be extra kind to yourself at the moment love and I am thinking of you.
It's just extra hard because after everything that happened, I became so uncomfortable with people, so having him was the only way to feel less lonely, less detached But on the other hand you can't let your pet suffer, because they are just as important.
Hi fee. no problems. I some time prattle on but for good intentions. Don't forget me, just send an email to the group and I will get back as soon as I can. "Live well and prosper" Peter.