The Road To Recovery

[SuffolkPunch]

Bloody hell, Kev. That was one hell of a read: moving, thought-provoking, brutally honest. So glad you are seeing progress, and what a relief it must be to have your own place again.

I must admit it puts me, and I'm sure 99% of people who have read this thread and your blog to shame. To think we (as I society, I mean) still brush mental health issues under the carpet is embarrassing. That's why it's so important that you keep writing: it clearly has benefits for you, but as you indicated in one of your blog posts, it WILL help others, too.

It's wonderful to learn you are wanting to give something back and help others. I hope something comes of the school work and/or the council representative opportunity - I believe you could have a real talent in that area.

Will be an avid reader.

All the best.

SP

[Claw75]

I must admit it puts me, and I'm sure 99% of people who have read this thread and your blog to shame. To think we (as I society, I mean) still brush mental health issues under the carpet is embarrassing.

Sadly I think it's worse than these issues being brushed under the carpet Simon - outright discrimination is still alive and well believe me.  I'm job hunting at the moment and was pretty shocked to see this on a government website:  "We are unable to accept applications from anyone who ..... has ever suffered from manic depression or schizophrenia."

Maybe a lot of people don't see the issue with that, but the fact that a high profile government body is still legally allowed to put that kind of thing on their website and immediately write off a lot of potentially very good applicants shows just how much work really needs to be done before people with mental illness stop being discriminated against.  It's a difficult nut to crack though - when you see evidence of prejudice like that around it's a lot easier for most people to keep their problems hidden like a dirty secret, and, if you don't admit to them, you don't have to worry about the potential discrimination you might suffer.  Conversely, if people with problems don't speak out and help others realise that there's nothing 'wrong' with suffering from mental illness then the prejudice will continue.

Anyway, this is Kev's thread and I don't want to waffle on any longer on here, but I hope he won't mind me linking to this organisation which I've also linked to on my own blog http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/

If anyone who has read this thread and Kev's blog feels inspired to do a little something to help with ending the kind of discrimination I've described, please take a look.

*climbs off soapbox*

[SuffolkPunch]

^^^^^^^

Yep, well said

[TightPaulFolds]

I must admit it puts me, and I'm sure 99% of people who have read this thread and your blog to shame. To think we (as I society, I mean) still brush mental health issues under the carpet is embarrassing.

Sadly I think it's worse than these issues being brushed under the carpet Simon - outright discrimination is still alive and well believe me.  I'm job hunting at the moment and was pretty shocked to see this on a government website:  "We are unable to accept applications from anyone who ..... has ever suffered from manic depression or schizophrenia."

Maybe a lot of people don't see the issue with that, but the fact that a high profile government body is still legally allowed to put that kind of thing on their website and immediately write off a lot of potentially very good applicants shows just how much work really needs to be done before people with mental illness stop being discriminated against.  It's a difficult nut to crack though - when you see evidence of prejudice like that around it's a lot easier for most people to keep their problems hidden like a dirty secret, and, if you don't admit to them, you don't have to worry about the potential discrimination you might suffer.  Conversely, if people with problems don't speak out and help others realise that there's nothing 'wrong' with suffering from mental illness then the prejudice will continue.

Anyway, this is Kev's thread and I don't want to waffle on any longer on here, but I hope he won't mind me linking to this organisation which I've also linked to on my own blog http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/

If anyone who has read this thread and Kev's blog feels inspired to do a little something to help with ending the kind of discrimination I've described, please take a look.

*climbs off soapbox*

Pretty shocking that they would ever write that on a job ad. Some lass got taken to court by her employer  recently for failing to disclose a serious mood disorder and it surfaced a bit during her employment.

Schizophrenia, 1/100 lifetime risk. When you think what it involves, that's like 
Narcissistic Personality Disorder, a total fecker, just been dealing with someone with it, 1/100 of the population. Google it, sad reading.
Autistic spectrum: 1/10

[Claw75]

I must admit it puts me, and I'm sure 99% of people who have read this thread and your blog to shame. To think we (as I society, I mean) still brush mental health issues under the carpet is embarrassing.

Sadly I think it's worse than these issues being brushed under the carpet Simon - outright discrimination is still alive and well believe me.  I'm job hunting at the moment and was pretty shocked to see this on a government website:  "We are unable to accept applications from anyone who ..... has ever suffered from manic depression or schizophrenia."

Maybe a lot of people don't see the issue with that, but the fact that a high profile government body is still legally allowed to put that kind of thing on their website and immediately write off a lot of potentially very good applicants shows just how much work really needs to be done before people with mental illness stop being discriminated against.  It's a difficult nut to crack though - when you see evidence of prejudice like that around it's a lot easier for most people to keep their problems hidden like a dirty secret, and, if you don't admit to them, you don't have to worry about the potential discrimination you might suffer.  Conversely, if people with problems don't speak out and help others realise that there's nothing 'wrong' with suffering from mental illness then the prejudice will continue.

Anyway, this is Kev's thread and I don't want to waffle on any longer on here, but I hope he won't mind me linking to this organisation which I've also linked to on my own blog http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/

If anyone who has read this thread and Kev's blog feels inspired to do a little something to help with ending the kind of discrimination I've described, please take a look.

*climbs off soapbox*

Pretty shocking that they would ever write that on a job ad. Some lass got taken to court by her employer  recently for failing to disclose a serious mood disorder and it surfaced a bit during her employment.

Schizophrenia, 1/100 lifetime risk. When you think what it involves, that's like 
Narcissistic Personality Disorder, a total fecker, just been dealing with someone with it, 1/100 of the population. Google it, sad reading.
Autistic spectrum: 1/10

those stats will just be diagnosed cases.  The real figures I bet are somewhat higher.  How many people on here would go and admit to the doctor if they were having auditory hallucinations, for example?  Most people would keep it to themselves I imagine.

Not quite sure what you mean by:

When you think what it involves, that's like 

?

[Colchester Kev]

1/4 will suffer from mental health issues at some point ... that IS scary.

[celtic]

What kind of job was it that stated that they didn't want people that have suffered from manic depression or schizophrenia?

[TightPaulFolds]

Not quite sure what you mean by:

When you think what it involves, that's like  

?

I mean when you consider the often devastating impact on the individua/their family, and the resultant cost to society in treating them/and often sadly putting them through the criminal justice system;  x 1/100 ish of the population lifetime risk, that is a very high overall cost to the nation.

[thetank]

Great post from Claw. I'm assuming Kev doesn't give a fook about the thread taking a natural course and issues being raised being discussed in theab stract etc.

I know from personal experience that even if you're on the groovy enlightened side of the mental illness thing, even if you've gone through something similar yourself, it doesn't make living with a loved one who is going through these kinds of problems easy.

There's still a sense of frustration that they're not alwsys doing what they need to do to get better, there's still a sense of resentment that they're not as active as you think they should be, living like a slob etc. Sure you 'understand' but that doesn't stop you wishing that they would just just snap the fk out of it and be the dad or the mum or the brother or the sister that you need them to be.

Maybe I'm just a horrible person, but if I've lived with someone who had been through a lot and was in a deep depression and when they're falling well short of their share of the dishes and lavvy cleaning and stupid shit that shouldn't really matter but actually does it still had a cumulative effect on my patience and no amount of understanding or knowledge about mental illness could negate the sense of frustration completely.

The need for greater understanding and all that is not always just a one way street imo. If someone has no previous experience dealing with this type of thing, and even if they have, when they're dealing with the never uncomplicated demon of mental illness in a loved one, if they don't always do the right thing you've got to cut them a little slack.

[EvilPie]

Great post Tank.

[thetank]

As far as raising awareness and all that goes, I think the best strategy cannot simply be finger wagging.

There has to be a recognition that those who judge the behaviour of your archetypal depressed person as being attention seeking/lazy and the like are making those judgements that are perfectly rational from within their own frame of reference. (It doesn't help that they're already familiar with the word depression to describe their own temporary low mood, and how fleeting such a thing can be for them.)

We've all got a need to comprehend the unfamiliar, to reduce it, to simplify, to put things and people into boxes and understand the world around us. There's a natural tendency in everyone to insist upon the complexity of what is faniliar and close to them and their 'area', and assume that things that are not in their area easily could be if they wanted them to be. I could do the job of Bruce, Kevin or Fiona but none of them could do what I do. My world is a nuance and yours is monochrome.

I'm as guilty as not only that, but also the belief that if someone doesn't believe in the existance of a mental illness called depression - then they should and that's that. If they still don't then they're ignorant and moreover and nasty and bad and ... a big poo poo head.

They're none of those things most of the time (or maybe some of them are) as I say, understanding is a 2 way thing.

Kev's blog is so powerful imo coz of his previous almost continous presence online and at all kinds of live events. Everyone knows Kev to an extent, and knows him as a joker and the happy go lucky sort. The no nonsense man's man, a likeable fellow who is almost the exact opposite of the black clad emo we'd conjure if given a piece of paper and told to draw a depressed person.

It challenges your outlook (I suspect, no actual data to corrobate this) mucho mucho more than any amount of arm waving or finger wagging that I could conjure. That and people are always much more likely to change their minds about something if they come to the conclusion themselves naturally than if some unthinking liberal like myself says that they should and if they don't they're a poo poo head.

[Colchester Kev]

Yup Tank is spot on, the trouble with mental illness is that the sufferer doesnt know he/she has it until they reach the bottom (unless they have been diagnosed prior and are able to recognise symptoms of a relapse) .. so if the person afflicted doesn't know they are ill. how the hell is anyone else in their close circle... to them it will appear as if the sufferer is being a lazy person and has lost all interest in themselves as well as people who are close to them.

It is a shitty illness to suffer from, but it must be hell for someone who lives with a sufferer. The upside is that there is plenty of support out there for carers/partners etc. but it doesnt land in your lap, you have to seek it out ... and often by the time someone is diagnosed with an illness it is too late to save any relationships as too much damage is done.

My illness has cost me plenty, but I have managed to maintain a relationship with both of my boys which is more than enough for me to feel that I have not lost everything in my life.

[thetank]

killing time on train obv

current generation of mobile phones has a lot to answer for when it comes to elongated unedited rants full of spelling errors

[celtic]

How is some that is truly depressed able to put on such a happy front? And what makes them want to do that?

General question obv.

[sovietsong]

could i ask for some advice please, a girl I work with suffers from depression.  She has treatment etc and is comfortable talking to some people about it, i find it hard not to give advice etc even though I dont have a clue about the in's and outs of these things, what kind of things can i do to 'help' without isolating her or making things worse.

any tips are much appreciated as i think i upset her the other day... sigh...