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Thread: Mental Health Awareness Month Discussion

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    Default Mental Health Awareness Month Discussion

    May is Mental Health Awareness Month. In addition to the signature sets I'd like to start a discussion revolving around mental health. Having a mental illness often means fighting alone. Sometimes this can be a person choice, more often it stems from feelings that there is no one around for support or if one were to ask then it would be taken as weak or that it would just be a burden to another.

    I want to open the floor here, to discuss whatever it is that you wish. Tell stories of your struggles if you feel comfortable doing so. Maybe you have a way to cope that you want to suggest to others. Or we can discuss some of the illnesses themselves. Whatever we discuss, please remember this is a sensitive topic to many and the point here is to raise awareness not only for the issues themselves, but also to raise awareness that there are many of us here dealing with these.



    I suppose I want to start by sharing something a professor shared in a class with us once. I can't for the life of me remember what the class was or what it was even about, but this video was eye opening and I've never forgotten it. It's just a short PSA type commercial.

    Spoiler: Video 


    At the time I'd never thought about anorexia or bulimia in such a way. That it was a mental illness. That it was literally a mental thing where those suffering LITERALLY SEE themselves overweight, even when it's not true. I'll admit I'd always thought it was a result of peer pressure of wanting to fit into society's norms, though I'm sure there's a little to do with that, but to see that it was a mental thing was not something I'd ever considered.

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    King of Swords's Avatar
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    Mental illness is far too overdiagnosed in modern society. Having thoughts that diverge from the norm is actually regarded by many psychologists and psychiatrists as an "illness". If you don't adhere to contemporary slave morality consumerism, you are deemed to have a mental health problem. Seeing the world pessimistically and desiring an end to personal suffering is believed to be so severe a disorder that you can be permanently insitutionalized against your will for suspicion of it.

    Of course there are mental illnesses, chemical and horomonal imbalances in the body that can cause actual problems with the senses, but the trend today is to focus instead on abnormal thoughts and behaviors. "Personality disorder" is a subjective claim about someone, it is not in any way a medical condition which requires treatment.

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    There are many people who aren't diagnosed because they think that what they feel or think is something that has to be dealt with personally. My uncle committed suicide because of his depression, but no one knew anything about it. I'd rather they over diagnose and people get the help that they need then to under diagnose and continue to lose people needlessly when a little talk, a helping hand, would have been a better solution.

    Secondly I would like to remind that the point of this thread is to bring awareness to the various mental health issues in a positive light. Not to turn around and say that some of the people who are diagnosed aren't actually dealing with whatever it is they are dealing with. Their feelings, emotions and sufferings are no more or no less important than anyone else who may not be diagnosed. It may be due to an imbalance of chemicals in the body or it may not. The reason why doesn't matter. The point is that everyone needs support and that we all need to be aware of and supportive of each other.

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    Seeing the world pessimistically and desiring an end to personal suffering is believed to be so severe a disorder that you can be permanently insitutionalized against your will for suspicion of it.
    What you are talking of there tends to be a thing that mostly will only occur in extreme cases.

    I'd also add that personality disorders can disrupt ability to lead a normal life or just generally cause the afflicted person stress. So on that basis I think there is justification to give treatment to those afflicted by PDs who wish/require it.
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    My thoughts on Mental Health have changed alot over time. While I was in the military Mental Health was seen as a dirty word and you didn't want it to be associated with you. The military has long had the attitude of "suck it up and press on", you didn't talk about what you were feeling you just bottled it up and carried on. In recent years the military has tried to change this but it's so ingrained in the culture it's been a up hill battle.

    When I came home from Iraq, during my post deployment physical I was flagged for a Mental Health follow up. I remember my squad mates getting on me and the others flagged to toughen up or it could hurt our careers. When I went to the appointment I clammed up, I didn't want to say anything to the doctor in fear that it would hurt my chances of advancement (I wanted to be career military, do a full twenty years). So I told him I was fine. He sent me to six weeks of counseling that I continued to say I was fine at. Then they pumped me full of medication, that messed with my emotions. I felt the opposite of whatever I should have been feeling. I recall being told I was being denied a promotion because of a technicality and instead of being upset I thought it was hilarious, I actually laughed when my supervisor told me.

    I was on the medication for a while then stopped taking it not liking what it did to me. After about a year I started having anger issues, it didn't take much for me to loose my temper. Following an incident where I blew up on my Sergeant and threw my duffle bag at him I was sent back to Mental Health. I spent another six weeks in counseling, this time in anger management, the entire time not wanting to talk to anyone partly because I was so angry all the time, partly because I was still afraid it would hurt my career. They tried putting me on medication again this time round instead of my emotions being messed up I felt nothing.

    Once again I was on the medication for a while then stopped taking it not liking the lack of emotion. Then I started having sleep problems and they put me on more medication this time for sleep. Each sleep medication would work for a while then stop so they put me on something else. I've been on so many sleep medications I've lost count. Another year went by and I was medically discharged for a injury that happened during training. I enrolled with the Veteran's Affairs and they reviewed my medical records then sent me through a series of physicals. One of them to Mental Health. I am not sure what the doctor was doing but it felt like he spent a hour and half trying to piss me off. I think he saw that I was sent to anger management and was trying to see if I still needed treatment for it. Anyway by then I had sorta learned to control my anger, I still had it but had just gotten better at hiding it. The only real thing that came out of the visit is I got a new prescription for sleep medication.

    A few years went by and I was still having sleep problems so I went back to the VA they ran some sleep studies and said physically there is nothing wrong with my sleep cycles and recommend group therapy thinking it might be something psychological. I was assigned to a weekly group made up mostly of men that served in Korea and Vietnam (mind you I am female and was in my late twenties). I was the only Iraqi War Vet and only woman in group. On the first day and nearly every meeting after that I had some old guy ask, "So were you a nurse or something?" I wasn't by the way, I was Military Police and had seen the war up close. It felt like none of the other group members felt I should be there. Woman's role in the military is vastly different then it was forty years ago. I rarely shared anything in group. I asked about a woman's group but the nearest one was an hour and half drive from where I lived. I was already driving forty-five minutes for this group. I had to rearrange my work schedule to go and there was no way I could go to the woman's group and work, plus there was the driving distance. So eventually stopped going.

    A few more years went by, I still had sleep problems and was on medication, (worked my way up to Valium, it's the only thing that works and doesn't always work), I still had anger problems and it felt like that was the only emotion I felt. Most of the time I felt nothing. I found out that my uncle (who was also my god-father) had passed away, when my mom called to tell me I felt nothing my response was something like, "oh okay". I didn't cry, I wasn't upset, just nothing. I was more bothered by the fact that I felt nothing then at his passing. I later told my mom about what I was going through and she had recently read an article about PTSD seeing that many of the problems I was having were similar. My anger problems, sleep problems, the fact that I couldn't stand being in crowded places, I startled easy, had migraines and generally never opened up to people. So I went back to the VA and asked to be evaluated for PTSD.

    I saw a doctor that specialized in PTSD and was told I matched the criteria for it. I told the doctor I didn't want to do group and I didn't want to be on medication. They put me on a waiting list for CPT (Cognitive Processing Therapy) after about six months of waiting it was finally my turn. I almost dropped out a few times frustrated with the process. It basically was having to reteach yourself to think. Most people with PTSD have triggers, something that reminds them of the traumatic incident or in my case traumatic exposure. While I was deployed I was deployed to a detention facility and spent the entire time in a very high stress environment (I was on the riot squad and we had riots or disturbances daily). Once you figure out your triggers you have to learn to redirect your thoughts. It was a hard and frustrating process, especially for me as I didn't have a single incident that caused my PTSD but rather a long series of incidents. At the time the VA was just learning that PTSD could be caused by something other then a single traumatic incident which was the school of thought for a very long time. The program was more geared towards treatment with a single incident and my counselor really worked her butt off trying to make it work for me.

    Anyway I am glad I didn't drop out and went through the program. I still have some of the same problems but I am better at dealing with them rather then ignoring them. I feel normal emotions again, I'm still a bit awkward about opening up to others but at least I try now instead of avoiding it. The only medications I am on now are my sleep medication but I only take it occasionally I don't need it every night to sleep and a migraine prevention medication. Looking back I wish I hadn't been afraid to seek treatment right after my deployment I might have been able to avoid the years of struggle I went through.


    Another round of bullets hits my skin. Well, fire away
    Cause today, I won't let the shame sink in. We are bursting through
    the barricades and reaching for the sun.

    We Are Warriors


  6. #6
    RPAs Frilly Ninja
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    Wow, I cant believe you would be able to share something like that. I'm glad you feel like you can open it here and I'm glad you are working through it. Also, despite them being extremely stressful and hard to take. Thanks for your service.

    I couldn't imagine being able to share something so deep like that.



    My only problems are a couple of things I've dealt with my whole life, wouldn't be surprised if some didn't even consider them real.

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    Yes thank you Angel. For your service and for your story. I'm sure it took a lot to share it, but it's really helpful to know that there are people to help. And that even if it takes a while, that there's a light at the end.

    Arcus it's never not real. It's real enough to you and that's what's important. It's something you have to deal with.

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    I'm just going to ask a question based off of that last statement. So, what makes a mental health issue "real"? Basically, how would you know if you had one?

    (I'm just asking because I'm curious, so tell me if I ever ask something offensive or whatnot, I probably won't be able to tell.)



    Griffin / Gumbo / Gambit / Griff


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    How is anything you feel right now fake? Because you feel happy that makes the happiness real does it not?

    Because I feel depressed and alone makes it real to me. Even if I'm surrounded by people who say they care, something is STILL causing me to feel alone. And those feelings are real and valid and shouldn't be pushed aside by others as if they are nothing.

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    Out of curiousity, is there a reason the ribbon is green? Is there a meaning behind it?


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