Mental Health and the Stigma Shout Campaign

[Tina]

Hi Nurianna

Look at you eating pizza.......returning to your art class......well done you ...dont be so hard on yourself as Karen would say....it is very hard if you are the strong one...having to ask for help and support...i know...i hate that too.....you will get there....it is ok to have good and bad days......hang in there...take care

Love Tinaxx

[Karen]

Hi Nurianna,

The only thing that I can say to you, is that there does come a day, when your thoughts aren't totally SAH dominated and yes, in the early recovery days, certain things will be unimportant to you, as your thoughts will still be dominated by your hospital experience and the fact that you could have died and didn't ......you're a survivor.... I also found most subjects pretty trivial after the SAH, but believe you me, you will get your life back and the things that you find are unimportant to you at the minute, will start to matter again..... hope that makes sense!

As far as people go and relationships etc, then it's a testing time ..... if you weren't in a particularly strong relationship before the SAH, then yes, it may not be a happy ending for you. Many relationships are strengthened after this sort of experience, but normally, they tend to be ones that were strong to begin with, but I also know of relationships that weren't strong and have been tested to near enough breaking point. It's hard enough to cope with recovery, but coping with a bad relationship as well, is like a double blow. At the end of the day, when something like this happens to you, then you need all of the support and understanding possible. I wish you luck and just remember that one day, the right person will come along and you'll be happy again.

Your emotions will be all over the place for quite a while ...... you probably haven't changed, but you're just trying to cope as best as you can with your own situation, so be kind to yourself ...... most of this stuff is temporary and the "old" you is just waiting to pop out again.

As far as being positive goes, then yes, you do have to find the positives in your day, as it will help ......even eating pizza and art lessons!... that's not to say that you won't have days where you'll feel totally fed up, but hopefully those will pass and then you're able to pick yourself up and move forward. Recovery is like a rollercoaster, ups and downs and it will be that way for a little while ..... take each day as it comes, as they will all differ. The only comfort I can give you, is that I felt the same as you, but life has improved greatly and hopefully you can see by this message board, that people are able to move forward, even though it's not easy, but you too will get there.xx

[Nurianna]

Thanks Tina and Karen for your msgs. Had a good cry after reading them and feel better. By the way, at this moment of my life, this board is the ONLY place that seems to offer or have any sense.

Lots of love,

Nurianna

[Karen]

Nurianna,

I always used to feel better after having a good cry ...... it very rarely happens now, but used to do it often and would take myself off and have a good cry ..... think that I cried mainly out of frustration and feeling frightened of the weird pains and feelings .... but, there's nothing wrong with having a good cry and releasing the tension...... It might be worth you buying Alison Wertheimer's book, A Dented Image .... the details are on the SAH forum ..... I personally think that you would benefit from it. Everything that you're feeling is covered in the book and I can highly recommend it ..... glad that you're feeling better.

[Guest Shiree]

Hi Nurianna

I am 6 months post SAH, and still feel really up and down emotionally. I was the same as you "the strong one" the one who everyone else turned to when things were bad in their lives, and am still too proud to ask for their help even though this SAH has taken over my whole life. Other people are so quick to judge...but only those of us who have been through this can truelly understand. To try and get through i look back to how I felt 3 months ago and the slow but sure improvement up to present day. Maybe the time has come to go and see a counsellor and let all the emotions out...and celebrate the small victories (like art class) I know how much courage it would have taken to go.

Just remember that you have us, and that we are here to support each other no matter what.

Take care my friend

Shiree

[donna79]

I am suffering really bad at the moment and taking peroxitine every morning and diazapam once or twice a day x

Take one at night and one in the morning x x

Its so hard when the tears come because i loose control and say i dont want to be here and that my family dont love me x ( its horrible )

and i feel it controls me not the other way round

I tell myself things like YOU ARE OK

IT WONT HAPPEN AGAIN.

YOU WONT BLACK OUT ( you havent for 5 months so why now, and its a rare thing to happen )

YOU WILL BE OK AND GET THROUGH THIS.

I am being referred for councilling for PTS lets hope they can help me get hold of my life again x

[Karen]

Donna, please ring your GP in the morning if you are still feeling the same ..... as much as we can offer advice and support on BTG, we aren't medical professionals and if you're feeling that low, then you really need to seek professional help and maybe they can fast track you as such for counselling.

[jess]

Donna I can only agree with Karen but you are right it is so unlikely that it will happen again but please go and get help and I am sure your family love you so much and I know your son does a childs love is unconditional and he needs you so much Donna. Jess.xxx

[tennissmithy]

Donna,

Please go back to the Doctors and stress to him/her how you are feeling. They will hopefully do something quicker to help and support you. You are not on your own though- remember that

Love

Laura

[Guest mollie]

Hi Everyone, Just found this thread. I see you are talking about mental health issues and I have to say that since my sah i have been suffering with depression and anxiety which I had never suffered from to any great degree beforehand. I had put mine down to the fact that I had family stuff going on at the same time as my sah happened but now in retrospect I can see that it had nothing to do with the family situation. My doc advised me to go to a bereavment consellor as my brother died a few months after my illness began but i didn't feel that was the way to go as I can and have coped with bereavment in the past. At the moment I am still taking fluoxetine for depression (prozac by any other name I think) and i have to say they have helped me but just this week the doc perscribed me a very short course of diazepam but only to stop me getting too anxious before my op which is on Thursday. It is helping tremendously and I am sure that will be the end of them once the op is over. I thinks its the fact that we have no control that makes us go into a depressive state.

I mentioned on an earlier post that my Docs were useless but once I had explained what i was feeling like he was tremendously supportive as he actually did find out more about our situations. Being in the Isle of Man and only a small population they don't see very much of our type of illness (sah and its effects)

Donna I hope you have been to the doctors by now and told him how you feel. They are there to help and they will

Love Mollie xxx