Anxiety and depression thread (Please read OP)

SuperBowserWorld · 02-02-2023 2:52pm

The Samaritans are volunteers. Some are very experienced and some less so. So, your milage may vary depending on who answers the phone at the time. Don't be afraid to try again.

RabbleRouser2k · 03-02-2023 4:11am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120192037#Comment_120192037

Same. Some are really great listeners, others are...not, to put it mildly.

Graces7 · 03-02-2023 2:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120192037#Comment_120192037

In the UK years ago they had a befriending scheme via the Samaritans whereby you could arrange contact with the same volunteer. One such I had even visited me and took me out.

If you feel the interview is not going to be any help etc gently close it and try again later?

RabbleRouser2k · 04-02-2023 1:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120196469#Comment_120196469

You used to be able to call into the Samaritans (book an appointment, beforehand, but still free), but with everything that happened in the last two or three years, I don't think that service is available atm.

Sardonicat · 04-02-2023 2:05pm

Suicidal crisis response and listening services in general have become formulaic in recent years, with an emphasis on getting a person off the phone with an agreement to see a gp over actually listening and being with someone in crisis.

Graces7 · 04-02-2023 3:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120200893#Comment_120200893

Thanks. I have not had any contact in Ireland so it may well be very different here.

Graces7 · 04-02-2023 3:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120200935#Comment_120200935

Ah that is hard. Maybe a responsibility /legal thing though? I remember they had a crisis re a suicide? Not sure if here or elsewhere . It made them rethink and change some of their approaches? It worked so well with them in the past, the fact that they DID listen .. I had a hard time after my mother was killed and they held me . I have rarely had a GP who would do that. I certainly do not have that here. Nor need it thankfully

Sardonicat · 04-02-2023 3:42pm

The Samaritans ethos has changed completely. There was a time when they would commit to staying on the line with someone as they ended their life. I don't know if the law has changed, or what. I would never consider contacting them now.

apache · 04-02-2023 4:00pm

I stopped ringing The Samaritans months ago. They kept on asking me if I was thinking of ending my life. I felt if I said yes they would get emergency services involved so I hung up. There's no point in ringing them now.

I will be 6 weeks in hospital next week and getting discharged. My meds were changed and I went to a lot of groups. Got to know everyone here. Am home for the weekend. Will go back tomorrow night for a few days and then back into the big bad world. It's very safe in hospital. But I learned a lot and will try and use it.

SuperBowserWorld · 05-02-2023 10:41am

Feeling incredibly anxious and alone and have a load of problems to deal with.

Graces7 · 05-02-2023 12:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120201364#Comment_120201364

Thank you. It is a great relief to read this as I had realised that and thought I was just unlucky with the one I talked with. Yes it may well be a legal thing. Liability ? Sad though

06-02-2023 12:30am

A shame that the Samaritans have changed for the worse. I have rang them many times in my life and while mixed all but one call was so so helpful. The last time was about 10 ish years ago, maybe a bit less. I remember it was a man I spoke with and he was very kind and comforting.

Other times: In the kitchen in the home house with mam and dad in bed and me trying to be quiet. In my bedroom in that house. In work. Driving in the middle of the night. In a house I was staying in very briefly. In an apartment I was renting. Other times I can only sort of remember. More rooms and car journeys.

For me it was loneliness and heartache. Part of the bedrock of human suffering alongside loss, fear and emptiness.

Multipass · 10-02-2023 3:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120201364#Comment_120201364

It helps to read this. I had a bad experience with the Samaritans which made me feel so much more isolated and disliked. I really thought it was just me because everyone else raves about them.

I just wonder if anyone has found anything out there to help. I feel like I’m coming to the end of the road now, have exhausted all the usual services. Feels like I’m fighting against the inevitable.

Sardonicat · 10-02-2023 4:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120224517#Comment_120224517

I hear you and I believe you and I understand that impending sense ifinevitably you describe. I know how exhausting that fight is.

Can you try just sitting and being with that feeling? Don't try and fight it but don't try and acknowledge it, either. I have found that gave me some rest when I felt like you do now. You can acknowledge that you have a seriously wounded 'spirit' or 'mind' or 'psyche' - whichever word you feel describes it best - and right now you just "can't " do all the everyday stuff.

Please check back in here with us when you can. We hear you and understand where you are at and we will try to gently support you as you figure out your next step forward.

Graces7 · 10-02-2023 5:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120114169#Comment_120114169

Ah no! We each have LIFE. itis not a collective thing portioned out a bit at a time.

And we all get down times. Just now i am caving in to rock bottom but I KNOW that thisis because of far too much "company" this last while when " the authorities" were alerted to my existence and my illnesses out of misguided but so well meaning concern..hospital is the worst place in it all but they did it for my good..Bless them... with the cfs/me and old age I have so little strength. And they misread that as needing comoany/help/support when all I need is peace, solitude in physical terms.. Thankfully my move out to this peaceful offshore island is a great great help! I am far less accessible.

There was a very great lady centuries ago whose " good works" often led her into difficult and even dangerous places. On one such occasion when she was stranded in a river, she looked heavenward and assured herslef, " THIS TOO SHALL PASS>"

And that has become my mantra when things gt hard.. THIS TOO SHALL PASS

Always has and always will

Gremlinertia · 10-02-2023 8:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120224517#Comment_120224517

I'm going to add a bunch of links to services here as alternatives to Samaritans as I do understand that a purely listening service isn't useful in many cases, I can't obviously stand over these organisations but there are useful alternatives available, as always, there's an ear here too

Grem

Depression / Mental Health

GROW - (1890 474 474) - mental health organisation which helps people who have suffered, or are suffering, from mental health problems. Grow also hold regular meetings throughout Ireland.

GROW Young Adult - resources specifically to help the needs of young adults.

Aware - (1890 303 302) - service for people who experience depression and concerned family and friends of those suffering from depression.

Shine - national organisation dedicated to upholding the rights and addressing the needs of all those affected by mental ill health.

Pieta House - Suicide and Self Harm Crisis Centre, providing services for those who are in suicidal distress and those who engage in self-harm. Contact information for your local Pieta House can be found here.

Mental Health Ireland - Information Service on issues relating to mental health and mental illness.

IACP - Irish Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy. Provides services to help you to find a therapist in your area.

(help for those under 18 years of age)

ReachOut - services aimed towards providing mental health information to help young people get through tough times.

https://turn2me.ie/

Deja Boo · 16-02-2023 6:54am

Am just off a stressful three weeks... I should be relieved but, I just feel low and weepy instead.

RabbleRouser2k · 16-02-2023 7:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120246998#Comment_120246998

As you should. Stress saps our mental energy, sort of like running a marathon with no proper training. Just because it's on sabbatical, doesn't mean it's going to leave you feeling energised afterwards.

Give yourself a break-try and do something that will energise you. Even if it's just Netflix.

Graces7 · 18-02-2023 6:09am

Slowly recouping after an emergency flight to hospital, and the aftermath is lingering. Just drained

Tonight is the first time in a while I am online like this.

But all deep gratitude to our doctors and especially nurses, who cope so efficiently and cheerfully with the overcrowding in the ED ... Trolleys everywhere.

RabbleRouser2k · 18-02-2023 7:28am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120256099#Comment_120256099

Jeez. Glad you're on the mend. And sorry you had to take a spell in hospital. They're not an iota of fun.

Graces7 · 18-02-2023 10:05am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120256123#Comment_120256123

Thank you. I am so deeply admiring of our ED staff.. There were no beds . In cubicles if you were lucky, in the corridors... Been a few years since I was near a hospital..... and the contrast. Just managed a slow amble down the lane here..... Only way is up.

lillycakes2 · 20-02-2023 2:16am

Can anyone tell me is there any way to get a psychiatrist to assess /diagnose a person without it having to go through the GP's? like without a GP's referral? Does anyone know if this can be done , like privately and you would obviously pay a bit for it, but still I just wondered ?

Gremlinertia · 20-02-2023 2:24am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120263640#Comment_120263640

Unfortunately not, this is a quote i took from psychiatry website:

"Can you see a psychiatrist without a referral Ireland?

An appointment with a psychiatrist can only be obtained by referral from a general practitioner (GP) or family doctor, or in emergency situations through a local HSE mental health unit"

https://www.irishpsychiatry.ie/external-affairs-policy/public-information/frequently-asked-questions/#:~:text=An%20appointment%20with%20a%20psychiatrist,local%20HSE%20mental%20health%20unit.

So local hospital may help if you do not have a GP or perhaps a walk in clinic if applicable

RabbleRouser2k · 20-02-2023 3:57am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120263649#Comment_120263649

If it's any consolation, your GP, your private clinic, your hospital, will keep any and all details private. The first step is asking for help. And that's genuinely the hardest part.

Graces7 · 20-02-2023 5:24pm

Do they not see patients privately? Paying of course.

Gremlinertia · 20-02-2023 7:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120266040#Comment_120266040

Yes but one must be referred

Graces7 · 20-02-2023 8:11pm

I just read all the info on that. It came across that you could as we used to say" Go private" if of course you paid for a private appointment?

Deja Boo · 21-02-2023 6:51am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120249885#Comment_120249885

Thanks RabbleRouser2k, it really does, and messes with your physical well-being too. Thanks for your wise perspective and advice, I appreciate it!

Graces7 · 22-02-2023 12:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120266909#Comment_120266909

See the small print here

Private Practice - Private Psychiatry Ireland - Dr Richard Bunn

RabbleRouser2k · 22-02-2023 4:55am

So today, Tuesday, was a rough day.

It's a year since my dog died. And yesterday, I spent it in bed. I just knew that today I was gonna feel like crap. Genuinely just a 'don't come near me, I will bite your head off for the mildest reason' kinda day. I was just snappy.

Didn't help that I got two letters today about appointments that just messed me up. I find it hard to arrange in person meetings, and I find in person meetings difficult. To say the least. Tried making pancakes, for the day that was in it, but my mind was all over the place from the moment I got up. They didn't turn out well, I think the dogs got most of them.

Then when I could just feel my anxiety was going to be a problem today, I decided to do practical stuff that would make me burn up the energy. Everything from walking, to cutting up firewood. Stuff that would bring a sweat out in me. I was trying to take myself out of the ugly situation that was within me. Even filled up the bird feeders, just anything to take my mind off of stuff. Sky box decided today was the day it would have a conniption, which made everything even more annoying.

I think I was 'lucky', in that I didn't lie to myself, and con myself into thinking today would be 'good'.

Anxiety and depression thread (Please read OP)

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