Will housing association help me move due to severe mental health issues?

Mutual exchange would be a good idea, as some people can’t be bothered with a garden.

I don't think moving will help with any of your issues. It goes deeper and you are focusing on the wrong thing. It's a bit like someone with a broken leg, i need a motorised wheelchair and i will be better
. You need to fix the broken leg.

Honestly this isn’t a healthy situation for your children. You need to actively work on recovering.

It isn’t a case of taking meds and going to therapy and expecting them to fix it, you have to do the work.

Feeling defeated and helpless and not actually putting the work and effort in to change that of course isn’t going to get you anywhere.

Will Op be able to leave the house to get to the park/ green space though?

I spent 8 years having CBT plus private therapy to overcome agoraphobia and panic disorder, and now on an SSRI I live a pretty normal life.

What therapy are you having and what medication do you take? It sounds like what you’re currently doing isn’t sufficient. Honestly it’ll probably take you less time to recover from your illnesses than it will take for the council to move you. People wait a decade for a house move.

Are you doing any personal work on your issues? There are hundreds of excellent work books online and self help books on kindle. Yoga massively helped me too, I started doing online yoga and meditation for a long time before I started going in person.

Ultimately, it’s a lot of hard work to get better, and most of it can only be done by you and you alone.

I spent my 20s mostly alone in bed drinking, barely leaving the house. Now I work, have a busy social life, and lots of friends and hobbies. You can get better.

Could you not ask to move into the empty flat downstairs to you if it has a garden?

Poor husband he's now to go to work a 2nd job. How will he have any time for himself or with his family? 🤢
Gardens need work and maintenance too. Who's going to keep it ticking over?

OP you haven't said has yourum.or other friend or relative got a garden. Failing that other green spaces, parks etc.

I think more needs to be invested in improving your mental health, rather than finding a property with a garden
( which obviously would be nice) but then you run the risk of ending up in a less desirable area.

What do you think OP?

Agree with all of this, particularly the concerns around getting to nursery etc if you ended up getting moved further away from it.

You have rightly identified that this is negatively affecting your children, and I think you need to use that motivation to try and get additional help so that you can leave the house.

Having a garden you can use would be nice, but it isn't going to change the fact that they're basically stuck at home with you constantly when you aren't able to leave the house.

You need to go back to the GP and ask for more help.

I don't know enough about housing to advise, but I do know about anxiety, depression & OCD.

You might already have thought of these, but some things I'm wondering are:

• Could you manage the process of moving? I presume you'd want to see the property before agreeing to move & then there's the packing, unpacking and organising change of address, new GP etc
• Could you manage an increased travel distance to your mum's and to daycare after moving? It sounds pretty tough already!
• How would you feel about having to leave the home you otherwise love because of your MH?

Are you getting therapy? The most effective thing for agoraphobia and OCD by a long way is CBT with exposure and response prevention?

Is there somewhere fairly nearby that you could work towards taking your kids. It sounds like a perfect goal for therapy.

Are there any voluntary or mental heath organisations in your area who could support you in taking the kids to the local park?

I think you need to focus on your recovery rather than finding more ways to accommodate it. Like others have said you could swap and find yourself with other problems; noisy neighbours, loud traffic, bad local schools etc all of which would cause you more stress.

It’s not working then is it? Have you been given any other medication options?

Have a look at swaps instead.

they won’t move you, unless you live in an area of exceptionally low demand. Your mental illness would be considered minor in relation to your housing needs I’m afraid.

are you medicated?

can your husband not work a 2nd job so you can save for a deposit quicker. You might possibly get a house swap but sadly not many people want a flat. Is there not any greenery near you that you can visit ?

I think, even it was achievable, it would be such a risk. You may end up with a garden and noisy neighbours, you may end up in a flat with a garden but neighbours above, you could be miles away from preschool.

I wish you well in your treatment, here’s hoping with the right support you can get your children out and about, especially in time for the 3 year old to go to school.

You'd have to do a swap op they wouldn't give you a garden for those reasons unfortunately.

Just posted at same time as your update so scratch the mum suggestion!