to ask what you think 'severe mental illness' means?

[ButteryPie]

Something recently has made me think that most people think it means something different to what I think it means. So, if someone said they were unable to work due to suffering from a severe mental illness, they had children and a dp who works part time, what is your assumption?

(please don't worry about offending me etc - I'm genuinely intrigued as to what people think from that sentance, whether more detail is needed, etc)

bubbles, my direct experience of people with mental illness is not of people with children, though i also knew someone at school whose mother's bipolar disorder impacted very negatively on her childhood. i think that people who respond well to medication - even where their diagnosis is of a severe condition - are probably often capable of raising their children themselves, though.

I think the exact diagnosis is irrelevant - mental illness is severe if it severely affects your ability to live a normal life. I don't think it's helpful to generalise what that means too much as MH is a very broad area, everybody's illness will manifest differently and what a 'normal' life means will differ from person to person.

I work in arts/mental health and I think creativity, including writing, can be positively beneficial, whether you are able to work or not. I know quite a few very talented (and published) writers who have 'severe' mental illness.

When it comes to work, you not only need to consider whether you can get a job but whether you can hold a job down long term. You might want to look at 'permitted work placements' which allow you to test your ability to work without jeopardising your ESA/IB.

When it comes to voluntary work, some places offer 'supported volunteering' - we have a few where I work. It's seen as a therapeutic thing to do whether it leads to a paid job or not.

Can't comment on the ability to look after kids, it depends not only on the severity of the mental illness but on the particular symptoms, e.g. somebody with severe agoraphobia would need somebody to take the DC out but could be 100% capable of caring for them while they're at home.

I don't think putting work out of the question for the next few years is really reasonable. If you are severely unwell, putting it out of the question for a few months might be realistic though.

Hope you feel better soon.

Butterypie are you going to tell us the situation?

well i had post natal psychosis after my fourth child and required time in a psych unit, i would guess that counts as a sevre mental illness, however once out of hospital and on meds i was able to cope with my children ok, did i find it hard? hell yes, did i phone my dp in tears and ask him to come home on occasions? yes but i generally pulled myself together and got on with it with a bit of support from family and friends, (no family locally, but some fab friends) and when necessary dp had time off work to help.

but on the whole in the year when i was ill i did cope with my children and a number of years down the line and one more child added to the mix we are fine and there was no harm done, but i am now really enjoying my last baby and feel sad that i cant reall remember much of the first year of ds4's life :(

i functioned on a practical level and cared for my children and loved them and played with them etc, but a part of me wasnt really 'there' ifyswim?

I'm working on an article about politics, in which I need to briefly explain my background to show where I am coming from, if that makes sense (don't worry, nothing exciting, will be read by very few people, I won't be paid, just something to keep my brain active and I'm not researching the actual article here, just that one sentence, and that is more for my personal satisfaction than the benefit of the actual point).

Right. I have rapid cycling bipolar disorder, sometimes (although rarely these days) including psychosis. I put severe as I am aware that there is a tendancy to assume bipolar means someone who is sometimes a bit down, but not always. When I am ill, I am completly unable to care for myself, never mind others, and have had hospital admissions and been in too many police cars to count, purely on Mh grounds.

However, 25% of the time I am almost completely normal, 50% of thw time able to function with difficultly, 15% notably very ill, and the remaining 10% I am your stereotypical madwoman, doing mad things. The kids are in nursery most of tge time dh is at work, and the time they aren't I have relatives on standby.

How do I summarise that? I could do it if it was someone else, but I'm too close to this. Also, while I don't want to hide it, the small readership is likely to be people I know.

You could say you have a mental illness that is at times debilitating, and more manageable at others.

You could say you have a mental illness that is well managed most of the time but can result in periods of severe disturbance needing intense treatment and support.

Would that cover it, do you think? I worry it will sound like I have depression that sometimes makes me feel slightly tired, if you get what I mean (I know yhat ian't what depression is, but I'm putying myself in the mind of a strange internet person who comments on articles)

"but I'm putying myself in the mind of a strange internet person who comments on articles"

Going by some of the people that comment on articles, there isn't always a mind involved

Honestly, I think that the suggestions by MrsD and deliakate are both perfect.

Bi-polar
Psychosis
Schizophrenia
Puerpal psychosis
Pnd

And that doesnt even cover the issues with mental health that addicts have.

Not sure what you are asking really

Ah...I see.

Well I would agree with other posters....just give as much honest information as is absolutely neccesary.

My typing has gone awful, I need to go to bed. Thanks :-)

Something that makes it impossible for you to hold down a job or to function in life in the same way as another, similarly able, person without a mental disability.

ButteryPie - I think it depends on our audience and how much you want to disclose. Could you explain exactly what you have put here

"I have rapid cycling bipolar disorder, sometimes (although rarely these days) including psychosis. 25% of the time I am almost completely normal, 50% of thw time able to function with difficultly, 15% notably very ill,

but I would explain more the line below because I'm not sure what a 'madwoman' is or does

'and the remaining 10% I am your stereotypical madwoman, doing mad things.'

it's possibly explaining what this means that will explain your point of view IYSWIM!

Mad things - pretty much all the stereotypical stuff - shouting at people who don't exist, paranoid delusions, running down the street naked, snogging/feeling up/flashing random people (with consent - there has never been any question of me being a risk to anyone else), spending loads of money on odd things, knocking myself unconcious against walls, rocking in corners and muttering, laughing manicly at an ant, you know, imagine a madwoman in a film, and I've probably done it. :-)

Sorry, should laugh, but you have to sometimes. A lot of the time (not always) the proper manic bits leave me quite happy in myself, I just leave a trail of destruction that makes things very difficult when I start to come down.

*shouldn't laugh

Mental health is something we all have, sometimes its poor, sometimes in severely impaired sometimes it OK thank you very much .

I work in mental health services and I can truthfully say re your question on defining severe and who could be volunteers.

I have worked alongside people with schizophrenia and bi-polar and other more typically stated "severe forms of mental illness", and they are the most capable and aware and able people I have met , yet someone with whats seen as a " lesser" mental health issue IE anxiety or depression have been almost pole axed with a complete inability to care for themselves never mind any one else.

Each condition is unique to that person and how they function with that illness would depend on management, compliance with meds and how much support they receive.

oh and just a point (my area of work we try desperately to get rid of labels and stigmatising) so the poster who said most "most schizophrenics aren't violent" grated a bit . Please do not define people by their illness. Someone with schizophrenia does not deserve to be called schizophrenic any more than someone with herpes is a herpesian .Or someone suffering migraines a migrainette.

we need to get away from labels and defining people by them

My friend sounds similar buttery though she suffers from personality disorder, when she is well you wouldn't even know she ever suffered mh problems, she does voluntary work, has children ( is a fantastic mother) when she is unwell she suffers from psychosis , promiscuity, paranoia, she can also be extremely cruel in the things she does and says, none of these things are characteristics she ever displays when she is well

Also agree with fit to drop, I work in mh services and believe for some people the stigma attached to labels can be as harmful as the illness itself, mainly due to lack of understanding regarding mental illness

I had a severe mental illness for three years, culminating in a breakdown.

Every day I would wake up and want to die, dying was preferably to living, I felt like I was drowning, that I could not breathe, I would not leave the house, I slept all day, I never bathed or looked after myself.

Every little problem seemed huge and insurmountable.

I was referred to a shrink, and for therapy, I now take anti-depressants and anti-psychotics but after three years I am back to work full time. I feel reborn.

Depression sleeps it never goes away.

I've been diagnosed with BPD but I live with that every day and have done so since I was 15 it's a life long affliction.

Unless you have suffered you can never truly understand depression, you cannot pull yourself together. Life seems just so hard, whilst you are sleeping nothing can hurt you.

The furthest I went out the door was to walk my dog.

Three years of hell.

So sad that, at some point 1 in 4 of us will suffer from mental illness yet its stil the elephant the room, isnt it?

I had late onset pnd with ds1 and it was horrific....I wasnt me anymore.

Lifelong and major e.g. bipolar with psychosis - so periods of time where person may lose touch with reality. Also szichophrenia I would see as a severe mental illness.

But this doesn't mean someone can't work. My partner has bipolar and has had psychosis and works full time. Many severe mental illnesses can be manged with medication e.g. lithium and monitoring and so the person can work. Although it may take some years to get to that stage.

There is a fairly well known psychiatrist who has bipolar and has openly championed the needs of people with bipolar. She has worked for years and years. Also research has shown that although people have szichophrenia for life, if they survive into 40's/50's the symptoms tend to get significantly less.

But the mental illness doesn't go so does need managing with medication and lifestyle.

Symptoms of OH's psychosis was believing that people could read OH's mind, that OH was part of a plot to save the world, that red cars were people following to make sure OH was safe, that 9/11 was a movie, that OH could communicate with animals and lots of other out of touch with reality stuff.

Friend who had psychosis with depression thoughtthe mental health crisis team were bugging her home and phone, that they were spying on her from cars, that they were going to turn up and take her away in an ambulance and that the crisis team were sneaking into her house and stealing her cheques and credit cards from her.

The reality was that the GP was hopeless and nobody from the crisis team knew about her existence at this point because the GP wouldn't make a referral - she had heard someone mention the crisis team. It wasn't until friends contacted mental health team and finally persuaded someone to visit that she got any help.