To tell you I have a mental illness

[LEMisdisappointed]

Time to talk are having a "big share" on the demon facebook to raise awareness of mental health issues and prejudice.

i think this link will work

I suffer from depression and anxiety - it skews they way i take things sometimes, so something that would go over my head normally really upsets me and i over analyse EVERYTHING. I am on citalopram which helps with my anxiety and means i can get through the day without having a meltdown. I manage to be a good mum and decent partner and think im fun to be around. I am not ashamed to have a mental illness.

[LucyTheLittlestLioness]

YANBU.

I have PTSD and anxiety after an abusive relationship. I also had an eating disorder as a teenager which comes back to some degree every so often.

I am not sure whether I am more ashamed of the mental health problems or having been in an abusive relationship, I very rarely talk to friends about either. I know the two are very much linked though.

[BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability]

I have long term depression and anxiety, hospitalised due to very low sats in first pregnancy brought on by stress (panic attacks? Dont know, wasnt properly discussed, just signed off work). I self harmed when younger and have had small bad patches since. Health anxiety not helped by psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and prolapse. Trichotillomania too, which itself isnt helped by my psoriasis!

Am on lofepramine at the moment, and my head feels relatively normal for the first time in quite a while. :)

[PareyMortas]

I'm a scalp picker too, I always thought I was the only person who does this so it was amazing to read others do it too. I've suffered from mild depression but managed to get through it with StJohns Wort. I've stopped the scalp thing recently but now do something similar that I'm too ashamed to admit but would love to stop.

I started a new job recently and was pleasantly surprised when one of my new colleagues mentioned that she'd just upped her anti depressants. It was the first rl experience I've had that shows that the stigma is going.

[celestialbows]

Ooh I meant to add I'm a scalp picker too, and a face picker! I have weaned myself off from picking feet tho.

[celestialbows]

And I come from a toxic family!

[BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability]

Scalp, face, hair, eyelashes, nails, scabs, teeth, DH, DSs, wallpaper...

I'll pick at anything!

[ProudAS]

Well done OP. The more mental health is talked about the less taboo it will be.

I have Aspergers which is not a mental illness in itself but causes anxiety and most people with the condition, myself included, suffer from depression.

[HugAndRoll]

I pick spots, dry skin, scratch to scrape off dry skin from my scalp and pick scabs if I have them.

There should be a study into obsessive "pickers" and mental health issues.

[LEMisdisappointed]

gosh, i wonder if we should start a thread to see how many people pick their scalps who don't have mh issues! Although i imagine its an anxiety thing.

[Cezella]

Thanks for starting this OP, it's heartening to see so many others stories.

I have been struggling, on my own- for years now. Some days feel like a constant battle, I don't want to do anything or see anyone. I can't make decisions without agonising anxiety, my life has hit a bit of a stand still because I just don't know what road to take. I've self harmed, lost friends etc and really struggle in any kind of friendship (and as for men let's not go there as I have severe issues!)

I have never really admitted this to anyone before, feel massively worried just posting this to be honest- but recently a lady who has become my friend who I don't think I'll ever be able to thank enough, must have just seen some of all this mess going on inside me for whatever reason and dragged me to the doctor, made me talk about at least some of it and I'm now on the waiting list for counselling. But it's a very long and scary wait at the minute!

I am not quite honestly not ready to share that message on facebook- sorry everyone, i guess i am still very ashamed at the minute (though I agree nobody should be ashamed of their mental health!) but sharing this has been a massive step for me! So thank you OP- reading this has given me some hope that someday things may be a little bit better.

[LEMisdisappointed]

celestialbows I am on citalopram and I do think it has made me put a small amount of weight on (i am quite big anyway and reckon ive gone up a dress size or half a dress size since being on it) but for me, i couldn't imagine not taking it. I would think that the herbal remedies would be equally likely to cause weight loss, but i don't know.

One of the things that is recommended for anxiety is exercise, which i do find works for me - but im rubbish at doing it!

[DangerousBeanz]

YANBU
I have it too, and I'm on citalopram. It helps, a lot.

[LEMisdisappointed]

You don't have to share anything you don't want to on facebook cezella - gosh, im not sure i would come right out on FB and say i have MH issues, although most of my friends are aware im not sure my family would be qutie so understanding I have shared the "time to talk" banner on my FB, one that doesn't suggest that i myself have it, if anyone asks though i would be honest with them. I didn't start this thread to ask people to share on FB though, just really because that was where i saw it.I think Time to change is a site all on its own. I am pleased you are going to get some help with the counselling, it is scary but i find it really useful, my counsellor doesn't do much more than sit there and let me talk and interject from time to time, it helps me put my thoughts in some sort of order than i can understand.

[FloweryOwl]

I have depression and anxiety. My anxiety makes me physically sick on a daily basis. I take 150mg of Sertraline a day, used to take Citalopram but it didn't touch me. I ended up being sectioned twice when I was 19 & 21. I have to go to counselling and cognitive psycho therapy. I've been this way for years and I'm only 23. I'm not ashamed but I don't tell people that I know.

[springytooty]

I had a very bad time at that age, Flowery - hospitalised etc. I (somehow!!) got into art school when I was 19 and then couldn't hold a pencil I was shaking so much. I do suffer intermittently from depression now but it is nothing like the same, nothing like as bad as it was when I was younger. I have had acres of therapy and I now know why I have suffered so much. (I'm telling you this to hearten you, give you hope.)

[PaulSmenis]

idiuntno57. I can really relate.

I recently told someone who I that was a friend about my bipolar and it went down like a lead balloon. Apparrently we are all a bit bipolar.

I think people don't realise that it often comes with psychotic symptoms during episodes. Unfortunately, explaining that can make matters worse.

On the bright side, I came out recently to a few other people and they shrugged and carried a normal. They ask me how I am sometimes but don't make a big deal of it. That was nice.

[NeverKnowinglyUnderstood]

Hi folks, my name is Never and I too have mental health issues.

PTSD, anxiety, and depression. I take citalopram and have diazepam for more challenging days.

I do not hide my issues from people but it isn't something I generally mention when first meeting people.
Am about to go into an environment with totally new people and I don't know how I and they will cope if I have another particularly bad patch.

Anyway YAY for time to change.. I share most of their stuff on my facebook page.

[celestialbows]

Hey lemis thanks for the reply. I'm going to see how the rest of this week goes and consider starting the citalopram : I have an unused prescription in the cabinet!
Hugandroll the picking is such a pain, I mainly do it when tired or stressed,I try hard not to do it around my child but my husband is also a nail/cuticle biter and I have noticed picking tendencies in my daughter.
I used to pick my lips and feet until they bled and were quite painful and even today I'm sporting some unsightly marks on my face where I couldn't stop myself, I try to pick everything smooth, it must be an analogy!

[shrunkenhead]

Someone mentioned citalopram making them incontinent, has anyone else experienced this?

[filee777]

Shrunken it was me who it made incontinent and my doctor said she had never seen that before but knows it does happen.

I wouldn't worry too much about it happening to you.

[idiuntno57]

paulsmenis yes I get the everyone's a bit bipolar too sometimes...last time I told them what actually happened to me when I was psychotic once (abducted, raped etc.) that shut them up.

[wellieboots]

I have had depression from early teens ( not diagnosed until I was 19 and at uni, had been ignored by family doctor as "children don't have depression"). Mixture of counselling and ADs (sertraline, parpxetine, Prozac) until I was 27. I've now ended up with pnd after having DD. and I am a scalp, nail and foot picker, and also dyspraxic, which I didn't know was remotely linked so that is very interesting.

[LEMisdisappointed]

I do think that lots of people jump to that conclusion about Bipolar - i did wonder about it myself as i was the person who could be relied on for a "good time" life and soul of the party sort, yet could also feel like shit. I realise now that bipolar is something very different. I think its easy to make that mistake because when you are depressed it does feel so very much the opposite of being happy. Because people are more aware of the condition, which is a good thing, there will always be folk who will self-diagnose or say it about another persson.

[LEMisdisappointed]

celestial i don't think i know anyone who didn't have the prescription sat on the shelf for a while before they took the meds :) I had the suggestion from the doctor, told her i would think about it, was back after two weeks, then the script sat on my dresser for a week, then the tablets in the cupboard . The thing with citalopram, and other ADs is that they can feel a bit grim in the first week or two, although i didn't experience much in the way of side effects just felt a bit light headed. It does pass and they made such a difference to me, saved my relationship with DP and probably my life.

[EstelleGetty]

Good on you for starting this, LEM.

I have generalised anxiety disorder and I can also join the scalp and face picking club. I take 200mg Sertraline a day. I've recently started working my way through a mindfulness book, which I'm finding really interesting.