Brexit result and mental health

[erinaceus]

I often feel anxious where other people might not, or fear when there is no real, practical threat. I am finding the real fear and anxiety in myself and others about the uncertainty in the UK's future outright confusing.

How does one untangle one's mental health condition from the news on an historic day like this? Does one even try? I feel angry and frightened on behalf of those of us who rely on publicly-funded support to help us with our health and wellbeing however you definite this relationship, mental health, physical health, social support and so on. I feel lucky to live in this country and have had enormous amounts of support from both the NHS and the private sectors in the past for which i feel inexorably guilty, but there is not a lot I can do today about having received that support in the past when I was, in the language of psychiatry, too unwell to ask for it. My current support are great. At the same time, I also feel frightened and anxious for myself and my family and friends today and now, and I am quite confused by all of these strong emotions in myself and others. The places I go to for certainty and security, are now anxious and frightened too.

Can anyone relate? At times like this, does my history and diagnosis and so on become irrelevant? We with the mental health diagnoses are no longer the ill ones, in a nation that is itself unwell? Or something poetic like that?

I'm bumping this thread. I remember posting it. I have had a really rough time in recent months and I remember that this thread was helpful last year. The world's instability and my own seem to be reverberating off each other - it's coincidence but still there is some sort of interaction between my MH and the political situation.

Actually my MH has calmed down a bit now but February/March time was dire. I was in a really bad way around the time May sent the letter to Brussels, and then just as I was coming out of it the snap election was called. It's all a bit shit really.

Hope everyone is keeping on keeping on

erinaceous Is there anything you can do volunteering wise so you feel you are fighting back? Obviously, I don't know the details of your MH condition but you may find there is a contribution you can make somewhere. Are you able to donate to any of the tactical voting crowdfunds? Could you display a poster in your window for one of the political parties? Never think your contribution is too small to matter. As someone who's been round delivering leaflets I can tell you every poster in someone's window supporting your campaign gives you a real lift.

Best wishes to you - these are hard times but we are not alone. I try to think long-term and chip away at what is happening, things do turn around.

Hi, I hadn't seen this thread before but I just wanted to say that I've been in pretty much the same boat, in fact Brexit sent me back in to counselling! Which was needed anyway but Brexit was the trigger. I'm glad I did that because the last 11 months have been like a bloody roller coaster.

In counselling we've talked a lot about Brexit and feelings of identity confusion, feeling unsafe and facing a deeply uncertain future, feeling not "at home", shame and feeling unheard or voiceless all of which are big issues for me. It has been really helpful.

I'm still very troubled about the whole thing (and Trump) though and still feel like I'm in shock to a certain extent. For good or bad, I've become very well-informed about Brexit and have read a hell of a lot which means that I'm now much better informed than your average bod. My therapist and I have talked about how It's all related to the anxiety and trying to feel safe by seeking out more and more information to work out what will happen...which sometimes has the opposite effect. The other day on one of the mumsnet threads someone commented that if we crashed out without a deal that would be just fine...and I thought my God, you have no idea what that would actually mean and the chaos that would ensue. Ignorance really can be bliss I guess.

I do feel angry at politicians a lot and therapy has helped me understand where some of those angry helpless feelings are coming from. I still think the Gov is doing a terrible job and that we're in for a real hurricane but I'm better able to understand my reactions.

I also find that doing stuff that keeps me present (mindfulness I guess) is helpful as it stops me constantly catastrophising about the future.

Thanks HFPA and hilbobaggins

HFPA - your post was helpful. Yes, I can think of something I can do, and your post had reminded me how much it helps me when I do take positive steps.

hilbobaggins - a lot of what you say resonates with me. I find accepting how I feel helps as does talking to people with diverse perspectives just to find out how they are processing the situation. For a time I was so fragile that the news was a constant trigger so I took a news break, but the big news still reached me. Now, I am more able to be in the world again, if that makes sense. For me, I don't fight the constant catastrophising. I sort of go with it, read dystopian fiction, that sort of thing. I find it psychologically easier that way. Whatever works I guess?

I don't think you're alone in Brexit coinciding with your return to counseling. Maybe therapists are one of the few groups who are benefiting from the predicament? Hmm.

I like the idea of not fighting the catastrophising ericaceous especially with some dystopian fiction! Who/what would you recommend?

Ooh, loads: I love Lionel Shriver - she's not to everyone's taste and she can come across as somewhat bitter, but I found her latest, The Mantibles, to be hilarious, and read it when my MH was almost at its worst, as soon as my concentration came back. You need a strong stomach though. Shriver is best known for We Need To Talk About Kevin - I don't know if you've read that or seen the film? - but having read a number of her novels I would go so far as to say that "Kevin" is not particularly representative.

Also The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Attwood, recently been made into a TV series in the US), The Rise of the Meritocracy (Michael Young, a bit obscure but I love it), Orwell (again if you have a strong stomach), Michael Criechton (Jurassic Park and so on - a bit lighter and more science fiction-esque)...there are loads. I liked The Hunger Games trilogy. The Beach (Alex Garland) is one of my favourite novels. I probably have more suggestions. I read loads of dystopian fiction in my teens and am having a bit of a revival. It's helping me!

Brilliant recommendations, thanks so much! I've read Kevin and liked it so I'll definitely try another Lionel Shriver. Have also read The Handmaids Tale but that was years ago so I think I'll root it at again. I'll add your others to my list. Very appropriate as I increasingly feel as if I'm trapped on a dystopian prison island ruled by incompetent despots in which things are only going to get worse.

I haven't come across this thread before but I feel like it is where I belong.
I have long suffered with anxiety surrounding politics and world events and had prepping tendencies. Last year, not long after the referendum I ended up being sectioned (I've posted about this before under a different name) because I couldn't cope one bit and what I thought were coping statergies (withdrawing all of my money from banks, stocking up vast quantities of food, not l leaving the house, pulling out my hair) all took over my life.
I did really well until the NK stuff escalated and I am now back under the mental health team.
I am disabled as is one of my DC, I panic about what will become of us, especially after Brexit and under 5 more years of Tories. I want to move back to Ireland but my business is geographically centred and my husband wouldn't be able to find work in his field over there.

I have to do a lot of mental somersaults to keep my mind off these topics. I know some people don't agree with avoidance but it works for me. I have downloaded the duolingo app and am brushing up on my Irish language and learning Spanish.
I have downloaded lots of interesting podcasts and taken up knitting, crochet and rag rugging in order to keep my mind and my hands busy at the same time.
Gardening helps too but isn't something I can always manage.

I hope you manage to find some peace in all of this.

I am also finding Brexit and politics massively exacerbating my anxiety. Don't want to sound pretentious, but being pretty intelligent I can see the impact being Huge, and as another poster said, no deal would be a disaster for this nation. I feel very pessimistic for the UK and furious about the amount of lies being peddled in the media. Seriously stressful

So weird that you bumped this thread tonight erin. I've had an awful weekend and my MH has gone completely to shit. Unfortunately my meltdown came at a really bad time and DP is now pretty off with me.

Just feel desperately nihilistic at the moment and feels like 'the world's going to end so what's the point?'.

DP'S pretty worried about my drinking at the moment (with good reason) so I'm trying Disney movies and stroking our two kittens. It's not really working.

Hope your MH continues to ebb upwards.

hilbobaggins I increasingly feel as if I'm trapped on a dystopian prison island ruled by incompetent despots in which things are only going to get worse. That might be because in a way you are? It's not necessarily true that things are only going to get worse - who knows? And you might be less trapped than you feel. But you have fairly accurately summarized the situation in my opinion.

KeiraKnightleyActsWithHerTeeth The prepping tendencies must be tough to deal with although like many behaviors that escalate and become MH problems if sounds as if yours is also rooted in something that's going on around you, if you see what I mean? I found the NK stuff hard to deal with too. I think avoidance is a valid coping strategy, and learning Spanish sounds massively productive. For me, for all that the last two years have gone to shit MH wise I have taken up drawing and painting which is an unexpected total delight and one of the few things that kills anxiety and dissociation dead in the water, as long as I can get started before it's too late if you see what I mean. I carry my art stuff with me a lot.

Scribblegirl For me personally, an existentialist/nihilist perspective suits me so I sort of go with it. Hence the Shriver recommendation above. If the world is going to shit I might as well read a lot of dystopian fiction, that sort of thing. Drinking is not for me, I hope you can keep that under control - if that is what you want to do - as it can be tough for those around you as well as not great for you I would imagine. Which Disney movie is your favourite? Kittens come strongly recommended for MH stuff; personally I'm planning on a small furry once my living situation gets a bit more settled.

Hope everyone finds some peace in all of this.

This article might help some of you/us? It is US-centric but the author offers some suggestions. Like most advice, I don't agree with all of it but you can take from it whatever helps you.

How to stay sane if Trump is driving you insane - advice from a therapist

I too get stressed about world events, Brexit etc and also see things as 'dystopian'.

I try and make my own little world, within the big bad world that I can't control.

I do CBT self help. Some books that have helped me are:

'A Guide to Rational Living' Albert Ellis, Robert A Harper...oldie, but a goodie!^

'Many Lives Many Masters' Brian Weiss
'Journey of Souls:Case Studies of Lives between Lives' Michael Newton
'Watching Over Us' James Van Praagh

the last 3...I'm not religious at all, but what those books say, explains a lot to me why this world can be so awful.

I am seeing a pattern in this thread. Most eveyone who is experiencing anxeity (on this thread) and MH problems is expressing a socialist / left wing view on life.

In the range of political ideology between socialist and capitalist ideas, socailism is concerned with ideas of how to make the world a better place, whereas capitalism concentrates on how to make money and create wealth. In short one ideology deals with the world as it is and the other tries to change the world.

When we put these two together, in this thread, we are seeing people who want the world to be a better place suffering MH problems. I wonder is this a pattern on the wider scale? It seems to me this is an interesting area of research.

Itsnoteasybeingdifferent you raise an interesting point.

Which ideology do you think deals with the world as it is and which do you think tries to change the world?

If you find this topic interesting, the book Grace Unfolding touches on the intersection between political ideology and individual suffering. I found the conclusions it drew to be food for thought.

I am thinking capitalists deal with the world as it is whilst socialists in. capitqlist soceity try and change the world which of course they can't. This leads to stress and discomfort.

That's an interesting perspective. Capitalists are constantly striving to move capital around, and/or striving for economic growth. Are these not attempts to change the world as it is?

I rather think not.
Capitalists are not striving to make the world into a socialist utopia. They work hard at becoming rich in a market centered economy. They may get depressed because they are not successful.. or successful enough.

There is of course another component. MN being what it is is a self selecting sample. It may be there are a lot of seriously depressed and anxious capitalists.. who simply don't post on MN.

"Working hard to becoming rich" is an attempt to change the world as it is. One is carrying out some sort of activity ("working hard") in order to effect some sort of change ("become rich").