what Work / Job did you find best suited you and your mental health ?

[BellaLDN]

Interested to know if anyone is in a career / job they love that worked well alongside they’re mental health?

Working with horses, outside.

Suffered with depression and anxiety when working at my well paid office job. Took a ‘gap year’ (age 25) to train on a riding school/event yard and neve returned to office work.

Firmly believe that working outside is much better for your mental health and the responsibility of knowing animals depend on you gives me a driver to get up and out no matter how I feel. Bloody cold today tho!

@LurkyMcLurker I totally get this!
I grew up on a farm as a kid. And dealt with depression as a child considerably, being stuck with a not so great mental health suffering divorcee father at times. I’d take a pony out, sometimes not even tacked up. And just ride or hang out in the coubtryside until it got dark and had to return back to said depressive household. There is nothing like caring for an animal or being around them. I live nearer London now but but whenever I feel life has got to me I’ll go to a riding school and join one of their hacks if I can afford it to feel at peace again. Being outside, fresh air, animals. It’s better than any medication

I think having a job you like (if possible love) and a supportive team are more important than the type of actual job. And job satisfaction and feeling appreciated help a lot too. I'm a HCP and love my job, largely because I work with such lovely supportive people. My colleagues and managers 'get' mental health problems and are supportive which really helps. DH works in retail, it's not a career that he ever really planned to go into and started out as just a low stress part time job to pay the bills. But he has discovered that he enjoys it.

I think it is partly that when you work outside you are more in touch with the seasons as well. I think it is only natural to feel depressed at this time of year -cold, wet, lack of sunlight but out in the fields we accept it and know that spring is coming so we have a motivator to keep going.

In an office you are protected from the reality of the seasons, everyday is very similar so it is harder to keep a grip on why we feel so low at this time of year. Likewise, if you are inside all summer, you don’t get the high of being out in the sun all day, eating up vitamin D.

Not explaining it very well and this is all my opinion but I do think office environments are unhealthy for our mental health as they are so separated from the natural world. I sound like a mad hippy lol

I've had mental health issues for 25 years. Eight yeaes treatment was very successful and I'm pretty well except for OCD which rears it's ugly head alot and is particularly bad currently. I work in care and I love it. My obsessions and compulsions disappear whilst I'm at work. It's my "free" time, when I can think straight and function well.

I would agree with the working with horses. I have been doing it for 12 years now and I'd say I'm getting back on track now. Prior to that I had a good job and income and was the main breadwinner. But I'm not going to stop and return indoors to working with people playing their silly games. Good hard physical work, the horses don't judge you. I'd reckon gardening would be a good one too, creating something beautiful from scratch. I think it's possibly all about reconnecting with nature which helps heal you.

Working in a primary school.

I’m kept very busy which keeps my mind busy, and the routine is brilliant for my anxiety. I like being ruled by the bell and knowing exactly where everyone is / what’s happening / what’s coming next.

Also only having to think about a subject for a certain amount of time. I wouldn’t like a job where it was similar things all day, so for me 1 hour of english / 15mins play duty / 1 hour of maths, etc is brilliant.

Also a friend of mine has suffered with severe depression and ended up taking time off. Sitting at home with no money made it 10 times worse so she took a part time job at an animal shelter where she works both inside and outside.

The difference in her is unbelievable! She has been there for about 18 months now and is full time. She gets home exhausted, frezzing and filthy but is the happiest i’ve ever known her.

I have schizo affective disorder with depression, also epilepsy.

I work part time as a healthcare assistant in a hospital.

I really enjoy my job but have to work part time as I get over tired from all the meds & tiredness can trigger a seizure.

Also I get obsessed & paranoid too easily so I need to not work full time.

Luckily my managers & occupational health are very good so far.

Another one who works with horses, longest I’ve ever had one job for!

I've got complex PTSD, depression and anxiety and I work in paediatric nursing. I adore it, it's busy work which has structure - ward work is, for the most part, predictable and I enjoy the routine of it. I find shift work works well for me because I can work 3/4 long days or nights and then have time to recuperate.

I adore working with children, they are incredible joyful little souls who keep playing whatever they're going through. The vast majority of HCP colleagues all support eachother. We understand mental health.