Need some advice and perspective please

[username9866]

I've had a rough few years mental health wise and could do with some advice.

I've been off work for a few years due to my mental health. I ended up in hospital with psychosis and had a breakdown where I couldn't even make it to the kitchen.
I was under the CMHT and Crisis Team. I also went into a halfway house. I was on antipsychotics and antidepressants. I also suffer from agoraphobia.

I've just been discharged from the CMHT and am no longer on medication. I'm a bit better than I was and am thinking about going back to work.

However, my hair is all matted and I haven't washed or washed my hair this year. The psychiatrist I spoke to said I sound ok and to see my GP if I need more help.

I'm sick of my life and am well qualified and experienced and want to get out of the house. However I think I'm maybe not ready but it seems like a vicious circle. I'm very isolated and need to get out in society but I'm worried about losing my benefits and not getting them back and also about the state of me.

I've put on weight, my hair is a mess, my clothes don't fit. I'm worried about not coping at work. It feels very overwhelming. What do you think?

Maybe give yourself some more time to bed down the self care routines- when you go back you want it to be sustainable.

Things like showering dressing and doing your hair every morning. Are you able to shop? Places like the library, gym, are easy to go as can be anonymous but still around people, find one social group to join- all those things will help when at work too.

It's not too hard if you just go straight in and wash hair then use a bottle of conditioner to get all the knots out. Don't worry about brushing it before is what I mean basically. Also feels amazing after.

Thank you. I do need to get my hair sorted out. At the moment getting out isn't possible as my agoraphobia is quite bad but those are all great suggestions for when I'm a bit better.

Quite a lot has happened since I posted this. My hair has been cut off, all the matting has gone.

My house is clean and the bed is made. I even had a charity collection to take away a load of junk. I spoke to my Dr today and she's coming to see me next week.

I don't think my problem is solely mental health, I think something else is going on. I might be deficient in vitamins so I bought a load of supplements.

However I'm out of breath with very little exertion. I tried to arrange blood tests but the Dr thought it would be better to have a check up. I think it's probably very low vitamin D or iron but she wants to check my heart and lungs.

Don't worry too much (if possible) about the check up. They look at some things as part of preventive medicine - even for "well" people. Although it's worth checing to see if there's an underlying physical reason for the physical sympktoms.