a bit late to the party - lets talk
 

did ya miss me?
Yeah I've been away for a while, don't take it personally. I've been hiding from a lot of people :p

It's been quite a year actually. last summer I finally had to come to terms with the fact that I needed some help.

I'd been suffering from what has now been diagnosed as Major Depressive Disorder for longer than I cared to admit. It got particularly bad around June last year and ended up with work very politely telling me to go away and come back when I was better.

Eventually I had to take about 7 weeks off work before I got myself to a state where I could function again.

I did the whole caboodle for depression treatment, Therapy, CBT, medication, exercise (actually ran a 5k , there are photos to prove it and everything!)

Now I'm mostly fixed, still on medication and probably likely to be for the foreseeable future.

Anyways I'm posting this because I've never been one to shy away from issues.

I'm trying to do my bit to end the stigma attached to mental illness. I was brutally honest with my coworkers as to what was happening, we now refer to the time I had off as my "crazy leave". I tell them that I'm still taking my "crazy pills"

so visit this website Bell Let’s Talk

I have to support m name sakes after all :)

Oh and I'd be very worried people, because in their infinite wisdom Transport Canada have decided that I'm still fit to fly a plane:blink::eek:

Z

Re: a bit late to the party - lets talk
 

Sympathetic as I am to your circumstances and to the cause of improving mental health generally, you're off your head if you think I'm going to give any money to that bunch of shits at Bell Canada. They could take 10% of my phone charges and use that to keep half the Province in "crazy pills".

Re: a bit late to the party - lets talk
 

Hello - welcome back to the other mad part of your life - BE! ;)

Aren't the statistics something like one in four people will deal with mental health issues in their life? That's huge and it's sad it is still carries some stigmas with it.

I'm glad you have found a way through it Zoe - and I'm sure there is more work to come. But acknowledging there is an issue and then being willing to tackle it (probably the hardest part) is the first major step.

We're living it with it right now in our house. My 18 year old has withdrawn from school, six months prior to graduation. It's been bloody awful to be honest - for her of course, but to live with and support it too is hard work. She has a plan of action though and we're all slowly working with and around her. There were four teen suicides in our small town last summer - all 18 or 19. It was no contest when it came to health versus grades!

Sending some BE hugs your way . :thumbup:

Re: a bit late to the party - lets talk
 

Bloody Hell, Zoe. Well done for facing the turmoil and confronting your demons, and huge kudos to you for sharing your story. Having tried to support a family member through a similar diagnosis a while ago, I can at least begin to imagine what a huge and brave step is must have been to acknowledge your "craziness" in public. Oddly, the "crazy pills" were described exactly as such by my family member, too.

I'm so glad TC have allowed you to continue flying. Apart from just being a cool thing to do, anything that brings you joy is a worthwhile part of ongoing therapy (that's a thought: can you claim for costs through OHIP?) so get out there and do it! Congrats too on the 5K. We'll have to catch up in the summer - if only because I think I'm on a promise for a blast in the little car... that'll add to the therapeutic workload :)

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Good to have you back on the forum ZoeBell,sorry to hear what a tough time you have been having. So glad you have managed to get some help and are working through your difficulties. It sounds like you have come a very long way in the last year. Good luck and keep reaching out to friends.

Re: a bit late to the party - lets talk
 

Welcome back and glad you're doing better.

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It's an opportunity to suck some money out of Bell for a good cause once a year. I've tried explaining that on here in the past with little success.

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Hat tip for identifying and addressing the problem, and coming out to help others.

If only me ex-w was so smart, there'd be two happier children and one mighty less stressed me around.

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Welcome back Zoe

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Hey Zoe, welcome back. You were most definitely missed. In case you didn't see the thread there is a meetup planned for March 11th, usual place, usual suspects. If you fancy it, would be great to see you.

Re: a bit late to the party - lets talk
 

Hey Zoe. Thanks for updating and glad that you are now coping better. Speaking of the Dark Side, SW7, The Force Awakens...you like?

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Nice to have you back. Glad you are getting things sorted out. From your post you seem to be your old self!

It affects us all in some way or another, just some don't face up to it.

Good on you.

Re: a bit late to the party - lets talk
 

Thanks all. It was rough , but probably more for Ben and people around me than myself sometimes.
I'm getting there, still not great in huge social groups at the moment , so I'll see how I'm doing in March before deciding if I attend or not. One of my biggest symptoms was completely isolating myself from friends and co workers. That and developing a truly awesome array of OCD rituals.

Love the idea of charging flying to OHIP :)
although i do have to say that Transport Canada have been pretty damn awesome during this and completely reasonable in their demands and amazingly quick in reinstating my medical.

too damn quick in fact. I'd taken advantage of the forced grounding to get LASIK ( which grounds you for a month anyways) the irony being that I got my medical clearance on the day I had the LASIK

Oakvillian, I'm so going to take you up on the car ride :)

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Opps forgot me manners- welcome back. We did miss you!

What does South Ken have to do with a star wars movie???

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was better than I was expecting , went to movies twice to see it and didn't kill anyone for irritating me ,
so either the movie was good or the crazy pills are working or both!

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I could suggest that if you like :)

;)

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Yes indeed, welcome back. I'd seen on your blog about the crazy pills, I call mine happy pills btw.

Re: a bit late to the party - lets talk
 

it's amazing how many of us are on them.

I work with a really nice guy and I always wished that I could be a bit more like him in the way that I dealt with hings. He just never seemed to get stressed out and angry like I did.

...turns out , he's been on the crazy/happy pills for years :)

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OH yes, there's a lot of it about. I found CBT to be a great help.

Anyway if you feel like being sociable one day then let's do stuff.

Re: a bit late to the party - lets talk
 

stuff sounds awesome :)

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+1

Zoe, you're the sweetest - take care of yourself :)

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I am glad you were able to access help and have a fairly quick recovery.

I take it you went private for treatment? Well the CBT, and counseling part?

If not, boy do they work fast in Ontario.


I've been on pills for a decade, not sure if they work or not, jury is still out..


Glad your doing better, I was wondering where you went.

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Not wishing to be tacky or anything but every time I read CBT I wince and cross my legs. :eek:

It has more than one meaning. And I don't mean computer based training.

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Thank god I waited until I wasn't at work to Google that one :)

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Welcome back Zoe - and yes, of course you have been missed!

I really admire you for coming to the fore and telling the world, I wish more people would. I'm really glad that you got the help you needed - and that you were brave enough to seek it (so many don't) - and that you are 'on the up'.

Hang in there girl!

[hugs]

:)

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I googled "CBT", came up with the usual info on the psychological therapy- nothing bad- I had to google " rude meaning of CBT":o

Bristol - you need help :unsure:

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:goodpost:


It's always nice to read when someone seeks help and they have support and well wishes from those around them.

So many people who end up seeking help end up having those around them ditch them, lose employment because of bad co-workers and so on.


Nice to hear a positive story from Canada, so often its difficult to impossible to get the help one needs even when the person want's it, 2 tier mental health system though which we need to get rid of in my view.

Re: a bit late to the party - lets talk
 

Welcome back mate.