Lived Experience Forum

[YellowbrickRoad]

Hey! I’m new to the whole forum thing so pointers are welcomed! 

I’m a 26 year old female and I’ve joined the forum as I am lacking outside support at the moment and some things leave me wondering whether I’m crazy or not... so I thought maybe a forum where I can get some reassurance would be helpful. 

My mental health state and situation would probably stem from a breakup (partner of 7 years, ended 3 years ago now) and drug use that escalated as I tried to cope with that. I feel like I am prolonging dealing with my past by using drugs and I know that it’s worsening the longer I do it, I’m beginning to change and become a completely different person and it’s quiet scary and sad - I used to be so easy going and loved to have a laugh and now I feel like I’m morbid and sour. 

Anyway, just wanted to blurt that out and introduce myself for now! Thanks for reading. I hope I can find some sanity from this forum and get my head back on straight eventually.. hopefully I can help others like me also 🙂 

[CheerBear]

Hi @YellowbrickRoad (cool username!) and welcome to the forum 🙂

I think that question of whether you're going crazy is one lots of us ask of ourselves. Noticing changes in us that we don't particularly like or that aren't really us is tricky. There are a number of things about myself that I and others notice, that can trip me up and make me wonder where they've come from and what to do about them. I think being able to notice changes and question them is a great starting point that can help us work towards being more of who we want to be (that's what I try and tell myself anyway!).

I mostly wanted to come by and say hi and welcome. Have you had a look around the forum? There's heaps on offer for everyone and plenty of members around to meet and chat with. One pointer I was given that helped me when I joined was to use the @ symbol to tag a member - it can help us see replies and stay connected with others. 

Looking forward to seeing you around 🙂

[Zoe7]

@YellowbrickRoad Welcome to the forum 

I think we all at times wonder if we are a little crazy but that is not isolated to just people with mental health issues. The world is full of people with varying degrees of 'sanity' yet we all live together in such a diverse world - and we all belong and have our place in this world.

You have had to deal with past mhurt and even though you may not have chosen a productive way to do that it is what it is and what matters is how you move forward from now.

We are here to support you but I was wondering if you have a regular GP that you can see to at least get the ball rolling with additional support in your life. It seems very much like you want the help and your GP is the first port of call to get that help.

Take a look around the forum - read some posts/threads and jump into conversations where and when you feel comfortable to do so - and ask questions if there is something you are uncertain of. It is a wonderful community of caring and compassionate people here and I am sure you will be welcomed by many other members as you get to know us more.

Feel free to tag me ialso f you have any questions and I will do my best to help you out.

Again - welcome to the forum and I hope you find it as a supportive community as I do 

[YellowbrickRoad]

Thanks Zoe! I do have a GP who I see as often as I can. She is aware of the problems I’m facing and we have trialed a few different things over the last year or so, but I am hoping to get help finding a good psychologist next time I see her, I have seen one before and although that particular one didn’t help a whole lot, I found that just getting my problems out on the table was a relief in itself 🙂 I am also thinking about getting back in touch with some community services that I know can be a huge help, I’m just waiting for the right time I guess. I’ve got to want to do it, so I’m trying not to stress about fixing my problems all at once! I have enough stress haha! 

Thanks for your message! 🙂

[Zoe7]

@YellowbrickRoad It seems like you have some good support with your GP and are doing what you can with finding more support. Finding a good psychologist would be a bonus - even if it is just as you have previously done and have them there to talk through things with them. Sometimes that is enough. I presently have a psych I only see every couple of months - mainly because I don't need that kind of support anymore on a more regular basis. I also only see my pdoc and GP fortnightly now but it was weekly for the last year or so. Having a good support team around us really does help so I hope you find all that for yourself as well.

I totally agree that you have to want to do it all - there is no point having all these things in place if you push against the help ...but you seem like you are in that place where you do want the help and that is a positive. Sometimes it can be like a snowball effect - the more you have in place the more support you get and the easier it is to move forward. I hope it is that way for you.

Keep us updated how it all goes and continue posting - I will be very interested to follow your journey and to support you how I can with it all.

Just a tip - if you tag others by using the @ symbol in front of the name then those you have tagged will receive a notification that you have posted - if you tryp in the @ symbol you shoul dget a drop down box with names that have posted here and you click on the one you want.