Mental Health Thread: It's on the Mind!

[Kungsu]

Mental health is a serious issue in the world that affects 1 in 5 people in the US alone according to the National Institute of Mental Health [link]. Mental health, however, tends to be overshadowed by the highly divisive and polarizing topics of today's current political theater. So, instead of starting yet another thread that's politically charged and hotly debated, I thought I would start a thread for helping people understand different mental health issues, the history and stigma around them, and generally anything else constructive or helpful.

I'm sure there are a number of users here struggling with their own issues. Feel free to share your own struggles or perspective on any aspect of mental health if you are comfortable doing so. Or, if you have questions about what a particular mental health issue is or how it affects the people who have it, feel free to ask! Just try to keep this from being an advice or therapy thread. And while it is unavoidable that the state of the American healthcare system will be brought up, try to refrain from turning this into a healthcare debate thread.

This started mainly when I posted my own story in a discussion on men's mental health. I will leave that at that quoted below with my own thoughts and input for any who are interested:

I will give you my story, as it will perhaps give you another perspective on this issue.

I was diagnosed with ADD as an adult, and it was bad enough that I did absolutely miserably when I was school. I could not for the life of me remember to do/turn in assignments on time, and not for lack of want or motivation. I took my failure hard and was desperate to succeed. I tried everything in my power to do so. But my father would still get almost psychotically enraged at my perceived "laziness" from lack of results and sling as much verbal filth as he could at me just out of sheer anger. Then, when my mother ultimately tried to shield me from this, he would turn on her 10x worse. I was led to believe that I was worthless, that I could never amount to anything, and that I was lazy and weak. Even after I was diagnosed I struggled to find any amount of self-worth in myself, and up until about a month ago I had become so depressed that my mind began to become interrupted with thoughts of killing myself. I didn't truly want to, but that just made these thoughts all the more terrifying.

Luckily I was able to get diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and am on medication now. But the stigma of "you must be successful for you future wife and kids" and, in failing, the label of being lazy and good-for-nothing almost destroyed me. It still lingers in the back of my mind. I am, and always have been, an extremely hard worker. But I have been disadvantaged by mental conditions, which has led to the perception that I was "just trying to get by" or didn't care. Instead of trying to figure out what the issue might be, I was railroaded down a path that was doing more harm than good.

It's not easy for me to share this, since I am still dealing with a lot of this today (including my definitely mentally unstable father). But I thought it would be important to show that lack of results does not equate to lack of effort. The stigma of ignoring the mental health of men is extremely harmful and sometimes even fatal, since almost nobody is willing to patch the holes in the leaky ship and would rather watch from the shore as the ship capsizes and sinks, wondering why the ship sunk "all of the sudden".

Are there men out there who are truly lazy and coasting through life? Sure. But some of those who appear to be lazy are honestly good people who are just trying to do their best despite their conditions.

While I certainly won't claim ADD is as bad as many other mental health issues, it does suffer from a severe lack of medical interest. Testing is extremely loose and up to the doctor's opinion (which is hit or miss, the latter being prevalent in the South US), awareness is practically non-existent, and a lot of people are misinformed about what ADD actually is, what it does, or how it negatively impacts those who have it.

This is why I started this thread. Not because I want people to know about my own struggles, but to provide a place for people to talk openly and freely about how their mental health issues affects their life, clarify misconceptions or misinformation, and humanize the people who experience these issues. Society continues to cling to its stigmas about mental health, wanting people to "act normal" and go unseen in the public eye. But here we are free to talk.

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Also, sorry if thread wasn't done right. I haven't started a thread before I couldn't find info on how to do so. If anything needs to be changed, let me know!

[Borderlands of Rojava]

I was diagnosed as a kid with ADHD and my family moved several times so I had to switch schools alot. I ended up going to school in Utica with some less than desirable types of people and I occupied this weird social position where I was not an outsider or loner but I wasn't in the center of the "in-crowd." Many people liked me but many also hated the fuck out of me and many of the folks who "liked me" really either did it out of pity or did it cause they thought my life was one big joke. I think it was around mid-11th grade when I realized few if any people truly cared about me but I suspected it for years and it plunged me deep into depression. That coupled with my parents treating me like the devil led to a lifelong struggle with self-loathing and insecurity that hasn't ended.

My anxiety issues started when two friends of mine died in car crashes a month apart when I was 18. The anxiety got worse after I met my last girlfriend who was abusive to say the least and very manipulative. She really tried to isolate me from my friends and made my family like me a little less because of how much time and energy I spent slaving away for her. Everyday I worry about all kinds of shit and the smallest argument can plunge me into a week of depression and drinking.

[Nuroblav]

Nice to see a thread like this - I think it's a very important subject, especially in a year like this.

I know I have social communication disorder - which basically is what it says on the tin tbh. Also this year has been particularly problematic, being stuck at home a lot of the time (a lot of what I enjoy doing isn't really on at the moment).

[Punished UMN]

I hate to burst your bubble, but the mods will lock this thread. I've asked for permission to post this exact kind of thread before and repeatedly been told that such a thread is against the rules.

[Major-Tom]

I've got Bipolar Depression (2 not 1, colloquially referred to as manic depression), and while I used to struggle immensely with controlling it, I've finally found the best avenues for me to handle it these last few years. Save for a few of my friends and family, nobody really knows I have it, nor do I have any truly debilitating hypomanic/depressive episodes anymore. Usually, if I feel one coming on, I take the courses of action I know that mitigate it to a point where I feel mostly content.

Regular and vigorous exercise, a healthy diet, a secure group of friends and self-help exercises when I feel my worst, all really make this quite manageable on a day to day basis. But even then, I'd like to someday find a way to help others with Bipolar II.

[Kungsu]

I hate to burst your bubble, but the mods will lock this thread. I've asked for permission to post this exact kind of thread before and repeatedly been told that such a thread is against the rules.

If the mods see fit to lock it I certainly won't stop them. My aim was to create a thread where mental health could be discussed, using people's voluntarily given personal experiences only to help further the topic and discussion, rather than mainly focusing on everyone's personal issues. With everything else that's going on in the world, I thought it would be important for mental health to be actively discussed.

If there is a change to the OP and general path of the thread that would help make it more appropriate for this forum, I am fully willing to listen. If this is a topic that is too risky and the mods don't want to deal with it, that is fine as well. The most I can do is try and see where it goes.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

I hate to burst your bubble, but the mods will lock this thread. I've asked for permission to post this exact kind of thread before and repeatedly been told that such a thread is against the rules.

If the mods see fit to lock it I certainly won't stop them. My aim was to create a thread where mental health could be discussed, using people's voluntarily given personal experiences only to help further the topic and discussion, rather than mainly focusing on everyone's personal issues. With everything else that's going on in the world, I thought it would be important for mental health to be actively discussed.

If there is a change to the OP and general path of the thread that would help make it more appropriate for this forum, I am fully willing to listen. If this is a topic that is too risky and the mods don't want to deal with it, that is fine as well. The most I can do is try and see where it goes.

FYI: there’s a sticked thread in General with resources for those struggling with mental health problems. Moderation feels this site is not the appropriate venue to seek help or discussion about mental health.

[Kungsu]

If the mods see fit to lock it I certainly won't stop them. My aim was to create a thread where mental health could be discussed, using people's voluntarily given personal experiences only to help further the topic and discussion, rather than mainly focusing on everyone's personal issues. With everything else that's going on in the world, I thought it would be important for mental health to be actively discussed.

If there is a change to the OP and general path of the thread that would help make it more appropriate for this forum, I am fully willing to listen. If this is a topic that is too risky and the mods don't want to deal with it, that is fine as well. The most I can do is try and see where it goes.

FYI: there’s a sticked thread in General with resources for those struggling with mental health problems. Moderation feels this site is not the appropriate venue to seek help or discussion about mental health.

I wasn't intending to solicit personal drama, aid or requests for aid, or anything of the like. Perhaps I have worded something incorrectly that makes it seem as if that is the case, I only intended to create a general discussion. And again, if this is inappropriate or the mods deem it unfit for this site I completely understand. If there is anything I can change in the OP to make it more in-line with the rules of the forum I am more than willing to make such changes. I did not see a rule against the topic itself, though I admit it is probable that I missed it entirely.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

FYI: there’s a sticked thread in General with resources for those struggling with mental health problems. Moderation feels this site is not the appropriate venue to seek help or discussion about mental health.

I wasn't intending to solicit personal drama, aid or requests for aid, or anything of the like. Perhaps I have worded something incorrectly that makes it seem as if that is the case, I only intended to create a general discussion. And again, if this is inappropriate or the mods deem it unfit for this site I completely understand. If there is anything I can change in the OP to make it more in-line with the rules of the forum I am more than willing to make such changes. I did not see a rule against the topic itself, though I admit it is probable that I missed it entirely.

Nor am I accusing you of any of that, just to be clear. But here’s a post by Reppy on why these discussions aren’t kosher on the site: viewtopic.php?p=18907299#p18907299

[Kungsu]

I wasn't intending to solicit personal drama, aid or requests for aid, or anything of the like. Perhaps I have worded something incorrectly that makes it seem as if that is the case, I only intended to create a general discussion. And again, if this is inappropriate or the mods deem it unfit for this site I completely understand. If there is anything I can change in the OP to make it more in-line with the rules of the forum I am more than willing to make such changes. I did not see a rule against the topic itself, though I admit it is probable that I missed it entirely.

Nor am I accusing you of any of that, just to be clear. But here’s a post by Reppy on why these discussions aren’t kosher on the site: viewtopic.php?p=18907299#p18907299

Fair enough, I see the error I have made. This thread should probably be locked and buried, as good an intention as it was. I don't want to put anybody here, nor the site itself, in any form of risk or danger. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I appreciate it.

[The Iron Lands]

I think mental health is so important to talk about nowadays because it is becoming more prevalent in the world. When I was growing up, not many people talked about it, but it seems like nowadays it is not hard to find someone with a mental health problem. I didn't really think I had a mental health problem until I began to feel sad all the time. At first, I was confused by it and thought I was just having a bad day. As I began to feel sad more often and not motivated like I used to, I knew something was up. Eventually, I went to the doctor to see what I could do. In the beginning, it was hard to find something that would work for me and also a doctor that knows what they're doing. Recently, I found a new prescriber that I enjoy talking to and started taking medications to help with my depression/focus.