i went with sweep and spoke to the a welfare rights person who was very nice and i told her everything about what i wanted to do and how i have progressed and she was very nice about it and was saying things like ‘well done’ and stuff, i was asking her if i could ever do any work but it is a really difficult topic.
anyway i was thinking now that i am on the counselling course that i will have to do even more spilling of the guts and i will have to bare all to everybody there, i will have to have the courage to tell people i have suffered mental illness but hopefully i get to know some of them first and trust them.
I know quite a few people with mental illness who are pursuing mental health counseling in school. Maybe some schools this is more common than in others but I know that they haven’t felt negatively judged by their peers when disclosing this fact.
I’ve put myself out there like this before. For me it was getting up to a podium in front of a hundred people and talking about what my struggle was like. I tend to think after doing this that any of us can find the courage within ourselves to talk about what we’ve been through with others. I got only positive feedback after having got up there and spilled my guts as you say.
@Resilient1 You have done the perfect thing. Talk about yourself in others convenience and you’ll feel better. And don’t take it personally if someone seems not interested. Think of it as ‘Maybe the person is having its own hard time which could be greater than yours.’
it felt like a weight off my shoulders like i never thought i could talk to anybody about this without some sort of consequences to my benefits or something but it was totally confidential so i felt more at ease.
I think that is very brave and I’m glad you have this chance. I’m sure it’s not easy and after working so hard all this time to not bring it up, it’s going to feel odd I’m sure, to start being so open about it.
I’m proud of you for your courage and your willingness to do this in order to help others and shed some light on one of the most misunderstood illnesses out here.
i know what you mean, i had been keeping it a secret when i was doing social care but now its like i have to tell people i think, i don’t think i should keep something like this to myself in a counselling class where you have to share everything, i’m just worried about how some people might react. i am very scared of being judged and treated differently, i hope no-one stigmatises me.
i spoke with her again today and she was really nice again, she told me that if i started work even if it was part time that i would have all my benefits reassessed and that is not what i want at all, she also stated that if i went to the job centre to speak with an adviser they might reassess me just for that too so my hands are tied about that, she was asking why i want to work and i said to her that i have been on the up ever since starting a new med 4 years ago and i want to keep improving but sometimes you hit a brick wall and its like you are stuck or something, my brick walls are basically working and finding a partner, housing and getting my driving license. so we were talking about that and i was saying how i can’t get it out of my head and that i feel like a cabbage and an invalid and she was telling me that its not my fault, she thinks i am aiming to high which is probably true but then i would say the sky is the limit i guess. i basically spilled my guts again, this is the kind of things that eats away at me and gnaws at my brain so it was good to get it out in the air. so i have to see her after i have my treadmill test.