Lived Experience Forum

[Appleblossom]

@frog 

I only just read your news about your mother on this thread.  Condolences from me too. I had wondered where you were.

Gently Bently

Apple

[soppykat]

Hi - I don't really hold much hope.  It seems my life has been half ruined because of my long standing extreme mental illness.  I just feel like my life is drifting straight to death 😞

[WIP]

Hi @soppykat 

I agree, it's really difficult to hold hope while living with such a debilitating illness. I don't hold much hope either, but others around me do (particularly my friends here on the forum). I just take it day by day, sometimes it's hour by hour.

Just know you aren't alone in your thoughts.

[soppykat]

hi @WIP - ive been mentally ill pretty much my whole adult life 😞 nearly 20years now...i just got the 3rd job rejection in 24 hours.. this sux

[WIP]

Hi @soppykat 

I'm sorry to hear about the job rejection. The job market is really tough at the moment. Good on you for getting to the interview stage.

Keep at it, you'll get something soon.

Ive suffered mental illness most of my adult life also. My latest depressive episode has lasted over a year. Isolation in Victoria really took a massive toll on my mental health.
It's tough going, I know!

[soppykat]

hi again @WIP - things are tough but i am managing ok i guess - this forum is good though because i can vent and stuff anonymously so yeah ty

[Former-Member]

First up my condolences to @frog from me, and a note to remember that time heals. 

On the topic of hope. I think hope is a core value for our mental health. I recall being in hospital without any hope, completely devoid of hope and depressed, in one of those facilitated group sessions. We were asked to draw what we feel so I drew jail bars as I felt imprisoned. A guy next to me drew a dove representing hope. We talked about hope and it was a huge turning point for me in my recovery. I started feeling some hope at that time. 

Hope for me is about the future and having the knowledge or faith that a future exists. Hope, it's lost sometimes when we become unwell as we can't see a future ahead. It can start as small as hope that you get through the next hour by hour. 

At the moment for me I hope for recovery and I agree that hope relates also to self acceptance. Funny, I used to think self acceptance was accepting that I have a mental illness; now I accept me as who I am regardless of any diagnoses from the past. I want to go beyond a diagnosis, be me and be well, there's hope in this.

Thanks for reading x

[frog]

Thank you @Former-Member 

Hope is a core mental health value for me too.

I also think acceptance is key. I read a book called Radical Self Acceptance by Tara Brach and it helped me.

Today what's giving me hope is having a normal day without drama.

Hi@LostAngel @WIP @Appleblossom 

and @soppykat I don't think we've met - hello!

[soppykat]

hi @frog how are you going? i am going good today cause im gonna be teaching music again yay

[Gwynn]

I read this paper, "Igniting and Maintaining Hope: The Voices of People Living with Mental Illness" which asked 74 people with mental illness to write about what gave them hope.  The following themes emerged, some in relationships to other people, but some in the person's own control:

Knowing I am loved or cared about
Feeling supported
Knowing others believe in my ability to recover
Feeling respected, listened to and believed.
Witnessing and hearing stories of recovery
Learning helpful strategies and information
Connecting and belonging.
Contributing or helping others.

Finding and using helpful services and medications.
Finding effective self-help strategies.
Self-acceptance and love
Recognising my progress.
Finding a spiritual connection.
Doing things I love and am good at.
Connections with an environment.

I really struggle with recognising my progress and feeling like I belong, but I do a lot of the other ones.