Mental Illness.
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A large proportion of people I know - my sister, a few of my cousins, my sister-in-law have varying levels of mental illness.
Then there's a few women at my work essentially addicted to anti-anxiety medication (Xanax).
I sometimes wonder if this is just the world we live in or whether it has always been this way but not recognized.
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@Frank said in Mental Illness.:
I sometimes wonder if this is just the world we live in or whether it has always been this way but not recognized.
Bit of both I suspect.
Social media is toxic - sets unrealistic life expectations for people, and encourages and rewards narcissistic behaviour. At the same time, our awareness of mental health has improved.
I shudder to think what School/Uni would have been like with smartphones and video recording - glad I missed that.
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@Frank said in Mental Illness.:
A large proportion of people I know - my sister, a few of my cousins, my sister-in-law have varying levels of mental illness.
Then there's a few women at my work essentially addicted to anti-anxiety medication (Xanax).
I sometimes wonder if this is just the world we live in or whether it has always been this way but not recognized.
I could write paragraphs on this, maybe I will at some stage but this last bit is definitely true. I shudder to think at the amount of people of our Grandparents generation who would have been traumatised as fuck coming back from the war but who simply “manned up” and got on with life because that’s what people did in those days. The amount of undiagnosed disorders would have been staggering.
Contrast that to today’s generation who might get called a couple of “mean” names or get their pronouns mispronounced and subsequently lose their shit and have to go on medication.
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@MN5 said in Mental Illness.:
have to go on medication
There does seem to be a culture in a number of doctors of 'prescribe fast'.
Hell, Labour threw $2BN at Mental Health, and it sank without a trace. It's a really hard problem - basically unsolvable, but can be improved.
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Great topic, mainly because it's really resonating within the family and their mindsets on this trip and I've been particularly taken aback and struggling with my sister and her family on this trip, along with being the age of getting to understand the whole menopause thing. The other half is huge on the mental health help benefits and has undergone significant changes for the better over the last half a dozen or so years, sees a therapist every couple of months to work on things, all while now on HRT and all that guff. Will definitely come back for a ramble.
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@Duluth said in Mental Illness.:
@nzzp said in Mental Illness.:
There does seem to be a culture in a number of doctors of 'prescribe fast'.
Obviously there some more serious things, but the first step for many people should be go to the gym. Get the endorphins going
Endorphins give you the short intense runners high after intense exercise. Many never experienced it, I certainly haven't. But, interestingly, you do get the pleasant endocannabinoids - yup your body makes stuff very similar to cannabis.
Anyway exercise is starting to be prescribed by some countries for depression, it certainly works. Most of humans throughout time weren't sedentary, so got their exercise without gym membership.
But I agree, it's a mixture of our modern society and greater awareness.
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@Machpants man that frustrates me eh, I don't get the runners high - just the very occasional mild sense of satisfaction but usually just lung "pain" these days. Then again I'm also one of those people who can enjoy coffee any time of the day and not be buzzed. Swings and roundabouts.
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@Bones said in Mental Illness.:
@Machpants man that frustrates me eh, I don't get the runners high - just the very occasional mild sense of satisfaction but usually just lung "pain" these days. Then again I'm also one of those people who can enjoy coffee any time of the day and not be buzzed. Swings and roundabouts.
Good enough for me. I’ll leave running off the fitness regime for another year.
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Runners high is very real for me. So much so easy paced distance running (Lydiard called it LSD - Long Slow Distance) has become one of my happy places. It's probably keeping me sane enough to continue working.
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@Crazy-Horse bastard.
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@Bones said in Mental Illness.:
@Crazy-Horse bastard.
I am sure other drivers are calling me that too when I slowly and happily drive home after a run.
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Around 2019 TR Jnr (now 18) and a mate were mugged, for the most part TR Jnr was fine, had moved on.
Then one day when at school (several months later) meeting the guidance counsellor, when he was asking him about school and other stuff, he then suggested to TR Jnr he may have PTSD from the mugging, whether he was or not, he decided he was, anxieties, mood swings, supposedly down to this.
He had spoken to a proper counsellor for a while, funded via the Tindall Foundation, I was allowed to attend a few sessions, and I gotta say, I struggled to keep quiet with some of the BS he was telling the counsellor, he was feeding her what she wanted him to say, suffice to say, after half a dozen or so sessions, the counsellor felt she had done what she could, he claims it achieved nothing.
We have suggested he speak to someone else now, being a few years older now, but he doesnt think it will make any difference...
Now I'm not discounting what happened to him, or that it didnt impact him, but I also think people are very quick to go down the mental heath issue path, more so that I think they are difficult to truly diagnose (in that I am sure anyone could convince a Dr they have a mental illness) and likely difficult to cure for those with illnesses.
My employer introduced a service a year or 2 back, giving access to services for staff and thier families; apparently they burnt thier projected annual budget in a month, and despite this have continued, realising it is an important benefit they are providing to employees.
As to the runner stuff, I dont run much, but I gym, and love nothing more than rocking up to the gym, put my headphones on, crank up the tunes and smash some tin, that is my happy place, that is where any issues, large or small disappear, even if only for an hour or so.
Mental illness, like bullying, have always been in our lives, but the world has changed and people are aware and do talk about it more now, but what actually constitutes these things, has changed drastically over time too.
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@Frank said in Mental Illness.:
Then there's a few women at my work essentially addicted to anti-anxiety medication (Xanax).
IIRC, you work in Asia? My anecdotal experience is that benzodiazepines (very potent drugs) are prescribed liberally in several East Asian countries, especially compared to Commonwealth countries. My doctor in NZ would be very hesitant to prescribe them to me, but I've been offered them by doctors in China for several issues.
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@Machpants said in Mental Illness.:
Anyway exercise is starting to be prescribed by some countries for depression, it certainly works.
It really does. Serious anxiety runs in the female side of my family and my daughter had a real crisis about 5 years ago. CBT and drugs really didn't help but she started dance again for some reason. Within a month of taking up dancing (and now running), she started to get better and hasn't had a serious episode since.
Most of humans throughout time weren't sedentary, so got their exercise without gym membership.
This. I do wonder how many of today's mental issues are seeded in office work - remote or otherwise.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Mental Illness.:
@Machpants said in Mental Illness.:
Anyway exercise is starting to be prescribed by some countries for depression, it certainly works.
It really does. Serious anxiety runs in the female side of my family and my daughter had a real crisis about 5 years ago. CBT and drugs really didn't help but she started dance again for some reason. Within a month of taking up dancing (and now running), she started to get better and hasn't had a serious episode since.
Most of humans throughout time weren't sedentary, so got their exercise without gym membership.
This. I do wonder how many of today's mental issues are seeded in office work - remote or otherwise.
Kids playing hours of video games instead of running around outside...
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