Discussion & help on depression & mental health related issues

Also, when I used to work on the building sites, we had this labourer for a while. Lovely lad, he was a great laugh and genuinely seemed nice, but as soon as he'd had a couple of pints he was a totally changed man. Running around shouting, trying to fight people etc... I had a bit of a difficult time with him at a Christmas do once, he was dying to fight me for some reason and I obviously didn't.

A few weeks ago I heard that he was found hanging in his home. Early thirties, three young children. That Christmas do was the last I saw of him and it breaks my heart.

No one ever knew, which is really, really sad. He probably thought he couldn't talk to anyone about it.
 
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Top post Groucho and fair play to all who have posted about any difficulties you may be going through or have gone through. It may be a footy forum but like others have said, its good to talk about it because its always a person you least expect who ends up being the best listener and can sometimes help. Not always but sometimes a problem shared is a problem halved. Once again Groucho, top top post.
 
Top post Groucho and fair play to all who have posted about any difficulties you may be going through or have gone through. It may be a footy forum but like others have said, its good to talk about it because its always a person you least expect who ends up being the best listener and can sometimes help. Not always but sometimes a problem shared is a problem halved. Once again Groucho, top top post.

That final sentence is something I agree with, if like me talking isn't the preferred method, at least communicate your feelings by any means.

Brilliant post by the way.
 
That final sentence is something I agree with, if like me talking isn't the preferred method, at least communicate your feelings by any means.

Brilliant post by the way.

It stating the obvious sometimes isn't it mate with the likes of "a problem shared is a problem halved" and also what you said previously about feeling alone, you don't have to be on your own but they really do ring true. My mum always used to say it when I was a kid and I've always tried to implement that phrase with friends and family and make sure relationships are always open and honest, at least that way if everyone is aware of a problem there's more of a chance of being able to help.
 
I know I come across as a joker and someone who doesn't take things seriously but there is a side to me that is serious, caring and if anybody feels the need to send a private message of how they're feeling or needs some advice then I am wiling to help. If you want to rant and get stuff off your chest I will listen and offer support. I'm not a professional or medically trained but I've been through and seen a lot in life that would probably have you wondering why I'm not a drug addict or something. I done 3 counselling sessions when I was 19 due to going off work with anxiety. I could've done with more but I began to use music as my outlet. Writing lyrics about things I'd been through was upsetting but it worked. I got a lot off my chest this way. A lot of us wear a mask, we hide our feelings and problems and that may be well and good temporarily but at some point something can happen so small that it breaks the camels back.

I know I come across as a bit mad and I hold my hands up to that. There's times I can lose it and be completely out of order but I always realise what I've done is wrong when I've had time to think. I'm no professional but I've had the experience and I can say without going through what I have I wouldn't be the strong independent person I am today. Life has made me the person I am today. I would only be happy to help anybody with thoughts of depression or suicide, trust me, I've been there.
 

I know I come across as a joker and someone who doesn't take things seriously but there is a side to me that is serious, caring and if anybody feels the need to send a private message of how they're feeling or needs some advice then I am wiling to help. If you want to rant and get stuff off your chest I will listen and offer support. I'm not a professional or medically trained but I've been through and seen a lot in life that would probably have you wondering why I'm not a drug addict or something. I done 3 counselling sessions when I was 19 due to going off work with anxiety. I could've done with more but I began to use music as my outlet. Writing lyrics about things I'd been through was upsetting but it worked. I got a lot off my chest this way. A lot of us wear a mask, we hide our feelings and problems and that may be well and good temporarily but at some point something can happen so small that it breaks the camels back.

I know I come across as a bit mad and I hold my hands up to that. There's times I can lose it and be completely out of order but I always realise what I've done is wrong when I've had time to think. I'm no professional but I've had the experience and I can say without going through what I have I wouldn't be the strong independent person I am today. Life has made me the person I am today. I would only be happy to help anybody with thoughts of depression or suicide, trust me, I've been there.

Top post Mick and your absolutely spot on with the lyrics thing, its a great way to get things off your chest without saying it out loud but reading back on what you write is a good way to analyse things.
 
Brilliant thread! This forum is my absolute internet highlight of the day, for the most just reading, not that comfortable posting
quite yet. Reading this bit on mental illness in between the regular ones is just so relevant to my own daily life, working in an unselected gp-clinic. Probably 50 % of my week is seeing patients with mental illness/symptoms, and still its unbelievably taboo in our society(norway...)
My best advice would be to reach out, here its usually the guys who go unnoticed the longest. Tell your family, your mates, your doctor. Its so common, especially anxiety/depression, and there is definitely a way out of it. In most cases seeking help is the first step to recovering.
Brilliant thread!
 
not sure I agree with the title tbh. Depression is a disease which kills people just like cancer does, one thing for certain is that depression doesn't discriminate, which is why we see suicides from people who seemingly have everything in life.
 
If you have severe clinical depression there's a pretty good chance you don't know it and it's therefore up to others to spot changes in your day to day behaviour and try to persuade you to see a doctor. Severe depression can also come with psychosis which, again, lessens the chance you know something is wrong.

Probably explains why so many suicides / suicide bids are from young men who are probably living by themselves with no "supervisor" on hand.

Some of the signs of severe depression are lack of motivation, not taking pleasure in things you used to enjoy, carelessness about appearance, constant tiredness (perhaps with occasional bursts of high energy), general feeling of sadness, a feeling of disassociation from the world around you (as though everything is a film), poor appetite, disinclination to exercise.

Unfortunately, many people take to drink / drugs. As far as drink goes, you might as well take poison as it is itself a depressant.
 

If you have severe clinical depression there's a pretty good chance you don't know it and it's therefore up to others to spot changes in your day to day behaviour and try to persuade you to see a doctor. Severe depression can also come with psychosis which, again, lessens the chance you know something is wrong.

Probably explains why so many suicides / suicide bids are from young men who are probably living by themselves with no "supervisor" on hand.

Some of the signs of severe depression are lack of motivation, not taking pleasure in things you used to enjoy, carelessness about appearance, constant tiredness (perhaps with occasional bursts of high energy), general feeling of sadness, a feeling of disassociation from the world around you (as though everything is a film), poor appetite, disinclination to exercise.

Unfortunately, many people take to drink / drugs. As far as drink goes, you might as well take poison as it is itself a depressant.

That third paragraph freaked me out big time. Pretty much sums me up the last coupla years.
 
Might be worth talking to a doctor then, Nik. Wouldn't do you any harm. Modern life can be a struggle - no shame in getting a helping hand.

Yeah maybe. Just feel a bit ashamed because I used to be completely different and confident etc. just feel like I've lost something that made me, me. I do get that it's common in lads in there early to mid twenties.
 
If you have severe clinical depression there's a pretty good chance you don't know it and it's therefore up to others to spot changes in your day to day behaviour and try to persuade you to see a doctor. Severe depression can also come with psychosis which, again, lessens the chance you know something is wrong.

Probably explains why so many suicides / suicide bids are from young men who are probably living by themselves with no "supervisor" on hand.

Some of the signs of severe depression are lack of motivation, not taking pleasure in things you used to enjoy, carelessness about appearance, constant tiredness (perhaps with occasional bursts of high energy), general feeling of sadness, a feeling of disassociation from the world around you (as though everything is a film), poor appetite, disinclination to exercise.

Unfortunately, many people take to drink / drugs. As far as drink goes, you might as well take poison as it is itself a depressant.
Hello life.
 
Gary Speed's suicide was, obviously, a truly dreadful and heartbreaking tragedy (even if you don't happen to be a Blue) but if this thread helps even one or two of us to seek the help that we may not even know we need then in one small way it won't have been a completely negative thing. It's actually quite humbling to read the honest and open comments on this thread.
 

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