Don’t worry in the slightest about the length of the story, if sharing helps you or others to make their way through issues like this it’s worth more pages than the internet can generate!
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Back in the 1980 and until recently the Mental Health Ward at Heidelberg Repat was very ordinary and you were probably correct in not going there.
Happy to say, that in the last four years they have improved amazingly. My Son has been both an inpatient and outpatient, and I have visited regularly. Many Vets from Vietnam now getting good treatment and counselling, along with those the latest wars, and others from Police and Energency Services.
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It’s a special thing to give others (an) insight, where otherwise we would be/are left in the dark and only have anecdotal information.
So don’t be sorry, I think it’s great.
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My admiration and respect goes to each and everyone of you who have shared your story.
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Threads like this are actually bad for my mental health. When I see others struggling more than me, it makes me feel worse about my own anxiety which has no cause but has always been apart of me. It took me until 2 years ago to identify what I’d always assumed was low self esteem or worthless feelings were actually anxiety. I haven’t needed medication but found seeing a psychologist for coping techniques invaluable. However now that I’m pregnant my hormones are making it all flare up on random occasions which sucks massively.
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You certainly put my problems into perspective. It’s amazing how all consuming your own probs seem until you see what someone else is going through.
Thanks for sharing dmorg1. It’s horrible and interesting/eye opening all at the same time.
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I just started reading ’ The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck '.
May not be cure-all but it’s certainly raises some good points for those that suffer from stress and anxiety.
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not just in regards to mental health, but in general you always think to yourself yeah we don’t know what this guy or girl has gone through, so we shoulnd’t judge, think of them badly etc etc, but as a natural instinct we kinda do.
but people just go through so much crap in their lives that it’s just not right.
one of the main other areas I was really awoken to last year, was just how prevalent domestic violence is, again you know it’s out there, you know it exists, but just like mental health issue, you just don’t realise how many people have been through it, or are going through it.
Hopefully this thread has helped everyone whos read it or posted in it, if for nothing else but to maybe get a better insight in why people are the way they are.
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This is by far, the best thread on blitz I’ve ever read. Bravo, blitz
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If nothing else, sometimes it helps to know that you’re not alone.
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Or even if you are there are many people who are happy to have a chat to you.
Sometimes being annonymous also helps talk about something you feel like you can’t talk about in person.
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My workplace has just booked an independent, external counsellor for us to chat with. We all have a 30 min session booked for us which is not compulsory.
I think this is a positive thing but part of me is very cynical based on some incidents i have seen in the last few years involving heavy bullying by middle/senior management. (2 of which ended up at the Industrial Relation Commission and the employees won).
Personally I have been on a bit of a rollercoaster the last 12 months due to stuff concerning people close to me but I dont feel like I have anything particularly wrong with me…I’ll go for a chat with an open mind but not sure what to expect.
Good on them for trying I suppose, it might be the catalyst for some people to start the road to recovery.
I have nothing but admiration for those of you who have shared your struggles in here. That takes true strength and for that you should be proud.
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Mrs Fox is a clinical psychotherapist and does EAP (Employee Assistance Programs) for many Companies large and small. Totally confidential and optional for the staff, and it seems to turn around poor culture in many Organisations where staff struggle for all sorts of reasons to perform their jobs and be happy in their work.
It also focuses Management into understanding that their staff need mental health support for work, family and life issues. Results seem good and these Organisations continue to offer the program and pay the substantial costs, so they must get a return.
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It’s worth asking about the confidentiality of the practice when your employer is paying for it. Often the particular psychologist will be committed to confidentiality of their client. Once your situation is discussed amongst the team of therapist. It might not be. Ethically it’s not good practice to disclose confidentiality, but technicality the employer is the client… not the person sitting the therapist room.
Its generally a good option for staff to get free therapy. 99% of the time there won’t be a conflict of interest between the needs of the employer and employee receiving the therapy. But there can be an issue. I’d encourage anyone to discuss the disclosure process, when there is a conflict of interest.
Ie. I was receiving support from EAP, which is very much encouraged for all people working in Welfare & mental health organisations. I disclosed that I was struggling with this job, and have applied for another job. My particular therapist was committed to my welfare, but her supervisors were concerned that their client (my employer) they were wasting $$$ on a service for someone that will be resigning in the next month.
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Well Jono, all I can attest to is the effort Mrs Fox goes to ensure everything is confidential. And I know how it works as I do all the invoicing for her to the Companies she does EAP for.
No names are ever used, in any document, EAPservices are advertised as available to Staff (they offer a number of Counsellor contact Names), and it is up to the Employee to call Mrs Fox make the appointment and then we bill the employer. I was very sceptical about it at first, as I was not sure that a Company would pay an invoice with no order number or any real details like the employees name, but they all do !!
Mrs Fox does do a summary report back the Employers periodically, but again no names are used and it is really about statistics on numbers using the EAP. As part of Mrs Fox professional process, she does undertake supervision sessions with her peers, but again no names and no personal details are ever on the table.
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This is small fries compared to everything else on here but I’m having one of those weeks where it feels like I’m carrying everyone and more and more just keeps piling up. Start the day and get to bed exhausted without having done the small goals you’d like to have done for yourself and then tomorrow’s stuff looks more hectic than today’s. How do you decide who to say no to? Bring on the weekend. Haven’t had a drink for weeks. Friday night after a run might be time for a few.
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I can perhaps help with that one… it’s my all day every day.
- Make a list
- Prioritise the list
- Delegate
- It’s OK to say No
At the end of each day redo the list
Only takes a few minutes each day but it orders your thinking which helps enormously.
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Thanks Darli. I’m hoping it isn’t forming into a new trend. I will certainly be coming up with a system of priority if it continues. When I start neglecting a few of my own things (like keeping fit) I start to go a bit off kilter.
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I don’t question the ethical practice of psychologists or their organisations. In fact, EAP can be a big case load for many therapists. It’s very normal for Psychologist practices to be an EAP certified practice.
But it’s always important to ask these questions of the practice, when someone else is paying your therapy bills.
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Part 5.
PTSD. My journey with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Working in Rockhampton, I was living in Yeppoon about a 50-minute drive from my place to the Airport. With work they introduced a 12-hour roster, so it was like a 14-hour working day for me. With lack of sleep due to nightmares, pressure within work and travelling long distances it eventually triggered a mental breakdown. It happened late 1997 when a helicopter flew low over the Met Office at the Airport causing me to have a mental flashback. I thought I was in Vietnam again. Note…
When a person has flashbacks, they almost always have the other hallmarks of PTSD: nightmares, unwanted memories, anxiety, quick temper, avoidance of “triggers,” numbing of positive emotion, withdrawal from others. So the flashback is part of a cascade of symptoms. One symptom precipitates another.
My local GP put me on sick leave and wanted to refer me to a Psychiatrist, but I was convinced I could manage this by myself. To get away from all the pressures of life I decided to go and seek isolation. I left my family and took remote postings. For the following years I found peace and quietness. Solitude was like a drug to me. I’d come home to my family and work a couple months at Rockhampton and leave again for isolation.
1998 posted to Giles Weather Station in the Gibson desert West Australia. The remotest Weather Station in Australia. Eight months away from home.
2000 Leave and Long service leave at home.
2001-2002 posted to Macquarie Island. Again, eight months away from home.
2002-2003 posted to Davis Base Antarctica, eighteen months away from home including six months of training. The expedition chose me to be a scrub nurse to help our Doctor in case of an emergency while down on the ice. They sent me to do a one-month course at the Royal Hobart Hospital. Part of the training was to go in the operating theatre. I was worried and stressed how I would cope with the sight of blood. I didn’t need to worry as I soon found out I didn’t have any feelings what so ever, no emotion, nothing.
2004 posted to Casey Base Antarctica, three months away from home. It all ended at Casey Base, when another expeditioner and myself slipped on clear ice outside the base. We didn’t have any crampons on our boots. The other bloke saved himself but unfortunately for me I slipped and hit my head causing my brain to swell and bleed but as my head was on the ice, the freezing condition slowed the swelling and bleeding saving my life. I was very fortunate as the Aurora Australis was still offshore about 20kms from the base with a helicopter aboard. They rescued me from the ice, but they couldn’t medivac me out until another 24 hours because of a blizzard. It took two weeks to get me back to Hobart. I was out to it until a couple days from Hobart. On arrival they put me into Calvary Hospital. From scans it showed I had extensive brain injury with bruising. After 4 weeks in Hobart they flew me back home. My family was upset and demanded I go and see a Psychiatrist and sort myself out. All I could think of with my feelings were, the only place I found peace had just been ripped away from me. I was finally diagnosed with PTSD, 34 years after my service in Vietnam. For the next two years I went in and out of deep depression and in hospital for rehab. The biggest problem was getting me on the right medication. Some medication made me feel more depressed and others over active. In rehab I spent hours being counselled by my Psychiatrist, Psychologist and Social Workers.
Final Part in the next few days.
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