That part is a really sad reflection on society, i suffered with it heavy for 4 years and actually through tough PMA and will power got my self out of it, i got through the stigma through strength of character and openly telling other people who felt down what i had been through to try to inspire them that there is a way out of it or at least just giving hope for some people.

I'm another who has struggled with depression through my last two years of university, this was down to becoming a bit of a recluse and being quite alone with my thoughts for a long time. However thanks to friends, family and some great treatment from therapists and doctors i managed to bring myself out of it again. Those who dismiss 'mental illness' so lightly have never struggled with, or known someone that struggled with it.



On the Gleeson thread there were a lot of people being very negative, now i don't support a lot of the decisions he has made in his career, but i don't know the in's and out's of his personal life and therefore try not to make such swift judgements on his leave of absence through stress.



For all we know, the club could be protecting Gleeson by saying he is stressed, and it could be some much more deeper mental illness that he and they do not want to expose to the public, which is completely fair. Having lost one of his best friends and mentors last year, his head could very well be scrambled and i think if i lost someone so close to me in those circumstances, i wouldnt be able to concentrate on my work.



For those of you that have suffered before, you are not alone, and we will see brigther days, but for those who haven't, try not to be so quick to judge next time, you never know it might be you begging for help and breaking down next.

Personally I've never suffered directly from a mental illness but I have suffered indirectly. My mother suffered and as a direct consequence all around her suffered. How my Dad put up with what he did I'll never know.



the public's attitude to mental illness is quite simply cynical. If you can't touch it, it's not real. A broken leg, a tumour, stitches all will evoke sympathy from all around. Say I'm feeling a bit down and can't really cope will just evoke scorn and speculation.



It's a problem for society to face but that begins by us all as individuals facing and admitting our own prejudice. I only hope that every one reading this does not personally experience any form of mental illness but the truth is that probably most of you have.



The next time you read a headline about a celebrity suffering from Bi-polar or stress or an addiction (which I personally class as a mental illness) stop and imagine if it was your Mother, Father, Sister, Brother or you and think how you would want the people you know to react to it.

I think this is a great OT thread, and don't see why, if we can stay on topic it would be locked. Mental illness is an extremely emotive topic. Poorly understood by the medical establishment, and even less so by those like myself.



If I am physically ill, I am able to say so and will receive sympathy from my peers. If I were to admit to the same peers, that I was mentally ill, I'm not sure that the reaction would be the same. I am convinced that this stems from ignorance and nothing more. In my very limited experience, those whom I have encountered that have had the courage to admit that the are suffering from a mental illness, have made remarkable progress. This has been achieved with the support and tolerance of those around them.



Categorisation that most of us prescribe to due to our ignorance, serves us no gain. As with physical illness there exists a wide spectrum, which by definition, most of us spend our life on. I am eternally gratefully of the support of my family, 'there but for the grace of god go I'



There is a difference though. Just as there is with any physical problem. There are conditions that are intrinsic and those that are extrinsic. Psychologists are not good at distinguishing between the two. I still have to catch myself as, upon hearing the news that somebody is suffering from a mental illness, an image of Jack Nicholson appears in my minds eye.



Perhaps threads like this, will result in a better understanding, and therefore tolerance of the issue. People may feel free to come out and say 'I don't feel quite right'. They may add 'Couldn't you see from my behaviour over the years that rather than your derision I would have benefited from you support?'



Perhaps this Nirvana of which I speak doesn't exist. I would like to think though, that as a race we could reach the stage where the mocking, and fear of those with a mental illness was regarded by the majority with the same abhorrence as the mocking of those with a physical illness.









I have an opinion on this, and will post tomorrow.

depression and stress are very misunderstood conditions in this country, especially by doctors, who tend to fob people off with "oh you have chemical imbalance of the brain" because they haven't got the time nor inclination to deal with it, this chemical imbalance of the brain is actually a sympton rather than the cause of the condition and telling somebody that it is an illness similar to cold that they've caught is wrong and counter productive, depression and stress is caused quite simply by picking up depressive thinking styles and can quite easily be treated with cognitive therapy (learning to look out for key phrases and words that trigger negative inner reactions), it can also be passed down through families because we tend to copy our parents way of thinking!

My other half is a Mental Health Nurse so i called her to look at this thread and she simply can't believe what all of you guys are saying, she says based on the commebnts so far there isn't a single person on here who has even the most basic understanding of Mental Health.



Oh and manco, she says you need to see a Doctor.

You can assure her i know plenty, more than i'd like to go on about on here. Face to face though i'd think i'd surprise her with what i know.

i did and it made me worse, whereas cognitive therapy worked, proof is in the pudding my friend, what's your other halfs solution then, drugs?

What, as in one look and she'd say 'Apologies, I got that wrong. He's definately mental.'

She doesn't provide the solutions, she provides the care.



Obviously you clearly don't understant Mental Health, there aren't any solutions, you care for the client and manage their symptoms, if you have a Mental Health issue you have it for life, at times you may not show any symptoms but the illness is still there.

Two reasons:-



1 - It's bound to descend into farce and insults like the last one.

2 - Mental health is a very serious subject - just because it has OT in front of it doesn't mean it's appropriate for this forum.



It appears the only reason it hasn't been locked is because one of the mods has experience and/or interest in the subject.