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Welcome & getting started

AaronH
New Contributor

Looking for advice and suggestions..

Hi, I have recently joined and only just worked out how to even make a post, I am struggling to write this post without constantly retracting my words and starting over.

 

I am a young adult, well I am starting to close in on the 30s..I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder in my early teens when my mother organised appointments with a psychologist when I was 12. My unstable upbringing and a house fire, loss of my great grandmother and the absence of my father in my life, had the psychologist believing that my depression was undiagnosed from early childhood.

 

In my late teens I developed a substance use disorder which later developed into polysubstance and then substance-induced psychotic disorder. I was admitted to psychiatric treatment a number of times in my early 20s and have since been diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder.

 

I'm 26 years old now and really struggling in my day to day life, I thought I'd try and reach out on this forum to make an effort to improve my understanding of my condition and get some advice as to how others cope with their conditions.

 

I recently began seeing a Clinical Psychologist who has diagnosed me with all the above mentioned conditions including Adult ADHD, Generalised and Social Anxiety Disorder and to top it all off, an advoidant and dependent personality disorder.

 

So many labels, I don't even know where to begin on how to comprehend the diagnosis but am looking for information, advice and suggestions...

 

Is there anything I could be doing to better understand my condition. I have a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, an amazing GP but I lack social connection..I have many appointments with my health professionals.

 

Since mid-December, I have been feeling very alone, very depressed and things are getting mundane and repetitive..I struggle with sucidal ideation but won't act on those thoughts.

 

So does any one have any support, suggestions, advice or anything that could help me overcome the low I'm going through?

 

Sorry for the extremely long post, I hope I haven't rambled too much or said anything I'm not supposed to.

 

Thank you 

7 REPLIES 7

Re: Looking for advice and suggestions..

Hi @AaronH welcome to the forum. Smiley Happy

 

Good on you for being brave in overcoming your nervousness about posting here. Everything you said about your experience is the kind of thing many of us here talk about all the time. We share our experiences good and bad in an ongoing way here.

 

There are others I know here who have been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. First one I think of is the lovely @greenpea. I myself have been diagnosed with bipolar 1, which is kind of half of schizoaffective, the extreme up and downs and round and abouts with mood.

 

I know that some people get diagnosed with an array of different conditions. I am not a mental health professional, but I personally feel too many labels may be the opposite of helpful. I suggest you talk to them about that at your next session, perhaps asking how it can help you in the future to mentally take on all those labels for yourself. Above all, your psychologist is there to help you.

 

Hearing you about having a lot of psych or medical appointments but little in the way of other social connections. I have felt the same many times in my life and even now often struggle to leave my home due to the depression and anxiety that has over the years been the main feature of my condition.

 

Thank you so much for reassuring us about your suicidal ideations, that you will not act on these. Good that you are noticing them though. As you know, things like that are a good indicator of where we are really at in our mental health struggles. 

 

All length of posts are allowed here. Talk as long or as little as you want and feel free to join in to any discussion you read here. You will find the majority of responses you get are very kind.

 

Tech tip: if you wish to reply to a forum member, just type @ and you will see a drop down menu of names to select from. So if you would like to reply to me, it would look like @Mazarita. We call these tags. Anyone you tag will get a notification that you are talking to them.

 

Welcome again. Smiley Happy

Re: Looking for advice and suggestions..

Hi @AaronH , I have schizoaffective disorder too and anxiety. I've also been struggling to find good information about schizoaffective disorder, but a youtube channel I really like is "Living Well with Schizophrenia" which is by a young woman in Canada who lives with schizoaffective disorder.  I like to try to remember all the things in my life that aren't related to schizoaffective disorder - I am more than my diagnoses. 

 

Sometimes I struggle with the mundaneness of life, too.  Life just kind of blurs a little, you know??  For me, I like to remember that everyone's life is a bit mundane - even Bill Gates puts his pants on one leg at a time.  I'm also trying to do a gratitude journal of three things that I'm grateful for, which helps me remember what's special and important.  There is a GRATITUDE thread in the 'looking after yourself' forum that you might like to participate on. 

Re: Looking for advice and suggestions..

Hi there @AaronH,
First of all I just wanted to say that I am so sorry for all that you have gone through.

Secondly, if anything with all of my diagnosed conditions I start to feel like "great, now what else is wrong with me" and I can imagine that is the way you are beginning to feel as well as overwhelmed and confused. My suggestion is do not use doctor Google or go on other social networks/blogs such as Tumblr as tempting as it may be because they tend to want to mellow in their conditions, compete with one another, or bring each other down.

I want you to know that you are not alone. It can be scary navigating life with more to carry than others, and often frustrating seeing how easily everyone else seems to cope and them not understanding how much more difficult it is.

Coming here, speaking to qualified counsellors, and opening up as you have are great steps in the right direction.

Do not be ashamed of who you are, it can be so difficult to accept yourself and open up to others about who you are and the way you are, but I find this website to be accepting.

Lastly, remember that your diagnosis does not change who you are, simply it helps you to better understand yourself.

You are doing well.

Take care.

Re: Looking for advice and suggestions..

Thank you everyone for taking the time to give me a warm welcome and some useful information. I will take it on board.

I look forward to actively participating in the forum...I'll try my best!

Re: Looking for advice and suggestions..

Hi @AaronH and @5thNovember

I'm glad you found your way to the forum. Just wanted to say that I read your posts.

I was a slow starter - thought/worried/flip-flopped for 2 years before taking the plunge and posting.

Now I wish I did it sooner!

Re: Looking for advice and suggestions..

All the best! 🙂

Re: Looking for advice and suggestions..

@frog thank you 🙂

 

It has been a weight off my shoulders coming on here.

 

I hope you are doing well.

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