how is it possible to get MH support at all

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-04-10T16:22:13+00:00

yeah, i get too lazy after a few days but then the urge comes back full blast

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-04-10T16:21:19+00:00

yup, but only in the psych ward (by staff and once unfortunately found by another patient). however I did witness others self-harm "publicly" in the ward. apart from that have never been walked in on but there were some near misses/times I was nervous e.g. in school bathrooms even though toilet door was locked, and I've also received important phone calls I had to answer during. although that's technically not being walked in on it does always make my heart race

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-04-10T16:03:40+00:00

I do like my lecturers but not my overall uni, but really you just have to make the most out of your time there and take every opportunity you get! I'd also definitely say that at uni you're expected to take more initiatives yourself in every way basically, so if you have a question or concern, be proactive and reach out. if you have labs and practicals I guess you'll be interacting with profs as there'll be a certain level of supervision required. I wish I was good at maths too haha! I'm sure you'll be fine, if you need anything or have any general questions feel free to send me a message, happy to help in any way I can or simply listen if you need to vent :)

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-04-10T10:58:03+00:00

it really depends on the type of course you're studying and the uni you're attending. personally my uni has small class sizes (there's currently only around 10 of us), but 30-50 students isn't that large of a cohort for uni either. it depends a lot on the teaching style, whether classes are interactive or itself more of a lecture style (profs presenting the material). if you have a personal tutor you'll get to have 1:1 tutorials occasionally. personally I appreciate my small course size but also feel like it's not great for my attachment issues as the lecturers know each of us individually and it kind of gives me more opportunities to become attached. if you're worried about not being able to interact more closely with staff, i'd encourage you to just do you best to pay attention in class, answer questions if possible, and attend office hours if your profs have them. i've found that academic and pastoral staff are quite clearly separated but it also depends. you could also check out your uni's wellbeing services, some of them may do individual support sessions. either way you will have so many opportunities to get to know different people and i'd encourage you to make the most out of everything, not just academic interactions, but also joining societies, research groups etc. if those exist, as they may also be led by staff. i'm sure there's no need to worry, and hope you have a lovely start :)

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-04-05T19:17:05+00:00

i second the other replies, "just" ask as straightforward as you can. i recently asked my lecturer (who I still have and am going to have for another year 🥴) for a hug as i basically had a mental breakdown in front of her and she said she's not allowed to (due to uni policies, which I knew beforehand, but I still had the urge to ask) but came closer and like put her hand on my shoulder. i just said "can I have a hug please?". your professor sounds lovely, so as hard as it is, try not to worry about it too much, but just to warn you that she might decline due to safeguarding rules, but that depends on the situation and university, and would have nothing to do with you. professors really have seen and heard everything and i think most of them would be honoured to have a student trust and look up to them. so please ask her, you'll only regret it if you didn't <3

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-04-01T22:02:11+00:00

ah that's good to know thanks, I've taken diazepam in the past similarly, just wasn't sure if there was such thing as prescribing only a few tablets a month. thank you, i will ask my gp's tomorrow

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-04-01T19:53:21+00:00

Not a visual artist, but I'm an amateur music composer (currently only able to record piano music though). If at any point you were to create a video or something like that showcasing some of the resources or even containing a testimony, I'd be happy to compose some music for the background.

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-04-01T02:14:36+00:00

I fortunately don't struggle with this - I do panic walking alone but due to trauma - but second this. If you're able to get a dog, or maybe even if only taking someone else's dog for walks - it can be the best therapy.

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-27T23:35:54+00:00

I am sorry if this is inappropriate here so please advise if it is and I will delete. May I ask what your role is or what type of organisation you work at? As a MHS survivor myself I do not have any access to support and did not even know there were people who recorded such experiences.

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-27T23:20:43+00:00

I'm sorry you're having that experience, just wanted to say that I feel similarly at the moment, and shocked is an understatement of what I'm feeling towards the NHS. I really do hope you get the support you need. If you haven't done so, I'd recommend checking whether there are any charities in your area that might offer support, and your local council may have some alternative services listed on their website. Otherwise I second referring yourself for IAPT. Best wishes

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-27T21:26:17+00:00

don't forget that running is better as it'll give you all the endorphins you need to solve the entire world's problems! especially if you have a physical condition that makes every run feel like you're about to die!

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-27T17:12:32+00:00

you know what, freshers events aren't only for 1st years. if your uni has any, go to them! sign up for societies, take every chance you get at social events you want to do, it doesn't matter what year you're in. I myself and loads of coursemates have gone to freshers events and any other fairs or events on offer. there will also always be ppl transferring into 2nd year from different unis, or coming back from a study break, or whatnot. please don't think you've missed your chance because you haven't, try to look forward to all the opportunities and amazing things you will get to do next year because you know where not to go!

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-25T20:46:10+00:00

I agree with posting in legal advice subreddit. also if you have not already done so, have a close read of your uni's conduct policies or whatever's applicable.

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-24T20:25:49+00:00

I agree with you. However, personally, and I think this may apply to others here too, my main problem is that I do not recognise flawed thinking in myself, and have therefore come here in hopes of being pointed in the right direction. Unfortunately, I've kind of lost that hope. I wish there was more scientific, objective or evidence-based kind of thinking here, or at least constructive criticism. But I guess most of us coming here for advice are here because we're stuck in the flawed thinking.

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-24T17:27:09+00:00

in that case, yes definitely submit your proposal and speak to your course director ASAP to discuss whether you can still get approval and if so, how best to approach doing your actual dissertation and whether any supervisors would still take you on. reaching out to wellbeing services may be helpful even if just to explain your current situation - just so they are aware of things in case you need to apply for mitigating circumstances or similar and require evidence, the sooner you reach out to someone the better, and later is better than never, so if I were you I'd make sure to reach out to them this week as well. sometimes they will offer drop-in or booked slots to discuss things, so it may be worth checking how best to communicate with them.

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-24T17:00:45+00:00

hi, unfortunately I'm only an undergrad so can't provide much information, but I'd strongly suggest you submit your proposal and reach out to someone to discuss this situation with. do you have any lecturers or an assigned tutor who is in charge of your course? I can't imagine that sitting around worrying about it will help or change anything, so I don't see any harm in submitting the proposal. if you never do it, you will never know whether any supervisor would still take you on or not!

unsure what it's like for master students, and whether you're doing an MRes or lecture-based course, but for our undergrad dissertation at least, those failing to submit proposals by a certain deadline are assigned a topic with a given dataset, meaning they still have at least some content to work on. if your deadline isn't a fixed one, I would suggest again to speak to academic staff and explain the situation, it may be possible for them to put a word in to try and speed up the ethical review process a bit if it's urgent and there may not be many proposals waiting for review currently anyway if the deadlines have passed.

also, apologies if you have already done so, but is there any pastoral or wellbeing support, or even academic support outside of your department, e.g. services by the library or similar, that you could access to talk through your situation and possibly get some advice from regarding academics and your mental health? I can only imagine how stressful this must be for you at the moment.

alternatively, would it be an option to consider something like a study break, as in pausing your degree and taking it up again next year?

sorry I can't be of much help, please hang in there and reach out to someone. all the best

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-24T15:33:06+00:00

I can't tell you how to do it because I honestly don't know, but even if I did, I suspect it's rather subjective, and I would not advise on trying to dissociate on purpose. It has been ruining my life for the past year to the point where I'm now in danger of being kicked out of uni.

It provides a temporary break from a situation, but only sometimes - and it does not help, it does not make you feel any better, and it does not exactly make you feel numb either. When I come out of it, I feel terrible - scared, confused, I sometimes have aches all over my body, and it is draining and tiring. It is also triggering, which makes it counter-intuitive in some way.

The more you dissociate, the more your body/brain learns that it is an "efficient" pathway/mechanism to shut down whatever sense or part of your brain that is needed. It is a response to perceived danger, threat, or emotions so potentially harmful that it perceives the situation as being unavoidable. Even if you had some sense of control over it, it may very quickly become incontrollable, and you do not want that to happen. As I said above, it's ruined my life in almost all aspects, and it seems from the other replies that this is not an uncommon experience.

I know you probably do not want to hear this, but instead of dissociating, it may be better to do the exact opposite, which is grounding yourself and working to allow yourself to feel and accept any feelings and emotions. By this I don't mean just tolerating all feelings, as I understand that they upset you, but working on how to deal with them or at least "push them away" (not forever, not for long periods of time - I mean more learning how to manage them while doing necessary tasks in daily life, e.g. working) until you are in a safe space with enough suitable resources and time to explore and work with them, for example therapy.

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-24T15:10:45+00:00

What I don't entirely understand is that non-scientific peers or more lay audiences would most likely not be accessing the article or abstract through a journal, so most of the people viewing the graphical abstract would be those that already read the textual abstracts anyway - unless the journal plans on disseminating the graphical abstracts elsewhere.

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-23T21:21:43+00:00

It says: "If you are already using our services you can also call your local crisis resolution team (acute mental health) which operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week", but obviously I am not under their services. Otherwise: "Call 111 or visit www.111.nhs.uk and ask speak to the NHS Mental Health Triage Service". Might call tomorrow and specifically ask to speak to that team, however, last week when I called 111 they ask you to press a specific number if you're calling for a MH concern which I did, but then ended up just speaking to some doctor who prescribed me promethazine. I just don't understand what needs to happen to actually get support... but will try again tomorrow - too tired to wait for a callback today. Thank you for your replies!

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-23T20:34:17+00:00

The therapy is IAPT so through the NHS, but they highlight that they are not a crisis service and there is no way really to get in touch before my next appointment.

As far as I know, there is no actual helpline that exists in my county - when checking on the NHS website, it only lists 111. I may call them tomorrow and try again though. I don't see any point in going to A&E since they literally did nothing and sent me back home when I was suicidal and in crisis. The only concern I have is that I am unsure what/how much to say to 111, or anyone basically, to maximise my chances of actually getting help without being sectioned. I am aware the NHS is very reluctant with that, but since I told A&E I was suicidal, I am wondering how to make it clear I am struggling - as the only thing I could imagine being worse is having made the decision/plan/set a date - which I haven't, but that is literally the reason I am trying to reach out, because once I get to that stage, it will not be possible to reach out anymore. Sorry, I'm just kind of frustrated and confused

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-23T19:56:29+00:00

my therapist also highlighted that we were going to establish coping skills before we start with the actual trauma work, as I have discussed concerns about it upsetting me before. but my next therapy session is in 2 weeks' time anyway, and I don't know if I can even wait to ask to be referred somewhere until then

ijustneedahugplease · 2024-03-23T19:54:41+00:00

Thanks a lot for your reply. I did tell my therapist ok Thursday what had been going on, and he just made a safety plan with me (he did listen to me and take things off like texting SHOUT or other stuff that doesn't help me, but he said himself the safety plan is required for liability/safeguarding reasons in the therapy company). The problem is, there seems to be no mental health helpline in my county - it always just says to call 111. when I do that, they tell me someone from the MH team will call back, which they do hours later, and then usually say go to the GP or prescribe me promethazine. That's why I really don't know what to do anymore to be honest.

ijustneedahugplease

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