HBF
Flying Scotsman
- Sep 24, 2002
- 156,160
- 100,963
- AFL Club
- Carlton
In the wake of Mitch Clark’s retirement from the game due to clinical depression, and the amount of support he got from the wider footballing community, I had been thinking about starting a thread on our very own board about mental illness. This was only confirmed further in the days after Clark’s retirement from the game on some of the comments in the general discussion thread about our very own posters having battled (or are still battling) mental illness.
For far too long there has been a stigma attached to mental illness, and you often hear people (particularly men) speak about this. You hear words like embarrassed and ashamed, and you hear statements like didn’t know what is/was wrong with me and didn’t know who to turn to.
Just doing some brief research on this, and the facts are quite alarming
· Nearly half (45%) of the population will experience a mental disorder at some stage in their lives.
· Almost one in five Australians (20%) will experience a mental illness in a 12-month period.
· At least one third of young people have had an episode of mental illness by the time they are 25 years old.
I, like so many others in the community have been diagnosed with a mental disorder in that I suffer from anxiety. There have been times when I have suffered panic attacks to the point where everything around you seems to move in slow motion and your thoughts are so rapid and dis-jointed you can’t think straight. There have also been times where I didn’t get out of bed for the fear of having to face another dreaded day when it felt like another panic attack was around every corner.
What I can say to people is there is help out there, and the best thing you can do is speak to someone about your condition. I spoke to my GP that I have known for the best part of 30 years. Sure it was hard to open up and admit you have a problem, but after the initial consultations it does get easier.
I can now say through talking to someone I trust and really opining up about what has been going on in my mind has helped no end. I have resigned myself to the fact that I am very likely to have an anxiety dis-order for the rest of my life, but through talking to people it certainly does become much more manageable. I no longer have panic attacks and whilst getting out of bed in the middle of winter can be a struggle, I certainly don’t hide away under the doona anymore.
For far too long there has been a stigma attached to mental illness, and you often hear people (particularly men) speak about this. You hear words like embarrassed and ashamed, and you hear statements like didn’t know what is/was wrong with me and didn’t know who to turn to.
Just doing some brief research on this, and the facts are quite alarming
· Nearly half (45%) of the population will experience a mental disorder at some stage in their lives.
· Almost one in five Australians (20%) will experience a mental illness in a 12-month period.
· At least one third of young people have had an episode of mental illness by the time they are 25 years old.
I, like so many others in the community have been diagnosed with a mental disorder in that I suffer from anxiety. There have been times when I have suffered panic attacks to the point where everything around you seems to move in slow motion and your thoughts are so rapid and dis-jointed you can’t think straight. There have also been times where I didn’t get out of bed for the fear of having to face another dreaded day when it felt like another panic attack was around every corner.
What I can say to people is there is help out there, and the best thing you can do is speak to someone about your condition. I spoke to my GP that I have known for the best part of 30 years. Sure it was hard to open up and admit you have a problem, but after the initial consultations it does get easier.
I can now say through talking to someone I trust and really opining up about what has been going on in my mind has helped no end. I have resigned myself to the fact that I am very likely to have an anxiety dis-order for the rest of my life, but through talking to people it certainly does become much more manageable. I no longer have panic attacks and whilst getting out of bed in the middle of winter can be a struggle, I certainly don’t hide away under the doona anymore.