The General Mental Health Forum is now a Read Only Forum. As we had two large areas making it difficult for many to find, we decided to combine the Mental Health & the Recovery sections of the forum into Mental Health & Recovery as a whole. Physical Health still remains as it's own area within the entire Recovery area.
If you are having struggles, need support in a particular area that you aren't finding a specific recovery area forum, you may find the General Struggles forum a great place to post. Any any that is related to emotions, self-esteem, insomnia, anger, relationship dynamics due to mental health and recovery and other issues that don't fit better in another forum would be examples of topics that might go there.
If you have spiritual issues related to a mental health and recovery issue, please use the Recovery Related Spiritual Advice forum. This forum is designed to be like Christian Advice, only for recovery type of issues. Recovery being like a family in many ways, allows us to support one another together. May you be blessed today and each day.
Kristen.NewCreation and FreeinChrist
Good morning how are you today?
Im am doing well. How are you brother?
Apart of sleeping I haven't been doing too bad. I wish I would get a full night for a change, it are very long days and sometimes very short nights (3-5 hours a night.) Still often nauseous as well that has put a real damper on my waking hours.
Hello, it's good to be here again.
Good thanks, how about yourself?Hallo I'm glad to see you like being back here, how have you been?
Hello, good evening. How you doing?
Do you drink much caffeine? I have days that i cant sleep because of some spiritual distress, but other nights it may be because i drink too much caffeine. I can usually tell the difference though, because when distress is the problem, i feel much more tired and the distress is much more intense. Sometimes i have trouble sleeping because i feel too good. Maybe i'm building something which makes me feel good, i might think about it and it brings me joy. I wish i had more nights like that. You probably already considered this though. I'm sure you have. Im really just speaking my mind brother, just conversation.
People should find things that can help them find happiness. Life will still be hard, but it can be helpful to have something simple that causes us no harm, but adds quality to our lives. I strongly recommend hobbies. Its amazing how a hobly can actually be so enjoyable. It can consume your time and your thoughts. This is better than allowing distress to consume our thinking. There will always be good times and bad times, but finding something simple in life that we can enjoy will give us more good times, and will help us to meditate on something useful. God gave us so many things. The bible says that God created men who are skilled in crafts, and its God who gave us those skills. Its a gift from God. We can find blessing in those things.
I have no problem going to sleep, by 8 pm I'm dead to the world, by 9 pm I'm of to bed. By between 11.30 and 12 midnight I begin to wake up and have trouble getting back to sleep, sometimes I get a little more but usually I don't sleep much longer then 2 or 3 am and that is when I try hard. I do drink coffee but only in the morning seldom at other times any more. I might have 2 but usually I don't finish it.
We know it is not what I eat or drink, it is my high/manic mood creeping up on me, depriving me of sleep is always the first symptom, this is (naturally) followed by irritable mood swings and exhaustion spells, which in turn triggers psychotic symptoms, where over time I loose complete touch with reality, or so it seems to go. As long as I get about 5-6 hours sleep it is not too bad but when I get less than that then things go wrong in the end. Sleeping aids don't help for long but make me feel crap, so I don't like going on them much. I try going early to bed and stay in bed for as long as I can without going mad tossing and turning. Once I averaged 4 hours sleep over 14 months and then I had a major psychotic breakdown, no wonder really.
I can get enough sleep if I medicate myself heavily with mood stabilisers and anti-psychotics, which I do when I need a break, but it makes me a total zombie in the end with this terrible unmotivated feeling that comes upon me and the death of all enjoyable emotions and sensations. In the end I end-up in hospital because I couldn't be stuffed getting a drink for then I only had to go to the toilet and I hated getting up or out of my chair - now who wants to live like that?
So I'm trying to do with as little medication as possible without going psychotic or manic. The moment I feel too much joy or think that I'm getting better, or start having visions and hallucinations, or satan begins to talk/scream to me again, then I know that it is high time to go back on meds again.
On the moment I'm back on meds, not very high yet, hoping it would kick in but it hasn't yet made much difference apart of the first 2 nights then slept like a rose, but after that it has been miss again, still I'm getting a little more, and sleep more soundly the last few nights. We have to wait and see what will happen.
A new development has been the nausea. I suffered from it years ago, before we knew I was mentally ill, I suffered from it as well. A doctor prescribed me some kind of salts that would negate the nausea. I used it for ages, but I can't remember the doctors name, nor what it was that worked so well. Doctors nowadays don't know and only advised me to use a little anti-psychotic which does help a little but makes me feel so dead inside which I don't like feeling.
Whatever way I turn pricks me.
Im gently drifting down a stream as apposed to fighting against a raging flood. Im doing good today, and lately. I feel sustained.
My wife and our daughter are of to Perth this Weekend, they have only gone for 5 minutes and I miss them already. I pray that God keeps them safe, it is a 400 km trip notorious for its many fatal road kills. They should be back by late Sunday afternoon.
We have terrible heat up here Jeshu. I will say a prayer for your wife and daughter's safe return and may God comfort you in their absence.
everything is bothering me tonight