The Mental Health thread

[Jack Regan]

I know a lot of peoples inner monologues can be very negative and damaging to their mental health. Mine for the most part isn't a negative thing. Don't get me wrong there are times when it doesn't shut up, particularly when I'm trying to sleep and it'll be negative about work or why did I do that or why didn't I do this.

I'm not great in social situations and have in the past had pretty severe social anxiety, so I end up having a lot of hypothetical conversations in my head before I'm seeing friends.

 

[sycophantia]

Ah mate, I love a solo pint. Preferably with a paper and a crossword.

My issue at the moment (apart from having bipolar) is impostor syndrome. I've done really well at work since I started but my heid cannot compute this so I think I'm a fucking fraud all the time.

I know it's stupid but that's what I have to battle.

I thought that most of my working life. I eventually got to a stage in my 50s where I just did my best at work and that turned out to be more than enough for my employers and in fact I realised they thought I was a valuable employee. Wish I'd worked that out 30 years earlier.

 

[Del Woppio]

I know a lot of peoples inner monologues can be very negative and damaging to their mental health.

You called?

Mine is almost like a play. It's occasionally entertaining (many a Championship Manager press conference in my past) but generally about either trauma or conflict, and that can be historic, or imagined, with roots of various depths in reality or ridiculousness. Sometimes it's my deepest reasonable fear - I pretty much know word for word what I'll say at Alfie's funeral, such is the frequency in which my mind goes there.

It's absolutely fucking exhausting tbh. The other week I had an absolute fucking corker. I went back in time, but could still remember whatever I could remember. So obviously lottery wins are out, but some phenomenal stock market and sports picks. All well and good, quite cheery even, but within minutes it turned. Would I be able to stop 9/11, for example? Probably not, I'd have to build up my future telling credibility first, but then by predicting something bad I'd likely be a suspect. I want to keep the stocks and football stuff kind of quiet so I don't get caught/done, or change the path of Nvidia, for example. But I can't remember the dates of any natural disasters or accidents so I'd be useless there. And then my mind went from enormous catastrophes to more personal ones. Like would I tell X at their dad was going to die in a car crash? Could I stop it? Should I stop it? Should I tell her to make the most of the time, or would that be too traumatic? Or people who I know who's folks are going to get a heart attack or have a stroke, do I tell them, or subtly try and get them to change their lifestyle?

WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO GAHHH oh there's a parking space, Aldi here I come. Don't forget tuna. Don't forget tuna. Don't forget tuna.

 

[WarwickWolf]

I'm an introverted extrovert. I can do all the work and social stuff really well but it's a front. I'm happiest when I'm on my own or with Mrs Warwick (she's an IE as well). I found exercise a great help when work was stressful, particularly running. I seemed to drop into a kind of meditative state after a while and that really helped me to clear my head. I'm in my sixties now and semi-retired so the work stress has gone but the exercise regime continues. Nowadays it's a long walk with podcasts but even then I find I've covered a few miles and I've switched off and I can't remember what I've been listening to. We're all different though so finding your own thing is important. Take care.

PS A pint on your own is a rare treat!

 

[Alan]

I wasn’t expecting such a response!