General Ponderings

Normally I don't write this blog with just my own thoughts. Normally I like to share and promote the wonderful things that our members do, but looking through my own Facebook Wall something occurred to me and so I thought I would write it here to see if it was just me or not! :)

We all know that the whole "Facebook thing" is more than slightly "odd". Yes it's great that we can now get in contact with everyone we've ever said "hi" to or who we knew back when we were 3 or went to playgroup with. But is it actually helpful? I know for me personally I had all these requests to be "friends" with people who I went to school with. YAY I looked really "popular" having lots of "friends" and then one night when the latest one had posted about their fantastic life jet setting all over the world at the drop of the hat, going our socialising, never having to worry about money etc I had the sudden realisation that actually it wasn't making me happy finding out all these things. In fact it was making me feel sad that my life has turned out so differently from how it was all meant to be. Don't get me wrong I love my husband and I love our children and yes in the grand scheme of things I'm happy. So why was it bothering me? Maybe because these people had never been friends of mine, they had only been mere acquaintances if that tbh at school or people who I just didn't get on with at all. So why had I added them? Someone once said that if something or someone in your life isn't a positive influence or have a positive effect on you then cut them out of your life. So that's what I did and am far more content surrounding myself with people who really do have a similar outlook to life that I have. No I may not have thousands of friends, but I do have those who count and who don't judge me and those who I want to have.

Facebook is full of groups. This we know.I've come across so many who are either really negative, those who are promoting homophobia, racism, sexism or other forms of hate crime or those which seem to me to just be overly jolly about everything. I do "get" the whole positivity thing, but there are times for everyone when life just isn't like that and some of them are just (imho) totally pointless.

At the moment lots of my friends seem to be following those who are sharing quotes. Do positive quotes help you to get past the way that you are feeling?

Which got me thinking about mantras. Do mantras help? One of our DWD Team has the mantra "This too shall pass" and mine is "I will be the best person that I can be today." Both I think of as positive but with meaning. Some I've seen (to me) seem almost ridiculous and pointless, such as "Today I will be happy." OK that's great, but it's not something that you can work with if something negative happens. I've always thought that something like a mantra should at least be workable with all the time and shouldn't be something which is so dependent on external factors. I do always aim to be the best person who I can be on any given day. Sometimes I'm better than others, but it's always my best.

I do feel that at this point I should end with a quote or a mantra so I shall ;)

World Mental Health Day!

Thanks to Marc Shaw for the World Mental Health Day logo.

As it's World Mental Health Day I thought I would share with you some of the amazing things which our members do on a regular basis. Our members really are incredible people who are capable and do achieve so much. They are not defined by their Mental Health Illness, but they are people with their own hopes, fears, achievements, desires and experiences. They are a group of people with talents, jobs, families, friends and loved ones.

Some of our members have served or are currently serving in their countries Armed Forces having to do things which most of us hope we never have to face. Those members have each been left with their own scars, but are all brave people who have done their duty.

Dealing with Depression is full of members who have talents. These might be singing through to artists, craftspeople, jewellery makers, crocheters as well as writers.

One of our members who wishes to remain anon wrote this which I have their permission to share. I think it's really poignant about her time being bullied.

I have always wished that I could be like everyone else. To be able to say what I like and know that I will be understood.

I dont want to be different or stand out from the crowd. Some people treat me as if I am stupid because I can't get my words out sometimes.
They shout and scream at me - why?
Is it because they don't understand me? That doesn't seem very fair.

When I was a child, I was deaf and so I couldn't hear what people said. I felt trapped in my own world. I couldn't understand what was said to me, and I couldn't answer back. It was a very lonely existence.

Then, I went away to a wonderful place - a place where people seemed to understand me and helped me to communicate. At last, I could lift my head and look up. It was a new world - a friendly, exciting world and do you know what? I was part of it.

It still wasn't easy - the bullies on the bus who mimicked me, the shop assistant who ignored me. It was hard but I tried not to let it get me down.
Gradually, I built up my confidence and more and more people understood me. I just want to be accepted and remembered for who I am, not for the one with the funny voice.

If it weren't for the many people who have helped me over the years, I wouldn't be talking to you guys today.

Two of our own Team have wonderful achievements recently.

Mummyhill (Asst Admin) has completed and passed her BSL level one course which is fantastic!

Emmie (Global Mod) has completed a course to qualify her to teach other people in wearing slings and carrying their infants safely. This is fabulous! This will also help her with her sling business, Kangarinos

Well done to both of you!!

Other forum members create some amazing artwork using different mediums:

Veggie uses watercolours and shows great talent. These are some of her most recently shared with us on the forum (again I have her permission to share):

For any crocheters we have a Crotchet Along A Shawl Thread running with the expert Mummyhill guiding those of us through the pattern complete with her own pictures. She really is rather brilliant. The finished shawl looks like this:

Another of our members creates brilliant digital art as well as being a jewellery designer and maker. She really is rather talented. These are a few of Angies work:

As you can see the members of Dealing With Depression have so many talents and are so much more than a diagnosis of Mental Health Illness. Please remember this when you come in contact with someone who is in need of support and understanding - not stigma and not assumptions based on media scare stories.

1 in 4 people will experience mental health difficulties at some point in their lives (Taken from The Mental Health Foundation). So help remove the stigma and be part of something far greater - understanding and humanity.

Exciting news, Mental health awareness week and other things ;)

Well it's October. This is a time of year that DWD normally gets busier with lots of new members and returning older faces due to the seasons changing, days getting shorter and people finding it hard to cope. It's also drawing closer to Christmas which can be such a hard time for so many people.

I do have some exciting news. A while ago ITV's "This Morning" were doing a piece on Depression and so I emailed them letting them know about what we at DWD do, why we do it and how we try to help by listening. I had a lovely email response from Denise Robertson (their Agony Aunt) saying that she has had a look at DWD and thinks we are doing a wonderful job and that she will be referring people to us in the future. This is just amazing for me! I'm so thrilled and excited that the work that the wonderful team do totally unpaid and all the members has been given the thumbs up by someone who is so experienced and such a well known person. It's such a buzz. I couldn't do it on my own and I can't thank the mods and admin team nearly enough. They all give up their time voluntarily to help others. They are amazing.

It's also Mental Health Awareness week and someone posted a brilliant blog post on my Facebook wall, so I thought I'd share the link to. A card to celebrate because "you are the best kind of fucked up". CLICK HERE Please do click to share as it's a light hearted way to help break the stigma of Mental Health Illness.