How long have you suffered with a Men... - Above & Beyond - ...
How long have you suffered with a Mental Health issue?
Hermes123. How does one determine a mental health problem? when do you know you have a mild, medium or serious problem. does one know one is suffering from a mental health problem, what if some one has suffered a serious crisis take it in there own hands and comes out the other side. I recently went to a top level pain management course, taken by senior level physiotherapist, after the course was over she took me to one side and ask me if I suffered from PTSD. I ask why she said I observed you during the lecture, she said you seem jumpy on edge after a short talk, she put it down to my time in the army, that was over fifty years ago, so have I had a mental health problem all that time, or was it due to the fact of the years i have suffered various and serious arthritis conditions for just as long period but manage to hold down a hard physical job enduring lots of severe pain. So please explain to me how does asses what is mental health problem.
I didn't realise I had been suffering with my disorder until I had a recent tragedy back in may which opened up my whole past. Hope I can now learn to cope with different situations with the help from the specialist.
It's really sad that tragic events in our lives seem to open up a whole can of worms that seem to have nothing to do with the event itself mooshelley
Do take care 
Chloe
This makes me think. A physical disability vs mental disability.............I hear about someone who is going through cancer. One who sees a doctor. Why can't someone with mental disability do the same!! We slam "positive psychology" as mental illness is an individual problem not a group problem compare to physical disability. If one disagree with positive psychology which one should not slam Recovery as "resilience" is empowering. That person isn't well that should be quiet to learn from others/mentor!!! Why is that mental health let a bad apple ruin it for the others!! As the graph shows me that there are a lot of people recovering from mental illness if you combine up to a year to five years!!!!!! It could be equal to more to the "for as long as I...."
Really interesting thoughts WorkoutMind thank you for reply, food for thought I think.
Chloe
Good question! How can one tell. For most of us it's a 'guesstimate'. But in my very mature years I can see a pattern. In my own case I believe it is INHERITED. My mother, I now realise, demonstrated the same behaviour pattern. All relations thought then was that she was 'moody'. I see now it was more than that, and I've shown the same symptoms, but more severely. QED.... At least now there is more transparency.
Hermes123. Hello chloe40, going back in time to the dark days when knowledge of pain and pain relief drugs where less known about as there are today, a GP. back then would say try this and see if that will help, one had little knowledge weather one was reacting to the drug or the very sever pain one was going though, in other word in one own mind the correct informed choice. I can remember a very dark day when I thought I was going out of my mind, I was creaming to myself at the bottom of the garden, I was at a tipping point when I got myself down to the GP. and said take me off these drugs right away and try something else, which he did the following day I felt a lot better and progressed from there, now was I suffering from a mental illness or was it the drug, although drug knowledge as advance a lot since those days, it is still a game of chance, because everybody's abolitionism is not the same, its a question of horses for courses, so is the problem pain relief drugs or more than that, that is wherein the balance lie's. Hermes.
I'm not sure when depression began but I'm pretty sure my anxiety problem showed itself when I was very young--about 12.
Thank you darkshadow
Yes, Adolescent anxiety and depression is often undiagnosed or dismissed , yet it is a very real experience with lingering consequences.
Chloe
Thanks for your response, Chloe. One of my basic problems is not having anyone to talk to so this site is worth a lot to me but often I feel there is no solution so I am silent for a while. Don't you think that most---if not all ---people who suffer from anxiety/ depression have inherited the condition rather than got it because of bad experiences? I say this because two people can have the same experience but do not react in the same way. Some have more fight in them which takes over and sees them through whereas the more emotional, sensitive ones go under. If I had not been prone to thinking about the inevitability of my parents' death, I would not have had to crawl into their bed some nights for comfort and protection. It was when I first became aware of the reality of death that my fear began. It is still with me today but my parents are long gone. The result is my mental problems are caused by fear. I'm still in some ways like a child.
it's been hard to accept situations in my life and getting the right help .I feel there is more help available nowadays but it's just the matter of getting through each day the best we can
You're right there duncan1971 it can be extremely difficult to accept and we often have no choice but 'get on with it' because we have no choice. Thanks for posting.
Chloe
in 2009 when my mum passed me and my sister started to discuss my time in care that was never spoke about before.when I look back in life I would say that triggered my dysfunctional way of life.so for me I would say 32 years ago when I was twelve.
I put 5, but it is actually about 9 years, but "as long as I can remember did not seem to be the right answer.
Up and down for eleven years