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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 16 of 16. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by dantalion on November 22, 2004, at 9:20:06
hi everyone
i came to this board through a labyrinthine route but isnt it often the way ? Ive got some stuff to share with you all but not just yet
regards to allpaul
Posted by alexandra_k on November 22, 2004, at 14:58:27
In reply to Hi from Bristol UK, posted by dantalion on November 22, 2004, at 9:20:06
Hiya, glad you found babble eventually, and glad that you decided to join us! Just share what you want to share when you feel ready. You might even find that other people post about some of the stuff that is bugging you (as I often do).
Jump on the other boards when you are ready, or you could always stay here and babble for a while...
Where abouts is Bristol (excuse my ignorance)? I am from New Zealand, but would very much like to get to England one day, and hopefully travel around Europe. I don't know how I would cope with the many hours of darkness in winter, though. I think it would make me very depressed :-(
Posted by saw on November 23, 2004, at 0:30:15
In reply to Hi from Bristol UK, posted by dantalion on November 22, 2004, at 9:20:06
Hi Paul
Look forward to getting to know you.
Sabrina
Posted by dantalion on November 23, 2004, at 4:44:45
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK » dantalion, posted by saw on November 23, 2004, at 0:30:15
Hi Alexandra and Sabrina
thank you for welcoming me to the forum
I am one of those ? rare creatures a worker in mental health who goes mad themselves occasionally - I have seen both sides of the fence (neither of them too pretty) and I think it would be fair to say I am obsessed with madness and mental health issues
I am currently pretty good in myself but have the massive stress of the breakup of my marriage to deal with - Before if people said they had split up I think like yeah whatever but now I know its like being torn in half. I am also trying to deal with a dependence on Diazepam which I have stupidly become addicted to via using benzos to combat back pain and shift workThough I was actually born in London, Bristol is in the southwest of England on the way to Devon, Cornwall and just below Wales. It was built on slave money and tobacco chocolate and arms manufacturing and engineering now its just another slightly postmodern service/financial centre
yes the winters are a bugger here especially if you are prone to depression - most of my breakdowns have occured Jan Feb with a mounting sense of doom starting in about November I think Christmas as a feast is meant to deal with this angst - personally i would like to go under the duvet for 2 months at this time of year but we are expected to carry on being busy little worker ants - then again I like the contrast of the seasons as well
My favourite music at the moment is the soundtrack from A Clockwork Orange
Posted by saw on November 23, 2004, at 5:59:43
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK, posted by dantalion on November 23, 2004, at 4:44:45
Working in the mental health field, and then suffering from mental issues of your own cannot be easy. I have always been very fascinated with mental health, never expecting that I would one day be where I am now. As a little girl I always used to say I wanted to be a psychoanalysist. Now I am not even sure I know what the word means.
I am newly happily married and grateful everyday for being blessed with the most wonderful husband. However, the trauma of a long abusive relationship and subsequent marriage, birth of my son and then separating when he was 6 months old and divorcing soon after, left me broken. Utterly shattered. Even though I am so happy with my husband, I find I am still picking up some pieces. In fact, I think a few pieces disintegrated completely and now I am saddled with being treatment resistant and on medication for life.
So, by you saying that it's like being torn in half is quite accurate. I know some of what you are feeling and I know how extremely painful it is. There is nothing anyone can really say that will ease the hurt, but please know that there are plenty of good folk that are happy to share your hurt and give you support.
I live in South Africa. So vastly different from where you are. It is very green and beautiful there, no?
And don't get me started on my favourite music. I will just go on and on and on and on.
(OK, it's Sarah Brightman)Sabrina
Posted by alexandra_k on November 23, 2004, at 16:13:27
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK, posted by dantalion on November 23, 2004, at 4:44:45
Hi there, I think it would be fair to say that I am obsessed with madness and mental health issues too! Ever since I got sick (with a major depressive episode in 1998 I haven't been able to leave it alone and I even started studying psychology).
I am sorry to hear about your marriage. I haven't been married, so I can't imagine what that must be like, but there are others here who have been through similar things... Benzo addiction is something that I do understand, however, and that really is a bugger :-(
We get christmas in summer here in NZ. People who come over from Europe often say that it doesn't feel like christmas because it is summer. We also tend to have BBQ's on christmas day which people find strange...
I didn't know you were from SA Sabrina! Where abouts? I have a few friends who immmigrated from Jo Burg. And I thought American politics was intense! They have this curious habit of BBQing in the middle of winter - standing under an umbrella! Is that a typical SA thing to do, or are they uniquely odd?
Posted by dantalion on November 23, 2004, at 19:11:27
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK » dantalion, posted by alexandra_k on November 23, 2004, at 16:13:27
Hi sabrina and alexandra you really are a friendly lot !
well its 1am in the morning here and I hope i get a better sleep than last night
Bristol is in the middle of typical english countryside little villages etc but the town itself has got its problems - notably a crack cocaine epidemic - its sort of ghettoised too compared with London with poor areas, black areas, white trash areas, posh areas etc - i dont like that about it. I ve only been here 4 years - i think moving here in retrospect was an attempt to create a shared project with my wife but it eventually ran on to the rocks
I have found another love interest though but she lives up north in sheffield so its a long distance thing with all the problems/?benefits that brings anyway at least my job is stable at the moment
i would love to go to NZ or SA ive never been outside of europe
lots more to say and great to get your replies but gonna try to get some sleep nowpaul
ps although i work in mental health im a bit influenced by the anti psychiatry movement and users empowerment - i havent got a lot of faith in medication
Posted by alexandra_k on November 23, 2004, at 19:18:59
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK, posted by dantalion on November 23, 2004, at 19:11:27
> Hi sabrina and alexandra you really are a friendly lot !
If you think we are friendly wait till you meet everyone else on the other boards :-)
We don't get much cocaine in NZ. Actually to get it you have to have contact with the skinheads (a neo-Nazi gang) - suffice it to say that it is just not worth it! We do have something of a 'p' (amphetamine) epidemic, however...
Hope you get a great nights sleep and wake up all refreshed. I have considerable difficulty sleeping myself...
I don't have a lot of faith in medication either. But then maybe that is because of my condition, there isn't really a medication that can control it very well. Its psychotherapy for me :-)
What sort of mental health work do you do?
Posted by dantalion on November 24, 2004, at 20:05:05
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK » dantalion, posted by alexandra_k on November 23, 2004, at 19:18:59
Hi Alexandra
I work in a rehab unit for people with severe and enduring mental health problems. I am living proof that alot of care workers work with people 'worse off' than themselves just to feel better !
seriously though it a nice place - non coercive and the residents are respected
Actually my experiences of being on the other side have helped my practice - I have been in two mental health units and was sectioned for a time so i know a bit what it feels like to be powerless. i keep this stuff from my co -workers cos the boundaries are very tightly fenced in this world - not in reality but in peoples heads
Ihave been around long enough in mental health (started my training in 82) to know that things have actually got better for those on the receiving end of psychiatry - the things i saw in those days could be barbaric I mean really barbaric
I also think i have picked up a bit of PTSD from some of the things i have seen like suicides self immolation abuse etc - I can still see some of those dead faces now in my head - but this goes with the territory
Anyway I was pretty f****d up before i came into psychiatry by my childhood and stuff and i have added to this with some stupid decisions and life choices but im still here and i dont reckon Im a bad bloke ! But I go from one crisis to the next - no serenity in my life - i get paranoid, depressed, anxious sometimes suicidal - in between that i have some laughs and funregards
Paul
Posted by Jai Narayan on November 24, 2004, at 20:51:59
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK, posted by dantalion on November 24, 2004, at 20:05:05
Gosh, you sound like a wonderful person to me.
Okay I butted in.
I admit it.
Your story sounds interesting and it seems you give back to those in need.
Your trauma could be helped by EMDR. I have used it for really difficult memories and it works.
I hope it's okay for me to comment.
Jai
Posted by Jai Narayan on November 24, 2004, at 20:55:48
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK, posted by saw on November 23, 2004, at 5:59:43
I had no idea you lived in South Africa. Wow, so many miles away from where I live and so many life times away from my experiences.
Why does location seem so important?
But it does.
your friend
Jai
Posted by cubic_me on November 25, 2004, at 10:46:12
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK » dantalion, posted by alexandra_k on November 23, 2004, at 19:18:59
Hi dantalion,
I'm from the UK too, in the New Forest (south). It's good to meet you. I'm hoping to become a pscyhiatrist, so I'll be another mental person in the mental heath field!
Its good to meet you and to have another UK person to chat to - things here are so different from in the US.
Posted by dantalion on November 25, 2004, at 18:32:05
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK, posted by cubic_me on November 25, 2004, at 10:46:12
hi cubic
it is heartening that someone who wants to become a psychiatrist is reading boards like this first please can i ask you one thing ? - read 'Madness and Civilisation' by Michel Foucault its about the cultural history of madness and ive always thought it should be a standard text for trainee shrinks - then again u may have read it already !
new forest went there om my honeymoon camping (cheapskate!) only lasted about 4 days as my wife was 5 months pregnant and it rained the whole time
yes i know its stupid but i get a kick out of all the US trade names for the drugs like Zoloft etc childish i know !
Posted by dantalion on November 25, 2004, at 18:34:55
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK, posted by Jai Narayan on November 24, 2004, at 20:51:59
Hi Jai
thanks for your post fine to butt in and comment - i Just got here !!
how long have you been on these boards ?
what is EMDR by the way sounds interestingregards paul
Posted by Jai Narayan on November 26, 2004, at 16:28:49
In reply to hi Jai, posted by dantalion on November 25, 2004, at 18:34:55
welcome to babble.
EMDR has saved my life.
I love the results.
I enjoyed dropping into your conversations with others.
I am a greeter but mostly hang out on social.
This is a most interesting and wonderful place filled with ever changing people, like yourself with so much to share.
I welcome you.
Please feel free to join us on social anytime.
or faith or grief or.....there are so many choices.
Jai
Posted by cubic_me on November 26, 2004, at 17:39:38
In reply to Re: Hi from Bristol UK, posted by dantalion on November 25, 2004, at 18:32:05
> read 'Madness and Civilisation' by Michel Foucault its about the cultural history of madness
I've not come across that book, but now you've mentioned it I will keep an eye out for it. I'm a very slow reader though (mainly because I put a book down and forget to pick it up again) - so it could be a while before you get my opinion on it!
I applied to Bristol University, but they didn't want me :(
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