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Post by Kimberley on Dec 13, 2013 22:23:28 GMT
Not sure where to post this one, so feel free to move if necessary and apologies..! :-)
I'm not quite sure how to phrase this post but it's something I've been considering asking for a while, but it's difficult to get the words together, so firstly, I apologise if this comes out in the way it shouldn't.
At work, I am currently working on establishing a youth project. We found through visiting lots and lots of organisations that more and more young people are opening up to youth workers, who do not necessarily have the right training/knowledge to provide the best support, and in actual fact, they want to be there to watch young people develop and grow in confidence through activity, which is great. But because more young people are struggling with mental health difficulties, they are going to the doctors, being placed on long waiting lists and put on medication, which results in them isolating themselves (this is been found through research, not personal opinion can I just confirm).
Young people are taking medication, waiting for other treatments and in the meantime, dropping out from being active in the community. In some cases, this has been extremely detrimental to their mental health, regardless of whether they have a diagnosis of a mental illness or not.
Now, part of the project is to help young people to not identify so much with being ill, which, in my personal opinion, I can definitely see the benefit of. Part of the project involves training youth workers in Youth Mental Health First Aid so they can identify early signs and provide basic support where necessary, but most importantly, the focus is on giving youth workers the tools to keep young people active and engaged, rather than going to the doctors for medication straight away and isolating themselves.
What do we think of this? Should we "identify" in being ill? Where is the line of being "open" and letting an illness define us?
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Post by lucyrob on Dec 13, 2013 23:41:15 GMT
I really want to reply to this when I have more energy tomorrow!! Such a good point to raise Hun x
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Post by Kimberley on Dec 14, 2013 10:16:29 GMT
Aww look forward to your reply hun. xx
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Post by lucyrob on Dec 14, 2013 13:39:41 GMT
First of all Kimberley, you are one amazing lady for doing everything you do!
This project sounds amazing. I think sometimes ( not always) being labelled with a mental illness can definitely make people feel more isolated. Personally I hate labels as it sort of segregates everyone and I don't like that. However, I think it's such a great idea to train youth workers like that. It would probably help a lot of young people remain engaged with activities they enjoy as there's someone who understands what they're going through. I think keeping young people surrounded in such a real sense of community can really be beneficial in making them feel valued and part of something. Which in my opinion can make a real difference with someone dealing with mental health.
To know there are projects like this going on definitely gives me hope for younger generations and generations to come!
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Post by Kimberley on Dec 15, 2013 10:36:42 GMT
Hello lovely lady! Wow this post made me smile..! :-)
I'm so glad that the post didn't come across in the way I thought it COULD have done. I think you're right, labels can isolate in certain circumstances, and I'm coming to terms with that personally as well now. My OT isn't overly keen on getting me a 100% formal diagnosis and through this project, I can kind of see why.
You seem to get the project exactly, which is awesome!!! Shame you live so far away otherwise you could have come visited and seen what we do. :-) It's very exciting. I think that it's fantastic that there are more and more people being open about MH, but at the same time, a diagnosis shouldn't be the end of things, in the nicest way possible.
I remember last year I made a t-shirt for a Christmas Fayre I organised. I had put on the back "I'm Kimberley. I have depression and anxiety. But most people just call me Kim." I got a lot of lovely comments about it. :-) xx
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Post by lucyrob on Dec 15, 2013 23:31:24 GMT
Sorry, only now seeing this! Honestly, it came across perfectly. Glad it made you smile, though it's just the truth! This project sounds just what we need to improve everything surrounding mental health stigma. I really wish I could come and see for myself but I trust it's amazing. Yeah, exactly...a diagnosis should NOT ever define a person in any way at all. Oh wow, that was really brave! but I love it! That's such a good idea! Might steal that one if you don't mind? I seem to be stealing a lot of your ideas lately, haha, sorry! x
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Post by Michaela on Dec 16, 2013 22:43:53 GMT
Really interesting idea Kim, well written too, why did you think it wouldn't come across right?
I think it's a really difficult question to answer personally and maybe different perspectives are appropriate for different people? I think the project that you are involved in sounds amazing and is a really great way of helping young people to retain an identity outside of the illness.
It's more problematic though when the illness is more established and feels as though it has already take over our lives. Although it's true that diagnosis might create an "us and them" barrier, where we feel fundamentally different from everyone else, it can also do the opposite - having a name for the illness and knowledge that others go though the same thing can help us to feel more "normal". It can help us to seek others who understand our struggles - MiLO for instance.
I guess it's about striking a balance between having space to talk about the illness, rather than keeping it all inside and maintaining an identity that isn't based on the illness. Not talking about it and trying to ignore it doesn't get rid of it, only allows it to fester and take over our internal identity to the degree that we feel the image we present to everyone else is fake. On the other hand, focusing on and discussing our illness too much does the same - it takes over our identity until we almost begin to forget who we are without it. So we need to be able to open up whilst reminding ourselves that that isn't the whole of us by staying involved in other things.
The issue is even more difficult in recovery - whilst it can really help us to identify with the illness and other sufferers whilst we are ill, recovery means letting go of the illness, which can be really difficult to do if we have based any part of our identity on it (though not impossible).
I think I find this particularly difficult as I am hoping to go into clinical psychology, which means being surrounded by these sort of issues and thinking about them all the time. I have a lot of other things in my life, but at the moment I don't know if I am able to fully give up my identity as someone who suffers from depression to become someone who has suffered. Obviously I don't want to be that person, but I don't know it's confusing, maybe it's that I don't want my passion for change and the subject to go along with it? I don't really think it will but...
Kinda confused myself here, don't know how much sense this made! Any more thoughts?
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Post by lucyrob on Dec 16, 2013 23:55:41 GMT
You've made some really important points! Diagnosis and definitely help in some ways like knowing there are others going through the exact emotions you are, and also to know what you're dealing with.
However, until society as a whole doesn't segregate mental health, and sees mental/physical illness as just hat: illnesses, there'll always be that segregation( due to lack of understanding/ignorance) if you have to deal with a mental illness. But that's just my opinion and that was a long sentence! Though I don't entirely blame people for not understanding and taking a dislike to things that are new and unheard of to them. It happens all the time, not just with mental health, but it doesn't make it right... I'm going off on a tangent! Sorry
And I can completely identify with the last part of what you said. I think it'll always be hard to distinguish between those things. Though if you're really passionate about what you want to do, I'm sure that won't change
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