Time away from forums

[Snowie]

It is hard to find that balance at times @creative_writer 

I find coming home difficult at times, as the problems are still there, but at the same time I can have a new perspective on them and even a new fresh set of eyes.

Putting things of can be very overwhelming hon.

[creative_writer]

@Snowie a fresh pair of eyes can help. When it feels rough at night, I generally wake up feeling better after a good nights sleep even. I feel like sometimes you need a chapter break.

I like putting things off and keeping it in. I think that’s my problem, I don’t externalise it enough

[Snowie]

Hi @creative_writer 

I can understand the putting things off and keeping things in. Sometimes I bottle things up inside. It an create such turmoil inside of us.

I hope you are able to have a good day today hon 💗💗

[creative_writer]

@Snowie I felt the turmoil today when I was WFH. I didn’t have enough in my cup to go in person. The thing is, I wish I knew how to get it all out, but it remains stuck.

I hope today was a good day for you 💖💖

[Snowie]

Afternoon @creative_writer 

Just coming past to leave some 💕💕 and hugs

[Jynx]

Hey @creative_writer stopping in to see how you've been travelling over the last week! Hope placement has been treating you well, and your illness has cleared up 🤞💜

[creative_writer]

Hi @Snowie I hope you are doing well 💖

@Jynx got a migraine triggered and not sure why. I am realising if you want to be a mental health practitioner you need to have informal supports in your life. Mind tries to fight it. How was your week off?

[Jynx]

@creative_writer yeah pretty good, got the decluttering process started (was too enthusiastic before when I thought I could get it all finished, lol) and spent some time w my partners, so that was super nice. 

Ach, migraine no fun at all. Hope it's not too gnarly and dissipates soon. 

Yeah an informal support network is always a boon. Have you spent some time with this resistance, figured out what it's all about? 

And I wouldn't worry about that too much, you will 1000% find friends and a support network once you're working in the field. I have some mates who were at SANE with me a while back who I am still on really good terms with! Which is awesome for those moments when you need to have a big vent to someone who also works in a similar area. A bonus of working in mental health is that for the most part, the people we work alongside are super compassionate and caring individuals, easy to connect with!

[creative_writer]

@Jynx decluttering takes a while. I need to declutter my closet big time, I have ripped socks lying around which I never wear. Spending some quality time with partner sounds nice.

I think the resistance is a trauma response. Fear of getting hurt. Fear of getting rejected.

It is true many of us drawn to the field are compassionate and caring. It’s hard to trust, but it probably takes time. I am also self conscious of being in the field and appearing too dsyregulated. I know nobody has their shit together, but it’s hard to shake these feelings off. So a while back I SH, haven’t for a while. I can’t actually remember the last time I did. My mum sort of told me off saying it wasn’t appropriate for someone in my field

[Jynx]

@creative_writer mm for sure, would make sense to experience that avoidance - I imagine it'll get easier the longer you're in the field though. 

I think the degree to which you might need to mask may depend entirely on the organisation you work for. Like SANE have been so open and welcoming to staff with lived experience, but I imagine there are still orgs out there running on archaic value systems and not building trauma-informed care into their staff policies. For example, if I became suddenly very dysregulated I would not feel at all hesitant to let my team know and then take off for the day. There's never been judgement or invalidation in those moments either. So perhaps it's just about finding the right job environment, where psychosocial safety for staff is highly prioritised. These could be good questions for you to ask in future interviews!

Also no offence to your mum but... no. Just no. That kind of thing is what continues to promote the idea that mental health workers aren't also people, who have flaws and struggles and burdens and mistakes just like anyone else. I think you can safely ignore that. And then you can also remind yourself that having lived-experience of mental health struggles (whilst obviously not ideal or desirable) does help us to be more empathic and attuned to our client's needs and experiences, and thus we are better able to walk beside our clients through their journey.