Lived Experience Forum

[Snowie]

@ImogenSorry to hear of your loss. They are so much part of our family and my thoughts go out to you 

[Imogen]

@Snowie Thanks for your kind words.

[Shaz51]

Sorry @Imogen , sending you tender hugs my friend 

[Imogen]

@Shaz51 Thanks

[Mex]

I know some of what you are feeling my cat broke a leg and had to be put down several years ago. I was a mess for a while after. When you miss good things it hurts because they were real and meant something to you. I looked at the live feed from the zoo recently. Apparently there are some baby snow leopards that were just born recently and also live feeds from werribee zoo and healsville sanctuary. Maybe they will have a competition to name them?

[cloudy2019]

OMG thank you so much for this.

My anxiety has sky rocketed. In particular feelings of derealisation. Things do not feel real. I have PTSD already and am at home a lot not working this past year. The thing that scares me is seeing stable society features or functions crumble..... I already feel unsafe in my own mind and body. And now society too is freaking out. Mass unemployment, mass shutdowns, borders shutdown. My mind feels it is already at capacity. I know logically of course how all this is necessary and no choice to do this as self isolation and the slowing down of the spread is the best defence.

Anxious brain can over write all this logic. 

Especially when the things I normally have used to ground myself with severe PTSD I can't do. Like see a friend in person, or go out to ths shops and read a magazine or go to the pool or beach to swim which actually slows down my nervous system and makes me feel safe. i get how insignificant these may seem but I can tell you when you have already lost your job, you health is run down, you can't travel already, all before this pandemic the few things you could do getting taken away can be incredibly hard. I get compared to a pandemic this may seem minor and of course I can find alternatives but this does not get rid of the underlying terror as if you have ever had PTSD and feel petrified in your own mind and have terrible flashback of trauma and body you will get how important these grounding things are and social connection and coming back to reality when you start to disassociate. Now reality is another scary place to be (but not half as terrifying) as PTSD and past traumas. 

Now  I see 'normal' people saying things i would say 'this feels like a movie' 'this is bizarre' 'I am depressing' and freaking out and it only compounds my sense of anxiety as apart from feeling unstable in myself I now look outside of me and I also feel unstable with the entire world in crisis. 

Can anyone with severe anxiety and/or PTSD is already at home, unemployed etc relate?

Logically I know this is happening to everyone, social isolation etc is necessary and of course logically I know a pandemic is a world wide crisis and I feel guilty for having mental health issues given the wider crisis but despite this logic I still feel this way.

Can anyone relate?

[Millieme]

I can relate so much to everything you wrote. There is so much that is racing through my head. Trying to stop it by just trying to think about what I can control and do right now in this moment. Trying is exhausting but right now I can get ready for work, i can make sure the kids eat breakfast. I can feed the dog. Everything after that has to wait. 

[cloudy2019]

^Thank you. It is good to feel less alone in this. As tbh I feel such guilt for feeling anxious. Ironically the virus does not scare half as much as my mental health symptoms or the effects of trauma on my mind and body and sleep/night terrors 

But you are right. Grounding myself to this moment is so important. What can I do right now? And taking it hour by hour. This is how I have survived the last year. I think my anxiety has gone off like a rocket. But your reply reminds me I have to continue to practice the same strategies. Thank you. I will re read this thread as I was too anxious to absorb before. Polyvagal theory helps me too if anyone has not heard of it, it may helps as someone with PTSD where the brain fires off flight/fight/freeze and amgydala is in control, like alarm goes off without warning, polyvagal helped me learn how to come back down the ladder.

[nashy]

Very sorry for your loss of that beautiful pup, especially during this tough time  @Imogen We're here as a community and all can help to hold some of this pain. If you want to start a thread for extra support please feel free to here.

[Define_normal]

Hi all,

I really confused by all the school drama, you got politics telling us to keep our kids at school and schools telling us to try and keep them home. I mean my son is an asthmatic and gets sick easily so I've been keeping him home anyways but they school rang me today and asked when he will be back and I told them he an asthmatic (which they already know) and they turned it around like I had called to ask if it was to send him and basically told me that I should definitely keep him home so they aren't liable if he becomes sick.