How to talk to people about your mental illness

[@SpaceDementia_]

I mentioned to a colleague that I feel comfortable with the other day that I take medication for my anxiety. Her response: "See, I do yoga" and she proceeded to tell me why yoga is better for anxiety than medication. This is exactly why I don't discuss my mental health with people at work, and I have never disclosed it to any managers or Occupational Health. Where I live, there is still a stigma - the older generation don't understand mental health and are judgemental of medicating. I have just been offered a new job and I decided to disclose my GAD to Occupational Health before starting, and was pleasantly surprised to get a call from the nurse asking me about it and telling me to not hesitate to speak to them if need be. I am hoping this means this new employer will be supportive.

[@melphillips1608]

How has it been since then?

[@cindysutteranimalsfunny9185]

how very nice!!! happy for you

[@puneetsandhu9999]

'we tell our stories about our scars, not our wounds' that goes deep

[@cindysutteranimalsfunny9185]

sometimes i speak of my deep wounds only if i can find someone i can trust. i tend to speak of my past and give others encouragement. i’m not perfect. life is just hard and i face it one day at a time.

[@a.r.2565]

I would say about 75% of the times I’ve shared my mental health issues, it does not go well. There’s still so much stigma and people in general just do not understand. The most frustrating is when primary care doctors, or even people working within the mental health system feed into the stigma. It seems that many people can’t wrap their heads around the concept of having a serious mental health condition but not having an intellectual disability. People can accept “normal” or “special needs”, but nothing else computes.

[@cindysutteranimalsfunny9185]

even my own daughter refuses to try to understand! i almost cried because of that. and it made me angry too.

[@ellw7830]

Thanks for making a video on this. I’ve had some issues with this in the past/currently with friends, teachers, coaches, and biggest of all, my own family. Scars not wounds definitely makes sense to me-the only issue is when you’re in a situation where you’re forced to share about your wound because your injury is affecting other people, and that ends up hurting both you and them. I think what I’ve been doing recently is keeping it to myself completely (aside from my therapist who I see weekly), and that’s actually really working. I avoid the negative feedback I get when I (clumsily) share my wound, and although my parents are out of the loop, they were never super in it to begin with. I think it’s harder on them than it is on me. Which is sad, but also sort of unavoidable and necessary, because I have to focus on healing my wound first before I can talk to them about me healing my wound. It may help them cope, but it actually slows the healing process for me-and only one of us is dealing with a wound here.

[@drali]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Ellie. You bring up an important point that I didn't address in my video - what to do in situations where you feel forced to share and aren't ready to yet. That's a tough situation. Something that could help is having someone you trust be there with you. For example, talking to parents about what's happening sometimes goes best if you do that with your therapist in a session. Or sharing with one family member first and then having that family member present when you share with someone else. It's never easy though. Thank you again for being here and a part of our community!

[@unleashingpotential-psycho9433]

Society needs to be more open to mental illnesses! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@amostan5500]

I have clinical depression. And I want to be a clinical psychologist like you, Dr. Mattu.

[@amostan5500]

Thank you for this video

[@drali]

We have a saying in psychology - research is me-search. So many of us get into the field because of a personal interest. Either because of our own experiences or the experiences of individuals close to us. Maybe by entering the field you could also help others who are experiencing depression? If you're interested, here's so more info on becoming a psychologist: www.apa.org/action/science/clinical/education-training

[@drali]

Thank you for watching!

[@amostan5500]

The Psych Show Thank you Dr. Mattu. I’m currently finishing my bachelors in Bio Sciences with a 2nd major in Psychology. I’m planning to work a few years in child and adolescent psychology research at a psychiatric hospital before heading for masters in clinical psych. However, I’m quite reserved and not as eloquent in talking to people as you or other therapists I’ve observed (or even the average person). I’m worried I’m not cut out to get into the masters program, much less be a psychologist. Is there any advice you could give me? Thank you so much for your help and all your videos, they are very informative and motivate me a lot.

[@drali]

GREAT QUESTION! The world needs all types of psychologists. Those who are good with data, those who are good with people, extroverts, introverts, people from all backgrounds! Some people like working with me, some can't stand my style, and that's okay. We need a variety of people in the field. That's how we move psychology forward!

[@5xakirax50]

Hey man, can you make a video helping us how to overcome anxiety as a whole? plus a bonus tip on how to not get anxious about being anxious as well? Itd be amazing if you create a video on that.

[@drali]

Thanks for the request! I've got that in the pipeline for the near future.

[@5xakirax50]

@@drali fantastic, thank you!

[@cindysutteranimalsfunny9185]

i listen to soft classical music. it does help but sometimes i’m too wound up so nothing works😢

[@DrAdnan]

Med students hide it under the guise of dark memes

[@ellw7830]

Everyone hides it under the guise of dark memes

[@drali]

Then psychologists take those memes and make videos about them.

[@EricBZink]

Love the video and share! Awareness like this does more for others than we could imagine! Subbed to your channel and found inspiration here for mine! Keep doing you!

[@sarahpressman6566]

Do you have any suggestions for sharing your story when you feel really invalid about it? I've got ptsd but my trauma was a really unique situation and the danger turned out to not be real, though it was 100% real to me at the time. I've just started opening up and have tried using analogies (like waking up from a nightmare) to explain how I'm still struggling. I still struggle with feeling unjustified about it myself. Do you have any advice?

[@Bananakacke]

I kind of have the same problem since after experiencing the traumatic situation, weeks after I realized I could have left the situation or avoided it, and I just feel guilty for talking about it since I feel like I am making it up and I am guilty for it happening. I’d be so happy if someone answered

[@Bananakacke]

I kind of have the same problem since after experiencing the traumatic situation, weeks after I realized I could have left the situation or avoided it, and I just feel guilty for talking about it since I feel like I am making it up and I am guilty for it happening. I’d be so happy if someone answered

[@sarahpressman6566]

@@Bananakacke SAME!!! I also feel guilty because I felt like I could've swayed the situation to not turn out as bad. It's been almost 6yrs and I still feel the guilt as well as feeling like it's made up. I think that's cause I ignored and avoided it till recently, so now it seems surreal to talk about. My therapist suggested thinking of yourself as a person sitting in the chair next to you, telling you the same experience, and what you would say to them. He says it's easier a lot of the time to have compassion for someone else rather than yourself in the same situation. Also, you would most likely validate another person's emotions if they were telling you about that same trauma. This exercise helps to a certain point, but then I find myself rationalizing against compassion toward myself because I'm not objective from myself - I know my thoughts, feelings, and motivations behind my actions because I'm in my head. With that insider knowledge, I can't let myself off the hook as easily as I could with another person. That being said, I feel a lot of compassion for you, though I hardly know anything about your trauma. I obviously understand and relate to your feelings of guilt, but your pain and struggles with this situation are also valid - it's natural to feel hurt after trauma. Also, people are responsible for their actions: if someone hurt you, that's ultimately on them and not you. Guilt is assigned after the fact, but hindsight is 20/20, so it's sorta unfair to judge yourself from the past with the knowledge of the future. So, maybe the validation needs to come from objective people more so than yourself. I've opened up to several people recently and most of them are very affirming and understand why I struggle. The more I'm validated by objective people, the easier it seems to be to ignore the rationalization.

[@BarryZ883]

I find your videos extremely helpful, and I was wondering if you have, or would make a video talking about OCD. I'm 31 years old and I have struggled with Obsessive thoughts my whole life and thought it was just how I am (or how I'm wired). Then I read an article about OCD because I always had misconceptions about it. Now I realize things I buried about my self can be explained. And now I feel very scared and relieved. Any advise?

[@cindysutteranimalsfunny9185]

i had a good friend that suffered from ocd. she finally committed suicide when she was 18 ! her parents treatted her unfairly all the time, we would talk to each other a lot. i miss her so much… i wish i was able to stop her but nobody saw it coming! life becomes too hard for some. it’s just not fair.

[@tolkarius58]

Dress as the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, and have a nice tea with them.

[@jemisha4056]

guys my best friend is trying to help me wit my depression and she wants me to tell her how I m feeling but I dunno how I m feeling so please help wut should I do

[@cindysutteranimalsfunny9185]

i am sorry that i too don’t have any answers for you,but i have the same problem with depression . i have bipolar1 so i go through extreme depression and extreem manic episodes. i’m glad i’m no t alone. your not either. i’m glad you’re getting it out. alot of people just suffer insilence! i have done that becase the people i spoke to didn’t want to understand. even my daughter denies me when i try to talk with her… i really hope you feel better soon😢

[@vivvvvian]

this was really interesting

[@drali]

Thank you for watching! What was the most helpful part of the video?

[@cindysutteranimalsfunny9185]

what the? that post is from me, but i dont know what i meant😊

[@cindysutteranimalsfunny9185]

я не

[@cindysutteranimalsfunny9185]

i have a ot to say

[@amostan5500]

FIRST

[@drali]

🙌