Lived Experience Forum

[stovie08]

Hi I am new to this forum and would like to make friends online.  I suffer from bi-polar. I work in aged care at present but am applying for a job in peer support work.   I am a mother of a 23 autistic son and he keeps me busy.   I would like to help and support others.  I have had bi-polar for over 20 years and I've managed to keep it together with medication and with a lot of support from my husband.   I also am in contact with my local mental health community.  Anyway would be great to hear from you.........

[Historylover]

Hello @stovie08, I'm sorry no-one has replied to your post, it happens sometimes when others are pre-occupied on other threads, or just with their own concerns. So I'm just dropping by to say Hello. I hope you enjoy the forum. It's been of great help to me. Sending best wishes. 

[NatureLover]

Welcome, @stovie08 ! It's good to have you here.

It sounds like you mange your mental health very well. 

Feel free to type any topic into the Search bar above for threads on that topic. 

There are also plenty of social threads, like Good Morning , The Weekly Friday Feast , and Saturday Soiree - all welcome . You can see more social threads in Social Spaces .

A handy forum tip is if you type @ and then click on a name in the drop-down box, that person will get a notification and won't miss your reply. 

I hope you find the forums supportive. 

[HappyLucia]

What meds have they put you on? I am suffering from depression and don’t know if I have the right medicine?

[hanami]

Hi there @stovie08 

A big warm welcome to the forums! So glad you found us here. It's a great way to connect and get support. 

It's amazing you have the goal to be a peer worker. Do you have any plans of how to reach your goal? I'm one of the peer workers here on the forums and used to work in community mental health.  It was a great way to get a real feel for the mental health system as I worked with a. multidisciplinary team (social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, mental health nurses) so got to see how they all work together to achieve best outcomes for the people they support.

If you have any questions about peer work this is a great thread to have a look at  here. 

Warmest wishes

Hanami 

[FloatingFeather]

Hi @stovie08,

Welcome to the forums! My name is FloatingFeather and I am one of the peer support workers at SANE. We have a lot of lovely members on the forums with a variety of lived experience. I'm sure you will find the forums to be very supportive and a safe place to be.

A close family member of mine was diagnosed with bipolar about 20 years ago so your story resonates with me. Your lived experience is very valuable in our forums and your drive to help others is so lovely. You really are very inspiring - managing your bipolar, taking care of your son and husband, working in aged care! You really sound like a very kind and caring person.

Thank you for sharing your story with us - it was lovely to `meet' you.

Best wishes,

FloatingFeather

[FloatingFeather]

Hi @HappyLucia,

Welcome to the forums. My name is FloatingFeather and I am one of the peer support workers at SANE. Thank you for sharing your story with us - I know it's not always easy and it is really brave of you to share how you are feeling. There are a lot of lovely members on the forums with a wide range of lived experience and wisdom so know you are amongst friends.

I'm sorry to read that you are suffering from depression - I have suffered from depression on and off most of my life so I really sympathise with you. I know how hard it can be.

Just on a side note (and I understand as you may not be aware) but the guidelines at SANE say that anyone on the forums can't discuss medications by name, quantity etc. I hope you understand and please do not take it personally - it's just a rule in place to respect our members privacy and to keep us all safe. Here is a link to our Guidelines & Info https://saneforums.org/t5/help/faqpage just in case you haven't seen them :). 

Please keep reaching out on the forums - I look forward to reading the other responses to your from our lovely forum members.

Best wishes,

FloatingFeather

[Bow]

Hi @stovie08 @HappyLucia  welcome

to the forums 👋  hope that you feel heard and support here and find lots of lovely friendly people. 

[Penguinsrule]

G'day. I sincerely hope you have some good luck reaching out to people on this forum.

I found a friend online about 12 years ago and she is the best friend I've ever had.

It sounds like you've got your hands full with your mental health and the responsibility of your son.

Best regards and the best of luck.

[wellwellwellnez]

I also wouldn't recommend going to "anecdotal" when it comes to medication info @HappyLucia , but, You've reminded me of an earlier conversation (so admittedly this is also an anecdote). Someone (can't remember who right now) made some progress talking to their pharmacist. There's things pharmacists think about that are less on doctor's radars. So, that might be a thing you want to do if you're not doing already.