How do you feel mental health issues are dealt with in society/school/workplace?

[Celestefey]

So this is something that I was thinking about earlier on and I thought I'd open up this discussion to the TBT community. Please be civil with this for as long as possible since, I know most discussion threads tend to go sour on here, but it's something I am genuinely curious about and, it's something that affects me personally, as well as a lot of other members on here.

Mental health issues definitely seem to be discussed a lot more amongst people nowadays, and there is a lot more education on them, but there are still a lot of "mysteries" concerning mental illnesses and so-called "myths". Some people still invalidate other people based on their mental illnesses and may treat them differently or view them differently because of this. Some people reach out to gain help for their mental illness but find they aren't treated properly and so are stuck in a vicious circle of constant relapsing into mental health issues. This is something that definitely affects me as a person. I suffer with depression and anxiety, these are common mental illnesses that go hand in hand together. It definitely stops me from doing a lot of things in my life and causes me to overthink small scenarios I shouldn't even worry about.

For me, I have visited two counsellors - one in a school and one private. Honestly can say they were one of the best things I've ever done. They taught me new ways to cope with my depression and anxiety. I've started to practice things like mindfulness, and learning that it's okay to feel how I feel. Venting my issues was a healthy way of coping with my mental health issues.

However, I definitely have had bad experiences, too. For example, my previous school were awful at offering help and support for students with mental health issues. I was seeing a private counsellor for a few weeks, and this was costing my mum quite a lot of money. It was not necessarily something we could afford, as she is a single parent, but she still did what she could to make sure I could go. I wanted to visit a counsellor at my school as then I wouldn't have to pay and this could happen in my school hours when I didn't have lessons, and so that way if need be I could get the counsellor to speak to certain teachers about any issues I may have and they would be more understanding if I was struggling to keep up with work or assignments, etc. Turns out the counselling waiting list was SO long. I was put on the list twice, and I never got to see the counsellor. The counselor only ever came in two or three times a week. She would see a few students and then leave. I understand that they perhaps couldn't afford to get another counsellor because of the school budget but I felt this was so disgusting, especially since there was such a long waiting list, that students would perhaps just be forever waiting and not get the chance to speak to anyone at all. There was very little understanding from teachers, they were not very friendly or approachable. Even if they had assemblies where they gave the impression you could talk to them, you would not feel welcome to speak about your issues without fear of parents being told or other teachers without your permission, you would not feel relieved to talk to them about your problems because they were not qualified to deal with them, and overall it was incredibly uncomfortable. I actually did attempt to approach one of these teachers and she was not helpful at all. She placed me on the counselling list and I never got to see the counselor, not once whilst I was at the school. The school gave the impression they were positive on mental health issues but frankly the way they dealt with mentally ill students in the school was pathetic.. There was no real effort provided by them, except perhaps a few assemblies talking about depression and anxiety twice a year.

But recently, even though I no longer attend this school, I have heard news they have brought in a therapy dog to help with students. Again, this felt insulting to me. They had brought in a therapy dog, over perhaps another counsellor who students could talk to and so bring down the waiting list times. A therapy dog, whilst a good idea and allows students to calm their anxieties and refocus their attention, is not a permanent solution or a way of educating a person on how to deal with their mental illness, at least, not in my opinion (although feel free to correct me if I am wrong). Counselling is ideal, imo, as it actually allows you to cope with your mental health issues. Again, like I said, I understand that the school have a limited budget but to me this is just saddening for the students who are still put on the waiting list for the counselor/therapist and their voices are unheard. They just have to suffer in silence.

So, how do you feel your school, workplace, family, or just society in general deals with mental illnesses? Do you think there is good education on it? Do you think people are offering useful support to those who are mentally ill? If you are mentally ill, do you ever feel as though you are receiving the proper support you need, or do you feel invalidated and isolated?

 

[debinoresu]

my school is constantly working for suicide prevention stuff. tho ill be completely honest, when i was at my most suicidal all the anti-suicide stuff just made me feel worse. i guess it just put me in a bad headspace.

everyone needs different ways to deal with their problems, and for me, i feel like talking about my problems was actually harmful to me. id constantly reflect on them and feel awful, but at the same time id stubbornly insist i didnt have any real mental problems, even literally a day after attempting suicide! (it was incredibly botched and wouldnt have worked, but at the time i thought what i did would genuinely kill me, so idk if it counts or not)

i only had one person i talked to about my problems, and they were recently cut out of my life. however, i noticed once i adapted to them not being in my life, i started to feel a lot better. i think talking about my problems was actually harmful to me, but i was raised and constantly reminded by others to talk when i had problems, so i just felt i had to. but once i stopped talking about it, i found it easier to acknowledge it as a problem on a personal level and accept the mental differences i have. i think its partly because im very argumentative and stubborn (thats actually a factor of one of my mental problems lol) that including other people in my personal mental problems made me worse. it just made me argue and made everything a big mess, but when i only self-reflected, i found myself more actively trying to fix the problem by further indulging in my interests, and the next thing i knew i was free of suicidal thoughts and i have been since then! im sure theres still underlying depression, i dont think it just completely went away, and my anxiety is still there (but its getting better too! i used to have panic attacks very frequently for almost no reason at all) and my bpd hasnt "fixed" per se but ive acknowledged it as a part of myself and it isnt really a problem for me anymore. now i love and appreciate a life that i used to hate and look forward to a future i didnt want to have!

what does that long story have to do with how i think other people treat peoples mental health? well, i think that a lot of times, society takes one persons/the average persons experience and tries to heavily push it on everyone as the "solution" when really everyone is different and needs different ways to cope. if i had been raised and told that its okay to try to solve my own problems and allowed to be left alone to my own headspace when i was younger, my major depressive fit wouldnt have been nearly as long as it was. even now, when i explain how not talking was good for me, people will say "well, you cant bottle it up" but i dont bottle it up. i just find i can fix my own problems better by myself. its these "average healing standards" or something. people dont seem to want to accept different solutions and so they aggressively push THEIR solution, or the solution society has taught them. this is where i think society could improve on its outlook on mental health. it's absolutely great if talking to others is what helps you, but everyone is different, and i think that needs to be acknowledged better.

so my complaint is actually the opposite of yours, in the sense that i was pressured to talk instead of not being able to talk enough. regarding if i get the support i need, from my friends, they respect the fact i do not want to talk serious emotional things. however, would a teacher get word of one of my bad moods, id certainly be sent to a counselor and forced to talk, no matter how i explain my way of coping. the societal norm of outsider help being mandatory was harmful to me and is strictly enforced by society, as well as my school. so id say my school doesnt support me properly/acknowledge my way of supporting myself. so i definitely feel invalidated sometimes, even within a community that might seem very accepting and great for other mentally ill people.

 

[Red Cat]

I definitely think there needs to be improvements in mental health programs in schools and society in general. I don't know what the ideal counselor to student ratio is, but most schools are probably understaffed to save money. Mental illness is one of the thorniest issues out there because people have a hard time separating mental illness with character flaws. Unfortunately, most people in positions of power have not experienced mental illness or they have chosen to hide it instead of speaking out about it and advocating for others who are not so fortunate.

 

[Acruoxil]

It's a shame you and the other students had to go through all that. Students often face a lot of stress and anxiety from different stuff, mostly due to studies and the fact they're experiencing new emotions and scenarios which often makes them prone to all this. And schools really need to realize that and put more resources into counselling.

As for my school, our counsellor was semi responsive. She was thankfully helpful, she gave priority to serious cases and we had a waiting list too, since our school had a lot of students but students who needed priority had to wait a day at most if she was not available.

Only time I officially met her was for my ****ing handwriting. She called me in months later, probably because I wasn't priority at all lol. Back when I was in this suicidal phase though a couple years later my friend who I was talking to about my suicidal thoughts hooked me up with the counsellor via phone, he happened to be good friends with her daughter. Even though we didn't officially meet she helped me so much over on phone. I couldn't meet her after that since I had to leave the school afterwards due to reasons buuut yeah the point is we got some pretty damn fine counsellors here. Which is great.

Wish it were the same everywhere.

 

[boujee]

I attend a private charter so I'm not so sure how things are dealt with in public schoolings.
I think it's human decency to be able to pick up what's "wrong" with someone. It's kinda like that sense you get when someone in terminally ill or how you feel when around someone with such sickness. It's a evolution mechanism that we as a species has pick up and I guess it's kinda present in today time. Whether you think being mentally ill makes you believe you're above all people or lesser than that's a different topic.

Here at my schooling, they make it very clear to keep their student body as proficient as possible. The main objective is for us to go to college and they try to make everyone as equal as possible, whether it's someone who has depression, autism/ADD/ADHD or basically anyone who's still capable to function as equal. Now this aspect sounds all appealing but it does have it flaws(like anyone else does). Eveeyone is different, this connects with patience. There's a girl in my class who has adhd. She's very smart since she was able to get into my Advance placement classes. She's also a good test taker but her social skills aren't all great. Our school tries it best to make every individual despite their condition to be able to be social. I think there was some lecture with exposing your kid who has a mental disadvantage to try to be more social than trying to baby them or believing their child is "special" when they really want to fit in or be normal. I'm not sure if she was raised properly or have good housing since sometimes she says negative things about her mother that will keep your eye peeled. She is quite rude and can be ignorant. There were times where she believe everyone else in class was dumber than her. When she got negative feedback she blamed it on her illness which is quite frequent.

My school counseling is pretty okay. We have a suicide hotline and the community does do awareness days/months of illness to broaden our perspective. All I know is that not a lot of people want to be baby. There was a student who committed suicide last year due to not getting help. He was quite shy to actually get put into counseling. When he finally got into it he was fine and seemed happy. I think his guardians did something to him to which he ended up taking his life with a gun.

 

[Celestefey]

my school is constantly working for suicide prevention stuff. tho ill be completely honest, when i was at my most suicidal all the anti-suicide stuff just made me feel worse. i guess it just put me in a bad headspace.

Totally agree with this. For some reason I was always rubbed the wrong way when schools tried to talk about suicide prevention, it just felt to me like they didn't know what they were talking about, like they didn't truly understand it. I get that they want to help, and that's great, but if they truly want to provide support that's going to prevent suicide then they need to provide support that they are confident in rather than just "if you are suicidal just talk to us!". Because seriously, anyone who is suicidal is not going to be open about their feelings. They aren't going to tell people they want to kill themselves at all. Especially not people at their school, for fearing information could get passed around, police could get involved, etc etc.

what does that long story have to do with how i think other people treat peoples mental health? well, i think that a lot of times, society takes one persons/the average persons experience and tries to heavily push it on everyone as the "solution" when really everyone is different and needs different ways to cope. if i had been raised and told that its okay to try to solve my own problems and allowed to be left alone to my own headspace when i was younger, my major depressive fit wouldnt have been nearly as long as it was. even now, when i explain how not talking was good for me, people will say "well, you cant bottle it up" but i dont bottle it up. i just find i can fix my own problems better by myself. its these "average healing standards" or something. people dont seem to want to accept different solutions and so they aggressively push THEIR solution, or the solution society has taught them. this is where i think society could improve on its outlook on mental health. it's absolutely great if talking to others is what helps you, but everyone is different, and i think that needs to be acknowledged better.

so my complaint is actually the opposite of yours, in the sense that i was pressured to talk instead of not being able to talk enough. regarding if i get the support i need, from my friends, they respect the fact i do not want to talk serious emotional things. however, would a teacher get word of one of my bad moods, id certainly be sent to a counselor and forced to talk, no matter how i explain my way of coping. the societal norm of outsider help being mandatory was harmful to me and is strictly enforced by society, as well as my school. so id say my school doesnt support me properly/acknowledge my way of supporting myself. so i definitely feel invalidated sometimes, even within a community that might seem very accepting and great for other mentally ill people.

Anyway, totally agree with this too! I guess, I was angry with my school because, I felt like they were not catering to my mental health needs and I knew there were many other people in similar situations as me and that they wanted someone to talk to, they wanted to find ways of coping with their mental health issues and being vocal about it. For the vast majority of people this is the best way of coping. But I agree, some people find it better to internalise their thoughts. Of course this can also be signs of unhealthy behaviour too so in some ways I understand the skepticism of your friends/family members/school teachers when you said that you did not want to talk about your mental health issues. Some people who have never felt the way you have don't understand what it feels like. But at the same time, there should be a balance between you and the people around you. There should be a level of trust and comfort in this relationship, even between student and teacher. A student should feel comfortable enough to approach a teacher about a problem and the teacher should be respectful of a student's choices if they perhaps cope differently, and so on. If a student says they don't want to talk about something, then that should be accepted, but it also should be made aware to the student that if they DO want to talk about their feelings and mental health issues, then they are allowed to and they are welcome to. Of course teachers may have pressured you into talking about how you felt because their job is to provide care to you and they are not mind-readers so again, they may have been skeptical and assumed you were displaying unhealthy behaviour. But if there was more education and more mental health awareness, maybe people would understand actually that this is one way of coping and that that's okay too. And if people understood that then maybe we'd be able to cope with our mental health issues in a way that we are happy with, yet, at the same time, if internalising our thoughts appear to be something that is more harmful to us, then we should feel comfortable to talk about it, too (THAT being said, it's not always something you want to admit to yourself when you are mentally ill, that you WANT to get help, that you are okay and it's fine you are bottling things up, etc).

 

[seliph]

I'm speaking in a general sense (as in not about any particular school/job/etc.) but there is such a huge lack of not only help but options for people with mental health issues. I bounced from highschool to highschool and all the "counsellors" did bugger all. One of them literally physically dragged and forced me into my class (it happened to be right beside the guidance counsellor room) while I was still in the middle of a panic attack so I had to sit through class ****ing hyperventilating and I couldn't ask to leave for the washroom or anything 'cause I couldn't even speak.

So of course I left that school after that nonsense, and I entered a school that was "for" people struggling with mental and physical illnesses and I was doing a pretty good job of catching up on what I missed and then they kicked me out when I turned 18 which is a load of bull if you ask me.

The school system doesn't give a damn about people with mental illness, they just want their names to look good, and of course their money. But then they spend their money on the ****ing sports teams no one cares about and needless physical upgrades (one of the schools near me spent like $100,000 dollars on a freaking rock monument outside... yeah!) meanwhile their students are struggling, their counsellors are incompetent, and their teachers are overworked and underpaid.

 

[seliph]

double post

 

[satine]

My school district always was terrible at dealing with mental health issues. It's a very small school from a small little Texas town and the entire district is focused solely on their athletics program even if they haven't won anywhere close to State since the '80s. Because of this, and because of lack of funding, almost all of the teachers were/are coaches that don't actually have much of an education in the subject they're teaching so the schooling itself wasn't satisfactory at all.

The health teacher only skimmed mental illnesses and I remember being in eighth grade, diagnosed with depression only two weeks earlier as we talk about depression in a way that was almost disrespectful. The 'teacher' did not know what he was talking about and didn't even have a textbook, and everyone's jokes about suicide were not met with enough of a backlash to be properly accounted for. It was a typical middle school scenario though. The counselor there was not very tactful either and treated depression as if it was something that I could "snap out of". I was removed from the school by my parents after eighth grade due to being severely emotionally bullied. I returned to the campus my sophomore year because the private school I was attending became too expensive, and though it was a slight improvement from the middle school there was only a career counselor, and no other sort though by that time I was going to one outside of the school so it didn't necessarily impact me.

In a small town like I live in, mental health is dealt with very untactfully and in ways that actually make the problems feel a lot worse. They all think depression is something you can cure yourself just like that, and this always offended me because I have suffered from clinical depression for five years.

None of my workplaces were too bad with it, I actually have had very positive experiences with my employers. When I was working at Braum's, a fast food joint in Texas/Oklahoma, a customer reacted very volatile to being told we weren't currently carrying a food combo he liked and it sent me into a panic attack in the back room because I have severe anxiety and this sent me over the top. My boss sat with me and gave me water and sent me home and never asked about it again.

My view is tainted because I know that, in a small hick little town like mine reality is often altered and therefore different than how it is in more densely populated areas that are less "cowboy" but that's just how I've been treated while dealing with it over the years.

 

[Arcticfox5]

sorry
deleted

 

[Chicha]

I also agree the current system is very, very flawed when it comes to mental illness. I completely agree it's very frustrating to see schools put most of their budget on sports teams (especially football) but can't even provide the most basic kind of mental health assistance. I hope it changes for the better someday because getting help can make all the difference in someone's life.

 

[Romaki]

Badly.

 

[vel]

I've read many articles and comments about how schools handle mental health issues overall. I'm lucky I go to a school which is educated in that sort, we have good counselors that can help you. In other schools, they don't seem to know what's going on. A lot of people believe the illness is all in your head and it shouldn't be worrying since it's only in your head. I don't think they understand it goes a lot deeper than something you tell yourself to search for attention. I feel like the world overall should be more educated on mental illnesses, because they are very valid. There are a lot of issues I feel people turn a blind eye on though. Like how being a minor, you are never taken seriously. When I first opened up to my parents that I might have a few mental illnesses, I haven't opened up before and I was very worried about how they'd take it, and they just asked if I were on my period and that was that. I had to go to the school counselor and talk to them myself, because my parents are no help at all. If I do something, for example, my dad ruined my white shoes by cleaning it with leather shoe polish they weren't leather, and when I was extremely upset because I thought he shouldn't have touched my things without asking, even if he were trying to help. He just said I was ungrateful and laughed it off like it were no big deal. I like how parents teach us to be polite but they're not polite themselves. And other examples, many kids get bullied at school, or something even worse, but grownups think it's no big deal, it's just young kid drama. I know many people that lose their entire self confidence and drown in depression because it isn't a big deal. I feel like even if something were a big deal no one cares. The entire presidential election is a ****ing joke right now (I'm sorry but let's be honest), but it's more important than those millions of kids who keep getting told their feelings or mental illnesses are no big deal.

 

[Rizies]

I am personally very passionate about improving mental health. At my current workplace we offer all employees access to our Employee Assistance Program; which overs a variety of services that are confidential and free to use for the employee. It is short-term, but it is at least something.

I have used the program to have access to a counselor when I was really struggling with depression a year ago. For me, it was a good start in how to find someone. There is a lot of counselors in my city, and it is overwhelming to have all of those options. I also encourage all of the staff to use.

The unfortunate thing is many of the managers in the workplace, or people in general, do not understand mental health issues. I don't blame them, I could never fully understand how someone could take their life because they were so depressed. After struggling with depression and anxiety, it really sheds a light on things. I find a person can study, and do all the reading in the world on mental health, and still may not to grasp it. Which is okay, at least they are trying to understand. I personally believe that people are breaking the stigma attached with mental health by talking about it. People are able to learn how it feels by talking to someone who suffers from a mental illness. Words bring power.

I am never ashamed of mental illness. I struggle with it, I have my ups and downs. I encourage those who want to know more to ask me questions. I want people to know if I don't feel like going out, it's not because I am lazy or don't want to hang out - I may be to anxious to go out. Generally I find the more open you are, the more willing people listen and want to understand. At least in my case.

 

[visibleghost]

badly imo

the issue isnt really talked about and it's pretty taboo hhh

 

[Celestefey]

Thanks so much for all of your replies everyone, really appreciate it! I was going to reply individually to each post but, honestly it could take me all day (maybe I'll get round to it later). Mental health issues are definitely something that I care about and something I think should be discussed more casually without fear of judgement OR invalidation. It's lovely to hear that some of you are getting the support that you need and you find that mental health issues are discussed and dealt with in a satisfactory way but, it saddens me to hear this isn't the case for many of us. That's just how it is though, mental illnesses are still such a taboo. People are okay to deal with people who have physical injuries or illnesses, and they are given proper support and help, but it's like, mental illnesses are just brushed off as being fake or not real. Just because you can't see someones illness, does not mean that it doesn't exist.

So I raise a question to those who are mentally ill and have reached out for help in the past. When someone tries to help you, do you often find that they actually, TRULY understand how you feel, or do they have some skewed vision as to what mental illnesses actually are and in the end just invalidate you and make you feel worse? This was the case with me and my parents. My mum used to say things such as "I can't understand how you feel because I am just not the sort of person to get depressed", which angered me because, no one CHOOSES to become depressed. It can affect anyone. It doesn't matter who you are, you could be the most happy-go-lucky, optimistic person in the world, and yet still end up suffering with depression. It made me feel like she was saying to me, "you are weak because you have depression". My dad used to deal with me badly when I had panic attacks and when I used to break down crying. I would shout at him to leave me alone because it felt awful when he would stand there looking at me, it made me feel embarrassed, I needed my own space to let out my emotions. He would just mutter "oh dear" under his breath and storm away, he would make me feel like I was pathetic and weak for being depressed. To be honest, the strongest people in life are the ones who have suffered, and the people who have depression. They are strong because despite what a heavy burden they have to carry, they still wake up each day and just survive. They still make it through. And I only started to realise that when I began to recover from my depression (fact of the matter is, I don't suffer with it as badly as I used to it, but it's definitely still there in the back of my mind). Overall I found that, my parents would invalidate my feelings. My mum used to think that she knew exactly how I felt, she used to tell me to just snap out of it and stop acting like such a baby when I said I couldn't do things. She would tell me to just do it anyway and grow up. She would tell me to stop living in my "dream world" in my head, however, she failed to understand the reason I was perhaps so delusional and detached from reality at times was because it was a way of me coping with my depression. I would hide in my room because it was a place that made me feel safe and happy, it surrounded me with things that made me feel at ease. I could play games, I could draw, I could talk to friends, listen to music, watch films, and just genuinely be myself. The world used to tire me out so going to a place where I felt safe made me feel secure and comfortable.

That being said, I understand my parents were trying to help. My mum would search on the internet symptoms of depression, how to care for someone with depression, different types of over-the-counter medication I could take, causes of depression, etc. It turns out my depression was something that manifested from my low self-confidence from when I was bullied, but it just got worse as later on experienced ****ty things in my life that often my parents just expected me to get over and cope with, however I could never even move on from things that happened 3 or 4 years ago, so that's why I couldn't deal with new changes in my life. It was a very confusing time in my life. However, my depression was also made worse by the fact I had multiple vitamin deficiencies and also anemia, so this made me incredibly tired and exhausted. It used to irritate me that once I stopped taking my medication that the doctor had prescribed for me to take just for a month period, that my parents assumed I was "all better". Yes, I was feeling better, I had motivation and I was not skipping classes and ignoring assignments/homework anymore, but I was not magically "cured".

Overall, there are definitely a lot of misconceptions around mental illnesses and to be honest, this is mostly due to poor education. My parents never learned about mental health issues, not even at school, so they are mostly manipulated by how they are presented through the media - which is usually in a ****ty way (ie: mentally ill people are crazy and probably end up becoming serial killers, etc etc, you know the usual). I feel like, no one truly understands mental illnesses, though, until they suffer with one themselves, and even then, everyone experiences it in their own unique way. People certain lacked a lot of empathy towards me and just treated me badly which in turn made me isolate myself anymore and made my depression and anxiety a lot worse. I definitely think there is still a lot more work to be done.

 

[namiieco]

I'm sorta glad they have tried to help but it doesnt work at all for me.

 

[ams]

In my school incredibly well. When I first started med school I had severe untreated depression and I went to student affairs, got set up with a psychiatrist within a few days (that I'm still seeing 2 years later), and got a year deferral to get better. I'm so grateful for my school and my country's free health care.

Edit: Ohhh I just read your full post OP and I forgot my school also has a therapy dog that comes every Thursday to our main atrium! And free access to a psychologist (which would not normally be covered by Canadian health care as only psychiatrist visits are free) for all students. Dang we're lucky.

 

[Bowie]

I think it's a very relative thing. Some people cope better on their own than they would speaking to any professional.

I, for one, just like to deal with my own stuff. Telling people my problems just makes me even more anxious because I feel like they could do anything with this information.

 

[Celestefey]

In my school incredibly well. When I first started med school I had severe untreated depression and I went to student affairs, got set up with a psychiatrist within a few days (that I'm still seeing 2 years later), and got a year deferral to get better. I'm so grateful for my school and my country's free health care.

Edit: Ohhh I just read your full post OP and I forgot my school also has a therapy dog that comes every Thursday to our main atrium! And free access to a psychologist (which would not normally be covered by Canadian health care as only psychiatrist visits are free) for all students. Dang we're lucky.

You are very lucky and it's great to hear how they were able to provide you with support and care so efficiently and quickly. Especially that you are still able to see this psychiatrist even 2 years on - it must be nice as you have built up a closer relationship with them so may feel more comfortable. Even my old school counsellor, whilst she was lovely, she initially created a 6 week period where we visit her weekly to talk about what is troubling us, and then usually after that she would allow you to arrange further meetings if you want or after that you could stop seeing her. So even then it felt like you were encouraged to not rely on the counselling too heavily. But even so, I was visiting this counsellor even when I was not properly in school and I was only taking exams! My old school were very great in offering support in this sense (although they were awful in another sense but that's off topic). Anyway, super glad things are working out okay for you!

I am going to be starting university soon actually, and the counselling service are already holding a free event where they are handing out cakes and tea, and you can easily talk to the people there to find out about the services they offer and the support that is available. Honestly it feels like such a huge relief, they feel very welcoming so I'm hoping if I ever relapse into depression or I am getting distressed, that I will hopefully be able to talk to someone who is qualified and experienced, and will actually care about what I have to say. I have also heard they bring in therapy dogs during university exam periods so if you feel stressed out you can spend time with one which I thought was wonderful. There's a lot of ways in which they are willing to help so already it feels a million times better than what my sixth form used to offer - which was not much at all!