Mental Health

[johny2bikes]

Hey all. Dont post often but always lurking...

Anyone else suffering with mental health issues at the moment. I have suffered all my life with existential anxiety (big questions death, dying why bother etc?) and motorcycle was actually an outlet to get in the moment.

However since covid I am really going down bad to the point where the hangman's rope seems appealing. On a shit load of tablets (ssri, snri Diazepam etc) and every herb you can think of but shit me life us just meaningless. Wonderful family great kids loads of hobbies but I have sunk in to an abyss I can get out of. Used to be mega fit but now just put away 1/2 bottle tesco finest whisky a night to at least get a rest from the pain for an hour in the evening. Rinse and repeat the next day.

Feel like a right prick as have nothing to moan about (like some poor fella from the armed services with PTSD) but it just keeps beating me down.

Got counselling, therapy etc but turning the practical crowd for any tips or co sufferers for a bit of support.

Thanks all and hope all doing good👍
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Current bikes - CBF-125 / R1250GSA
Old bikes - Triumph Speed Triple R

[Pete.]

Throw yourself into exercise. I know a couple of guys who were depressed enough to require therapy, and it helped them immensely. You'll have purpose and you'll be producing endorphines and other products which are the body's 'happy drugs'.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[reavsie]

[kolu]

+2 for exercise

also ketamine. helps regrow damaged brain (there is plenty of peer-reviewed evidence). there are plans to introduce esketamine treatment for severe long-term depression under NHS but it seems to them to be bit expensive.

[Easy-X]

I generally manage to keep a level head when everyone around me is falling apart but I've had some days where I've felt a bit low.

What I try and do is make sure I get something done, anything really. The shed needs tidying, let's clear out this junk, oil change on the car... just so I the day wasn't a complete wasted. It's also a blessing/curse that most of my relatives hand off their technical problems to me but at least I can feel useful.

I think that's the key thing: it's not about "have I got a happy life" it's about a life of worth. Dunno if that helps.
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Diggs]

+3 for exercise. Force yourself if needs be...
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Now - Speed Triple, old ratty GS550, GSXR750M
Gone (in order of ownership) - Raleigh Runabout, AP50, KH125, GP125, KH250, CBX550, Z400, CB750FII, 250LC, GS550, ZXR750H1, Guzzi Targa, GSX750F, KH250 x2, Bimota SB6R and counting...

[GSTEEL32]

+4 exercise/walking/gardening.

Work sets you free, be that paid or otherwise.

I've also spent an inordinate amount of time on YouTube learning a few new skills.

Most of it is Tech orientated, so i admit not for everyone, but as has been said, you feel its not a day wasted.

I twin the cerebral stuff ( I got into html and web design) with a walk, to offset the two. It's also given me time to read, which is something I rarely did before covid. Second hand Books on ebay are probably cheaper than the paper it cost to print them on originally.... again, if you want more tech orientated stuff, its bargin bucket money.....

[Polarbear]

If you have an e reader there is a shedload of free books on Amazon Kindle. OK, most are not so brilliant but every so often you come across a gem.

Just sort them by price, low to high, and get stuck in.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[JackButler]

Get yourself a pet. Everyone needs something that they alone are responsible for its wellbeing. Unless you can add 'selfish bastard' to that long list of traits then your personal worries pale into insignificance when pet needs attention.

I recommend a dog. Mental health & exercise needs sorted in one fell swoop. Plus there's the added bonus that at least one thing in your life will be happy to see you when you walk in the house.
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I clean my guns with the tears of the snivelling, left wing scum.

[johny2bikes]

Thanks for the advice all... Nice just to have a vent and get some opinions from other people.
The intelligent part of my brain (as small as it is) says get my backside out the door and get walking/running and back in to excercise. I think I have just spiraled down where its so hard to get motivated. I know I need to man up push through at some point however.
I did get out today and did some epair work on my bikes (which I managed to tip over on each other a couple of weeks back) and that made me feel a bit better.
Thanks again... much appreciated.
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Current bikes - CBF-125 / R1250GSA
Old bikes - Triumph Speed Triple R

[Pigeon]

[notbike]

+100 for exercise.

It transformed me from literally not wanting to get out of bed due to immense feelings of existential dread and hating life, to feeling really great in a matter of weeks.

Eventually got so addicted to it that it made me ripped, arrogant, and happy. Literally didn't give a shit and was just excited to be alive every morning. Didn't recognise my former self.

I need to start up again though, fast forward a year and too much sleeping around leading to movie nights & pizza binges made me lazy and I've started putting on weight again. Then this fucking pandemic happened and I've become a massive reclusive slob again.

Probably start again when it's less cold, dark and shitty.

What I did to get from fat to ripped in 3 months:

1. Cardio - 40 mins max intensity 3x per week minimum with walking for an hour or two on days off (try to keep moving as much as possible without being sedentary)

2. Muscle work with strength parameters on non-cardio days, listen to your body if you feel rekt rest but if you have energy just keep at it.

3. Diet, same breakfast was always unseasoned oats with milk & some fruit, lunch and dinner was either veg or salad & choice of meat (or protein substitute if you're a veggie) + quinoa, some days when energy felt low I'd load up carby foods like rice. Basic, boring, no shortcuts or bullshit but it worked. Would also take creatine & supplements and down protein shakes when I didn't have time to eat at work but I don't even think that was necessary).

This might not be 'optimized' or easy or whatever, I'm no nutritionist or sports scientist but this shit worked cause I stuck to it consistently and controlling my life in this way made me feel like I had a grasp on things (probably why I got hooked to it at that time). In a few weeks you'll start feeling better, in 3 months you'll feel like you're god.

EDIT: no excuses, I worked a 9-5 and commuted whilst doing this. Meal prep, get to the gym or go running / get walking as soon as you get home.

[Robby]

Along with exercise, getting out on the bike, assuming you haven't been doing that.

I didn't think I would mind not commuting in winter. Then I worked from home for 9 months and counting, and realised the commute was keeping me sane. Some adrenaline is necessary.

[Bhud]

[ThunderGuts]

I can't offer any qualified advice, but my thoughts would be +101 for exercise; find something you are willing to do irrespective of weather / daylight and just go for it. Running and cycling are both good and doable with modern kit in all weathers quite comfortably. Set yourself a goal and go for it. Use it as a tool to explore where you are too - my wife and I have explored our local area more extensively than ever over the last 12 months and have discovered some real gems. In non-COVID times I'd recommend climbing as the mental focus as well as physical input are a fantastic combination, but obviously at the moment it's not really going to work!

Hard exercise (heart rate up and knackered afterwards) tends to set off plenty of endorphins into your system and these have a mentally beneficial effect.
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TG.

[hellkat]

Chocolate (or bacon, depending on preference)
Sex
Motorcycles
Food
Fresh air

In any order or combination.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[hellkat]

Been having a fair old wobble myself lately.

The good ship hellkat usually rights itself after a bit, but its lately been quite alarming that its not felt *this* bad before. Considering how good I have been in the past (Mrs Revoltingly Chirpy), this is a bit of a crash that I've not experienced before.

Managed to stumble through lockdown and an unexpected death with no funeral allowed, all that gubbins, and then some drama or other related to romance but which you don't want to hear about, and I coped admirably throughout most of last year, not being strictly in lockdown kept me relatively able to cope. But eventually something gave and I ended up melting down in early November.

Did one of those psychological mini tests with the occupational health nurse a few weeks back. Not much on the depression side as I don't seem to have organic depression, but plagues of anxiety have been crucifying me lately. Creeps up on ya when you least expect it. Think "oh yeah, everything's alright", and go plugging along, then suddenly Hey wait, its all gone a bit foggy, eeek, can't cope, can't cope,
can't cope,
can't cope,
can't cope,
can't cope,
can't cope,
can't cope,
can't cope,
can't cope,

and breathe.
OK maybe I can cope.
If I take one step at a time.

So yeah, everybody's saying exercise, which is right enough in itself, but not in that fitness freak kind of way. As the worlds greatest couch potato, I tend to find that its the getting out on the bike which does the best job of "blasting away the cobwebs" a bit.

So if whatever Tier you are in allows it, then get out on the bike with extreme prejudice. Wifey, kids, job, whatever, don't let it stop you from taking a quick buzz, even if its down to the shops for milk and back.

Fresh air and open spaces.
Stop for a Mars Bar and a can of Red Bull.
Then head home full of energy and positivism for a bit of a bunk up and a bacon sarnie.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[hellkat]

[struan80]

From my 30 odd years of experience of having my head up my arse then I have deemed that nothing will help. Like me you are doomed for the rest of your life. Olanzipine helps a bit as it numbs the mind. I'm at the point that I'm so used to having some head fuck issues that to feel good again is something that I doubt I could even handle

Last thing you feel like doing when you're feeling like that is exercise

Sorry for you mate. Once you accept that nothing will help you learn to live with it.

It took me 20 years to get any help.

This is just me though. Negative.

Best of luck

[Diggs]

I have had my head up my arse for the last few years according to my Doctor. I took happy-pills for a while then came off them because I thought I was better, then went back on them after exhibiting some rather unusual behaviour. I took to sleeping rough after a skinfull, not because my Mrs wouldn't let me in the house, but for the sensation of being alive. I'm sure many on here understand that feeling...

I started doing part-time postman shifts in November, and I haven't felt as 'sorted' for years. I'm walking about 8 miles a day, four days a week, and its like discovering a new drug!

Get some exercise and a job you enjoy. I wish I'd been clever enough to do it years ago
____________________
Now - Speed Triple, old ratty GS550, GSXR750M
Gone (in order of ownership) - Raleigh Runabout, AP50, KH125, GP125, KH250, CBX550, Z400, CB750FII, 250LC, GS550, ZXR750H1, Guzzi Targa, GSX750F, KH250 x2, Bimota SB6R and counting...

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

All good advice but if you're clinically depressed I don't think suggestions from others help. It'll be a bit like saying, "Pull yourself together." Medication required, hopefully followed by a gradual weaning off. The medication makes you feel some sort of normal again, so you can become active again, then when the dose is reduced (ask the doctor) the activity keeps you going. Without the medication you don't get active, you just sit and mope.

[JackButler]

[johny2bikes]

Lots of great advice 👍 Thanks so much again.

I think I definitely have a physiological (ie brain chemistry) issues as I have had issues since my late teens. Plus it does run in the family.

I have taken Citalopram the last few years and on a fairly low dose of 10 to 20mg and they do definitely work without turning me in to a zombie as I have never had a really bad depressive episode on them and the missus says I am a lot more easy going.

Drinking wise I nearly never drink (nothing against it just never bothered) and have always been really fit and active.. Lots of football in younger days then running including a few marathons in the last 10 years (45 years old now so 5k is more than enough).

Also good point about the commute to work as I ride all year and even though its not fun in the depths of winter it does concentrate the mind.

Think the big issue was end of 2019 I was doing great, fit, healthy just bought a new bike, family all good so suggested to doc to maybe try and come off Citalopram. She agreed and I came off slowly and felt brilliant.

Obviously covid happened, and by April/May I felt the clouds closing in again. By June i was in a right mess... tried getting back on the Citalopram (which is not an overnight fix), Diazepam for the quick fix and in real desperate times just got wasted on whisky.

Since then I am basically on a cycle of 2-3 weeks when I feeling like the Citalopram is finally taking the edge off which will gives me the space to get my head straight and get back out running etc. But then like clockwork (and nothing i can pinpoint triggers it) wham i am back in depths of despair. Just feel in a viscous cycle.

Docs prescribed more drugs as I know you can get to a point with some ssri's where they stop working so that might help but its early days on that. Plus the therapist I have just started with has raised some good stuff already.

I think also not having the natural distraction and interaction in life takes more of a toll on our mental wellbeing than we realise.

I just wish I break this 2-3 week cycle of up and down, as just as I feel like I am getting my strength back up I get whacked again.

Normally I am a pretty hardy person and can deal with most of normal lifes ups and downs and actually work well in an emergency (kind of thrive on the adrenaline)...but this depression and anxiety thing reduces me down to a pathetic mess.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but once again really appreciate the time you have taken to reply, and it really helps with the motivation to try and get going again... thanks all 👍👍
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Current bikes - CBF-125 / R1250GSA
Old bikes - Triumph Speed Triple R

[Easy-X]

Sounds like classic manic depression from the cycles, I have a friend who suffers* from it. I'd ask him but now I only get to see him when he's refilling the bread isle at my local Tesco I'll message him somehow and see if he has any advice

*Maybe that's the wrong word? Cope? Manage? This is one of the problems of mental health, destructive terminology when discussing the subject.
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[johny2bikes]