Just that it’s easy to tell someone that it’ll be alright and but they’ll be able to, they’ll never be able to know what’s really going on. Like someone could sit there and blurt out well everything, but they will not be able to understand what someone’s been through. it’s alright to sit there and say, You’ll be alright and Keep your chin up but it’s hard to go through that, but for someone to sit there and think I haven’t been through it, but yeah keep your chin up if you know what I mean.

Do you find it like difficult to believe them?

Yeah. Cos it’s like they’ve got a job like, they can do what they’re doing and they’ve got a happy life, they can go home and chill out and I just don’t believe them because, it’s, I’ve still gotta go home thinking the same thing and being depressed.

And just to have a bit of patience. And there was, I’ve had friends that have sort of, that have looked like they’ve not wanted help because they’re still continuing and the, they’re not, they don’t look like they’re trying to stop and sometimes it takes a bit of patience. When I was first sort of diagnosed and I wasn’t listening to any of it, I thought, Well it’s all rubbish what they’re saying anyway and I’m gonna continue what I’m doing and it took a while to realise that actually what I’m doing it probably wasn’t the best idea. Sort of it took a while to be able to accept that, because I thought, Well I can do it on my own, why do I need these people anyway?

And they know you only have a designated GP time, but most people are just kind of feeling really lonely and lost, and think about other ways to encourage them.

don’t just give them this, but you know, if someone could say search for a few well known authors on depression, I can’t think of any off the top off my head, on Amazon, that would have helped that me. If someone had said, regular exercise, join these groups, join your local, don’t necessarily join your gym cos I think, I don’t think that would be a good idea, well the exercise would help but like a team thing. Go and learn something that makes you feel good about yourself. If someone had told me that I probably would’ve thought it was weird, but if they’d given me a reason, I think it would have done an amazing thing.

I think would be to if possible find someone you know, that they would kind of, find a suitable case study to relate to, so if you can, like if you can, if I could’ve been associated with someone that had gone through very similar process of events, then and saw the guy or the girl that’d come out of it, you know, and was doing, having a great life, so the same, similar symptoms and the desired outcome you want you know, then great.

Cos it, what made things so much worse was knowing that, not, not knowing about the subject you know, the doctor saying, Oh yeah, this happens all the time But you’ve got no proof of that at all. And it’s just him, you could, you know I know doctors don’t lie, but at the same time you’re thinking well, is there really someone else that’s gone through this?

Just give us a break you know, dude. We’re good people at heart but things are difficult. don’t judge us and if people are obnoxious and rude, this is to the professionals okay? If you’re rude and obnoxious don’t work with children, don’t work with children with health problems cos you just don’t need it. They don’t need it, we don’t need it. Get out.

Just consider what you say and what you do, because saying the wrong thing, or reacting in the wrong way, considering you are a professional, and if people have decided to take a chance on that, and are there even if it’s voluntarily, especially if it’s voluntarily, it’s gonna be very hard for them to open up if they’re taking the risk, deciding to open up, don’t, just don’t criticise her because it’s very difficult to be open about what you’ve experienced, how you’re feeling. And some things that you say or that you feel just make you feel crazy. You feel like you are actually insane. So don’t react to people like they are, just because they have a mental health condition it doesn’t make them any less intelligent, or any less capable of dealing with the minutest detail of their condition.

Frankie’ Advice, Advice to professionals would just be, Do your bloody job

[Laughter]

Frankie’ Do your job. don’t pass us off.

Sian’ don’t just do the job though, because
Mandy’ Remember a person,

Sian’ Yeah, remember they’re a person, don’t just do your job, go that extra mile for them, do that, twist things just slightly just to help,

Frankie’ What they tend to do is once you’ve got a diagnosis they treat you as a diagnosis not as an individual. So they don’t find out why you do certain things, or why you, they don’t tend to look at your background, they just tend to say, Well you’ve got this, this is how we’re going to deal with it

Mandy’ Another patient number. We, you know there is a person behind that illness. You can’t just treat the illness, or you’re not gonna see the person, you’re not going to help the person back, especially when it comes to depression, because the illness takes over that person, and takes over that person’s personality. And you’re not going to discover the best way to treat them unless you actually talk to them, and take the time to try and see what’s going on there behind there and whos the one that’s struggling to survive inside type thing. So you know
Sian’ Just be there really,

Frankie’ Treat us like people, not patients.

Mandy’ Treat us like you’d like to be treated if you were in the same situation. Because you know we’re not an illness and we’re not a patient number.