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All I know right now is that if I didn't have my family, I'd be homeless myself right now. Right now I'm utterly, utterly depressed and finding it hard to do an
by chris_wot 11y ago
All I know right now is that if I didn't have my family, I'd be homeless myself right now. Right now I'm utterly, utterly depressed and finding it hard to do anything. It's like trying to run through a vat of molasses, nothing works very fast.
I'll probably be better after some more sleep, but I know the black dog and anxiety is always just around the corner. It makes it very hard to do anything let alone look for work. I really don't know how an already homeless person with a worse mental illness does it. I fear they could be the most capable person in the world, but if you hit a certain stage it's very hard to pick up from.
It not self-pity either. I constantly tell myself that the feeling isn't reality but just my brain being out of kilter temporarily. And I'm of course correct. But if your head isn't ordered, no amount of positive thinking is ever going to fix it. Sometimes all you can do is ride it out, but you can only do this if you have a safe place to sleep, eat and keep yourself clean. And that sure as hell isn't on the streets.
I hope that is never me, but sometimes I realise that I'm only a few steps removed from the situation of those without anything. That's why I get frustrated with so many attitudes towards homelessness and mental illness. Saying that it's there own fault isn't terribly helpful. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Maybe some homeless people choose to be homeless. Maybe some are lazy and got into the situation through their own behaviour. But I'll hazard a guess that isn't most people.
God help you if you ever hit rock bottom. God help you from the morally outraged, fit and wealthy self-made man. In his eyes, you're worse than a failure, you deserve your situation.
- dosgonlogs 11y agoI really appreciate you sharing your personal situation. That last line was amazing. Some people lack compassion, spoiled by their own blessings that they are oblivious to, because their pride hides those blessings from them. Their ego tells them "I worked too hard and am too damn good at what I do, and too damn smart and able to have my success be attributed to anything but my self". Of course I may be citing an extreme example, but I have seen people espouse this line of thinking, because you do see it promoted in subtle and less subtle ways.
- marincounty 11y agoI'm in a similar boat. I am one life crisis from being homeless. I've had that feeling of being off kilter since '89. I busted a gasket in that year. The experts said it was nothing besides anxiety, and dysthymia. I said busted a gasket, because in all those years that's the clinical definition that made most sense. I just couldn't blame it all on my chilhood. My heart goes out to you. I know words are cheap, but I truly understand how you feel.
- chris_wot 11y agomarincountry, I wanted to vouch for your comment but I don't appear to be able to do that any more :( but I hope your OK, that's a long time to feel like this. All I can say is that if an expert dismisses your symptoms as "just" anxiety and dysthrithmia find a better expert... :-)