Mike Stuchbery πŸ’€πŸ· Profile picture
Sep 10, 2018 β€’ 14 tweets β€’ 3 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Folks tell me it has helped when I've talked about it, so here goes - as many of you know I've struggled with depression & anxiety for 20 years.

In that time, I've had many myths busted about those two buggers. Here's the top 5... 1/ #WorldSuicidePreventionDay
5. 'You need to be stuck in bed all day to *really* have depression.'

Don't get me wrong - some can really be affected that way. However, you can be severely depressed & very much upright.

I went through a number of jobs, very ill & wondering why I couldn't perform - Duh! 2/
I figured that because I could get out of bed and front up to work, I wasn't Ill.

Never mind that my illness was seriously fatigued, that it was impacting my communication skills - I could barely look people in the eye!
4. 'It's only severe depression/anxiety if it's affecting you all day, every day'.

Severe anxiety and depression has its bumps and troughs - some days you can feel relatively normal.

One thing I also came to understand is that the 'normal' I was feeling was anything but. 3/
It was only when I started talking therapy and CBT that what I considered 'normal' was pretty warped - a joyless, moribund existence, as opposed to something actively terrifying and painful.

When you're severely depressed and anxious, you have no real yardstick for 'OK'. 4/
3. 'You got into severe depression or anxiety by yourself, you can get yourself out'.

Would you say the same for a virus, or cancer? Do you think you could fix it?

Depression & anxiety can have bio-chemical triggers that positive thinking *cannot* fix - they did for me. /5
As I said, depression and anxiety can often skew or distort your thought processes - what you might think is a logical course of action can actually be pretty harmful - eg. 'Im fat & ugly - stop eating lunch!'

My brain also shut down many *actual* options as 'too much work'. /6
2. 'Medication or therapy will take something away from you'.

There's this idea that I clung to for the longest time that 'depressed me' was the *real* me - that the strength of emotion that I was feeling was integral to my character.

Yeah, balls. /7
Sure, I was 'me', but in the depths of anxiety and depression, I was a distorted and strung-out version of who I now I am.

Talking and trying different medications until I got it right, as well as the right counsellor, helped me work out who I am. /8
1. 'If you're depressed & anxious, you've brought it on yourself'.

I think that this one is especially prevalent in men and young people.

I thought that my illness was something I'd fully brought about by my own choice - that in a way, I deserved what I was suffering. /9
That's the nature of the illnesses themselves - to convince you that you are a bad, or lacking individual.

Who was I kidding - am I a doctor?

There are many, many factors that work in tandem to cause severe depression and anxiety! /10
Sure, there are things you can do to minimize your risk of suffering depression, but even the most vigilant among us can be struck down.

Your depression or your anxiety is *not* your fault!

You do, however, have a choice about taking the first step. /11
I've come a very long way since I first experienced depression and anxiety, and much of what I thought I knew turned out to be total bunkum.

It isn't easy, and I still struggle, but these days I'm bloody glad to be alive, and I know there is plenty of light in the darkness. /12
I know there's plenty of my followers who struggle with depression and anxiety, & I hope this thread helped.

If I can do anything more - elaborate on a point, or lend an ear - just ask. Happy to help.

You are worth it, and there is a way out. /Fin #WorldSuicidePreventionDay

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More from @MikeStuchbery_

Oct 9, 2018
What’s that? You want more horrific history? Too long to wait for the last series of β€˜Game of Thrones’. Cool, I got you fam! This time we’re going to Sicily - a land known for food, wine, cultural treasures & acts of staggeringly brutal violence - in the year 1282… THREAD 1/
Sicily has always been a prize - it’s been fought over more times than anyone cares to think about & the island is littered with scars. In the late 13th century, the island had passed from the German Hohenstaufen dynasty to the French Angevin. This was not a popular change. /2
Occupying armies aren’t usually polite house guests. They have a tendency to rape, loot and pillage, even once the smoke has cleared. The Sicilians despised their new overlords, & the Angevin treated the Sicilians as backwards. Things were tense and violence a constant threat. /3
Read 18 tweets
Oct 9, 2018
Ladies, I feel like you and I could both do with a pick-me-up, so let me tell you about one of the stone cold, icy-veined, razor-sharp women to ever walk the earth. Allow me to introduce you to Olga of Kiev... THREAD 1/
Olga of Kiev was a princess of the Kievan Rus, descended from Norse settlers who arrived in what we know today as Russia in the 9th century. She was born sometime in the closing years of the 9th century, and reached adulthood in the very early 10th century. /2
As a (very) young woman, she was married to Igor of Kiev, son of the first ruler of the Kievan Rus. Igor was a hell of a warrior, and spent decades raiding and besieging anybody who looked at him funny. /2
Read 17 tweets
Oct 6, 2018
Commodus (161 - 192) had a rabid popular base, cleared out the coffers, charged the Roman state for his gladiatorial fights, lied constantly about his feats & executed folks so he could take their money and property.

He was strangled while in the bath by his wrestling buddy.
The Sassanid Emperor, Khosrow II (570 - 628) flaunted his wealth outrageously, refused to own his mistakes, flayed generals who 'failed' him & was known for other acts of arbitrary cruelty.

He was overthrown, starved - told to eat his riches actually - then shot with arrows.
John I of England (1166 - 1216) was actually a fairly capable ruler, but we do not forget the fact that he was a petty, spiteful man who delighted in starting feuds & prioritised luxuries over his people.

There's a rumour that a monk at Swineshead Abbey poisoned his drink.
Read 8 tweets
Oct 5, 2018
Today Donald Trump tweeted this, regarding protesters campaigning against Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.

This signals that the President of the United States buys into antisemitic conspiracy theories. Here's why. THREAD 1/
Right up front, George Soros is a very, very rich man. He's worth, at present, around 8.3 billion USD. He's made that money as a banker, starting in London in the 60s, before moving to America & becoming an investor in the US. /2
Much of the 'higher-level' ire for George Soros comes from his establishment of the @OpenSociety Foundations, that yearly pumps millions and millions of dollars into progressive causes. /3 opensocietyfoundations.org
Read 20 tweets
Oct 5, 2018
Now, I want to tell you the tale of a bloke who spent his life trying to pierce the veil between the living and the dead. A bloke who many considered mad, and who was spoken in hushed tones by local villagers. A bloke born at a place called - get this - Frankenstein... /THREAD
Johann Conrad Dippel - though he often just went by Conrad - was born in 1673 in what is today the German state of Hesse. The place of his birth? Burg (or Castle) Frankenstein. A minor noble, he could afford a decent education, and trained as a theologian. /2
Dippel was a Pietist. This was a Lutheran movement that stressed personal faith above all else, & a metaphysical bent that mean that they came off as fervent, a little bit dangerous. Dippel was zealous in his beliefs, publishing pamphlets against other denominations. /3
Read 20 tweets
Oct 5, 2018
Alright, enough bad news! I feel like we're not getting sufficiently spooky enough, with Halloween fast approaching. Here then, is a glimpse at an eldritch tome of demonic abominations, so horrible that it comes with a warning to the reader... THREAD! /1
This cursed grimoire, this blaspheming text claims to originate from the distant past - 1057, to be precise. It is written in a mixture of Latin and German, suggesting that it originated from the dark, forsaken forests of the Holy Roman Empire. /2
To warn the ready of the horrors within, this book, this 'Compendium of Demonology and Magic' advises the reader, 'noli me tangere', or 'touch me not'. I advise all those with a nervous disposition to forgo reading the thread at this stage. Only terrors ensue. /3
Read 19 tweets

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