Here we can all be heard for a little while. Part 2

Birdie85

Weigh In Update:
I won the competition! :j The prize was £100 so I'm really pleased that all the work has paid off and the only thing weighing more now is my purse! Now I just need to keep strong... so I mustn't make a habit of having cake at lunchtime (was yummy!) or naughty dinners (planning on picking up fish and chips on the way home) but for now I figure I deserve it!

Hope Escapette feels better soon Welly. It's not nice when you have to see them suffer. She'll perk up soon though, I'm sure.

elsien

We have to ask for regular feedback at work.
My today's feedback is that I am a very nice lady whilst simultaneously being a completely useless waste of space. (I'm not upset as I can see where the opinion is coming from)
I'm just quite pleased that the nice lady bit got stuck in there first. I've had enough now though, and just want to lie down somewhere, possibly on a chaise longue like a lady of old whilst dabbing my temples with something soothing and being fed tea in a proper cup and saucer.:)

Flybaby

I think I would love to live and work in a little bookshop! Does anyone else judge a book by the way it smells or is that just me? New Book Smell is just about my favourite smell in the world, right up there with basil and surf wax/glassing fluid.


Right...........all I can say about this week is I am pretty sure my guardian angel has been drinking again!

Budget_mum

Waves_and_Smiles wrote: »

There will be a wait at the assessment department and then another wait when it is sent back to the DWP so he said even if it moved today I am probably looking at at least another 6 weeks before anything is decided. This might be resolved by the summer if I'm lucky...

We submitted an application for my son in May 2015. Spoke to Maximus today (they do the assessment) and they confirmed his file is still with them but could give me no indication of when it might progress. Be prepared for the prospect of a long wait.

Waves_and_Smiles

Morning all! The sleepies have to end soon, tight?

Hello Budget_mum! That is awful, what a worry for you both! Thank you for letting me know, I won't hold my breath. I really hope that you hear something soon.

This could be CBT Penguin so please avoid it if you have concerns about preparing for after you aren't here anymore. It is a positive for me though!

While I have minimal mental health problems I am trying to pack in as much as I can while I can still think clearly. For a while I have been thinking about what would happen in the event of my death. what I want and how WaSp would cope with the practical things. He has had no experience of dealing with this at all.. I have very much wanted to leave my body to medical science for a long time, mainly because there are differences in the structure of Schizophrenic brains which can only be seen after death but they have few to study so research is moving very slowly. They really need schizophrenics to agree to this if they are going to make progress to help others. I now have the form to leave my body to the local university. All I have to do is fill it in and sign it and everything is arranged. It also means there will be no funeral which makes things easier for WaSp financially, I have told him to say goodbye to me in his own way if he wishes.

I am also putting a booklet together for WaSp with step by step instructions on what to do, how to contact the university, how to change the household bills into his name, when to notify the DWP, what to tell the landlord, etc. Basically a walkthrough in the event of my death. I have no intention of dying anytime soon but I have wanted to make sure that things are easy for WaSp as possible for a while and this is a huge weight off my mind. I am far more concerned about the pressure on WaSp than I am about my own death so this makes me feel much better! It's a depressing subject but I feel happy!

End Penguin

Torry_Quine

WaS that sounds very thorough and a good deal.

Waves_and_Smiles

Aw, thank you Torry. It makes me feel better for WaSp and it is the final thing I can try to do to help people. It puts my mind at rest that I have done all I can.

jobbingmusician

WaS - you do know that there is a thread on here somewhere (on another board) about the practicalities of that particular penguin (death) don't you? Might help with putting stuff together for WaSP.

Budget_mum - is this your son's first assessment? Fingers crossed for you, and there is lots of space in the fort if you would ever like to join us there.

Waves_and_Smiles

Oooh, I forgot that, JM! I shall make sure the link is included in the folder for WaSp because I am bound to miss out something important. I will have a read of it myself too and make sure I have all of the details correct.

System

Waves_and_Smiles wrote: »

In other news, I need some advice from you all, please. I have been offered a little voluntary job. The psychology department at my american friends university is setting up an online crisis line with a mental health charity and they want it to be international so they have asked those involved to look for people in other countries who might be willing to take part, she asked me if I would consider it.

It isn't counselling as such, the idea is clients will be given links to resources that can help them, so there is a little reassurance and listening at first but then staff would pass people onto other agencies once they are sure that they are ok for now.

The commitment is 4 hours a week (choose your own hours) for 14 months, the training is free (it would normally cost $250). The training period is 10 hours a week for four weeks which is a bit of a commitment from me but it can be done anytime. They have no problem with people who have mental health problems as long as you are now relatively stable (am I stable?) and have a preference for people already experienced in mental heath care. There is supervision offered for the staff if one is having difficulties or needs back up.

I don't know what to do. On the one hand the thought is terrifying, on the other I think I really want to do it because I really want to help people and at only 4 hours a week I should be able to manage it plus I have experience as a client and as a therapist so I should hopefully be useful. It is the first time I have thought seriously about working in over 10 years, I can't quite believe I am considering it.

This sounds like a wonderful oppurtunity and something I feel you'd be perfect for! I agree you need to make sure it stays as 4hours and also talk to your GP and psych to agree whether being directly on the helpline or supervising would be safest for you. I'm so proud of you WaS for even considering this, you have come so amazingly far since you started the thread! Not only this but you've been coping great with the calls to DWP too!!

Go WaS!!