Back on planet earth

Hello all.
If anyone has tried to send me a PM over the past couple of months or so and it has apparently been ignored, my sincere apologies. I have just looked in to find a message that my inbox was full and I have inadvertently deleted every message, including any unread ones.

As a couple of you may know I had a pretty grim lock down for one reason or another, including a major and pretty frightening health scare, and while not, understandably, wishing to go into details I eventually had some sort of a breakdown. A big one...far more serious than the occasional short bouts of diabetic depression that I have dealt with for years.

I believe that mental health is going to emerge as one of the major side effects of this bloody virus, particularly among my own age group. Somewhat illogically, I suppose, I am quite ashamed of myself as I believed that something like this could not happen to me. It did.

Hello Fred. Lovely to hear from you. We miss you.

Whatever the details of your malady, it can't keep a tough old nut like you down. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of...it's not your fault this virus is going around. The fact that you have made it your mission to tell about one of the unseen effects of the virus, is admirable. Keep it up.

Welcome back lovely Fred....and whatever you have gone through, hopefully you can now see light at the end of the tunnel. x

Fred, its an absolute pleasure to hear from you again, hope its not going to be as long till next time....

It is indeed wonderful to hear from you again.

Hello good sir!

You are not alone Fred. I’ve had a few over the years. You are not alone Please feel free to reach out anytime!

Cass x

Hey Moley!

Glad to see you're safe and well, and back posting here!

I was just thinking about you the other day. Glad you're back amongst us.

Mental health is taking a serious blow right now. It's one reason why leaders keep opening things before it's really safe. Lock downs are fraught with their own dangers, and they are trying to balance the two.

Glad your back Fred and feeling a little better !

Good to have you back with us Lord Ed.

Fred Moletrousers wrote:Hello all.
If anyone has tried to send me a PM over the past couple of months or so and it has apparently been ignored, my sincere apologies. I have just looked in to find a message that my inbox was full and I have inadvertently deleted every message, including any unread ones.

As a couple of you may know I had a pretty grim lock down for one reason or another, including a major and pretty frightening health scare, and while not, understandably, wishing to go into details I eventually had some sort of a breakdown. A big one...far more serious than the occasional short bouts of diabetic depression that I have dealt with for years.

I believe that mental health is going to emerge as one of the major side effects of this bloody virus, particularly among my own age group. Somewhat illogically, I suppose, I am quite ashamed of myself as I believed that something like this could not happen to me. It did.

well, you can stop that straight away. don't ever be ashamed for being human and having human weaknesses. the fact that you can come on here and talk of it is very brave imo.

aw, fred, i'm so happy you're back again. i was scared you had some kind of terminal illness and i didn't want to ask cos i was also dealing with some shit.

also, i know from making my own posts that people on here are decent human beings and if someone reaches out in pain, they reach out right back.

pretty much everyone here has a deep forum style affection and appreciation for the man you are

stay with us fred

xx

Welcome back me Lord 

Sorry to hear what you have been going through though.

No need to be ashamed

we all have a point at which we can all break down

we are all human after all

Hope you stay around and we are all here to support you in anyway that we can

Thank you all so, so much for such wonderfully warm and thoughtful messages. You will never know how much I appreciated them, particularly as one of the worst and most damaging aspects of the whole thing has been the almost total loss of self confidence and esteem.

Fred, I feel bad about not calling you but life has been hectic and I’m not making excuses.

I’m so glad you’re back.

And never, ever, feel ashamed about your emotions or mental health. I always feel like people hide away when they post on forums. I don’t. So I love your honesty.

Same here, Fred. I'm so glad to see you posting again. Don't feel bad about what this has done to you; you're human and strength isn't about not getting knocked down, it's about getting up again.

You're a storyteller. I would love to hear the story of what's happened to you, and I bet everyone else here would as well, if you wish to tell it.