I've praised these lads a few times on here, although apart from Luke I rarely agree with what the others say! However, I've just come across this particular video. Very brave of Luke to make it and I hope this finds a wider audience. It certainly deserves to. Outstanding video from a brave and outstanding young man.
Luke, if you read this I'm so glad you've managed to find a bit of a coping mechanism, hopefully, as time progresses, you can get better at this and realise that it is going to pass and you'll feel alright again. And for everyone else who suffers the same, you're not alone, try to hang on in there, it does pass and with time you learn how to live with it (I'll not say cope as every episode is a *******).
Big Lil, we're about the same age, can you remember any of this kind of 5hit when you were younger? Is it more prevalent these days, were we naive, or was it covered up? I really don't know what's going on, far too many people I know have been affected by this sort of thing.
In my opinion it was simply covered up and very much a taboo subject. When we first moved into our house 35 years ago, we had an elderly couple for neighbours. The woman made a point of warning us not to worry if we heard her husband screaming in the middle of the night. He was a member of the army unit which liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945 and saw sights none of us can imagine, thankfully. Unfortunately, he frequently revisited the camp in his dreams. The nightmares continued for decades until he passed away. He couldn't bring himself to talk about the events, not even to his wife. Every time he had one of these dreams, he sank into depression which could last for days.
It's always been there, just not spoken about. The more poorly people who ended up at likes of Storthes Hall had the name of the lodge as their address on the death certificate, it was that much of a taboo. What Lil is describing is likely PTSD with a comorbidity of depression due to impact of PTSD. It had other names going back such as shell shock etc.
I suppose because of this internet thingy we're exposed to / aware of a much greater range of people than when the only ones we were aware of were those we physically met or their close relatives. And as you say, such relatives would have kept it under cover. That he couldn't get to see a doctor because of people with a cold, spot on their arse, or a broken finger nail stinks - but that's a whole different subject matter.
Watched the video when tykes tv released it and I've got to say Luke's words on mental health were spoken way beyond his years . Best video he's ever done .
Second every word there, BL. A brave, brave video. From my experience of this awful type of illness (from people close to me) it tends to remain there in the background, but many people find a way to cope with it when it's nasty phases come on - even if that's withdrawing a bit and taking yourself out of the line of fire. Seek medical help - admittedly not easy these days - and try as best you can to get a more accurate diagnosis. Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy is worth reading up on, although it may often need to be accompanied by other treatment. Above all, as Luke says - keep talking to people you love/trust. Often they will have no answers but they are there to listen.
What was concerning about Luke's video was that there had been no medical intervention to help him although he had had a similar episode a couple of years previously. The fact that this guy had contacted his doctor and despite his past history he couldn't get an appointment is bad. Was there less mental illness years ago ? I think in the past people would do anything to hide things if they were struggling mentally because of the stigma of having a mental illness or because they didn't want to go to a mental hospital. My own father had a severe mental illness and was Sectioned in a Mental Hospital - recall visiting him as a child and absolutely amazed at the size of this hospital and the number of patients. He had ECT (against his wishes) - on the last occasion he had it he suffered a severe stroke and died shorty afterwards. (I think ECT is still given!) Throughout the rest of my childhood and early adulthood my siblings and myself felt we were regarded by some people as being tainted as there was mental illness in the family - indeed my sister was turned down for a nursing course and she always believed it was because of the mental illness in the family. If just one person responds positively to Luke's video then it will have been worth it.
