Here is a story from one of our men.
" Why I became involved with M.E.N.
Having piked when asked this question at the 1st Friday night BBQ, I have decided instead to write my answer as I am a far better writer than speaker.
Unlike all of the attendees who I heard, I was urged to join M.E.N. by my psychologist and strongly supported by my wife. Like a significant number of the men I too suffer from depression. Unlike most of them I knew I was depressed and asked my GP to refer me for counselling. This is not because I am smarter than those other men, simply that I have had more experience with mental illness and psychologists. My wife has also been a sufferer and I have twice attended counselling sessions previously.
The first time I was referred by my employer, the SA Housing trust, to a counsellor who specialises in Reike ( a special treatment that involves voice and body movements). It did very little for me but I kept my job at the time.
The second time was at the request of my wife who felt I lacked an understanding of abuse in our family. I saw a counsellor specialising in this area. My wife was not saying I was abusive, simply that I needed to have a better understanding of the impact of the abuse that children from her previous marriages had suffered. I have no children but she has four (and now grandchildren) so this was a very useful experience; and also made me examine my own childhood.
One of my own triggers for depression was a strong sense of failure in my paid working life. I was sacked from my first job in England and subsequent others including my first job in Australia. I was never promoted in any job and struggled to please my employers. I lasted 9 years in the SA Housing Trust but was ultimately forced to take a redundancy package.
To be continued:
To be continued:
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