Dear All
If you could sum up your expectation for the future in one word what would it be? For me that would be encapsulated in the word hope. We often begin our sentences when we talk about the future as “I hope…” I hope Andy Murray wins Wimbledon, although that may have changed as I type this on the afternoon of Friday 2 July. I hope Star get promoted this season. I hope the weather is good for my holiday.
Have you noticed that my list of hopes all relate to a good experience, we very rarely hope for a bad thing to happen. However, not every one of us can say that they hope for something good in the future. That is because some of us are struggling with dealing with just today, that is because we find it hard to sleep; we wake at all hours of the night with the cares and worries we are carrying. We may feel we don’t have the energy to cope with the activities of the day, we feel lethargic and unable to concentrate. We feel run down or that we have a bug of some kind but no temperature. We may be experiencing constant headaches or back pain. We may feel panicky and have hot and cold sweats when we think about the future.
These are all symptoms that stress, anxiety and depression can cause. The harder we try the more difficult it feels to shake these symptoms. You may have heard it said that we should “just pull ourselves together and all will be well”. But we find that doesn’t help at all. So Steve what are you saying?
If you have one or more of the symptoms I have described and you have had them for a while now and things are not improving, then I would suggest you have an illness, like physical illnesses we can also get mental health illnesses, which as I have mentioned are called Stress, anxiety, depression and panic attacks. And like physical illnesses, if you don’t treat the symptoms they are only likely to get worse. I know it is not what you want to hear but I would not be worth my salt if I wasn’t honest with you.
Like physical illnesses, if we get treatment for our mental health illnesses we can get well again. We can get back our hope, our smile and begin to enjoy life again. The first step is the hardest but the most important in these circumstances and that is to say, Aye you are right I have been struggling and I need help. The good news there is plenty of help out there and you are not on your own. 1 in 4 of the population in the UK at some point fallen victim to this type of illness, and the majority will recover from it. I would suggest that you speak with your GP, your family, and if I can help, myself
For those who do not have these symptoms, that is great news but armed with this information look out for those in your family and friends who might be struggling and help them, do not be judgemental or belittling but tell them how brave they are in dealing with the massive challenges they face each day. We are all into this together and I know that I can depend on you the players, management, committee and supporters of Nitten Star to care and help each other when others need that type of support. Thank you for your help.
BotS Best Wishes
Steve Nash
