Lived Experience Forum

[Former-Member]

Hello fellow mind travellers

I have just been thinking about the title "lived experience" as I was trying to think of an apt title to place in the subject box

I am not comfortable with the term mental health or mental illness.

emotional:

imbalance

turbulence

disturbance

experience

out of the above choices I come back to experience

experience of what?

hello I have a lived experience?

hello I have an emotional experience?

hello I have an experience?

does not do it justice.

any ideas from others please?  a new discussion on how we are grouped together. the answer comes back to lived experience yes.

how do we describe what is and has happened to us - a lived experience.

what brings you here to this forum? a lived experience.

so i dont suffer from, i have experienced life. doesnt quite do it

my travels, my life journeys.

why am i here? my life journeys have brought me to where i am now. i have experienced many different emotions in a way that sets me apart from people who are happy? cope? - this is judgemental.

others thoughts????

[Kurra]

I can understand what you're saying @Former-Member however in my experience, changing the name /words used doesn't necessarily create a positive outcome.
When I was first diagnosed I was told I was manic depressive. Some uears later the term manic depression was changed to bipolar disorder. To this day if I tell someone I have bipolar disorder I also have to explain what it means. However even today if I say I have manic depression, people immediately understand. 🎶💕

[utopia]

@Former-Member.
I like 'living with'. But then maybe some people who are struggling might not lije this either.
I think it would be very hard to find a 'title' that fits all different MI's & their recoveries.
And then what category would I fit under ? Because I had PTSD but got successful treatment. My depression has gone and I now only have mild anxiety - which I'm coping with - most days.
A very tricky problem you are brought up. But I don't have an answer.

[Former-Member]

STRESS!

[CherryBomb]

@Former-Member this is a tough question indeed. I've been doing some reading into this myself and have heard a few options. 'Mental distress' is an interesting one. The idea behind is to not pathologise individuals and acknowledge that there are also circumstances that can lead to the deterioration of an individual's mental state - 'distress' (rather than 'illness')  is framed as a 'normal' response to something that is distressing.

I agree with @Kurra sometimes meanings can stick to an idea of something, I think its more to shifting perception about what the actually 'thing' is. 

[Former-Member]

hello @CherryBomb @Former-Member @utopia @Kurra

actually I think that you all have a point.

none of us actually fit into any box.

labels dont work for people.

our condition changes

circumstances definitely affect our minds - big time I know only too well

was just a thought I had and wondered how others felt.

thank you all for responding

no judgement made

[utopia]

@Former-Member. It was a good question to ask. It got me thinking - which is always a plus.
I like 'living with' because it covers all areas of our journey.
But like you, I've enjoyed reading others perspectives on this topic.
We are all different. And we can't be pigeon holed. I like that.