Why there is no time limit for recovery from mental illness.

Following my mental breakdown, I felt pressure at a certain point to return to “normal”. I was in recovery from mental illness, and ‘normal’ isn’t as simple as it appears.

Go at your own pace. Live life how you want to live it.

Mummy Conquering Anxiety talks to us about her battle with recovery from mental illness.

“I started a blog about mental health because if one person who wasn’t aware of my situation, learns something new, I am happy.

For me, it is all about raising awareness around mental illness and ensuring you have a good standard of mental well-being in your life.

I hope that by raising awareness, one day, these small actions will amount to huge systematic changes.”

You can find Sam on all the usual social media platforms! And be sure to check out her blog for more information on mental health, recovery and maternal wellness.


A forced timescale to recover from my breakdown.

In the aftermath of my breakdown health professionals would regularly tell me that returning to normal would help. ‘Normal‘, for me, was returning to my daily routine post-breakdown which included going back to work. But I had repeatedly insisted that my workplace culture was one of my biggest triggers. I was well aware of my limits and knew that returning would do more harm than good. Then there was the other issue of my GP’s ‘perceived‘ time limit for my recovery. How can there possibly be a time limit for recovery from a mental illness when they are so often an ongoing issue? Everyone is different and it’s inevitable that some people may take longer to recover than others.

As you can imagine, having a ticking clock placed pressure on me when I was still in a fragile state of mind. It was incredibly damaging and it worsened my mental state. I was still recovering. But, I felt pressure to recover quicker. I felt alone and had an overriding feeling that the doctor wouldn’t help me anymore because I hadn’t recovered in a suitable period. A period that they deemed to be acceptable.

Where I found support.

The only people who supported me during this horrendous part of my life were my family and friends. I had my workplace ticking mental health boxes by conducting meetings for a catch-up. Mainly because they hadn’t adhered to the sickness policy. I had the doctor telling me it wasn’t their responsibility to issue continuous sick notes and to, instead, agree on something with my employer. There I was in the middle, struggling and trying to communicate in a workplace where communication was non-existent.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Although I’m now mostly recovered, my daily life is still a struggle. I have doubts, high levels of anxiety and some horrendously bad days. As I write this, today is one of them. Everything has been getting on top of me lately, due to a change in circumstances following redundancy. I am looking for a job, after never being unemployed since my first Saturday job at 15 years old. My toddler is fully in the terrible twos stage and I am looking after her more throughout the week. Send help! I just feel alone, like all I do is cook, clean, and deal with a toddler. I am sure there are other parents out there who feel the same. You are not alone and you’re doing a fantastic job!

Image by Lina Kivaka

Career and mental health.

I talk openly about mental health on my blog. But at my last job, I would never have admitted I needed a day off for mental health. I see a lot of posts on social media from companies, claiming they care about the mental health of their employees. However, I still feel like you have to prove to employers you are in complete crisis for it to be considered mental health leave. I am conscious I had a recent bad experience and not all employers behave this way. Hopefully, I will have a different, more positive experience with my next employer.
I hold out hope, and won’t stop raising awareness until we can make it standard procedure to ring work for a mental health day like we would if we broke our leg or had the flu.

Age-related norms.

People often talk about a timescale for achieving things, in terms of age. You regularly hear people saying they are too old to change. An employer wouldn’t want to have them on the team. I am here to tell you, it’s complete rubbish! 

Talking about having a baby at a certain age and classifying it as normal, implies any other age isn’t. It’s simply not true. Societal pressures we perceive to be normal can be dangerous. Why are we living up to a standard or expectation some person once decided was normal? Times change, life moves on and society changes. Go your own way in life. 


 5 Things to remember when in recovery from mental illness.

Everything happens for a reason, your time will come.

I know some people don’t buy into this, but I do. I genuinely feel like this is the right time for me to change and I don’t regret my path up to this point. 

I’ve only just realised I stressed myself out for years and my thinking only changed because the department we worked for was closing down. And we had the fear of an impending redundancy. I couldn’t wait to leave and returning for a few months before leaving indefinitly was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I was a brand new person, going back to the situation that broke me.

The world is a horrible place. Don’t take it personally.

The lengths we go to when don’t want to feel feelings. In hindsight, I should have foreseen everything was coming to a head, but mental health problems tend to sneak up of you. Why, then,  do I still beat myself up for not seeing it?

Life is uncertain. All we hear lately is bad news and horrendous things going on around the world. I think all of this is contributing to the struggles people are facing. We are all human. None of us is perfect and we all make mistakes. Don’t be too hard on yourself.

Be kind to yourself.

There are many factors in life we cannot control and I try my best not to focus on those anymore. What’s the point? After having a baby and facing severe mental health struggles, I’ve gone completely the other way now. I ask, is this worth my energy? I pick my battles carefully because I realise I can’t be superwoman anymore.

Although I’ve taken my time in sorting my life out, I don’t regret a single move I’ve made over the years. Even if I think differently about my experience now. My decisions and experiences have made me the person I am today and led me to this point. 

Give yourself a break and treat yourself with the same kindness you would show others. 

Image from KoolShooter

Recognise progress, no matter how small.

I recently returned to the park bench, where I regularly sat following my breakdown. I sat in the sun and took in the surroundings, just like I did months ago. But I felt a lot better than I did when I first had my breakdown. And this my friends, is called progress. Regardless of the timescale, all we can do each day is keep moving forward. If your progress is getting out of bed in the morning, that’s okay. Please don’t pay attention to anyone else’s definition of when you should be making progress – they are not living your life. 

The power of belief.

I remember completing some training on a mental health app and the psychologist said your brain cannot tell the difference between telling yourself something and it actually happening. Therefore, positive thoughts are extremely powerful. By the same token, negative thoughts are extremely damaging. I spent years telling myself I wasn’t good enough and listening to the negative self-talk in my head. 

Until I decided I would only allow positive thoughts to flourish. Even on my worst days, I work extra hard to push the negative thoughts out of my head. Left to grow, like weeds in the mind, I know the result. And it isn’t pretty. And I am never going back there again! Nor will I ever allow anyone to tell me what normal is or place a timescale on my development in life. 

How amazing is it, we can literally lie to our brain and it doesn’t know the difference. Positivity is powerful!


Have you ever had time limits placed on you for recovery from mental illness?

My own story is a similar one. But those limits weren’t placed on me by my GP. Both the occupational health nurse from my former company and I were the only two placing limits on my return to mental wellness. Or, what could be considered wellness for me at the time.

Have you a similar story to tell about recovery from mental illness? Did you place your own limits or were you pressured by someone else?

15 comments

  1. Pingback: It all started here - now I am working on my third blog launch  - Mummy & Mental Health Blog
  2. Yes true! There’s no cure for mental illness, but there are lots of effective treatments. People with mental illnesses can recover and live long and healthy lives.

  3. “Thanks for sharing this post!” There is no single genetic switch that when flipped causes a mental disorder. Consequently, it is difficult for doctors to determine a person’s risk of inheriting a mental disorder or passing on the disorder to their children.

  4. I enjoyed reading this. Some people doesn’t even realize how important mental health is and choose to look the other way. Thanks for this.

  5. I’m sorry you going through difficult times and I agree family and friends can help a lot

  6. True- everyone has to recover at their own pace. You don’t know what life can bring you and there is no “one size fits all” solution.

  7. Aaawwwww….I am sorry to know what you went through with your therapists! That was misleading of them to say to you.

  8. Thanks for sharing her story. This is trule inspiring to all of us. Giving hope and inspiration that we are not alone. We can find support everywhere.

  9. You’re right. There is no time limit. The most important thing is to continue living and not allow what’s going on in your head to steal years away from you.

  10. This is something that we just don’t talk about often enough the long-term effects of mental health. I think this subject is so important and I’m glad you’re shedding light on it.

  11. THIS! Everyone needs to see this and really let it sink in. Mental illness is absolutely devastating, and it takes as long as it takes to get through it. There’s no set time.

  12. I loved this post, and particularly loved the ‘Hitting rock bottom is a great motivator’ phrase. Thank you for sharing this!

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