CHAT SESSION 5 with Brooke
Topic-ANXIETY
1pm Monday 29th May 2023 https://rppfm.com.au/
Catch up and listen to our chat https://megaphone.link/LCRUI3563876058
Brooke is your everyday woman. She goes to work each day; she socialises with family and friends, and she lives with a mental illness.
In 2018, Brooke was living in London, England, where she was travelling around
Europe and teaching abroad. One day, as she was travelling home from work on the tube (London’s underground train system), she began feeling unwell. She couldn’t hold her head up, felt extremely nauseous and couldn’t stand up to get off the train. Somehow, Brooke made her way home with the help of some lovely strangers, who guided her to the apartment where she was living. That night, Brooke spent the evening with her head on her pillow, as she couldn’t understand what was happening to her. She felt dizzy, confused, and afraid. The next day, Brooke managed to book herself an appointment with a local doctor. After her consultation, she was diagnosed with vertigo and prescribed medication; Maxlon and Stemetil.
After a few days of taking her medication, Brooke started feeling better, so she decided to return to work. On her first day back of teaching, Brooke realised that something was not right. Brooke was losing control of her neck muscles, so she reached out to the school nurse, who immediately called an ambulance. If you’ve ever been to London, you’ll know that the wait time for an ambulance can, sometimes be up to an hour, so Brooke opted for a trusty Uber to the nearest hospital. On her way to the hospital, she called her friend who lived close by. Together, they waited hours before Brooke could be assessed by a doctor. At that point, Brooke had no control of her neck muscles. She started to resemble what looked and felt like the exorcist.
The doctors were unaware of the issue and kept sending Brooke back to the waiting room. Brooke began to panic, as she had no family with her in London, and didn’t know what was happening to her. After 6 hours in the waiting room, a nurse finally realised that Brooke was having an allergic reaction to the medication she had taken, Maxlon. More specifically, Brooke was having an acute dystonic reaction, which is an involuntary contraction of the muscles in the face, neck and/or abdominal. She was given an injection to combat the reaction, and spent the night in hospital… alone.
Brooke was released from the hospital the next day, but still felt horrible. She spent the next three weeks in bed; vomiting, dizzy and malnourished. Feeling unwell and isolated,
Brooke’s health continued to deteriorate. Whilst bed-ridden and unable to leave home or return to teaching, Brooke began to research her symptoms, as health practitioners couldn’t work out what was wrong with her.
Ongoing phone calls to family back home in Australia became constant. Brooke was unsure of what to do or how to get the answers she needed to start feeling well again, and her health and well-being took a turn for the worse. Emotionally exhausted, scared and lacking in nearby family support, this increased Brooke’s stress.
Brooke was so unwell that her trips to the hospital became frequent, yet neither her nor
hospital staff could understand what was happening.
Crying each day, and unable to continue with life due to her health conditions, Brooke made the decision to leave London and return to the land down under, Australia. When she arrived home, her mission was to find out exactly what was happening with her health.There was a short period of time after Brooke got home, that she felt well enough to return to teaching. However, that didn’t last long. Once again, her symptoms started all over, but this time, even worse.
Finally, in 2019, after specialist and doctors’ appointments, Brooke was diagnosed with
Vestibular Migraine. Brooke was forced to take an extended period of time off from work, and was again, confined to her bed, all while watching the world go by, seeing her friends enjoying the summer and living their best lives in Europe.
With so many setbacks and uncertainties, Brooke began to experience extreme depression. Her health kept deteriorating, and she didn’t leave the house for a long period of time, as she was anxious about her condition getting worse.
Brooke reached out for help, and thankfully, she had supportive people around her that
suggested she see a doctor and explore the option of anti-anxiety medication. Brooke was also advised to see a psychologist. She took on board the advice that was given to her, and was diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder. The prescribed medication was not a band-aid fix, but in conjunction with seeing a psychologist, over time, this broke down a lot of walls. Brooke regularly had breakdowns where she would call upon important people in her life to help keep her on track. For that, she is extremely grateful.
It has now been 5 years since Brooke returned from London and was diagnosed with Vestibular Migraine and Generalised Anxiety Disorder. To this day, she still takes her anti-anxiety medication and sees a psychologist. As well as this, Brooke has accomplished a lot that she is proud of. She has brought her own home, brought her own dog, and is a single wage woman, providing for herself. Over the years, she has found lots of positive tools to fill her time with such as doing Pilates, playing with her dog, Wylee, going for walks, reading, and listening to music. These tools have all been acquired along her journey.
Brooke’s journey with her mental health is still evolving, and everyday can throw a new challenge or curve ball at her, but the biggest thing that Brooke has learnt over the past 5 years is that it is okay not to be okay, and that you are not weak to speak.
Beyond Blue Anxiety management strategies
My hope is that when you’re looking at yourself in the
‘The Daily Mirror’
YOU SMILE
EMBRACE BEING YOU
AND FIND 10 MINUTES IN YOUR DAY TO NOURISH YOUR SOUL!
To get in touch with Cathy email smileinthedailymirror@gmail.com
'The Daily Mirror' acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders, past and present.
33 years in the Hair and Beauty industry as a make shift counsellor 3Rs Recognise, Respond, Refer.
fear of depression and its stigmatised effect can be almost as injurious as the disease. If you think someone could be suffering in silence, ask the question before it cripples them. You just might be the person they trust enough to talk about their feelings and fears. But never try to replace professional help.