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Sustaining my mental health with chronic fatigue syndrome

Patrick Linighan

As some of my colleagues are aware in the Autumn of 2016, I literally “fell over”. I awoke one morning, put my foot on the gas and there was simply nothing in the tank: exhausted.

For someone who had worked every day since the age of ten, with little or no absence through illness, this was something I had simply not seen coming, nor could I understand why, and it was incredibly frustrating.

Whilst the GP was running various poke and prod tests to understand what was happening my frustrations with my own body grew and spiralled. Was this it? What does the future hold for me now? How do I support my family and our, new to teenage, daughters?

Through our UK benefits, I was offered a course of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to run alongside the physical testing. At first, I was sceptical but after only two out of six sessions I started to understand myself and accept reality. Whilst this situation was overwhelming, I had not lost my identity, there was no need to give up, but there would be a difficult and uncertain journey ahead.

I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome in the Spring of 2017. We researched and invested in holistically understanding the interdependency between my immune, neural, and physical systems with CBT support and we developed a recovery strategy which saw me return to work in Autumn of 2018.

To manage my overall health, I use the analogy of a battery. I need to put in at least as much as I take out. This is not just physical rest; its self-care and taking time to do and experience things that make you happy. I have not always gotten it right; it is about balance and making sure you diarise in the time for balance.

To my colleagues who may be struggling with their own mental health; remember, you are not alone and that it’s okay to seek help. Clyde & Co are here to help, and they will, and I can testify to this from my own experience (and the support is ongoing).

Everyone’s journey with mental health will be unique. Apply self-care to yourself and seek support for the firm; it’s there.

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