Hello,

I have just been browsing through this website following a post I saw on Twitter and decided to join.

I live halfway between Sheffield and Chesterfield and I took early retirement as a Primary HT in 2017 partly due to stress caused by an OFSTED visit.

My wife had previously retired, also as a HT, and we thoroughly enjoyed our retirement. However, due to ongoing health issues I now act as a Carer for my wife as she is unable to walk. Mentally it has been very hard and I am now responsible for doing all the washing, cooking and cleaning.

I used to belong to another forum which was mainly populated by teachers. Unfortunately there were a few "Mr Shouties" and unless you agreed with them it was difficult to post. There was one lovely thread though where people just talked about what they had done that day and what they were up to. I no longer visit that forum as I don't need the stress. This seems a lovely gentle place.

It will be nice to chat to people again.

Hi everyone. I thought I would come and have a look at this forum. It looks lovely and pleasing on the eye.

My name is Elizabeth. But I don't mind being called Liz. I am from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire and I am a blogger. Some of you will know me.

I don't know how ofyen I will be here as I have been taking a step back on things this year. It's been stressful for me since 2019 because of difficulties l. This was also made worse by covid lockdowns.

After the last 2 years in particular was when this year, once I was released from that, was when I took a step back on different matters.

It's nice seeing some familar names here and reading posts from others I don't know. I hope to chat more today or later. Take care everyone.

My article that was published today!

https://www.psychreg.org/silent-saviours-unveiling-mental-emotional-struggles-unpaid-carers/

Hi, Matt here.

I'm a jack of all trades, master of none. Based in Nottingham, but ex-pat Aussie. No, I don't like cricket.

Experience includes child nursing, counselling and support, and bereavement (as a Coroner's/Medical. Examiner's Officer), and museum and firefighting roles.

Anxiety/PTSD sufferer, and introvert, have 2 children with ADHD; one adult, one teen who is just starting Home Education.

Happy to chat about my own experiences in this forum, and share and meet others.

Hi Andrew and Mike, Great to see you both here, and welcome 😊.

Andrew, it would be really interesting to read your experiences around social anxiety. I’ll start some discussion points in time within the social anxiety section of this forum. I also hope all goes well for your daughters too. I’m sure they have great support with you being so understanding about social anxiety and autism.

Mike, great to see you buddy. I admire your ability to juggle so many plates! Hope the roles are going well, I’m sure you will go far through your work but the main thing is that you enjoy it and also get some time to breathe a little 😊.

Thanks again both, looking forward to our future chats.

Laura

Hi all,

I'm Andrew. I currently live in Gloucestershire and I work in IT. I'm a long time social anxiety sufferer, and I strongly suspect autistic, but never had a formal diagnosis.

I also have two daughters who both have anxiety/autism and they are home educated due to not being happy in mainstream school.

Congratulations on getting the forum up and running. Hopefully we can share some interesting views and experiences.

Hi all, the forum looks great so far.

I'm Mike and I'm unpaid carer living in South Wales, I care for both of my elderly and disabled parents as their sole carer. I also sit on the Cardiff and Vale Regional Partnership Board and Unpaid Carers Board as an unpaid carer representative.