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vossy1

Posts: 8949

MODERATOR

#13 17 Aug 2026 at 6.15am

In reply to Post #7
In case of interest to the op. I asked for dots on my rods under the butt ring and 1st top section rings, ie, 1 dot 1 rod, 2 dots 2nd rod, but it got missed.

The rod builder to me to get one of those small pots of paint used for airfix kits and use a cocktail stick. Dip the stick ever so slightly in the paint then put the spike on the rod where you want the dot, it's quite easy to control the size of the dot you'd like 👍

nexus6

Posts: 154

#12 17 Aug 2026 at 5.25am

We all spend so much money on unimportant things. Here in the UK we grow up with this idea of 'health care is free via the NHS'. Obviously the NHS is far from free for most of us.

Like most things in life, the more £ you have the better the treatment - billionaires don't have the same healthcare in the UK as the rest of us!

But here in the UK there is this expectation of the best available health care at no added cost. Obviously this is an impossible myth. Don't get me wrong the NHS is a wonderful thing, but it can't and doesn't cover everything. Mental health care being one of the biggest gaps.

If you can afford it, some counselling sessions or sessions with a Psychiatrist can be money very well spent. Counselling sessions can start around £50 per hour, Psychiatrist around £120.

Find someone professional to talk to and make sure you connect/like them from the first session. If you don't find someone else. Some offer a first consultation free.

GPs all too often turn immediately to drugs and very often these are just a short term fix.

We are lucky to have fishing. Being out in the great outdoors is a wonderful fix. But sometimes we need a little bit more...........

PS
it's just gone 5am and I can't sleep - all excited as off fishing to a new venue this morning. Like a bloody kid at Christmas!!!!

AndyClark

Posts: 5791

#11 16 Aug 2026 at 8.26pm

pt 2 continuation of below massage ( keeps cutting it off)

18 months i think it was and I let my prescription run down and i tapered my tablets so I came off them gradually...am I fixed?? no and I dont think I ever will be, I will always have the "black dog" but now I understand more and better of what to do, I dont understand what causes it to come on, nor how to get rid, i just try and keep a good routine with sleep and work life balance...i do enjoy a beer but never been out of control and drink onnny days off but being a hgv driver not in the week...im back enjoying my fishing, i do still get lows, but i cope better than I ever have....

the letters were shredded and I got the help I needed in time, I cant say ill never get as bad as I did as life can be cruel at times, but with a good support network round me, being open with employers and choosing wisely who I open up to has helped massively.

The black dog I refer to is a video by the world health organisation and this explained so much to me, the penny dropped when I watched it and it was the first step to me helping myself and letting people in to help me too.

if youre still with me this far i thank you for taking the time to read my shortened version of a period in my life I very nearly didnt get through....and if anyone needs help, many people say it but drop me a message, if i can help I will, take the steps to go the Dr's,talk to people around you, I phoned the samaritans many times initially when in work....you're not alone, people want to help, people ,let them in , talk, share youre feelings, youre worthy of someone's time and theworld is a better place with you in it

AndyClark

Posts: 5791

#10 16 Aug 2026 at 7.57pm

About 9 or 10 years ago (longer than this looking back) i started to feel weird, I couldnt cope with the most trivial things going wrong,I had no coping mechanisms whatsoever....for example, i would drop the recycling on the way from the kitchen to the bin and lose my ****, kicking **** out the bins for no reason...unable to watch football without losing my ****

Fishing became unbearable, i couldn't cope setting up, something would go wrong and id spiral out of control until I got myself in that much of a mess id pack up and go home, id make an excuse to the wife that it was busy, spawning, bad weather wrong weather...whatever I could to avoid any awkward questions.

my time with the family I would really look forward to, and when it actually came round to spending time with them I lacked motivation,interest and failed to be enthusiastic about everything. things were getting bad, i was sleeping 18 hrs a day sone days, no energy no interests, just work to provide for the family and thats about it ..i didnt want to go fishing, didnt want to socialise, work, home, food ,bed....when in work i drove with music that loud to block out the noise in my head, full volume ...i couldn't cope, I was having suicidal thoughts, researching the best way to take my own life...i was going down a path id never been before, i didnt know what to do where to go,how to get out of it...i wrote letters to my wife and kids...it was a matter of when, not if......

im a member of a fishing group,mainly online,sharing info on club venues, id met a few of them on the bank and one of the guys arranges socials,, at the time i was quite a new member, building new friendships, some id never even met.....i put a post not to dissimilar to the one above, I dont know why I wrote it on the forum but I did...that decesion most definitely saved my life, the guys reached out in numbers...some via pm, most replied on the post, all encouraging me to go the doctors and get help and to speak to my wife.

on xmas.day of ll days I was awkward and annoying, I broke down, I cried, I needed all the noise in my head to stop, I needed peace..i showed my wife the post on the forum, I cried,she cried, she promised to get me help, she phoned the Dr's at the first opportunity and got me an appointment, she drove me there, offered to come in but said go and tell the doctor everything, which I did..in tears it all came out....i came out of there very much different to when I walked in...she didnt usually prescribe medication so willingly but said I was suffering from severe depression, possibly ptsd from my days in the army...(im not so sure,but ive since learned we all walk our own paths and deal with things in very different ways)

I reached out to some ex army mates, I talked, I took the medication but like previously mentioned it made things in the bedroom extremely prolonged and more often than ot never getting over the finish line, the medication (setraline) gave me no massive lows, but no massive highs either, I was just plodding along,existing,but not living...after 6 months "I "decided I was better and when my repeat prescription was due i cancelled it...slowly i started to get highs again, enjoyment of football again, fishing again with issues....but the "black dog" soon came back......i slumped down hill quite fast and before I knew it i was back at the doctors the wife had seen the signs and i was back on a different medication (citalopram) more geared up towards ptsd the dr said.

I chatted to mates,talked to colleagues about what I was going through, at no point did I take any time off work, maybe I should have but I liked being kept busy and providing for my family kept me going....i needed to differentiate between a **** day that everyone has and a **** day that would be the start of me spiraling down hill....the meds gave me the no feelings no major highs,no major lows but through talking and researching and going over my days in bosnia and previous life experiences I slowly came to terms with what has happened and what might happen in the future with my mental health

18 months i think it was and I let my prescription run down and i tapered my tablets so I came off them gradually...am I fixed?? no and I dont think I ever will be, I will always have the "black dog" but now I understand more and better of what to do, I dont understand what causes it to come on, nor how to get rid, i just try and keep a good routine with sleep and work life balance...i do enjoy a beer but never been out of control and drink onnny days off but being a hgv driver not in the week...im back enjoying my fishing, i do still get lows, but i cope better than I ever have....

the letters were shredded and I got the help I needed in time, I cant say ill never get as bad as I did as life can be cruel at times, but with a good support network round me, being open with employers and choosing wi

Smithy

Posts: 2846

#9 16 Aug 2026 at 7.26pm

In reply to Post #5
Cheers mate, sadly the sertraline had the opposite effect for me - left me looking like a fried up cocktail sausage 😂

Smithy

Posts: 2846

#8 16 Aug 2026 at 7.25pm

In reply to Post #7
Cheers for that mate, some good info there 👍

framey

Posts: 5299

#7 16 Aug 2026 at 7.13pm

In reply to Post #1
I mark mine
White paint pen
1 dot bottom section and top section
2 dots bottom and top section
3 dots bottom and top section

1 line bottom section and top section
2 lines etc etc
Will tick 1 of the list if that helps

DaveSG

Posts: 872

#6 16 Aug 2026 at 7.06pm

In reply to Post #1

Your'e not alone m8!

I'm unable to fish much now, so when you do go you want to put everything in your favour and do things right.

You can feel knackered before you've got there 😂

nexus6

Posts: 154

#5 16 Aug 2026 at 6.10pm

In reply to Post #1
I too have worked for a mental health trust and in my experience there is no such thing as ‘normal’.
I bet loads of chaps on this forum have lay awake at night before a fishing trip. If something is playing on your mind then you are much better off going to check it out and then go back to bed.
I do 2 nights a week pretty much year round and still get excited before every trip! Still I’ve only been carp fishing for 45 years, so I’ll probably grow out of it!!
As for Sertraline - good riddance, it’s a crappy drug. Although I did once meet a young man who liked ‘That’ side effect and so did his girlfriend - she said in front of him, “he can go all night!!!”

Bacardiblue

Posts: 1624

#4 16 Aug 2026 at 6.05pm

I suffer with ptsd and fishing is a great help for me.

Smithy

Posts: 2846

#3 16 Aug 2026 at 3.26pm

In reply to Post #2
Cheers mate, think your right 👍

CarpCodger71

Posts: 2751

#2 16 Aug 2026 at 3.24pm

In reply to Post #1
You not alone buddy I’m a Manager for an NHS mental health trust.
I’m not ashamed to share I have bipolar , Anxiety and depression all started in 2010 well that’s when I was diagnosed and medicated .

You’re excited about spending all that money and looking forward to Belgium.
Your OCD has possibly kicked in and you have become fixated .

I’m like that when checking I’ve locked the doors , up and down the stairs numerous times .
Stick the rods away , pop out for a walk and make the most of the sun .👍👍

Smithy

Posts: 2846

#1 16 Aug 2026 at 1.15pm

I thought fishing was meant to be a cure for mental health, not really sure why I’m typing this to be honest! 😂

Bit of a backstory...

About 10 years ago I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety and suffered pretty badly with OCD when my wife underwent surgery for a large brain tumour. I was put on a fairly heavy dose of Sertraline, which helped for a few years, but eventually I took myself off it because of a certain side effect which only a man will understand! 😂

Despite my wife’s tumour returning and us now waiting for radiotherapy, I’ve actually managed pretty well. Mainly through talking to her about what I’m feeling and what’s going on in my head. She genuinely would make a great therapist and I’m very lucky to have her.

I’ve been absolutely fine for the last few months — no issues whatsoever — until yesterday!

I decided to sell my Hearns and go back to 10ft rods. I just get on better with them and, with two trips to Belgium planned next year, I wanted to start getting all the gear I need sorted.
So I had a nice drive down to Tackle Tavern in Bicester. The lads there sorted me out with a good price for my Hearns and I bought some Quickdraws, which I’d had before and stupidly sold. Took the wife out for lunch on the way home as well, so it was actually a really nice, relaxing day.

Got home, unpacked the rods and reels and propped them up against the wall in the living room ready for spooling up today.

9pm last night, halfway through watching a film...

PANIC.

“Did I mix the spod tip up with the normal tips?!”

Tried to ignore it. Couldn’t.

Paused the film and started comparing the tip sizes.

“Yeah, they look fine. Panic over.”

10pm...

“Was I wrong?”

Checked again.

Nope. Still fine.

Midnight...

Same bloody thought.

Still fine.

Then, at about 1am while lying in bed, I had a brainwave:
“Why don’t I see if the normal tips actually fit onto the spod end section? Then I’ll know for sure.”

So downstairs I went and tried it.

The 3.5lb TC tips obviously don’t fit onto the spod end section....brilliant, mystery solved!

Went back to bed.

Then started wondering if I’d somehow got it wrong anyway, eventually fell asleep.

Woke up this morning and the first thing I thought about was the bloody rod tips. 😂

Came downstairs, checked them again.

Yep. Still absolutely fine.

So does anyone else struggle with stuff like this, or have I finally completely lost the plot? 😂

I genuinely find it amazing how your brain can take something so completely insignificant and turn it into a full-blown crisis.


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