Let's talk Mental Health...and Glastonbury.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Yeah this week is an annual low point, but that's par for the course.

[mufcok]

14 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

Really Struggling to get back and face the concept of the real world when people have been so nice over the course of the festival ... maybe brought on by what I do .... just really dont want to face people and customers right now ... I always come away from Glastonbury thinking I should change things but never have a clue how to do it ... ive shut myself away since Monday apart from one trip to get food . 

Yep.

It always gives me a renewed sense of hope, for a whole host of reasons. like you I always come away with a positive mindset thinking I need to change X, Y & Z in life - but putting that into practice is never easy.

[Crazyfool01]

somehow feels worse this time ... I guess covid recovery was more a focus last time and we had several rest years before that so maybe memory is skewed 

[MrSpaM]

Still haven't had a proper nights sleep since it ended, waking up 6 or 7 times a night having really vivid dreams about the festival and other things

[jamesrfisher]

For me too Glastonbury is a massive boost to my mental health. Despite this and me telling people constantly, given issues I have had over last year and fact i was going solo this year everyone I knew kept asking if I would be alright and was I sure it was the right thing to do!

[O'Doyle Rules]

Probably not something to be mentioned on a forum. But a few years back my dad was dying of cancer (I was only 23). I spent three months at his bedside in hospital but went to Glastonbury at his insistence. Honestly, the only 5 days that terrible summer where I sort of didn’t think of it too much and, in a weird way, was just back to being happy (albeit briefly).

i owe the place a lot and the people I meet there. Can’t really put it into words and people think I am a bit obsessed, but it’s incredibly special to me. 

 

 

[MrZigster]

On 6/29/2023 at 1:36 PM, O'Doyle Rules said:

Completely the same. The annual google of "permanent jobs at Glastonbury".

Yes.

That "I want to run away and join the circus" feeling.

[PassingCloud]

I’m lucky in some respect that I am self-employed and took this last week off (I don’t earn for the two weeks I’ve been off though!). 
Plan was to be quite productive this last week, and I’ve been the complete opposite. Pretty drained, but not totally down. The same grief others are going through after such an important connection to life, people, music….

Typical guilt about not spending my time the way I ’should’ve’ spent it. (Side note: must re-listen/read  4000 weeks by Oliver Burkeman — found this book very helpful).

Trying to keep in mind why Glastonbury is so important, and why the day-to-day things I put so much worry into really aren’t, in the grand scheme, all that big of a deal. 
 

Having said that, I am back to work today and I haven’t dealt with a damn thing since before the festival. A bit anxious! I know I need to be gentle with myself and remember to reach out to friends if things start to feel too tough.
 

 

[philipsteak]

On 6/29/2023 at 1:21 PM, Crazyfool01 said:

Really Struggling to get back and face the concept of the real world when people have been so nice over the course of the festival ... maybe brought on by what I do .... just really dont want to face people and customers right now ... I always come away from Glastonbury thinking I should change things but never have a clue how to do it ... ive shut myself away since Monday apart from one trip to get food . 

I hear ya.

Struggling a little (as ever) with some of our more challenging guests. We have a quite unpleasant and awkward group who stay the same weekend every year. It just happens to be my first shifts back after Glastonbury every year which is not ideal. Brings me back down to earth with a bump. As well as just the general arseholes and oddballs (not the good, festival type of oddballs. Just the, gonna make my day worse sort of oddballs) that we always get.

Now I really don't want to seem dismissive or anything here, but the best way I've found personally to deal with this is to not give a f**k. It's not for everyone, it does take work to begin with, and I'm not sure how healthy or sustainable it is but since deciding to not give a f**k about my job I've found it much easier. And quite liberating. Don't get me wrong, I still do my job properly. Arguably well, even. Not out of any sense of duty but purely because doing it well ultimately makes it easier (not having to deal with fall out from doing it badly and so things going wrong or grief from management). Also, for any people who have jobs that actually matter, please carry on giving a f**k if you can.

I've also noticed a massive improvement in my mental health since I got physically healthier. Hardly new news I know. I've struggled with periodic depression for years, essentially every few months falling in to a quite deep depressive state which I would wallow around in for a while and then slowly drag myself out of. Not exactly clockwork, but not far off. But since the Type 2 diagnosis and complete overhaul of diet and lifestyle, nothing. Not a whisper. And on my previous timetable I'm well overdue. A nice little added bonus to the whole thing. Not sure why, could be any number of reasons. Getting out more, being more active. Being proactive in doing something (see the potential flaw in my 'not giving a f**k' theory), the improvement in diet affecting my gut in a positive way, which from my limited understanding affects so much else about us, including mental health.

Hope things are starting to pick up for you as you reacclimatise. And for everyone else too 

[PassingCloud]

2 hours ago, philipsteak said:

I hear ya.

Struggling a little (as ever) with some of our more challenging guests. We have a quite unpleasant and awkward group who stay the same weekend every year. It just happens to be my first shifts back after Glastonbury every year which is not ideal. Brings me back down to earth with a bump. As well as just the general arseholes and oddballs (not the good, festival type of oddballs. Just the, gonna make my day worse sort of oddballs) that we always get.

Now I really don't want to seem dismissive or anything here, but the best way I've found personally to deal with this is to not give a f**k. It's not for everyone, it does take work to begin with, and I'm not sure how healthy or sustainable it is but since deciding to not give a f**k about my job I've found it much easier. And quite liberating. Don't get me wrong, I still do my job properly. Arguably well, even. Not out of any sense of duty but purely because doing it well ultimately makes it easier (not having to deal with fall out from doing it badly and so things going wrong or grief from management). Also, for any people who have jobs that actually matter, please carry on giving a f**k if you can.

I've also noticed a massive improvement in my mental health since I got physically healthier. Hardly new news I know. I've struggled with periodic depression for years, essentially every few months falling in to a quite deep depressive state which I would wallow around in for a while and then slowly drag myself out of. Not exactly clockwork, but not far off. But since the Type 2 diagnosis and complete overhaul of diet and lifestyle, nothing. Not a whisper. And on my previous timetable I'm well overdue. A nice little added bonus to the whole thing. Not sure why, could be any number of reasons. Getting out more, being more active. Being proactive in doing something (see the potential flaw in my 'not giving a f**k' theory), the improvement in diet affecting my gut in a positive way, which from my limited understanding affects so much else about us, including mental health.

Hope things are starting to pick up for you as you reacclimatise. And for everyone else too 

This sounds like excellent steps forward for you! Agree that this simple health choices make a big impact.  

[moogster]

2 hours ago, philipsteak said:

(see the potential flaw in my 'not giving a f**k' theory),

I'm guessing you read the art of not giving a F*** book? 

Anyway, not a flaw in my view. You have to give a f*** about what matters. Annoying customers? Doesn't matter. Going above and beyond at work even for annoying customers? F*** that S*** . Will you remember going above and beyond for them in 10 years. No. Will you remember all the nice walks? Yeah you will, even if it's just the feeling they gave you.

To get back to the festival, it is a concentration of everything that we should give a f*** about. Art, being together with people without too much BS ("oooh that one's outfit is soooo 2019..."), being in a nice valley, having a good meal, enjoy the sun and the rain. The intensity of the experience is something to take home to focus on the non festival equivalents. Enjoying a song, smiling to a stranger, wait until a blackbird has finished digging in your garden to go in (yes, real life example obviously ). This is what we should give a f*** about. 

I was off work for a few months a couple of years ago for being "overworked"  because I gave too much of a f***. Believe me this has stopped. The festival reminds me of what matters yearly, should I go down the wrong path again.

End of rant.

[PassingCloud]

1 hour ago, moogster said:

I'm guessing you read the art of not giving a F*** book? 

Anyway, not a flaw in my view. You have to give a f*** about what matters. Annoying customers? Doesn't matter. Going above and beyond at work even for annoying customers? F*** that S*** . Will you remember going above and beyond for them in 10 years. No. Will you remember all the nice walks? Yeah you will, even if it's just the feeling they gave you.

To get back to the festival, it is a concentration of everything that we should give a f*** about. Art, being together with people without too much BS ("oooh that one's outfit is soooo 2019..."), being in a nice valley, having a good meal, enjoy the sun and the rain. The intensity of the experience is something to take home to focus on the non festival equivalents. Enjoying a song, smiling to a stranger, wait until a blackbird has finished digging in your garden to go in (yes, real life example obviously ). This is what we should give a f*** about. 

I was off work for a few months a couple of years ago for being "overworked"  because I gave too much of a f***. Believe me this has stopped. The festival reminds me of what matters yearly, should I go down the wrong path again.

End of rant.

Out of likes. So, here….take this… ❤️❤️

[LinvoyPrimus]

On 6/12/2023 at 12:40 PM, PassingCloud said:

I'm sure anyone that has been knows that magical force field that seems to contain Glastonbury and allows you to largely forget the outside world. I struggle to imagine feeling unhappy whilst on the farm.

I broadly agree but Brexit weekend in 2016 was the sternest test of this theory yet. Properly weird vibe all Friday morning.

[moogster]

10 minutes ago, LinvoyPrimus said:

I broadly agree but Brexit weekend in 2016 was the sternest test of this theory yet. Properly weird vibe all Friday morning.

As a (current) EU citizen at the fest then, there was a (thin) silver lining in seeing how people cared about it...

[Quark]

Once the initial comedown is done (usually only a day or so tbh) I generally come back with a much better perspective on life and what matters. Just being pulled completely out of the churn and spending time doing what you love has a massive impact.

 

[Skip997]

4 minutes ago, Quark said:

Once the initial comedown is done (usually only a day or so tbh) I generally come back with a much better perspective on life and what matters. Just being pulled completely out of the churn and spending time doing what you love has a massive impact.

 

It's a "two edged sword" for me.

Yes it gives me a better perspective on what matters etc, but this can make me feel worse as I can't seem to escape the work/life related hell I currently inhabit and having experienced an alternative for a few days also serves to make "normal life" feel a lot worse.

[Quark]

2 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

It's a "two edged sword" for me.

Yes it gives me a better perspective on what matters etc, but this can make me feel worse as I can't seem to escape the work/life related hell I currently inhabit and having experienced an alternative for a few days also serves to make "normal life" feel a lot worse.

Interesting point. I think for me I'm probably very fortunate in that the stresses I put myself under day to day are largely just that: things I do to myself.  Expectations, standards, all that sort of stuff.  Most of it is within my power to manage and be less affected by, but the longer I'm buried in it the harder it gets.

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, Skip997 said:

It's a "two edged sword" for me.

Yes it gives me a better perspective on what matters etc, but this can make me feel worse as I can't seem to escape the work/life related hell I currently inhabit and having experienced an alternative for a few days also serves to make "normal life" feel a lot worse.

youve got it spot on for me .... I really hate my job and the way people are treated / treat others .... I need to get out fast .... or its going to cause me issues... ive no idea where to go , 28 years in the same place ( a variety of jobs ) but now under newish contracts they try and railroad things through .... recently they tried telling me as part of a consultation that my hours would be moving to 5am from 6am  starts in 4 weeks (as thats the notice required ) ... i appealed on health grounds and was told it would be referred to occupational health .... that was 8 weeks ago !!! ive not been told if its been dropped or not everyone else thats been asked has moved . Crux of it is a job change but I have this plan after every festival and in my head I know this 

[Skip997]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

youve got it spot on for me .... I really hate my job and the way people are treated / treat others .... I need to get out fast .... or its going to cause me issues... ive no idea where to go , 28 years in the same place ( a variety of jobs ) but now under newish contracts they try and railroad things through .... recently they tried telling me as part of a consultation that my hours would be moving to 5am from 6am  starts in 4 weeks (as thats the notice required ) ... i appealed on health grounds and was told it would be referred to occupational health .... that was 8 weeks ago !!! ive not been told if its been dropped or not everyone else thats been asked has moved . Crux of it is a job change but I have this plan after every festival and in my head I know this 

I'm in exactly the same position, except it's complicated by the fact there's only two of us, who have been friends for decades.

[I am Jon]

16 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

I'm in exactly the same position, except it's complicated by the fact there's only two of us, who have been friends for decades.

Same for me.

Fed up with job, pretty much just a team of two of us running things. Just had leave rejected for a festival next month as turns out the other has already booked off. So tempted to just hand in my 4 weeks notice but aside from then looking for a new job there is also the guilt of situation I'd be leaving my colleagues in. 

Edited July 3, 2023 by I am Jon

[Quark]

14 minutes ago, I am Jon said:

Same for me.

Fed up with job, pretty much just a team of two of us running things. Just had leave rejected for a festival next month as turns out the other has already booked off. So tempted to just hand in my 4 weeks notice but aside from then looking for a new job there is also the guilt of situation I'd be leaving my colleagues in. 

Unfortunately the guilt thing is something you'll have to get past.  It's a incredible twist of logic that so many (including me) end up in that anything like changing roles, leaving a job or even taking holiday means that the onus and responsibility for everything that follows is on you.

It's really not. 

[Skip997]

5 minutes ago, Quark said:

Unfortunately the guilt thing is something you'll have to get past.  It's a incredible twist of logic that so many (including me) end up in that anything like changing roles, leaving a job or even taking holiday means that the onus and responsibility for everything that follows is on you.

It's really not. 

Thanks.

I really need to try and take this on board. It's my friends business, it's his passion, it's his responsibility etc

 

[Quark]

6 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Thanks.

I really need to try and take this on board. It's my friends business, it's his passion, it's his responsibility etc

 

Obvs gonna be harder if it's a friend, but yup.  Unfortunately if a business is built on reliance of a single person never leaving then it's never going to be sustainable.

I talk a great game post-fest. Ask me again in 6 months when I'm absolutely buried and tearing my hair out 😂

[I am Jon]

3 minutes ago, Quark said:

Obvs gonna be harder if it's a friend, but yup.  Unfortunately if a business is built on reliance of a single person never leaving then it's never going to be sustainable.

I talk a great game post-fest. Ask me again in 6 months when I'm absolutely buried and tearing my hair out 😂

Totally not sustainable, unfortunately it's been a tough few years for recruitment and company doesn't really have the funds it needs. Feel like I've spent the last 10 years trying to make myself dispensable but every time I get close someone leaves and end up back to square one.

[Quark]

Just now, I am Jon said:

Totally not sustainable, unfortunately it's been a tough few years for recruitment and company doesn't really have the funds it needs. Feel like I've spent the last 10 years trying to make myself dispensable but every time I get close someone leaves and end up back to square one.

Don't know the circumstances of your company obvs, but I find the reminder that companies will (in general) cut headcount as soon as they need to with barely a backward glance can help to alleviate the guilt a bit.