Such was the case about my blog on panic attacks and burnout from a few days ago.
I think it's great that my readers can also react with one another. Hopefully they will feel that they know each other and we are a kind of club. Perhaps we need a convention somewhere sunny and picturesque and I don't mean Hemsby!
You will all know that I like to mix the serious with the trivial, the amusing with more thought-provoking pieces. I guess that's me all over.
The past few days I have been suffering a bit due to the scam/fraud I have been subjected to. Firstly I feel like an absolute fool for being taken in having spent years working for the police and warning people about becoming victims of scams and frauds.
My message is simple. Scammers are becoming more and more sophisticated in what they do, so you have to be even more guarded. I know I will be from now on. Regular reader Alan pointed out that the company I have allegedly been dealing with went out of business many years ago and so the fraudsters are using its name for their own evil purposes. And apparently it's virtually impossible to catch these criminals as they hide their tracks so well. The one I was talking to just over a week ago may have been operating from a flat or even a car anywhere in the world.
The thing that threw me was the softening up process where a very friendly and ordinary guy rang me up on a weekly basis just to explain how my investments were doing and what was happening. He never tried to sell me anything else and we would chat about families etc. I asked him a number of questions about cryptocurrency - all of which he answered. I even asked him why he bothered to ring up investors every week just for a chat to which his reply was something along the lines of "it's just part of our customer care."
It takes a big leap to realise that this guy who called himself Mark Price is probably a criminal working with the abusive Spaniard who contacted me last week.
I mention this not to bore you with my problems but to talk once again about burnout and panic attacks. I think after my third and what will be final call from Sven the Spaniard that I suffered a very small panic attack of not knowing what to do - thus proving that attacks can happen due to outside influences. It was only a momentary thing and I soon came round to sorting out credit and debit cards and ensuring my bank account is safe. So panic gave way to working out the way forward. With a different credit and debit card all my regular standing orders will have to be changed and revisited. I tried to buy something on Amazon but of course the payment has been refused until I change my method of payment. It's going to be a long drawn out affair remembering all the things I pay on credit/debit card from Dartford Tunnel fees to car excise licence and television licence.
One unexpected side of my conversations with this Sven is not wanting to be at home at the moment as I feel trapped there. My feeling is that at least if I'm out I'm not going to be subjected to crank exploitive calls or have to sort anything out.
But back to burnout. Blogger Sarah who is a shining beacon in the Hethersett community told me of how she suffered burn out the previous Christmas to the one we have just had and I sympathise because I know just how she feels.
Sarah is a parish councillor, is involved in numerous local groups and has a job and young family. Christmas is a time when everything crashes together in a way that can be so demanding as to almost make what should be a happy time extremely stressful. Add in all those parties and social gatherings and things can become tough.
I certainly remember a Christmas many years ago when we had so much to do and so many social events that I went to one event and had a small panic attack, felt sick and had to go home and have some time to myself. The strange thing was the event I had to leave was a pleasant one and one I wanted to be at. I just couldn't cope with being social anymore.
Being an only child, I often think makes me more prone to feeling anti social. That's not to say I'm not a sociable being. I love being with people and being part of groups but at times I also need quiet and to be on my own and I guess that when I go places and get out of the house I merge into obscurity.
I hope that makes sense as I'm sure I'm not alone with these feelings.
I'm currently reading a very good biography of Agatha Christie written by historian Lucy Worsley. She puts a slightly different slant on the 10 days when Agatha Christie disappeared. Many writers have suggested that Christie did this for selfish reasons as her first marriage was in tatters. They accused her of being irresponsible for leaving her only child and just taking off.
Worsley puts a slightly different perspective on things, looking at Agatha from a mental illness point of view and suggesting she was suffering from something called dissociative fugue. The essence of this condition is that the sufferer forgets who he or she is. So in other words they suffer so extensively from trauma or stress that their brain turns to mush and they push the bad thing out of their memory along with their own identity.
Isn't this similar to an advanced state of burnout where you can't make even the slightest decision and just feel rooted to the spot? I certainly believe so. Anyway enough for today.