"We are blessed to have such dedicated individuals"

A few years ago I reached an all time low in my life and decided to end it all. I was leaving behind my adorable wife, daughters, beautiful home and a good career but for some reason that wasn’t enough for me. I had simply reached the end and didn’t want to be here anymore it was as simple as that! I made my exit plan and ……….. for some unknown reason I rang for help! The next few days were a blur to me but by some unknown reason I found myself in Lagan Valley Mental health department. How this happened I will never know but thankfully I was in the right place.

Admitting you have a mental health problem is far from easy especially when you are fast approaching pension age but can I say it doesn’t matter if you are young or old, it is never too late to speak to someone and admit you need help even if you don’t believe you do.

My treatment was not an overnight thing in fact I have just finished my final assessment this week and I want everyone to know how wonderful that feels. More importantly I want everyone to know what a truly wonderful mental health service we have at Lagan Valley.

I know this sounds dramatic but I owe my life to a remarkable caring professional young woman called Cathy who turned my life around. She was compassionate and listened to my rantings without ever making a judgment. Over the last few years both Cathy and her colleague Steph helped me bang to a full recovery and I just wanted to say a sincere thank you to both of them.

The NHS is a wonderful institution and we are blessed to have such dedicated individuals who work so hard. I personally believe they deserve a pay rise and would gladly pay more tax to make that happen.

Thank you again and here’s to a long and happy retirement.