"My mental health journey"

I wanted to give a quick run down on the pros and cons of my mental health journey as it seems to be getting highlighted more and more often.

My first step was to see my GP in Rutherglen to advise that I felt suicidal and was having a bad time. He gave me a phone number for the Rutherglen gateway team and advised me to phone. I did this and from the start the staff were friendly and polite and I was offered an appointment for a clinic quite quickly. 

I saw a woman named Jennifer who was so friendly, smiley and made me feel welcome she gave me some information but advised I’d be better seeing the mental health team as they could help with thoughts of suicide. She said she thought an occupational Therapist was best and that the ot’s in this team were very good. 

At this point I then got a letter to say that it would be an 8 week wait for an occupational therapist to come and see me and I wasn’t happy because I was worried about waiting the full 8 weeks. I then phoned the OT department and spoke to a friendly girl called claire who apologised for the wait and said she would try and see me a bit quicker but she gave me phone numbers if I needed to speak to someone Day or night and made me feel a bit better just by talking to me for a few minutes. 

When the day came that claire came to my house I was so nervous and worried as I didn’t know what to expect. I can’t even describe how positive and fantastic Claire was from the very start. Even opening the door she was so friendly, softly spoke showing me her name badge and was so polite she didn’t intrude on my home at all. I knew I was in the right hands!

I’ve seen claire for quite a few months and things in my life have changed so much. It’s been about a year since I first went to my GP to talk about being suicidal and things couldn’t be further from that now. 

I still have bad days and good days but claire made me understand what was going on in my head, she helped me to start leaving my house again and to start finding joy in life. I think all I needed was a push in the right direction and every step of my journey has been a positive one. I was then discharged from the full team a few weeks ago and although I was nervous I knew that I was ready for it. At the very last appointment claire brought out a discharge pack which basically had lots of things for me to look at and use at home. It had phone numbers of helplines, it had diaries and charts that we’d used together and it even had a little laminated positive quote to put on my fridge. 

My mental health journey started a year ago and I haven’t regretted going to my GP one bit. My experience has been a very positive one and I want to encourage as many people as possible to just ask for help when you need it.