"Very polite and kind people, they are just brilliant at their job"

So far my time here has been okay, It has been a tough recovery journey for me but I am trying very hard as I have made a goal to myself to complete this and get better.

There are days were I do feel really down and I would just like to be by myself but I know deep down that the only way that I can recover is if I do put in 100% effort. As well staff are always encouraging me to do these things as it helps to build up my self-esteem. I have been trying to communicate more with staff and patients lately but I have always found it hard to talk to people and have always like to keep myself to myself, so this is why it has been hard for me adjust to a busy ward with lots of people I do not know.

The nurses have been very good in finding ways for me to overcome this barrier, I tend to like communicating with people through activities or interests as it’s easier to talk to them about this. I like that there are other people in the similar age group to me on this ward as this has helped with my social anxiety as I feel I can talk to them. So far the patients that I have talked to have been very nice and it’s comforting to know that we are all in the same situation and getting help for the same reasons, it makes it easier to open up to them about my feelings.

When I do get overwhelmed with certain situations, we have come to the solution of doing my breathing techniques to help me calm down and put me at ease and so far it has been working quite well. Staff introduced this to me and now completed it with me as we usually bring up some breathing technique videos on social media.

There are times where the ward can become loud, it can be quite annoying when it happens during the night, this can make me become quite irritated but I know that there’s nothing that the staff can do about this.

The cleanliness of the ward has been great there is nothing to be improved on that. I suffer from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) so it was a big deal for me when the cleaners would come into my room but they never changed the room they basically changed the bed and ensure that the floor and everything was clean which I was glad as it really makes me uncomfortable when my items start to be moved around. The meals are okay I would just like to see more healthy options for example it would good if salads or fruit bowls were an option.

I have gotten on very well with all members of staff here in bluestone and they are very polite and kind people, they are just brilliant at their job and I wouldn’t ask for another team as Cloughmore staff are the best!