Text size

Theme

Language

"The worst times led to the best of times!"

About: Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust / Adult mental health (inpatient)

(as the patient),

I became unwell in 2001 after the death of my father, we had been very close. I was admitted to Bassetlaw Hospital Ward B2 and sectioned with a diagnosis of depression and psychotic episodes.

External events were giving me lots of strange delusions - I started to think that national disasters and news events were my fault or linked to me. It was a frightening time. I was very paranoid, I trusted no one, not even family members. I went to hospital voluntarily, but ran away from the ward and was later sectioned because of my suicidal thoughts.

Eventually I was released but the strain broke up my marriage. Despite the stress of that I started to recover as I had two young children to bring up, and they were reliant on me.

Since then I've had two repeat episodes caused by work related stress. I lost both jobs as a result. After the third incident I was diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder.

This time I became positive about my recovery and after looking for a support group in the Bassetlaw area and not finding one, I went on to set up a support group with the assistance of staff from within the trust. The group is called Equilibrial (on my wavelength).

Now I feel good about myself, my self esteem has rocketed. I can monitor my own condition and help others through the group. More recently I have trained as a Peer Support Worker and am now employed by the Trust.

Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Jane Danforth, Involvement & Experience Officer, Involvement, Experience and Volunteering Team, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 13 years ago
Jane Danforth
Involvement & Experience Officer, Involvement, Experience and Volunteering Team,
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

Working in partnership with Care Opinion to gather feedback, meaning we find out what we do well and how you think we should improve. We really do want to hear from you and we reply to every story.

Submitted on 11/10/2011 at 11:29
Published on Care Opinion at 11:48


picture of Jane Danforth

Thank you for sharing your story. It is inspiring to read about your recovery and how you turned your life around positively.

This offers hope for other people in similar situations.

I wish you every success in the future!

For more information contact Equilibrial- on my wavelength

The Bassetlaw Support Group

www.equilibrial.org.uk

Tel: 01777 709650

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k