With the assistance of our residents, we aim to dispel misunderstandings regarding mental health, autism, and learning disabilities. Helena a resident at Amy Johnson House, our supported living service in Hull, shares her personal journey of mental health and anxiety recovery and the support she received from the team. Here is Helena’s experience in her words:
“I’ve always been an anxious person. When I was young, I always used to worry about small things like friendship groups, and when I became a teenager my anxiety spiralled out of control to the point I left school with no GCSEs and ended up in a CAMHS adolescent unit on anti-depressants.
Unfortunately, this was the start of my very long recovery journey.
At one point, I ended up on 2-1 arms reach observations for my own safety, but after a while, I started to think to myself, “I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to get better and live a good life away from inpatient units”. So that is when I changed things around. Things were going so well, that I was taken off my section but stayed voluntarily until a supported living placement was identified. After eight years in hospital, I was finally discharged.
That’s when I came to Amy Johnson House…
I have now been officially discharged from hospital for over a year and things are going very well. I’m doing lots of activities and I am learning to be more independent. I get on with all the staff at Amy Johnson. They’ve helped me so much and are always very supportive. I would like to thank them and hope they can go on to help many more people in the future.
Since being at Amy Johnson House, I have gained a lot of confidence, the staff have helped me set, and more importantly reach, a lot of goals, some of which I didn’t think I would ever accomplish. As a child, I loved swimming, I have fond memories of family holidays where I would spend the majority of my time in the pool. Since my mental health deteriorated in my early teens, I didn’t go swimming for a long time. With the support and person-centred approach of the staff at Amy Johnson House, I now go swimming on a regular basis, I feel I have my mojo back and for that, I am truly thankful!
Swimming is not the only accomplishment. I often cook with staff and for someone with a history of disordered eating, this is not to be looked at lightly. I learned to ride a bike again, I’ve gone ice skating, seen multiple shows at the theatre, made friends and I’m even planning a holiday abroad with staff! The list goes on and on, but all I can say is I appreciate all the help that I have received since my placement commenced.
I look forward to the next chapter in my life, but for now, I am an Amy Johnson House girl and part of me thinks I always will be.
Thank you for reading my story,
Helena.”
Find out more about Northern Healthcare’s supported living services and how our teams help people on their mental health recovery journey.
Visit ‘Home Life’ for more resident stories and activities from our services.
Photo by Nik on Unsplash
