"Mental ill health is not pretty"

V, a resident of one of our Therapeutic Recovery Communities, shares her journey towards recovery and how she discovered the importance of healthy relationships, with herself and with others.

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"Through CHT, I have been shown healthy relationships with others and myself. As my self-worth began to build, I began to believe in myself and to understand myself. 

Psychotherapy has been a cornerstone of my wanting to live, and live the best life I can. There have been difficult and dark times, and there will be in the road to come. I have the internal resources and the external support system now. I have rebuilt family relationships and cultivated friendships thanks to learning how to ‘do’ healthy relationships. 

Mental ill health is not pretty.

It's not washing for weeks. It's truly believing life is not worth living. It's eating out of the bin because it's too much to cook and look after yourself.

It's unwashed beds. It's sadness that overflows and does not stop, and so much more.

I know it’s not rewarding for staff every single day. It's not giving up on people even though they've given up on themselves. People used to say to me, ‘I'll continue to hold the hope’.

My response, usually angrily, was to tell them to stop wasting their time.

They didn't stop, though, and they weren't wasting their time. Without CHT, I dread to think where I would have ended up."