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The Worst Witch · 07-10-2014, 09:59 AM

I also think this is a lovely thread :). Here's mine (it's a bit of a ramble, but its kind of a long story anyway).

I joined this site in 2004 under a different username, but didn't really start posting until 2008. Things started to get a bit better after that, I sought help in terms of meds (which didn't really do anything for me), counselling (which helped immensely) and in 2009, I met my would-be fiancée, S. We moved in together and spent a wonderful 2 and a half years together, to this day I still don't think I'll meet someone I loved as much as I did her but that's a different story. We didn't work out for a number of reasons, and I spiralled back into my old ways of ODing, self-harming and had to move back in with my parents as I couldn't stand the thought of bumping into her in the town we lived in.

However, I'd say my recovery really began after S and I split up. My mum gave me a period of about 6 months to "get myself sorted" after the break up, so I did a number of things. One thing that really stands out is I managed to secure myself a support worker, and through her organisation (which was/is for adults with learning disabilities rather than adults with mental health problems, although I have/had both) I secured a voluntary placement in a nursery. I would say that this placement is really what turned my life around (although, obviously, I put in a lot of hard work!). I fell in love with all the little children I was looking after, and from there secured a permanent paid job. From this job, I got told I'd be suited to more senior/management roles within the nursery and I decided to go back to college to get my qualifications for these roles. I've currently been at college for 5 weeks and although the workload is manic, I'm loving every second of it. I'm loving the positive things my mentor from my voluntary placement says, she compliments me on how far I've come and how much I'm learning at college and gives me cuddles and things, ha.

Another thing I did was, in order to advocate for the charity my support worker was from, she asked me to give a speech to "a few local people" telling them my story and how the project helped me. "A few local people" turned out to be 500 (which I nearly killed my support worker for! :P). From this speech, I was asked to go down to the Scottish Government and talk to a few Scottish MPs to try and secure the project some much needed funding. I couldn't do this because of my work/placement commitments but I did consent to be filmed for a youtube video and my support worker showed that to the MSPs instead.

So yes, that is my story :). I still find it hard sometimes, especially with the stress of college but usually, I'm far too knackered from looking after little children all day that as soon as I come home, I just go to bed!

07-10-2014, 09:59 AM	#12
The Worst Witch Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Scotland I am currently:	I also think this is a lovely thread :). Here's mine (it's a bit of a ramble, but its kind of a long story anyway). I joined this site in 2004 under a different username, but didn't really start posting until 2008. Things started to get a bit better after that, I sought help in terms of meds (which didn't really do anything for me), counselling (which helped immensely) and in 2009, I met my would-be fiancée, S. We moved in together and spent a wonderful 2 and a half years together, to this day I still don't think I'll meet someone I loved as much as I did her but that's a different story. We didn't work out for a number of reasons, and I spiralled back into my old ways of ODing, self-harming and had to move back in with my parents as I couldn't stand the thought of bumping into her in the town we lived in. However, I'd say my recovery really began after S and I split up. My mum gave me a period of about 6 months to "get myself sorted" after the break up, so I did a number of things. One thing that really stands out is I managed to secure myself a support worker, and through her organisation (which was/is for adults with learning disabilities rather than adults with mental health problems, although I have/had both) I secured a voluntary placement in a nursery. I would say that this placement is really what turned my life around (although, obviously, I put in a lot of hard work!). I fell in love with all the little children I was looking after, and from there secured a permanent paid job. From this job, I got told I'd be suited to more senior/management roles within the nursery and I decided to go back to college to get my qualifications for these roles. I've currently been at college for 5 weeks and although the workload is manic, I'm loving every second of it. I'm loving the positive things my mentor from my voluntary placement says, she compliments me on how far I've come and how much I'm learning at college and gives me cuddles and things, ha. Another thing I did was, in order to advocate for the charity my support worker was from, she asked me to give a speech to "a few local people" telling them my story and how the project helped me. "A few local people" turned out to be 500 (which I nearly killed my support worker for! :P). From this speech, I was asked to go down to the Scottish Government and talk to a few Scottish MPs to try and secure the project some much needed funding. I couldn't do this because of my work/placement commitments but I did consent to be filmed for a youtube video and my support worker showed that to the MSPs instead. So yes, that is my story :). I still find it hard sometimes, especially with the stress of college but usually, I'm far too knackered from looking after little children all day that as soon as I come home, I just go to bed!