charities? *could trigger as it goes on*

[over and out]

SO to begin with I asked a mod if I could post this and they said yes.

Ok so I'm doing a presentation on mental health and such so I was wondering fi you could input a little with answering a question for me pretty please *smiles sweetly*

Ok so the question is this:
Has anyone used any charities for their mental health issue and if so what was the charity and how did you find your experience of it?

also if you wish to input into the convo but dont wish to be put into my presentation then feel free to post and just let me know that you dont want to be added into the presentation.

Samaritans does count *has just researched*

Thank you in advance for any help :)

xxx

[Stellata]

I had a Befriender through Mind.
She met up with me once a week, and we had a coffee, or a meal, sometimes she came with me food shopping - something that can be stressful for me with my anxiety.
It was pretty good. But we weren't really best matched, as her eating problems were at the other end of the spectrum from my own. She also had a tendency to be unreliable.
Then she just... abandoned me about 3/4 way through the year. With no contact with the Coordinator or me. She just... disappeared.
They tried to match me up with someone else, but it didn't work out.

I've also used The Samaritans email service. This Summer just gone I was emailing them very frequently as I was having a very hard time emotionally. I was having a breakdown really, and it was the summer therapy break, and my GP wasn't as around either. The email contact helped me through so so much. I don't know how I would have coped without it. I think because I was in regular contact, they worked hard to ensure I was replied to by someone with some understanding of the complex feelings I was facing, and that really helped.

I've also volunteered for a mental health charity - Beside, in East London. That was a few years back now.

[sherlock holmes]

I've emailed the samaritans. It helps to be able to offload to someone and know that they are reading what you have written, but they don't offer much support apart from suggesting you speak with your CMHT or doctor.

[xxhappydaysxx]

I've used Samaritans a few times. The email system is helpful to just off load and that, but I found they tended to repeat what I said back at me. However on the phone I found them very helpful, as I was on the phone to someone I could keep myself safer, and I found they were understanding that I was going through a lot and made me feel I wasnt making a big deal about nothing.

[whirlpools]

i used to use the MIND day centre. it wasn't what i needed at the time, but actually, it offered loads and seemed like a great service. it had all sorts of groups and courses running, from Ladies'/Gentlemens' mornings, gym and swim (concessionary trips), arts and crafts, creative writing group, music groups (taught by a professional), GCSE in English/Maths, photography group, ECDL, body therapies, a course called New Directions (how to write CVs, life skills etc). it also had arranged visits every week from someone who specialised in getting people with mental health problems back into employment and education, benefits advisors, someone from the supported housing scheme to talk about housing, links to advocacy etc. they also had drop ins most days for people to have a chat and a coffee, and once a week there was a dinner prepared by the members, and once a week a lunch as well. they have internet facilities and a big kitchen, a relaxation room, a music room, big squishy sofas, a big dining table and a pool table. it was a pretty cool place! i also liked that it was so "service user led", with reps and meetings etc. and the members would sometimes go to conferences held all over the country.

i actually use MIND in a new pilot service they've opened where i am, called the Twilight Project, it's for people with personality disorder/complex needs to visit between the hours of 9pm and 1am, just to have a chat with someone or just to chill, it's run by CPN referral and they're quite linked up with mainstream mental health services and have supervision, which you'd need for working with people with PD. it's worked out to be a very good service for me, but there's only 6 months funding for it at the mo :(

i've also tried the Samaritans, i didn't find them helpful. i emailed a couple of times but usually by the time the emails were replied to, i was over my crisis. i also phoned once and the woman wasn't very helpful, she asked why i was planning to "waste a year of my life" in a therapeutic community. and told me to go to bed. and asked why on earth i was bulimic. lol. i didn't need lorazepam at the beginning of the phonecall, i did by the end! (i actually began to believe i'd dialled the wrong number).