A WOMAN who tried to take her own life when she was just eight years old is now helping others to overcome mental health problems.

Ellen Rose spoke to The Argus to mark Mental Health Awareness Week as figures show one in three people in Brighton and Hove battle with some form of the illness every day.

The numbers of people seeking treatment for their conditions is on the increase, and the statistic is worryingly higher than the national average of one in four.

In April 2013 to April 2014 71,311 patients used Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust services and the number rose to 74,383 in 2014 to 2015. Miss Rose, 38, from Seven Dials, Brighton, tried to end her life when she was just a child by taking an overdose.

She finally found support and friendship later in life when she spotted a leaflet about courses at the new Southdown Recovery College, which is run with the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

Miss Rose is now a peer trainer at the college.

She said: “The support and friendship I got from the other students and peer trainers was amazing. I then decided to study to become a peer trainer myself.”

Each year the trust, which only runs mental health services, sees around 3,600 people admitted to hospital, 52,000 people attending outpatient appointments and 430,000 people attending community appointments. It deals with around 17,000 new referrals every year. It began treating 5,000 children in Sussex last year compared to a national average when 7,500 young people each year were thought to develop psychosis.

Between May 2010 and May 2015, 1, 823 people with a history of self-harm, 796 who were diagnosed with a personality disorder, and 692 people for paranoid schizophrenia, marking some of the most common conditions people are living with every day in Sussex.

A trust spokeswoman said these figures do not provide the whole picture as mental health patients are often treated for a number of symptoms simultaneously.

Every year South Down Housing Association’s mental health recovery service, which helps people across Sussex, helps more than 2,000.

Martin Dominy, head of mental health services at Southdown, said: “It is vital we continue to highlight the issue and encourage people to take that all important first step to seek support. “Mindfulness – the theme of Mental Health Awareness Week – is a way of paying attention to what is happening right now, by observing your thoughts, feelings and physical sensations and your surroundings with an open mind and without judging. It can help us to stay focused.”

Contact the recovery service on 01273 565 049 or visit mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/ mentalhealthawarenessweek for events.

Ellen’s story: My life as a troubled child and teen

AS a little girl Ellen Rose dreamt of being an actress. But far from being full of ambition for the future, she tried to end her life at just eight years old by taking an overdose.

As she grew up in Burgess Hill, attending Gattons Infant School, Southway Junior School and Oakmeeds Community School, she thought suicidal feelings, anxiety and depression were the norm – claiming this was the result of a dysfunctional relationship with her mother.

She said: “I remember as a child jumping down stairs at home hoping I’d break something so I could go to hospital and be looked after.

“I didn’t realise I was developing severe mental health issues. I lost a lot of friends throughout my teens and early twenties because of the way I behaved while trying to cope with everything.

“No one understood. I didn’t understand.”

Her problems prevented her from achieving her childhood dream and she drifted from one agency-appointed administrational role to another.

At 24 she had a breakdown and realised – after so many years of thinking her behaviour was normal – that something was seriously wrong.

She was diagnosed with severe clinical depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and borderline emotional personality disorder.

She developed eczema, asthma, tinnitus, Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME) irritable bowel syndrome and a wheat intolerance. Miss Rose said: “I ceased to function for a few years and was permanently exhausted.

“I didn’t really go out. When you don’t go out you think you don’t need to get dressed or wash.”

She claimed she struggled to get the help she desperately needed and initially felt dismissed by health professionals. After more than two years on a waiting list she saw a therapist who prescribed her medication.

Miss Rose said: “At that time, there was no future. There was no light, just one big black hole. I would constantly think, wouldn’t it be easier if I just ended it all? The worst thing about depression is that you lose the rose-tinted glasses that gets everyone else through each day.”

She finally found support and friendship in 2012 when she spotted a leaflet about courses at the new Southdown Recovery College, which is run with the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The sessions which helped her to build up the skills she needed to live her life.

Miss Rose grew in confidence and now the 38-year-old, of Seven Dials in Brighton, is teaching others how to cope in similar situations to those she encountered as one of 17 peer trainers leading 20 courses at the college each term.

She said: “What appealed was the practical support as well as meeting others. Although initially daunting, I found everyone so friendly and welcoming. This alone made the whole experience rewarding and fun.

“The courses I took gave me new insight and opened up a future for me. The support and friendship I got from the other students and peer trainers was amazing.

“I went from not going out by myself to delivering a speech at the graduation event.

“I then decided to study to become a peer trainer myself. I wanted to get back into work and feel part of my community. I also wanted to give back to something that had literally changed my life. “I love teaching. It helps me stay grounded and gives me a purpose.

“Knowing I’m helping people who are where I used to be is really rewarding.

“I help motivate students but they motivate me too. I don’t want to let them down. My fellow peer trainers and the students are the family I never had. They are not judgemental and are really supportive. “I have to think I have been strong enough to bare my illnesses so I can help others get through theirs.

“Otherwise I have no purpose and neither does my depression.

“Speaking to other people experiencing similar things helped.

“We listen to each other and pass on tips. Also, if you have a problem with my mental health then that’s your problem – I have enough of my own. She still has difficult days but is remaining quietly optimistic about the future, adding: “I will always have depression but will not always be depressed.”

‘Life plagued by psychotic episodes’

DAVID Setford’s early life was plagued by psychotic episodes.

During primary school he was hyper-manic, often feeling anxious and tearful. Since the age of 19 he has struggled with bipolar disorder.

The born and bred farmer from Heathfield found the physically demanding agricultural lifestyle, working sometimes at least 60 hours a week, exacerbated his health problems. He eventually lost count of how many times he was admitted to hospital. Aged just 21 he spent a summer in a psychiatric hospital on heavy medication – but he says this actually came as a relief because it meant he could no longer harm himself or others.

He was discharged and things seemed to be looking up. He went travelling with his girlfriend but had another breakdown while abroad and was hospitalised again.

Another trigger was the death of his grandfather and parents.

As the number of hospital admissions spiralled, visits from friends and family dwindled.

Mr Setford, pictured, said: “As I got older, things just got worse. I’d think people were following and watching me. I wasn’t in control. There didn’t seem to be any way out. Even though I was out of hospital I was still thinking weird and wonderful things.

“I could feel on top of the world and full of confidence and then, without warning, really anxious again.”

He said as a youngster he was treatment medication rather than helped to overcome his symptoms. It was not until 2011 when he was referred by his occupational therapist to Southdown’s employment programme that he felt able to take control of his life.

Since 2013 he has worked as a peer support specialist at Amberstone Hospital in Hailsham. His support worker Claire Arendt helped him to compile a CV, fill out job applications and preparing for interviews. The 48-year-old has now put claiming benefits and working tax credits behind him and is on a 22.5 hour contract.

He said his work now makes having bipolar worthwhile, adding: “Claire is an angel who stops the snowball rolling. Having goals keeps me focused. I never know if I’m going to sleep or not but it no longer governs my life.

“At the moment life’s good but I am scared to be happy.”

 

Art to help mental health recovery - display for Brighton Festival

ARTWORK produced by people who use a mental health recovery centre has gone on display. Throughout May the work of more than 50 people who use the service in Brighton, run by Southdown Housing Association, is on display in the centre at 18 Preston Park Avenue. It is hoped the exhibition will show how painting, sculpture, photography and film can help people combat conditions like depression and anxiety. It is one of more than 1,000 artist open houses events as part of the Brighton Festival and is open on Saturday and Sunday and May 23 and 24 from 3pm to 6pm. Entry is free.