My name is Chris and I am 28 years old.

I was diagnosed with Schizophrenia at the age of 20.

Since diagnoses I have had a total of 3 admissions to hospital. Although I have had a number of periods of crisis, I have had support from the home treatment teams and floating support which has allowed me to get the treatment I needed without a hospital admission.

I currently get support from attending the services of AMH and NIAMH Beacon Centre. Through attendances at AMH New Horizons, I am planning to complete my NVQ Level 2 in Catering to help me pursue my goal of employment.  I have also completed the WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) which has helped in my ongoing recovery.

Due to the nature of my illness, it has taken me a number of years to find a CPN who I feel that I can trust and have a relationship with where I can talk to them openly. This allows me to talk freely about my feelings and the paranoid thoughts that cause me difficulties.  I know that when I tell them how my thought process is, I don’t have to recall this on to another medical professional as I know they will pass the information on.

Because my illness is a lifelong enduring illness, I feel that to seek and sustain paid employment more support should be given to employers by medical professionals such as CPN’s. I feel they should be able to come into the workplace to give support.  I would like the opportunity to have gradual increase or decrease in hours of employment when periods of illness are good or bad to reduce dependence on benefits.

To help maintain independent living for schizophrenic patients, more sheltered accommodation should be made available where 24/7 support is available.

The staff at Foyle New Horizons made me feel very welcome on my first day, and put me at easy.I found my time here at New Horizons very enjoyable and I have learnt so much from it.I done so many things I thought I could never have done namely ECDL in computers and the Outbound course which helped me both physically and mentally, it brought back my confidence and helped me overcome my fears and gave me the chance to do things I never had a chance to do before. As for the computer courses I have done they were a brilliant chance for me to learn skills that I never thought I could cope with, and now I can use them for applying for jobs. The whole atmosphere in New Horizons is excellent the other clients are so friendly and helpful as is all the staff from top to bottom. All the courses available at New Horizons are worthwhile doing.

I came into New Horizons lacking confidence, communication skills nervous and fearful of the future,Im now am in a position to move on confident with myself ready to face and cope with the world around me once again, I can’t thank the staff and clients of New Horizons enough for all there help and support.

Have you ever been afraid of social situations? Have you ever felt left out? Have you ever watched your friends and felt like you are in a different world? Have you ever had delusions that were so horrific you could barely stay alive?

If this is just the start of the story maybe you have a long and enduring mental illness?

My name is Ruth. When I was twenty I was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. I had straight A’s in my A Levels, I was applying to universities and I was deeply depressed. I fought the depression. There were days, even periods, when I felt happy. I helped myself by reading books, writing poetry, making crafts.

The real problems started when instead of feeling depressed I started to feel high. I would be in a world of my own. I would spend lots of money. I would think things that were not true at all. Some days my psychosis was dramatised on television, as I watched the pictures jump out in front of me. One day I heard a voice from God telling me he loved me.

Here I write about what is only the beginning of what this terrible illness entails. What I would like to talk about is the hope and the survival. From the very beginning of the illness I gained hope from the fact that I could still do things. I began to do some volunteer work and I slowly made my way through an English degree. Five years later I started a job working with other people who had disabilities. I was able to do voluntary work and some permitted work (permitted work is working for less than sixteen hours while you stay on benefits),but my dream of having a permanent job seemed distant and unlikely.

There are many things which make it difficult to function when you have been mentally ill for long periods. For me it has taken about ten years to be able to fully say I am recovered. It is difficult because with a lot of mental disorders the person is ill because of an imbalance in their chemical make-up. I have been put on different medications over the years and had to live with not only side effects, but medications just not working. Hope came for me just two years ago when I was put on clozapine.

From this period I started to move on. I did voluntary work at a charity shop and I applied for a course as a teaching assistant. Although I didn’t finish the course I began to realise that I had a problem trying to concentrate on things. I developed the practice of being mindful and tried to apply it to my life. After this life lesson there came a ray of home. Just as I was finding life difficult my mum had received a phone call from someone about a programme called ‘Workable’. This programme was designed to help people who have been long term ill, back into employment. I had put my name down for this some time ago, but I had no idea that my life would be enriched and enhanced by this experience.

I filled in an application and went for two interviews for the job. I felt inspired by the experience and dreamed about getting the job and working as an occupational therapist assistant. In the end I did get the job. Over the years I have tried to balance the illness in different ways. I have had counselling, used Chinese medicine, wrote mood charts, and practised creativity. I have also tried to keep my life as balanced as possible. Bi-polar disorder is an illness of extremes, but you can take control over it in simple ways. You can walk everyday to prevent depression, you can develop a good sleep pattern and you can eat properly. The opportunity of this job has been really therapeutic because it brings increased structure to my life and makes me realise that I am not on the margins anymore. I am now able to be the balanced and happy person I always wanted to be.

In my job as an occupational therapy assistant there are various aspects that have been put in place to help me in the job. I do supervision with the occupational therapist I am working with. I also have a support worker who I work with once a fortnight. I was also allowed to start working at sixteen hours and work my way up in my own time. I am also allowed to come in thirty minutes late because the medication can make mornings difficult.

I would just like to say to anyone who has a severe and enduring mental illness not to give up hope. Try to hold on to the picture of yourself as someone well and someone who is valued in the world of employment.