Your Stories
Read real accounts from people who have experienced mental health problems or issues, either themselves or as a friend, family member or carer - and find out just how your support can make a difference to their lives.
Share your story as a Media Volunteer
Amy shares her experiences of what it’s like to live with depression. She has found the invaluable support from two close friends has helped her to keep going through some bad days when she felt like it was too hard to carry on.
Cat shares her experiences of what it’s like to live with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. She has found that a combination of counselling and mind techniques such as CBT, NLP and meditation has helped.
Kathy was living a happy and fulfilling life until she began to experience bouts of depression. Here she talks about how learning mindfulness techniques helped her regain control of her life.
Matthew has experienced depression from a young age. In his teens, he tried to take his own life and was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Matthew explains how “without talking therapy, I would not be here today”.
Kayla realised in her teens that she was unlike her peers, but it wasn’t until her 30s that she was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Kayla now works as a professional musician, promoting positive awareness of Personality Disorder.
Having struggled with depression since her early teens, Mei is now on the Advisory Board of the Right Here project with the aim to radically change how we look after the mental health of young people in the UK.
Karen experienced depression as a result of bereavement, redundancy and physical illness. She has now become a dance instructor and feels that this has helped her to manage both her mental and physical health, as well as helping others to do the same.
Mary’s story about how she and her family are dealing with her husband John’s dementia. A short film produced by the Mental Health Foundation for the Dementia Choices project.
Natalie shares her experiences of what it’s like to live with schizophrenia and hearing voices. Following a severe episode of psychosis, Natalie worked out a range of strategies that help her to manage her condition, ranging from aerobics to knitting.
Winston was first diagnosed with manic depression when he was 16. 20 years on, he has adapted his daily routine and lifestyle to best manage the impact that his manic depression has on his day-to-day life.