Out & About Spring 2019

ANGELA RYAN - MENTAL HEALTH

Recovery in mind ANGELA RYAN is the founder of Newbury-based Recovery in Mind, a centre that provides help and courses for those suffering from mental illness and which is supported by NHS healthcare professionals. Angela knows firsthand the effect of a severe mental breakdown and this is her story

A ngela Ryan is a working mum and wife, who has been living in West Berkshire for the last 25 years. In 2013, she was struck down with a serious mental illness called psychotic depression. For the next two years she experienced prolonged periods of hearing a ‘voice’ (called auditory hallucinations), believed that messages from the television and radio were ‘sent for me’ and felt paranoid. It nearly broke her spirit – she was ‘not me’. But she survived what turned out to be the most life-changing experience for her, as she now goes on to explain: “My recovery was longer and more labour-intensive than I had thought or hoped and required help and support from healthcare professionals – I had been hospitalised twice in 2014 for a period of three months. how we might help and support that person on both practical and emotional levels, but my illness was a steep learning curve for all of those individuals. People didn’t instinctively know what to say, how to get help, how to understand a complex mental health system, learn about the illness, or how to offer practical support. Mental health illness is difficult and painful for all those who support people like me. But there is help and I was indeed fortunate to have great professional and other support. However, I realised after about a year that however much professional help I received, I needed to learn how to self- manage my symptoms and challenges. So I attended a Recovery College, provided by the NHS in Southampton, where I had been an inpatient in a specialist mother and baby psychiatric unit. The Recovery College courses helped me to understand what had happened to me, how to manage my difficulties and to make practical plans to keep well and how to ask for help in case of a relapse. At the end of 2015, I began to wonder why we didn’t have a Recovery College in West Berkshire, so I attended meetings, My family, friends, neighbours and strangers were all key parts of the process for it wasn’t easy for them either. When a friend breaks a leg we know (even though we may have never broken a leg ourselves)

dug around and asked the question. As we all know cuts in local and NHS services are ongoing and there simply wasn’t the budget – even though there was the enthusiasm and vision – to get one going. So in June 2016, I started Recovery in Mind, based in Broadway House, Newbury, owned and managed by Greenham Trust. We work in partnership with the West Berkshire Community Mental Health Team (NHS) to deliver a range of courses to help people to improve their mental health. Everyone who attends is referred to as a student as it’s a learning opportunity, not therapy or treatment and our courses are delivered

by two mental health professionals and our team of wonderful peer trainers, who share their own lived experience and stories of mental health challenges

to empower and inspire students in the belief that a more meaningful and enjoyable life is possible, regardless of the severity or length of those challenges. Two and a half years on and we have had nearly 200 people through our doors. We are funded by a variety of local organisations and trusts such as Greenham Trust and West Berkshire Council’s adult learning

fund. Just before Christmas, I had a call from the Big Lottery to confirm two years of funding, which will enable us to help an additional 60 adults per year so exciting times ahead! My own personal recovery journey seems to interest people and I hope gives hope to others who live with mental health challenges, as well as their families and friends. I’ll be writing a regular article for Out & About , about various aspects of mental health, which I hope you will find interesting and will be helpful to us as a community as we learn to better support people living with mental health challenges.”

Recoveryinmind.ord.uk • Follow AngelaRinm2016 on twitter

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