"I wish this would happen routinely: that the expertise of carers and family/friends was recognised and considered an essential part of the assessment, diagnosis and understanding of the patient."
"In reality, the aftercare may consist only of a single visit from the mental health team the day after leaving psychiatric hospital."
"We cannot simply label people as 'difficult to engage' and somehow categorise it as the problem of the patient. "
"Acknowledge the likelihood that they have not found the right kind of help yet. Work persistently to provide or find that help for them. Support them. Believe in their ability to survive. It is important that you hold onto hope for them."
"Any decisions I make are influenced by this altered pattern of thinking. That is why I wish mental health and other professionals would stop telling patients 'It’s your decision' in a way that implies the patient is thinking rationally and clearly, and is fully well."
"When 'Improved Access to Psychological Therapy' means a six-month wait, something has gone very badly wrong."
"I can say without reservation that it was not the caring role which made me so ill. It was that I did it without support."
Dissociation is a way in which your brain protects you from unbearably painful, overwhelming emotions.
It is the connotations of the "r" word, and how it could be interpreted, which concern me.
"You remain in my pocket for life, supporting, guiding and aiding my recovery"
How daunting it must have been, without legal knowledge and up against four experienced solicitors. Unrepresented families sometimes describe feeling that it is a "David and Goliath" situation.