My name is Robert. I suffered with depression and anxiety for about five years due to my physical illnesses. I shut myself away and got fed up with living off pills, so I decided to get some help. I went to my GP, who gave me information about local services available, including ‘Recovery in Mind’.
I joined ‘Recovery in Mind’ about three years ago, and during that time I’ve attended most of the courses. I’ve enjoyed them all, but the ones that have stuck in my mind the most are the ‘Wellbeing in the Wild’ day last July, and the creativity workshops. The creativity workshops gave me the opportunity to try things I hadn’t done before, and find that I could do them. The ‘Wellbeing in the Wild day was outdoors’, with all of us together having fun. The nice thing about ‘Recovery in Mind’ is that we’re all like a little family. I’ve made friends through it as well. The courses have helped me see to the other side of my depression to help me move forward.
Attending ‘Recovery in Mind’ has also encouraged me to join in another group in the community, which has helped build up my confidence and enabled me to feel more relaxed in front of people. It helped meeting with people who were in a similar situation to me, which made coming along more comfortable.
If you have any doubts or worries about coming to ‘Recovery in Mind’, as I did in the beginning, then just take those first steps and do it! You won’t regret it!