One day I was director in a mental health trust. The next I was suicidal

Depression sucked the life and soul out of me but I knew from my clinical experience that I could recover

I can now see that depression crept up on me slowly and silently. Despite 30 years’ experience as a registered mental health nurse I didn’t recognise, acknowledge or even notice the range of symptoms I had been experiencing, or how they had been affecting me. It was only when I finally cried at work that I realised something was wrong.

At the time I was working as an executive director in a London mental health NHS trust. There had not been any obvious feeling of being extremely sad, just a slow downhill trundle and loss of enjoyment in life. My symptoms included being overly self-critical and a loss of interest in things I usually enjoy. I was tired but not sleeping, procrastinating and felt I was a failure.

Related: If I can come back from wanting to kill myself, so can others

Related: 'I feel better for singing': the choir tackling mental health stigma

Continue reading... March 01, 2018 at 04:07PM