Story 1:

After being on the frontline and managing staff and patients in one of the most intense environments in the hospital, I eventually experienced mental burnout, anxiety and extreme stress. 

Nine months of relentless stress and pressure had eventually taken its toll. Something snapped in my head and I just had to get as far away from there as possible. I had a panic attack that had me fearing for my life and ended up breaking down. 

That was the lowest point in my life and I was massively unprepared. 

I had never experienced mental health problems before and always saw myself as a mentally strong person. I felt like a failure and couldn’t understand what was happening to me. 

When I was referred to the Resilience Hub I didn’t know what to expect. I’d heard great feedback but didn’t have high expectations for myself. I’m not the best at opening up and didn’t think it would help, but considering my desperation to get better I was willing to try anything. 

After one session I instantly felt reassured and had an understanding of what was happening to me. 

I was beating myself up and needed someone to tell me what I needed to hear - that I needed time off, rest, and help.  After each session, I could feel myself making progress. She had an uncanny ability to get me to open up and talk. Before I knew it, things were coming out of my mouth that I didn’t even realise had bothered me. 

Just getting them off my chest and processing them really helped, added by the reassurance and logic that the person I was speaking to at the Resilience Hub was adding to the information I was giving her. 

The biggest problem with the pandemic was that there were no opportunities to process or debrief from the incidents that occurred and bottling it all up had left me with trauma. 

I expected to finish each session stressed and anxious but in fact, what I experienced was the opposite. Although as I talked I felt those physical symptoms, after the call I would feel positive, happy and like I had achieved something. 

I was assessed at the beginning of my journey with a score for depression and score for anxiety. My depression score was around medium and my anxiety was off the scale. 

On my last session the test was repeated and my depression score was down to 1 and my anxiety score was in the normal range. These were the facts I needed to hear in order to accept that I was getting better and that these sessions were helping. 

I can’t recommend this service enough. Even if you don’t think you are the type of person to benefit from talking it’s worth exploring.  

I owe so much to the resilience hub and to the person who helped me as they were paramount to my recovery. 

I was in the lucky situation of having a wife and kids to give me structure in my life so that I had a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Without that, I have no doubt my recovery would have been much slower. 

Without the Resilience Hub I don’t think I would be feeling this happy and positive so soon. 

I now feel as though I have come out the other side stronger and I am actually grateful that I had this experience. I have learned so much about myself and managed to turn this horrific and negative experience into a positive one. 

I want to thank the Resilience Hub and the person who helped me again for everything they have done for me. I am eternally grateful and will never forget the key role you played in my life.

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