“It truly was the right support at the right time"

Leo struggled with his mental health since childhood. "What made it worse was that my family didn’t understand – they're very old fashioned. They think that talking about your emotions is weak”.

 Years later, Leo was violently attacked in his own home. “the attack made me feel really isolated, and the trauma of it brought all these feelings from my childhood back” 

Leo began to experience flashbacks of the attack, so he turned to his GP for help. He was referred to the Greenwich Mental Health Hub. “The medication review helped me immensely – without that I don’t think I'd have had the confidence to go to the group sessions which were such an amazing help”.

Leo attended both the Managing Emotions group and the Trauma Stabilisation group. “The group facilitators recognised that talking about emotions was a new thing for me let alone being in a group of people that acknowledged they had mental health problems.... I also really appreciated how they made sure everyone had a chance to speak their mind”.

Leo was then referred to a hub mental health advisor and had 6 one to one sessions with her. “She immediately put me at ease - she was so human and down to earth. Her sessions gave me tools that I will use for the rest of my life, and her lived experience has inspired me to look for similar roles in the future. I feel like there could be something really positive to come of this, and that I could also help people in a similar situation”. 

Leo added, “It truly was the right support at the right time. For once I felt like i wasn’t just yelling into the void – there were people there to listen to me – i couldn’t have asked for a better service”.