Personal stories

Kate Jeffs got in contact recently saying

I've just found your website after following you on twitter and I have to say I'm so impressed.   Amazing as other mental health and depression charities seem so focused and dedicated to young people with depression, rather than other websites which perhaps just cater to everyone suffering with depression. 

I have suffered from depression all of my life, although there have been plenty of times when I didn’t know what it was or why I was different.  So I really grew up with it and tried to cope as best I could.

Once when I was 16 years old and had started work, my depression came to the fore through various different experiences in my life.  As the years went by I fought as hard as I could against my depression and tried to figure out why I was like this and why it affected me so much.

Therapy and medication always helped me to get back on my feet after a period of time but in the end my inability to accept how this horrible disease affected me always brought me back to the start of another breakdown.

This is Pete's story and diary of the first three weeks of starting treatment for depression

In 2005 I was diagnosed with cancer and initially given about 2-3 months to live.

I then saw a different consultant who thought there was a chance for me.

I started chemotherapy in Dec 2005 and eventually in Nov 2006 got a Stem Cell transplant which was a success. I then went back to work in July 2007 but following a few relapses and some other health issues my consultant recommended that I should stop working so I took early retirement in 2008 at the ripe old age of 54. I have now been told that the cancer is in remission but due to the chemotherapy I’ve got some renal problems that I see consultant about every 3-4 months or so but not a major issue.