KayleighJane
10-10-11, 12:55
Hi guys, Just been emailed this, It has had to be cut down a bit because of space etc but hope you all like it. Hope people Don't mind about some of their quotes being used
Speaking out: Kayleigh Brind is encouraging people to talk about mental health
AT LEAST one in four people will experience mental health problems, yet many suffers face discrimination, particularly in the workplace.
Inspired by World Mental Health Day on Monday (October 10), 25-year-old Kayleigh Brind spoke to reporter SUZ ELVEY about the anxiety and panic attacks she has suffered, the way people reacted to her condition and how vital it is for people to talk openly about mental health.
“I THOUGHT I was having a heart attack, I was really scared. I managed to drive home and call an ambulance.”
Kayleigh’s first panic attack happened in January while she was driving home from work and, like many sufferers, she experienced physical sensations such as dizziness, shortness of breath and the feeling of choking that were so severe she feared for her life.
After paramedics and her GP said it was anxiety, Kayleigh “tried to ignore it” for about a month but eventually, when she was having attacks every day and some were lasting several hours, she went to A and E and was diagnosed with panic disorder.
She said: “I couldn’t believe it was panic attacks. I thought: ‘How can your mind make you feel these things?’. I thought I was going mad and I got angry because I wanted to go to university and get married and I felt I’d had my life taken away a bit.”
After suffering a bad attack at work, Kayleigh was sent home by her manager, who told her “We are trying to run a business”.
She said the lack of support made her feel “like some sort of infected person” and she was signed off sick soon afterwards.
Kayleigh said: “Some people do treat you differently, even though they shouldn’t, and it makes you not want to tell people. The stigma and prejudice attached to mental health is a massive issue and one that needs highlighting. Mental health sufferers must not be viewed as raving lunatics as the words ‘mentally ill’ do not conjure up positive connotations. The fact is, mentally ill people are, more often than not, productive, contributing members of normal society.”
Kayleigh, who has family in Sittingbourne but now lives in Ashley, near Dover, blamed the prejudice on a lack of understanding fuelled by minimal exposure in the media and in society.
She continued: “If you tell someone you’ve broken your leg or you’ve got cancer, everyone knows what you mean but no one knows about mental health. Before I got ill I would have thought ‘What’s wrong with her, she can’t even do a day’s work, she’s just being lazy. But that’s not the case.’”
Kayleigh was prescribed beta blockers and anti-depressants while she waited to start courses of counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), known as the ‘talking therapy’.
Through CBT, Kayleigh learnt that delayed grief following the death of her nan probably triggered her first attack.
Close family and friends said they would never have expected Kayleigh to have panic attacks, showing anyone can suffer from mental health problems.
She said: “It’s probably only in the last couple of months that I’ve started talking to people about how bad it’s been. It’s only now that I can see people need to talk about it.”
Kayleigh spoke to friends and family about her anxiety so if she has a panic attack they will know what is happening and will be able to support her until the attack passes.
She has also found websites and online chat rooms invaluable as they allow her to share feelings and advice with fellow sufferers.
Nine months on, Kayleigh is working two days a week at Morelli’s ice cream parlour in Broadstairs to gain the confidence to return to work full-time and she is overcoming small challenges, such as going to the supermarket by herself and driving on her own, one at a time.
The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day is “investing in mental health” and Kayleigh suggested additional NHS CBT therapists, to minimise the wait for treatment and the time sufferers are on medication, and awareness training for employers would be good investments.
Kayleigh concluded: “Awareness is so important because being able to be open about anxiety is an important part of recovery. The only way to recovery is through acceptance and it is hard to try to cultivate accepting attitudes to your anxiety when you are constantly trying to conceal it. It is important that people’s attitudes to mental health change.”
* The website Kayleigh uses is www.nomorepanic.co.uk while www.anxietyforteens.weebly.com is a similar site for teenagers.
* Go to www.who.int/en and search for Word Mental Health day for World Health Organisation information.
Speaking out: Kayleigh Brind is encouraging people to talk about mental health
AT LEAST one in four people will experience mental health problems, yet many suffers face discrimination, particularly in the workplace.
Inspired by World Mental Health Day on Monday (October 10), 25-year-old Kayleigh Brind spoke to reporter SUZ ELVEY about the anxiety and panic attacks she has suffered, the way people reacted to her condition and how vital it is for people to talk openly about mental health.
“I THOUGHT I was having a heart attack, I was really scared. I managed to drive home and call an ambulance.”
Kayleigh’s first panic attack happened in January while she was driving home from work and, like many sufferers, she experienced physical sensations such as dizziness, shortness of breath and the feeling of choking that were so severe she feared for her life.
After paramedics and her GP said it was anxiety, Kayleigh “tried to ignore it” for about a month but eventually, when she was having attacks every day and some were lasting several hours, she went to A and E and was diagnosed with panic disorder.
She said: “I couldn’t believe it was panic attacks. I thought: ‘How can your mind make you feel these things?’. I thought I was going mad and I got angry because I wanted to go to university and get married and I felt I’d had my life taken away a bit.”
After suffering a bad attack at work, Kayleigh was sent home by her manager, who told her “We are trying to run a business”.
She said the lack of support made her feel “like some sort of infected person” and she was signed off sick soon afterwards.
Kayleigh said: “Some people do treat you differently, even though they shouldn’t, and it makes you not want to tell people. The stigma and prejudice attached to mental health is a massive issue and one that needs highlighting. Mental health sufferers must not be viewed as raving lunatics as the words ‘mentally ill’ do not conjure up positive connotations. The fact is, mentally ill people are, more often than not, productive, contributing members of normal society.”
Kayleigh, who has family in Sittingbourne but now lives in Ashley, near Dover, blamed the prejudice on a lack of understanding fuelled by minimal exposure in the media and in society.
She continued: “If you tell someone you’ve broken your leg or you’ve got cancer, everyone knows what you mean but no one knows about mental health. Before I got ill I would have thought ‘What’s wrong with her, she can’t even do a day’s work, she’s just being lazy. But that’s not the case.’”
Kayleigh was prescribed beta blockers and anti-depressants while she waited to start courses of counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), known as the ‘talking therapy’.
Through CBT, Kayleigh learnt that delayed grief following the death of her nan probably triggered her first attack.
Close family and friends said they would never have expected Kayleigh to have panic attacks, showing anyone can suffer from mental health problems.
She said: “It’s probably only in the last couple of months that I’ve started talking to people about how bad it’s been. It’s only now that I can see people need to talk about it.”
Kayleigh spoke to friends and family about her anxiety so if she has a panic attack they will know what is happening and will be able to support her until the attack passes.
She has also found websites and online chat rooms invaluable as they allow her to share feelings and advice with fellow sufferers.
Nine months on, Kayleigh is working two days a week at Morelli’s ice cream parlour in Broadstairs to gain the confidence to return to work full-time and she is overcoming small challenges, such as going to the supermarket by herself and driving on her own, one at a time.
The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day is “investing in mental health” and Kayleigh suggested additional NHS CBT therapists, to minimise the wait for treatment and the time sufferers are on medication, and awareness training for employers would be good investments.
Kayleigh concluded: “Awareness is so important because being able to be open about anxiety is an important part of recovery. The only way to recovery is through acceptance and it is hard to try to cultivate accepting attitudes to your anxiety when you are constantly trying to conceal it. It is important that people’s attitudes to mental health change.”
* The website Kayleigh uses is www.nomorepanic.co.uk while www.anxietyforteens.weebly.com is a similar site for teenagers.
* Go to www.who.int/en and search for Word Mental Health day for World Health Organisation information.