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00:00One in five people in Northern Ireland will experience mental ill health.
00:06Behind every statistic is a real person with an important story to tell.
00:12This is I Am Someone.
00:17My name's Anthony. I was studying chemistry. I did a Masters in Chemistry.
00:23I started doing work at the university and then COVID hit.
00:27Now, because I was freelance, unfortunately, that was the end of the job.
00:31So I was kind of stuck in a limbo period then.
00:35I think the big thing with COVID and me was the isolation.
00:39So I lived alone anyway, but at least before COVID you could go out and you could socialise with people.
00:44Not long after that, things started to go very, very bad for me.
00:48I then was admitted to a psychiatric ward and I spent 10 days there.
00:52And then that completely changed the direction of my life.
00:55My life was just turned upside down from that.
00:57I was referred to Action Mental Health Foyle by a key worker that I had at Woodley House.
01:03Now, Woodley House in Derry specialise in addiction services.
01:07And that started a chain of things. So one was that it got me into therapy.
01:13The second was that it referred me to Action Mental Health.
01:17It was actually something that I really needed.
01:19It was a change of the pace of my life that slowed everything right down.
01:23The courses that I took at Action Mental Health, they included things like self-esteem, confidence building courses.
01:31There was then the cookery course, which was, I think, really particularly special
01:36because we would all sit down and eat almost like it was a family.
01:41One of the really lovely moments that we had, one of the tutors took us out to Castle Rock on the train.
01:48You know, going out into nature and enjoying yourself and take photographs and make memories.
01:55And that's what we did.
01:57Even if you're just here and you're getting the support from your key workers or the staff here
02:02or the support that you get from the people that you meet, the other clients,
02:05that's, again, that sense of community is so vital to keeping you connected, keeping you grounded
02:12and keeping you out of the house where all you've got is four walls and your thoughts.
02:17You know, even in very, very dark times, they were still there for me and they could work with me,
02:22solving the problems or just being there for support, just being a listening ear.
02:26And sometimes that's all you need.
02:28It's drastically changed the direction of my life in terms of how much I ask of myself,
02:34being more realistic, being kinder to myself, being more compassionate to myself.
02:38Just the very fact that I'm there and I'm surrounded by that kind of emotional warmth that you get there,
02:44to me it feels like it's a cup of human kindness.
02:47That's what I would say overall my experience of Action Mental Health has been.
02:52You might need it someday or somebody that you know or care about might need it someday
02:57and it will change their lives hopefully as much as it's changed mine.
03:01I am Anthony.
03:03And I am someone.
03:07Donate today at amh.org.uk
03:14Amen.