In 2020, if someone had told me that by 2024, I would be sober from self-harm, I would have laughed. Back then, my life was a chaotic dance of crisis: relying on services, on medication and attending crisis cafes, the crisis team, and A&E.
Yet, here I am now, free from all of those, living a life that 2020 Catherine could only have dreamed about!Growing up, I didn't understand what mental health really meant.
I thought the panic attacks I experienced were a sign of childishness and weakness. However, everything changed when I turned 18 and was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and borderline personality disorder (BPD).
It was a lot to take in, but it finally put a name to the turmoil I had been experiencing for years.“I was told that I would likely be under their care for the rest of my life because of my self-harm tendencies and BPD.”My journey towards healing began with counselling at my local college.