Lance’s* history

Lance is a young man who has a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder. Lance had a turbulent childhood with an unstable family home. At 13 years old he started hearing voices. He found school extremely difficult both in terms of the work and the social aspects, he was bullied by his classmates until he left at the age of 16.

After leaving school, having failed his exams, Lance managed to get various jobs, however he never stayed in post for long. He began misusing drugs and alcohol and had his first psychotic episode at the age of 18. Having struggled with his mental health for several years he had his first hospital admission at 21. This was the first of many and Lance found himself without support and living on the streets, after a supported living placement broke down due to his aggressive behaviours.

Lance’s mental state deteriorated and once again he found himself admitted to hospital where he had episodes of absconding and being verbally abusive toward staff. A referral to Cygnet Sherwood House was made.

When Lance came to us

He was anxious and required a great deal of support and reassurance. Lance suffered from a lot of positive symptoms and had a lack of trust with staff. He found it extremely difficult being detained and regularly mentioned wanting to have a job. He was frustrated that this wasn’t possible and this led to outbursts after being unable to manage these feelings.

Lance would often report having suicidal thoughts despite not wanting to act on them. He also required PRN medication to help with his symptoms and to give him motivation to engage in any therapeutic activities. Due to positive symptoms and frustrations Lance would spend long periods of time in his bedroom.

Lance’s care

Shortly after arriving, Lance’s medication was reviewed by the multi-disciplinary team and adjusted, this helped to improve Lance’s mental state and enabled staff to begin to build his trust. Staff worked with Lance to help him understand why his outbursts occurred and worked with him to identify coping mechanisms.

As Lance found some stability, the team suggested a therapeutic earning job, this gave him responsibility and allowed him to feel a sense of pride and worth. Lance was supported to attend a local college, he would often return from the course and excitedly tell staff what he had learned and how he felt this would be something he would continue in his future.

The team also encouraged Lance to attend their onsite Maths and English course, this gave him more confidence and the sense of accomplishment he felt continued to motivate him throughout his recovery.

Despite the poor experience of education in his childhood, Lance really enjoyed learning and these courses helped him to feel he had accomplished something. He even asked for extra work to complete when the tutor was unable to attend during lockdown.

Lance today

As Lance prepared to leave Cygnet Sherwood House he continued to use the coping strategies he had learnt to help him deal with any frustrations he might face. His confidence and communication skills had grown enough that he would speak up in meetings and engaged with his community team in order to find the next placement to continue his recovery.

Before leaving Cygnet Sherwood House to move closer to home, Lance told the team he had enjoyed his time there but was excited about the next steps for him in the future.

*Name has been changed to protect his identity