From a very young age Mia struggled with her mental health. Her parents divorced when she was little, she struggled with friendship groups at school and was bullied. She said she felt “constantly down and depressed” which ultimately lead to anxiety, panic attacks and self-harming.
“I never liked attention so I hid it away from everybody,” she explained.
“I wasn’t supported because I didn’t give anybody the chance to. I eventually got excluded from school.
“I reached crisis point and took my first overdose.”
Mia was offered supported from her community crisis team, but it had little effect.
She added: “The team was trying to understand what was going on but I was unable to explain. There was no major event but with my life the way it was with my family set up and friendship issues…it was one thing on top of another.
“I was losing hope. My anxiety was getting worse, I was transferred to a new school but I started playing truant. A close friend died in a car accident but I had no support through my grief.
“I couldn’t see a way out.”
Mia was frequently attending A&E after overdoses or to protect herself from her suicidal ideations.
Eventually, in December 2018, Mia was admitted to Cygnet Hospital Sheffield, which offers Child and Adolescent Mental Health services for male and female adolescents over three distinct wards. She was on the acute ward for five months.
After a brief time back at home, Mia was then admitted to Cygnet Hospital Bury where she stayed for nine months.
“I made real progress at Bury, thanks to the support of all the team,” she explained.
“It wasn’t easy but by this point I wanted to get better and staff were patient with me, I was fortunate to have their help.”
She has now begun working for the Lived Experience Network as an Expert by Experience – someone who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses health, mental health and/or social care. She will be supporting people hospitalised due to their mental health at Cygnet Health Care services.
She will use her experience to talk with current service users and share their feedback with senior staff so that necessary changes can be made to ensure the service provides the best care to those who need it.
Explaining how she heard about the EbyE role, Mia explained: “About two years after I was discharged, one of my old advocates from Bury messaged me to see if I would be interested in the role.
“It came at the right time, I was starting to go downhill and have panic attacks, losing hope again.
“I was watching my friends get on with their life, get jobs, enjoy new experiences. I couldn’t see where my life was heading. I felt stuck, I was still on medication and felt trapped.
“I’d always been interested in healthcare and was looking at volunteering roles for experience. I was hoping to become a support worker. I could see what a good one looked like and what a bad one looked like from my own experiences. I really felt I could become a support worker who helped people for the better.”
As part of her Expert by Experience role, Mia meets with service users from four Cygnet Health Care services; Cygnet Hospital Sheffield, Cygnet Hospital Bury, Cygnet Aspen House in Doncaster and Cygnet Acer Clinic in Chesterfield.
Describing the impact she has as an EbyE, she said: “I absolutely love it. I know that I would have loved to have someone like that when I was in hospital. It would have done me the world of good.
“EbyEs are the evidence. No matter what you go through, we are the proof that bad times can get better. We are the light at the end of the tunnel.
“I’ve struggled and sometimes I still do. But there’s a whole different world on the other side of the admission. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that, and we need the example. As Experts by Experience, we are that solid proof for people.
“We help to show people you can stand on your own two feet again, no matter how dark the days are, and no matter your background or level of education. It is such a privilege, to be a person that can provide so much hope.
“Instantly, service users are so intrigued as soon as they know you’ve been in hospital too. It’s a conversation starter and sometimes that leads to talks which can be game-changers for people.
“You can see the glimmer of hope on their faces and the encouragement it gives them.”
In 2018, Cygnet became the first independent provider of healthcare services to invest in a full-time Expert by Experience Lead. Mia helps to ensure the voices and opinions of service users are heard and considered across the organisation and that feedback is actioned upon to improve its 150+ services.