Sarah found herself staying at her friends’ parents’ houses ‘sofa surfing’. Unfortunately, Sarah had witnessed domestic abuse growing up and became a carer for her mam and her sister. This put a lot of pressure on their relationship and Sarah put her education on hold as she would find herself distracted or absent in lessons. Sarah and her mam would have regular arguments and Sarah chose to stay on a friend’s sofa.
After this move, Sarah began to struggle with her mental health. She felt she had lost herself and felt like she didn’t protect her mam and sister, subsequently feeling like a failure. There was also occasional substance misuse in a bid to find happiness. Sarah didn’t know where to go from here.
Thankfully, a professional who was working with Sarah to get support in place, referred her to Moving On.
Sarah had a successful and smooth move into her lovely new property. Sarah always presented herself as ‘doing well’ and ‘feeling fine’, her house was always immaculate, and she was always visually presentable. But the reality was there was much more to this, and Sarah was masking what was really going on and how she was feeling.
After months of weekly support, barriers were gradually broken down and Sarah shared her previous experiences, how she was feeling and that she was struggling to manage. Sarah’s mental health was a concern for her support worker and if Sarah did not verbally share she was struggling, her support worker would notice that her house was untidy and disorganised and soon realised that this is when Sarah would physically show the symptoms of feeling unwell.
Support sessions then become focused on what support was needed and the steps needed to get there. Sarah was also dealing with a lot of things from her younger years that were never actioned, such as attending health appointments.
Due to Sarah’s determination to achieve her goals, she persisted with weekly support, even if this created unwanted memories and experiences.
Sarah has been supported to all appointments – attending all health appointments such as physio for pain she had been experiencing for years and medication to support her mental health. Sarah was also referred to Moving On’s Mental Health Practitioner and, after a number of sessions, was soon referred to the Community Mental Health Team, which is supporting Sarah regularly and awaiting a further potential diagnosis. Sarah has been referred to an employability and training provider for additional support in achieving her career goals, where she has just signed up for a course at college.
Sarah feels she has more control of her life, every day continues to feel more and more stable and she has recently shared with her support worker that she is considering returning to work in the near future if things continue to go well.
We’re so proud of you Sarah and we wish you all the luck in the world!