So today was a huge first in I don’t know how many years. Yesterday afternoon I received a call from the community mental health team. The call was an acknowledgment of the referral by my GP only 36 hours before, so to say I was stunned and impressed was an understatement. 

The call yesterday was fairly brief but had a few simple aims, firstly to establish my safety, secondly to ensure I had contact numbers of support if I needed them and lastly to arrange a time to call me today for a telephone assessment.  

Today the same person (note the consistency) called to assess me.  This followed a fairly typical mental health assessment format but was so different to ones I have experienced before. It was carried out with understanding, empathy, support and also helped on a practical level as well. I have to admit I was very sceptical but then who would blame me after the last few years of one bad experience followed by yet more bad experiences. I was able to be completely honest with the person on the phone, I was able to tell them my deepest fears and even though they felt they hadn’t done much at all I was eternally grateful for this support at what seems an impossible time.  

The other thing that made such a difference was the honesty of the person I was speaking to.  Never has a mental health professional said to me: ‘I will try and call you back today after I speak to the doctor, but if I don’t it may be due to an emergency or not being able to speak to the doctor but I will call on Monday’.  A typical scenario is that they say they will call back and don’t and then deny ever saying that! 

Well he did call back (yes the same person)! He checked again I had all the numbers I needed and understood my fear of going to accident and emergency and seemed to join me in a determination to try and stop this from happening. He had spoken to the doctor and has some ideas and for the first time in years I am even willing to discuss a possible new medication. 

He is calling me on Monday and we are reassessing the situation then.  In the meantime I am so grateful for what he has done over the last couple of days to help shine a bit of light and hope in a rather bleak situation. It is very rare for the professionals to be the bearers of light and hope – this is often only generated by my amazing family and friends! 

Not only is this a first in so many years during a crisis situation but also I was properly listened to by a professional. I wasn’t judged because I work or because I could articulate what was happening to me. My distressing symptoms were acknowledged and not once was any aspect of my illness belittled. It will obviously take a while to gain my full trust, after so many years I have learnt to protect myself and to be cautious but feeling like I do, this support is hugely significant. 

So yes the small things do matter, I ensured that I told the mental health worker exactly that today. Sometimes things can get over complicated and the wrong help given as a result but today I received what some would consider a small amount of support but it made the world of difference.