Mental health nurses: “Without them, I don’t believe I would still be alive”

Joy Biddell wanted to share her story and say thank you to the nurses who made a huge difference to her recovery.

Since a young age I have struggled with my mental health. The first contact I had with services was with CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) during my teens and this was for OCD. I had struggled with OCD for many years, however I didn’t reach out for help until I was 16.


After a few years in CAMHS and then a CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) course run by Let’s Talk-Wellbeing, I finally managed to get a grip on the OCD and it hasn’t been an issue since. That’s an amazing feeling, as it had been such a negative and powerful influence on my life for so long.

Going into hospital

Sadly this wasn’t my only involvement with mental health services, as in 2013 my mood dramatically dropped. Due to this I became suicidal and needed to be admitted onto a psychiatric ward to keep safe. The next three years were very turbulent. I found myself in and out of crisis regularly and unable to stabilise my mood for long periods of time, despite having therapy and medication.

At the beginning of 2016 I hit a very deep and dark period of depression. Due to a serious attempt on my life and not looking after myself, I was sectioned for my safety and admitted to Rowan 2 Ward at Highbury Hospital.

I don’t remember a lot about the early weeks of this admission as I was very poorly, and because of this my memory has suffered. I do however remember the amazing team that supported me through such a horrific time that I had no hope of seeing the other side of. The whole team were fantastic (including the healthcare assistants, occupational therapists, catering and domestic staff) but I remember the nurses on the ward being incredible at helping me find the strength to carry on.

The road to recovery

There are five nurses on the ward that I feel played a huge part in my recovery – Linda, Alex, Matt, Alison and Sarah. They all helped in different ways. For example, Sarah spent a lot of time with me trying to get me to eat and drink as I was becoming physically unwell from not looking after myself. She was so kind and caring, and her attitude and approach was exactly what I needed at that time.

Linda is another very kind and caring nurse. She is incredibly approachable and always makes time for the patients. I would always feel comfortable going to Linda on the ward and she never minded if I was unable to speak properly because of the tears, she would just be kind and patient and that was really helpful to me.

Alex is another nurse that had a huge impact on my recovery, she always validated my feelings and I could tell she genuinely cared for my wellbeing. Alex spent a lot of time with me reminding me of my strengths. She talked to me about depression and how it can get better, reminding me that I can have a fulfilling life despite having this illness. She held hope for me until I could hold it for myself.

Both Alison and Matt spent a lot of time with me. They gave me more practical tasks to try such as slowly building up leave, taking me on walks and using the CBT model to look into some of my thoughts and emotions to try and understand and gain control of my illness.

Without the support of the whole team and these five nurses in particular, I don’t believe I would still be alive. I certainly wouldn’t be back at work and enjoying my life.

Looking to the future

I am now working at Nottinghamshire Healthcare as a peer support worker, and I hope that I will be as helpful to the patients I see as the nursing team on Rowan were to me. It’s been a year since my last admission and I feel incredible. It’s so amazing to give something back to the service that has helped me so much and in so many ways.

Thank you to all the nurses involved in my care, you’re all very special people! Thank you for not giving up on me when I had completely given up on myself. You didn’t just see me as a patient but you saw and treated me like a person, and encouraged me to carry on and aspire to be the person I want to be. You made me realise that although I have an illness, it’s not the whole part of me and I have so much to give and live for. Carry on being incredible!