From Service User to Staff Member: Luke’s Journey

Luke Scott is a father who lives in Hull. Some years ago, Luke found himself struggling with his mental health, to the extent that he tried to take his own life.

After staying in one of our mental health assessment units, Luke tells his story about how he found the strength to carry on, and about how his time within our services inspired him to use his experience to help others.

We are proud to employ people like Luke. It is their unique lived experiences that make them brilliant colleagues and peer support workers for our current and future service users, as they truly understand what they may be going through and how best to support them to recovery.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Luke for not only being a valuable asset to our Humbelievable teams, but for being brave and an inspiration to many, for empowering others, and for standing up and saying: ‘it’s ok not to be ok’ and ‘you deserve to feel better, help is out there for you’.

Luke’s Journey

“I have battled with my mental health for years and, in my late teens and early twenties, I increasingly used alcohol to try and take away the pain and drown out the sadness within. I struggled to hold a job down and was often changing employer.

I attempted to take my own life multiple times as I had convinced myself that I was a burden to everyone around me. I could even envision my children’s lives better off without me. The reason behind this was very simple – I wanted to ease everybody of the pain and hassle I felt I was causing them.

Thankfully, all of my attempts were ‘unsuccessful’ and I now know these feelings were not true.

During a short stay in Miranda House some years ago, I was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety. I was slightly relieved at this as it made a little more sense as to why I felt the way that I did. I knew in this moment that I needed to work on myself and that I needed support.

I was then referred to my local Community Mental Health Team and given a Care Coordinator. I took all the advice given to me like my life depended on it, because it truly did. I was willing to do anything possible to try and get my life back on track. One particular suggestion was a course called ‘Boxing for Health’ that was facilitated in a local gym by Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust’s Recovery College. I really enjoyed the sessions and began to realise that I wanted to turn my negative experiences into something positive.

Over time, I built good relationships with the staff and they encouraged me to volunteer for the Trust. Eventually, through the connections I made, I was told about a new Peer Support Worker role, within which I could use my lived experience to help and support other people that may be in similar situations to what I had previously been in.

When I found out that I was successful in my application to the role, I chose to work out in the community as I had built up some good connections regarding mental health support within the local area. At first, it felt odd to be working within the same team that I was once seeking care from, but once I settled in I knew this was a job that I was really suited for. Since then, I have sought career development opportunities within the Trust and now work in a forensic mental health setting, which I am thoroughly enjoying.

It is exceptionally important to raise awareness around mental health in general, but I have a strong passion for men’s mental health, as there are still stigmas attached to men speaking about their difficulties. We need to be more open and accepting about the fact that men struggle too, and that it’s ok to talk.

I want anyone struggling right now to know that you are not weak, you are not a burden, and you are not alone. You deserve to feel better and there is support out there to help you when you need it.”

To find out how you can seek mental health support in Hull and the East Riding, please visit:

https://www.humber.nhs.uk/contact/get-support.htm

If you need immediate mental health support now, please call 999 or visit your local Emergency De