Tasha, 25, Highlands
Tasha receives one-to-one support as part of our In the Community programme. In her own words, Tasha shares her journey with us.
I was diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression at the age of 14 when I was living in a residential home. Before that I had been in foster care and didn’t have a good experience, which is what caused my depression to build up.
I then left care when I was 16 and got my own place and that’s when the anxiety really hit for me. I was in a town I wasn’t familiar with; I didn’t know anyone, and I was quite far from home.
It was really scary because I was a teenager, and I was never given the life tools I needed; I didn’t know what I was doing. Over the years, my anxiety and depression got worse and worse and even though I received some support it was never dealt with properly, right up until very recently.
Tailored Support
When I was referred to Right There a year ago, that’s when things started to change for me. I was matched with my support worker Jorge, which I was really nervous about at the start, but I’m so glad I gave him a chance because we’ve accomplished outstanding amounts.
We started off with small goals, like getting out of the house, making phone calls, and opening mail, which is something that I hadn’t been able to do before. Now I’m in the position where I actually enjoy going out of the house, which is crazy to say. I enjoy being able to go out with the kids and I don’t feel terrified anymore.
The support from Jorge is just so different from what I’ve had before. It meets my specific needs and is flexible to what works for me. The security of knowing someone was always there for me was something I really needed. For years I was pretending that everything was okay, but I don’t need to do that anymore.
Having Jorge to teach me how to manage my anxiety and be there to show me how to do something so that I can then do it on my own has been great. We actually sat down the other week and looked at the progress over the last year and taking a step back I would say that this support has made a huge difference in my life. Now when I think about the future, I think I just need to keep going because it’s going to be even better next year.
Right There was like a new lifeline, I got to start over, it was like a second chance.
If you had told me a year ago working with my support worker would take me to where I am now, I wouldn’t have believed you. I would’ve thought it’d be another dead end, and another hopes up to be let down. But it’s been the complete opposite.
My doctor has given me the all-clear for depression and my anxiety has gone from severe to manageable – without medication, which was my main goal.
I felt the old me come back and I wasn’t sure they still existed. The last time I felt confident I was still a teenager. Going through motherhood scared and anxious was difficult, but I can’t believe how confident and happy I can be and how much I enjoy life now.
To support people in your community to receive one-to-one support, we’d kindly appreciate your kind donations.
