When she’s not scaling a cliff face, travelling the world or pushing her body to the limit in an ultra-trail run, Kelly is looking after others.
A registered mental health nurse by background, Kelly now works in LSCFT’s Organisational Development Team. She’s spent over 10 years providing care, including working with female patients at our secure hospital Guild Lodge and supporting older adults in community mental health services. She also provides support to colleagues as a professional nurse advocate in training.
Kelly has anxiety herself and often described it as ‘high functioning’. But when she was in her early 30s, Kelly felt as though she had hit a wall and for the first time in her life she reached burnout. A compounding of major life events in a short space of time, including a house move, divorce and changes at work became overwhelming.
Kelly said:
“Externally, I probably appeared to have things together. But being told I was ‘strong’ only added to the pressure, as it made me feel like I needed to keep up that appearance, even when I was struggling.”
You would be forgiven for mistaking that with Kelly’s mental health knowledge and background, accessing support would be easy, but it was the opposite.
Kelly added:
“I felt I should be able to fix myself and I questioned what support services could offer me that I didn’t already know. I also felt that other people needed support more than me.”
But Kelly did seek help and it all started with a chat with a close friend who is also a registered mental health nurse. Kelly’s friend posed the question ‘what would you say if I asking for advice?’ and from there it all clicked into place.
Kelly said:
“I realised I wasn’t treating myself with the same patience and kindness that I show to others.”
Kelly’s first step was to get in contact with the Trust’s Employee Assistance Programme which assigned Kelly a counsellor. It was a safe space for her to talk and process things she had been avoiding. During that period, Kelly also experienced the sudden death of a friend, which made those weekly sessions even more important.
Kelly said:
“It helped clear what felt like a constant fog. More recently, I also started medication, which has helped to stabilise my mood and reduce anxiety.
My thoughts feel less chaotic and much clearer, which has made a significant difference both personally and at work.”
Kelly urges people not to wait until it’s too late.
She said:
“Even if you think it might pass, it will often pass more quickly and more safely with the right support around you. There is still a stigma around taking time off for stress or mental health. While we often assume that life experience makes us more resilient, in reality, it doesn’t necessarily get easier, in some ways, it can feel harder.”
In sharing her story, Kelly hopes that organisations will continue to normalise conversations around mental health and create environments where people feel genuinely safe to say when they are struggling.
