A man from Bristol who became mentally unwell after being diagnosed with a long-term degenerative health condition has shared his story to mark Mental Health Awareness Week. Darran was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease, a condition that damages nerve cells in the brain causing them to stop working properly.
Following his diagnosis, doctors were unsure how to look after him, so Darran was placed in a care home for older people. There, he grew depressed and ashamed, as he was living with people he had nothing in common with and cared for by those who did not understand his condition.
He said: “They didn’t know what to do with me so they stuck me in an old person’s home at 46. I felt like my life was over. Life seemed so bleak.”
