One of the women behind a Newry-based mental health organisation has said that her own lived experience of suicidal and mental health crises allows her to help others going through the same thing.
Elaine Fogarty is the Project Development Officer at the Mental Health Forum, based in Ballybot House in the city.
In an open and honest interview, she laid out how her own experience allows her to connect with the people who need help in some of their lowest moments.
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What marks out Elaine's story as so remarkable is that she came through one of the very groups that the Mental Health Forum runs.
"I got involved through my keyworker recommending it, I had a diagnosis that came on the back of a hospital admission in my late 40s," she said.
"Looking back, I had my various conditions back at age 13, my first suicidal crisis was back then, that's how I know the age.
"I could only go to the first meeting when I had help with me, didn't participate at all.
"But gradually I got my confidence up, put my hand up to be involved in a few more things and that led to becoming a volunteer where I got to be part of the actual work."
That volunteering work eventually led to a role within the organisation, which has been operating in the Southern Trust area for over 30 years.
It aims to work both within the Trust and outside in the community, providing a vital bridge between the two.
Elaine said that while she continues to live with her conditions every day, her life has been better for having engaged with the Forum.
"My life changed as a result of being able to do a job that gave me that way of taking the negative, horrible stuff in my life and turning it into a tool that helps others," she said.
"Because it is a service user-led organisation, I am actually in a job that values that experience rather than the stigma I experienced over previous years in the general community.
"I've had to fight through that, I've had to fight through the conditions themselves and I'm still fighting.
"I suppose I don't mind sharing, I have clinical OCD, I have Bipolar too which is one of the severe enduring illnesses as they used to be called and I also have a couple of anxiety disorders, self-harm history going back to age 13 and I've had seven suicidal crises in my lifetime.
"I'm now, not sure I want to say it, I'm coming 56 - my life has had a lot of darkness in it and this job allows me to be part of other people's journey and it gives me something to get out of bed for in the mornings, I absolutely love it."
The focus on making sure that the service is informed and led by people who have experienced mental health crises and difficulties is something Elaine is keen to emphasise.
She told Belfast Live it means that people who come to them seeking help know that the person sitting opposite them can relate directly to a lot of what they say.
"One of the things that's really difficult is when you have a mental illness and seek help, you can quite often be asked to tell your story at every single stage, which can be distressing and challenging," she said.
"But when you're sitting in front of someone who has been there, you only need to say a few words and they get it, you're not put through that journey of having to explain and relive all the difficulties.
"People like that, they like the fact that they're with someone who won't judge them and won't try to fix them, they're not broken, they don't need fixed."
Her message to those suffering and not knowing what to do about it is to find the strength to reach out to someone or to avail of the Forum's services, because as her own experience shows, life can get better.
"When you're in that darker place, it can be hard to understand that that's possible," she said.
"So I would first of all like to say I have survived seven crises - I didn't do it alone, I sought help and that's key.
"You're not alone, you're not the only one who has lived through something like this, there are many, many people in your local community that are willing to help you learn how to live with this.
"Don't be scared to reach out - my life was saved more than once by a complete stranger that just took the time to listen.
"Let's not wait until we're ill, let's focus on mental wellness and get tools in place to maintain that and then we'll all have a brighter future together and we can all help each other more."
If you wish to engage with the Forum, it's website is here or they can be contacted on 02830 252423.
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