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Meet Sue Wheatcroft, winner of the 2019 Janey Antoniou Award

Sue is a campaigner and group coordinator who lives with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). She has made a huge difference on both a local and national level and the judges felt she exemplified what the Janey award is about – challenging stigma and creating change for people living with mental illness.

It is important that you are passionate about the cause for which you are campaigning. It will be hard work and the sense of responsibility can give you sleepless nights sometimes, but every success, however small, can give you the greatest feeling in the world.

Why I fundraise for Mind

Abby, from Llantrisant, explains why she decided to undertake a 22 mile challenge to join the fight for mental health.

I’ve suffered with mental health issues since my late teenage years, as I struggled with depression, anxiety, and an eating disorder.

Following several years of bullying, I lacked self-esteem, worried about my appearance and weight, worried about dealing with daily activities and at times felt completely worthless.

Sharing our experiences, offering support to others, and helping raise vital funds for charities like Mind is really important to me and is what keeps me determined to fight on.

We decided to walk 22 miles in 2022 for Mind, leaving our office in Nantgarw, taking the Taff Trail to Cardiff Bay and returning. I’m so proud of everyone who took part, and even prouder of the amazing £2304 raised by us all!

I have always had stuff going on in my head but had never seen it as a mental illness

I was suicidal at 18 and have had depression a lot throughout my life.

However, I thought what was going on in my head was going on in everybody’s heads. I was just pushing through life and ignoring it.

I have a strong desire to help others and the education tools the Black Dog Institute provides are fantastic. My role as a presenter is important as it creates awareness around mental health problems. I’m very passionate about connecting with people to get them the help they need.

Being a community presenter enables me to provide insights to the friends and family of people experiencing mental health problems, as well as encourage people to follow through with their treatment and medication.

I may have bipolar disorder, but it doesn’t have me.

Overcoming My Labels of “Drama Queen” and “Disabled”

My mental health struggle began when I was diagnosed with epilepsy at age nine. Epilepsy is (perhaps understandably) considered to be a disability, but the effects of being labeled “disabled” at such an early age changed my life. I was immediately treated differently.

I plan on providing the same help I was lucky enough to receive to others by becoming a licensed therapist. I want to tell those who are struggling the same thing that saved me: you are not alone, and you are not “crazy.” You are worthy of unconditional love and belonging.

Esmé Weijun Wang: ‘I don’t want to glamorise mental illness… it inhibits creativity’

Wang was named a best young American novelist by Granta and is the recipient of a Whiting award. She was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 2013 and late-stage Lyme disease in 2015.

Her New York Times-bestselling essay collection, The Collected Schizophrenias, which steps both inside and outside of her condition to bring it to light, has just been published. It won the Graywolf nonfiction prize.

I was waiting around to see if my first novel would ever sell and I was experiencing a severe episode of psychosis. As a way of coping, I was writing about it, which became the essay Perdition Days. After that episode was over, I polished the essay and ended up finding a home for it on the Toast website [in 2014.]

“The shame was overwhelming” – TJ’s story

Having had to suppress her emotions as a child, TJ was detained under the Mental Health Act by her parents. After being diagnosed with severe mental illnesses in her 30s, she suffered discrimination from employers. Now 50, she works for Rethink Mental Illness and can talk openly about her mental health.

I never want people to feel the way I have felt; feeling like no one cares and there is no way out. I encourage people to speak out and am proud to say I spoke at the Release the Pressure Conference with regards to prevention of suicide.

I have been interviewed on the radio and recently appeared on BBC One News sharing the struggles people have with mental health and the changes that need to be made. The world still has a long way to go to reduce the stigma surrounding the struggles, however, things are moving along by talking more about mental health.

Liam’s Story

I was diagnosed with schizophrenia when I was 16 – and I was given a leaflet, and that was it. No one sat me down and explained it to me – I knew what I’d experienced from the age of 14, but I really didn’t know what any of it meant.

I’ve shared my story at events, with politicians, in the media – because I don’t want people to experience the same stigma and discrimination that I have over the years.

I try to find the positives in my experiences. Through See Me, I’ve set up the See Me, Hear Me choir, bringing together people from all different backgrounds. I’ve recently been involved in a project with King’s College London and the University of Glasgow too, working on avatar therapy for people who experience psychosis.

“I woke up feeling a dark cloud over me” – Sandeep’s story

Sandeep tells us about her journey to being diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and how she had tried to take her own life in 2014.

Since, Sandeep has become a Lived/Living Experience Mental Health Advocate sharing her story to help others suffering in silence and find hope with their mental health.

Being a British Asian woman, I also direct my mental health work to speaking out and supporting South Asian mental health issues and how we can collectively come together to combat the stigma and discrimination in this realm and really explore intersectionality and our identity.

People from Black and Asian minority ethnic backgrounds, worryingly, suffer higher rates of mental health problems than all other groups combined. As a British Indian Sikh Punjabi woman from London, it’s important to speak out and be a beacon of hope for others suffering in silence.

From service user to staff member: Katie’s journey

As a teenager, Katie was detained in a psychiatric hospital and supported by an Advocate from Rethink Mental Illness. Two decades later, she is helping others in her role as Associate Director for Community Services, with the very charity which supported her.

I felt excited to be coming into a job role where I could help people affected by mental illness as I knew from my own experiences how difficult it is for people on their recovery journey. I was even happier that I was able to come to work for a charity who had helped me in one of the difficult points in my life.

Joy comes in the morning: Ashley’s story

This blog from Rethink Mental Illness media volunteer Ashley looks at some of the problems she faced when she disclosed her schizophrenia to friends and family and how, with careful management, she feels she’s in a much better place.

I believe that my purpose is to help people with various challenges and give back to the community. Over the past year, I supported a child with complex needs, media volunteered for Rethink Mental Illness, and looked for opportunities to encourage others going through similar problems.