Story behind Butterfly Effect Wellbeing
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May Trigger. Read with Caution.
I wanted to share my story to hopefully help others. My name is Angie and I am the founder of Butterfly Effect WELLbeing. We are currently running a number of groups to help people on a mental and social aspect. People may need professional help on a one-to-one basis, but in the interim I am hoping we can help and fill that much needed gap.
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Mum suffered from mental ill health for over 20 years. During this time, she had been an inpatient of the Derwent centre at Harlow Hospital several times. In October 2017, she was on a downward spiral and I had contacted the crisis team on several occasions. I called my mum every morning and, on that morning, she was not answering. I continued trying repeatedly, by this time I knew something was wrong. Eventually someone answered the phone, it was the transport police at Harlow Town train station. Thankfully on this occasion they had noticed that mum was not in the right frame of mind and managed to save her from hurting herself. She was then taken to hospital for treatment, which included electric shock treatment at the Linden centre Chelmsford.
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Mum was well enough to come home, we had some good times, but her demons kept finding a way to creep back and she also had some very dark days.
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Mum had a routine GP appointment February 2020 to discuss her repeat prescription. She was under the mental health team for her psychiatric medication but was on routine medication from the GP. Mum mentioned that she was feeling very anxious, the GP changed her psychiatric medication quite dramatically, she then went on a bit of a downward spiral. I contacted the mental health team and managed to speak to the psychiatrist assigned to her, who was understandably quite concerned that the medication had been changed. He then wrote a prescription for mum to go back onto the original medication. I expressed my concerns, as she was in an unbelievably bad way at this time. She then started back on the old dose and she seemed to slightly improve.
Mum had been staying at my dad’s, they were separated, but got on. The morning of 9th March 2020 mum had got up taken her medication and packed her over night bag to go home and had eaten breakfast. Dad took the dog for a walk before taking mum home. On his return, he came in to find mum hanging from the banister. He got her down called an ambulance and performed CPR, until the ambulance came. Again, that morning I had been ringing and ringing, eventually dad answered the phone and gave me the devastating news, I then got to his as soon as I could.
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The ambulance crew did all they could, but she had to be put on life support and after the scan results had come through after the 72hrs you have to wait. It was bad news and mum had suffered extensive damage. Mum was a donor, so then we had to go through the process, and this took another day. Mum was able to donate some organs and tissues, which gave me some comfort, that she was able to help others.
If someone had listened to my concerns and taken her into hospital while she was adjusting to her tablets again, she may still be here.
I am hearing of the same devasting stories, like ours nearly on a daily basis, it seems at the moment! Do we need to be actively about to take our lives to be heard? More needs to done. I have since found out that there are organisations locally that I did not know about, I am in the process of adding these to the website, also a folder to be kept at the hub. Please reach out for help. You may feel as if there is no way out at the moment, but I can assure you that you can get through this with help and love of others. Do not suffer in silence.
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Since we opened our doors at the hub in 30th August 2022, we have had a number of people presenting as suicidal, which thankfully, we have been able to help. We also have people who self harm and have not been out for months on end. They feel safe with us and most importantly heard as the individual, that they are. Each person that comes through the door is looked after as if they were family. This is the difference we want to make and hope to continually grow to accommodate as many as we can.
Get in Touch
At Butterfly Effect Wellbeing, we know that mental health is just as important as physical health. That's why we are dedicated to helping our clients achieve mental wellness through personalized care and support. If you'd like to learn more about us or schedule an appointment, please get in touch today.