Real Stories

At Cambian, we believe that recovery is possible, and achievable for many patients suffering from mental illness.

Our goal is for our patients to build the living skills, insights, education and confidence required to return to the community.

Here are some of the real stories and their outcome.

James is 25 now, quietly-spoken but confident. There’s an air of peace about him, shining from his clear blue eyes, which for certain hasn’t been there in a very long time.

Why is this? Well, he has just moved into his own flat after four long years in psychiatric hospitals. In 2003, he was detained under the Mental Health Act with a psychopathic disorder, compounded by drug and alcohol abuse.

Long before he reached that low point in his life, James struggled. School wasn’t easy for him, with his learning difficulties and the constant bullying he had to endure. He started drinking when he was 14 – not so surprising when you learn he was brought up in a pub – and soon he was
downing up to ten pints a night.

Then came the drugs, and hanging out with a gang of wayward lads. Nothing that unusual for a teenager in this day and age, but combined with his underlying condition, it was a downward spiral that was sure to end in chaos and disaster. And it did. After a spate of minor criminal activities, James set fire to a caravan he believed was owned by a paedophile. That was too serious an offence to be ignored by the authorities, and he was removed from society.

At first, James was in a secure hospital, an environment which he described as ‘brutal, devastated, because the patients destroyed it’ a place where ‘if someone kicked off they just jumped on you, injected you’ and he was ‘scared just to watch it, never mind have it happen.’ >

By 2005 it was realised that this wasn’t the best place for James and what would help him most was somewhere that he could be safe, but, at the same time, take part in a structured rehabilitation programme. The aim was for him to return to the community – not just return to the lifestyle he had left behind, but return with confidence, armed with the skills necessary for him to succeed in a dog-eat-dog world.

Enter Cambian Healthcare! At first in one of their hospitals and then in a community house, James has, slowly but surely, regained skills like budgeting, shopping and taking responsibility for his own health and medication. He has become a respected member of the community, appointed by the local Parish Council as a handyman, for which, apart from a salary, he has earned admiration, a bunch of new friends, and the promise of a cracking reference that he can hand to future employers with pride.

With support from Cambian staff who gave him time to make his own decisions, own mistakes, and always treated him with dignity and respect, he’s been able to resume his social life as well, pubbing and clubbing, having a drink or two, restricting himself – not being restricted, which is a crucial difference.

The community house, where James spent his last few months before moving into his own flat, is beautifully decorated, with state-of-the-art technology. Perhaps an unrealistic environment to offer to someone who came from such a different background? Far from it! James thought it was smart and was proud to keep it that way.

‘When I first saw it, I said ‘that’s what I want for myself.’ I want those things in my own flat, though I’m not posh or owt.’ And James will achieve that. He’s not going out much at the moment because he’s saving his money to buy everything he needs to make his own home exactly as he’d like it to be.

Ask James where he thinks he would be without the time he spent with Cambian and the answer is stark – ‘I think I’d probably be dead.’

There’s nothing you can add to that really.

Please note that names of individuals have been changed to protect identities.