I remember feeling really worried about starting university.
I had always been quite shy and had never really been away from my parents and my brother before, so it felt like a really big step for me.
I found moving away from home and living with people I didn’t know hard. I shut myself away to try and avoid seeing anyone as I just felt so overwhelmed with it all. I spent more and more time on my own, only really leaving my room to go to my classes.
After a while I started thinking that my housemates were talking about me and planning to get rid of me, these ideas got more and more intense, so much so that I stopped going to my classes and was barely eating or sleeping – that’s when people started to notice I was struggling.
By the time I saw the doctor, my thoughts were really confused and jumbled, I couldn’t focus on anything, I was so anxious, and I didn’t want to live anymore. I just wanted the horrible thoughts and ideas to stop.
After I was referred to the Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) service it took me a while to start opening up about what was happening and how I was feeling, but they were so patient with me.
I was able to work with them on lots of stuff but also with the psychologist, I was able to address some experiences I had been through when I was a lot younger – something I didn’t realise was still really affecting me.
I did leave my university course and returned home at the time as I couldn’t cope, but the EIP team helped me keep links with the university and I am now looking at options to return to my studies next year. I can’t imagine where I would be if I hadn’t been referred to EIP.
Sophie, age 23