Having struggled with panic disorder and agoraphobia for the past four years and have completed a course in CBT in Lagan Valley Hospital, the next progressive step in my recovery was attending AMH New Horizons Derriaghy. Having not left home for so long, I had lost all my confidence in myself and my ability to interact with others in society. Although extremely apprehensive about attending, learning that a place like AMH New Horizons actually existed gave me great relief and comfort and a feeling that I was not alone.
From the first day I arrived, I was greeted by the staff with warmth, understanding and respect. The relaxed atmosphere and the people put me at ease and I was introduced to the classes and activities I could avail of. This gave me great hope for myself and for my future, something I haven’t had or felt in a long time.
So far I have been attending a Personal Development pathway at AMH New Horizons that covers self-esteem, stress management and many other topics that I am looking forward to covering as the course progresses. I have been enjoying this greatly. The open and welcoming nature of the tutor and talking to other clients, gives me a lot of comfort and better understanding and I feel less afraid of my mental health.
On one of my initial visits to the centre, I was invited to join the ukulele group. As I have no previous experience of anything musical I was quite apprehensive about this, but with the welcoming encouragement of the tutors I decided to give it a go. It has been surprisingly beneficial for my confidence and greatly helps with my anxiety management.
I have enjoyed it so much that I bought my own ukulele for home use which has gave me a positive and fun coping mechanism for my anxiety, something that I wouldn’t have had without AMH New Horizons. This has given me confidence to try other new things and for the first time in a long time I have felt excited about doing so.
AMH New Horizons has been a god send to me and also my family. It is slowly but surely giving me my confidence and social life back, something which I will be forever grateful for.
-ET
AMH New Horizons assists adults recovering from mental ill-health. A range of person centred programmes are offered in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere to support recovery. Find out more about AMH New Horizons.
The ‘Working it Out’ project is part funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020 and the Department for the Economy.
