Testimonial 5

KSM:

"5 years ago (after what we now understand was a really awful panic attack) my son J was diagnosed with OCD that manifests as health anxiety. He attended a therapist for coping strategies and his GP prescribed meds.

Over the last 5 years, we had tried various therapies and therapist for his health anxiety but the treatments and advice had limited effect and the last therapist had actually made J feel even worse by telling him that he’d have OCD for the rest of his life, and it was really his own fault for not doing the exercises he’d been given (breathing etc).

Add the increasing stress of university work and the world returning to pre pandemic freedoms, and the wheels were wobbling.

J had taken leave from university and come home; hIs OCD was ‘out of control’ and he was howling on the bathroom floor, terrified of absolutely everything, panic attack after panic attack unable to eat or sleep.

18 months ago, my 21yr old son J, was under the “active care” of our GP.

I’m crying as I type this, seeing your son in so much pain unable to fix it was absolutely heartbreaking. The wheels were coming off the bus and our whole family were scared and desperate. Our home had become a fortress to protect J but a prison too.

Then 15 months ago, a friend mentioned Gill and her different approach to anxiety. I spoke to Gill at length and she outlined her understanding of the anxious state and I knew we had to meet.

Gill explained her own lived experience in terms we could understand and for the first time in 5 years, I felt hope.

At first we met as a family, and we listened intently as Gill explained to J what was happening in the anxious state and why he was feeling the sensations; seeing the lightbulb moment when J realised that someone knew exactly what he was going through and could help him was transformative.

The trust Gill and J built through very honest dialogue was brilliant. In the beginning when Joe was really anxious, Gill visited every day, it was bloody hard but essential work for J to do and as a family were learning a new language of the survival system, the amygdala and demystifying the feedback process of anxiety.

A year ago J moved into a flat then returned to uni. Not without bumps in the road but regular sessions with Gill kept the wheels on the bus. J knows he needs to apply the knowledge he’s gained with Gill to get where he wants to go.

A month ago, J graduated with honours from uni. A whole new journey awaits.