I was referred to a service especially for people like ME who felt, thought, behaved the way I did.

I started showing signs of psychosis a few years ago, but to me I was only showing signs of being a young person who felt tired, dazed, confused, anxious, upset, depressed. I started to lose sight of who I was and became consumed by a cloud of odd thoughts about myself, others and the world around me. Days started becoming a blur. I felt I was justified to be suspicious of others around me. If I looked hard enough, I could see what other people were thinking, planning, plotting. After a while it became easier to see the weird things, but harder to see normality.

I was so wary of help and advice from others.When I was referred into EIP, I felt I could relax in a way that I hadn't been able to in so long. Upon referral, I initially met with my designated Care Coordinator (CC). She became my 'guide' to the service as she led me through recovery. Having a CC worked so well for me as an individual - I think being so scared and unsure initially meant I was well suited having just one person of contact whom I could build trust, familiarity and security with.

My CC helped me evaluate the things I was doing in life that were more unhelpful than helpful and I started making small changes for the better. Looking at my symptoms closely helped me to identify when things were getting worse - or better; which was important for being able to ask for help. For me, I felt medication was a good route to try in tandem with talking therapies, but everybody finds different things useful.