O stay Feeling Strong

Man uses mental health experience to help others

LIFE “felt hopeless” for Brook Marshall at the age of just 17.

He had been thrown into what doctors then thought was depression, triggered by the death of his grandpa, dropped out of high school and began a long stint of unemployment.

Brook’s life continued on a downward spiral, as he sampled ten different types of antidepressants before finding one that worked for him, and wrestled with i ntense mood swings. Brook, now 27 and living in the city centre, said: “My behaviour was inconsistent and completely erratic.

“One day I was the happiest person in the world, the next I would spend all day i n bed because I was depressed, the next I would be paranoid and suspicious of everyone.

“Sometimes it wouldn’t even be every day, sometimes it could switch from hour to hour when it was at its most intense.” The mood swings became unbearable for Brook, to the point where he attempted suicide and was admitted at the Carseview Centre. Through his own research i n t o me n t a l he a l t h , B r o o k stumbled across a condition called borderline personality disorder and recognised himself.

He said the realisation that he had this condition was like a “light bulb moment” of how he had been feeling his whole life. An official doctors’ diagnosis soon followed and the appropriate medication has stabilised his behaviour.

Brook said: “I felt like I had been failed by the system. I suffered a lot of referral rejections, long waiting lists; my experience at Carseview was extremely negative and I was misdiagnosed for eight years.”

Through Book’s experiences he spotted a gap in the services provided, particularly a lack of peer support and a holistic approach to mental health.

This led him to set up Feeling Strong around 18 months ago in an attempt to bridge the gap.

The mental health charity for young people focuses on supporting individuals with all aspects of life instead of solely relying on medication.

It now has six members of staff 30 volunteers and ten projects under its belt, including running the Scottish Government’s ASSIST programme for suicide prevention. And this month Feeling Strong opened a new “one-stop-shop” on Albert Street, where youngsters can access the charity’s services, receive referrals to partnership projects and simply spend time.