Mum jobless due to anxiety now on her way back into work
THERE was a time when even leaving the house seemed a challenge.
Anna Constantini was still a teenager when she started struggling with her anxiety.
“I had really bad anxiety. I hadn’t left the house for such a long time. I was just struggling, in a really bad place”, said Anna.
“I had lost myself. I didn’t feel like I was living”.
After giving birth aged 16, a few months later she found herself pregnant again. Then her partner was sent to prison. A young, single mother-oftwo, the challenges were considerable. “My anxiety grew and I went home to Gorseinon to live with my parents,” she said.
“I had been through so much. I should have got counselling, but I was young and naive and thought I could bury it. I was not able to leave the house. If I had to go to the shops I would be pacing back and forth in the house first.”
Time passed. With two young children to look after, Anna missed out on further education and training. The prospect of finding work seemed beyond reach. It was a vicious circle.
“I felt sick being stuck in the house,” she said.
“I wanted better for my children. I was ashamed of who I’d become. If I spoke to new people, they would say what they do, and I was ashamed because I didn’t do anything.
“I loved the outdoors and I love outdoor activities and I realised I just wasn’t living.”
After 15 long years, with her son and daughter now aged 18 and 16 respectively, and both in vocational training, she knew she had to do something.
She had no access to her own computer, and was only able to access the internet on her phone. But there was help out there.
She turned to employment support service Communities for Work Plus, which helps people at risk of poverty or who face barriers stopping them taking up training and employment.
The Welsh Government-funded project provides support to help build confidence, gain work experience, learn new skills and can loan out equipment to help people search for and complete job applications or educational courses. A personal mentor helped her register for Security Industry Association, which included training in CCTV, first aid, manual handling and fire awareness. Passing them successfully, she landed a job as a security support officer at Swansea Civic Centre.
Lorraine Hodson, Anna’s mentor, said: “Anna has done fantastically well. She’s passed expectations. She passed her qualifications and the biggest change for her now is she can look forward to going to work, and she’s gone from strength to strength. She’s at the point now where the world is her oyster.”
“I knew something needed to change, I just wasn’t living,” said Anna, now living in Blaenymaes.
“Having a job that I enjoy and people that I like working with has made it so much easier to cope with the anxiety I suffer with, it gives me something to get up for every morning.
“If it wasn’t for the support of the scheme, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I just wish I had done something sooner. I find it a lot easier to talk to people now, whereas before I got quite nervous, but now I embrace it.
“I can now support my two teenagers, I can talk to them about how my day’s gone, and give them something to be proud of.”