All they wanted was my money

IN 2005 I was very depressed and vulnerable. One day I unwittingly overdosed on medication and was taken to an NHS hospital to get my stomach pumped. It wasn’t a suicide attempt, just a silly mistake, because I lost track of time and over-medicated. At the hospital it was recommended that I go to a facility that could deal with my kind of depression, so I was taken to The Priory.

I remember it was all very formal at the desk. I had to sign in and was taken to a tiny little room and just left there for maybe 20 minutes or so. I was a bit dazed and confused, and I remember feeling very isolated.

A lady came to see me with a clipboard in her hand; she compared me to a car running out of petrol and not functioning properly. I just thought it was such a clichéd analogy.

There was a lot of paperwork and when she got to the final bit, she said: ‘Right, well it’s £5,000 a week, are you going to pay by credit card?’ I thought I was just coming in for an assessment – I didn’t really understand what was going on. Once she realised that I didn’t have that kind of money, she told me I should order a cab.

I understand it’s a business, but at that point on that day, it was all a bit daunting.

I remember walking down the long corridors and thinking: ‘How on earth do I get out of here?’, ‘Where’s my taxi?’ and ‘I hope it’s got petrol – unlike me!’

So I got the cab and went home alone and slept, which was all I wanted to do.

Later on I ended up at an NHS facility, which was dire, and after that another clinic called Clouds, which was amazing.

Over time, I started eating more healthily, running and exercising more, and I eventually came off the medication. I’m not recommending it for everyone, but it worked for me and I’ve never felt better. There’s not the right kind of help out there for a lot of people and unfortunately a lot of it is money-based. If you can’t afford the right kind of help, people feel that they have nowhere to go. I have had friends who have been to The Priory and they have found it to be really beneficial, but this was my brief experience of the place. Gail, left, hosts a Comedy in Reality Television workshop at the Edinburgh Fringe Funny Women Weekend on Saturday.