Lucy’s life after psychosis
In 2015, Lucy was navigating her way through a psychotic episode. It was a gradual and unconscious slip into a temporary new reality. The challenges Lucy faced helped her forge the path to become a strong advocate for recovery.
She is now helping run mental health and recovery based courses at Discovery College, a place where people come together to learn from each other, share experiences, and reach a new understanding of mental health.
Lucy said the four weeks she spent in psychosis felt like a year.
“It started feeling like I was living in a dream, almost blissful,” she said. But in just two days she’d stopped eating and gradually developed some unusual beliefs.
“It was surreal and distorted, but felt completely real to me at the time.”
While in psychosis Lucy believed she could perform magic, that she was Jesus, one day she found herself jumping off a pier into the ocean, ‘for army training’.
After a few weeks, blissful had become traumatic and Lucy’s experience resulted in an involuntary admission into a mental health unit.
Lucy didn’t know the signs and symptoms of psychosis before her experience.
“Why would you think you need help because you just feel really good one day?”
She says she may have sought out help if she had any idea what was happening to her.
Lucy, now 25, said it took around a year after her psychotic episode for her to regain a positive sense of herself again. Using the invaluable insight she has gained, Lucy is able to support others through her role at Discovery College.
“You just get a natural inclination to want to be able to help others who are going through it,” Lucy said, “I had no one who understood, which is really important.”
Discovery College are currently developing courses focusing on psychosis. Lucy co-facilitates mental health and recovery based courses including ‘What is a Diagnosis?', 'What is it about medication?' and 'Mindfulness'. These courses are open to everyone, not just those affected by mental health challenges.
“It’s a humble community, I’ve never come into the room and felt judged,” Lucy said.
“You know that people in the room have been in a similar situation, everyone can share in their different thoughts and perspectives.”
Discovery College is about building a place where people come together to learn share experiences, and reach a new understanding of mental health. It’s open to everyone!
