Putting a face on mental health: Using my story to promote understanding in my community

My name is Mohammed. I was born in Uganda and came to live in England when I was 9 years old. My parents had passed away. During my childhood in England I went through the care system. This was a very difficult time for me. I did not always get along well with my foster carer. I was isolated often, away from people I could relate to. In my teenage years, at school I was introduced to drugs. I did not know what they were, but I remember a peer pressure to try them. I managed to finish school, but I did not get my exams. My relationship with my foster parents was not going well, so I was moved to a bed and breakfast. When I was staying at the bed and breakfast I was still using drugs. I started to do shoplifting to get money. I felt very alone in the bed and breakfast. I was using drugs to try and forget about the loss of my parents.

I started to hear voices - it became very frightening for me

Using drugs became the only thing I knew to do. Then when I turned 19, I was given a flat to live in of my own. I was using drugs. I started to hear voices. It became very bad and frightening for me because I did not understand what the voices were. I was walking in the streets shouting and crying. My friends took me to the local hospital. I was 20 years old and this was my first time in a psychiatric ward.

In hospital I found the nurses and doctors to be kind and helpful and I began to feel a bit relieved. I started to get a bit better. I stayed in hospital for 6 months. When I was discharged from hospital I started using drugs again and this was affecting the psychiatric medication that I was taking and preventing it from working properly. I went through a stage of going in and out of hospital for several years because I kept using drugs and becoming unwell again.

I met someone from my own country on a ward - I felt understood

When I was on the ward some years ago, I met Moses from the Uganda Diaspora Health Foundation East London NHS Foundation Trust. For me, it was such a relief to speak to someone in my own language. Moses used to come and chat with me and I felt understood. Moses is from Uganda; he understands the suffering that has happened there. I did not need to explain it to him, he already had a clear picture and this helped me to feel understood, it added an extra layer to my care in hospital. We were able to joke about my experiences, to share a familiar humour together and to feel free and comfortable.

Now I have been clean from drugs for 7-8 years. During the past year I have become the projects advisor and service User Lead for the Ugandan Diaspora Health Foundation. Being part of the foundation, as well as using the support and knowledge I get from the nurses and doctors at the hospital, I am able to manage my recovery better and help other people to understand mental illness.

I am now an outspoken advocate of mental health awareness in my UK Ugandan community

I have been affected by mental health stigma. This has made me an outspoken advocate of mental health awareness in my Ugandan community in the UK. A severe lack of awareness and understanding often creates misperceptions about persons with mental health and substance use disorders in my community. Through the Uganda Diaspora Health Foundation, I aim to use my story to correct those misperceptions by putting a face on mental health and showing that it is a part of all of our lives in our communities.

I have chosen to share my story and challenges with mental ill health to inspire others and help people understand that these challenges and problems are real, common, and treatable, and most importantly, to show that recovery is possible. I believe that it is very important that people living without mental illness get a better understanding of experiences like mine, so that they are able to improve how they help those who become unwell in their own communities and families.

I now use my personal experiences and the platform of Uganda Diaspora Health Foundation to inform people of the damage that can be caused with negative attitudes towards mental illness. I have evidence already and strong hope that people's attitudes can change towards mental illness. I hope that this can continue and that we can all be brave in moving forward in being open to new ways of helping each other.

Thank you for hearing my story.