Dignity and respect

Learning to be a mum was hard for Brenda. Her cries for help went unnoticed and eventually led to a spiral into drug and alcohol addiction. The support of her own mother enabled her to avoid her children being taken into care, but it wasn't until her daughter became pregnant that she broke the cycle of addiction and became ‘clean'. Now a loving and involved grandmother, Brenda has learned from her daughter how to be a mum.

Overcoming obstacles at school was hard for Dee because her dyslexia wasn't understood. But she has learnt that the key to achieving goals is mental, physical and spiritual preparation. Her determination to overcome the set backs she faced when growing up have helped her to become stronger and given her courage to achieve her goals and pass on her strength to others.

After thirty years of living with a mental health condition, Cathy has realised that her recovery isn't about achieving a ‘perfect life', but one that enables her to get through the difficult times and treasure the happy times. The Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust has supported Cathy in her recovery and becoming a tutor at Recovery Education has given her an insight into other people's journeys, as well as her own.

Like any mother, Lindsey expected her son to follow the normal ‘rites of passage' – 18 th and 21 st birthdays, A levels, graduation, driving test and girlfriends. But Tom's behaviour was becoming increasingly bizarre and eventually Lindsey arranged for Tom to be sectioned. Diagnosed with schizophrenia and with no insight into his condition, Tom remains in hospital and Lindsey has become a fighter for causes in his name, determined never to give up on him.

My song...

As someone who has needed and benefited from support himself, Alan is well-placed to see his partner's need for support – so why is it not available from other services for her when she needs it?

Folie á deux

Chris' wife and daughter were mental health service users. When they commit suicide on the same day, Chris' tragedy is compounded by the responses of the Police and the support services, but now he is at last finding ways to move forward.

Skip rat junkie

For many years, Justin's life was a cycle of alcohol abuse, homelessness, and life on the streets. He lived on the streets, eating from bins, and struggling to find a way to get back from a life full of blanks. Eventually, being sectioned put him into the start of a process through which he has struggled and grown until he is now using his experience of life on the streets to help others.

Labour of love

The struggle to obtain and provide the right, compassionate and loving care for his parents is, like so many other struggles for dignity and respect, and exhausting and debilitating one for Henri. But it is a struggle he pursues with love and devotion, and describes lyrically and poetically.

Eight days a week

Dawn is both a mental health service user, a carer for a mental health service user and a mother. Her experience is one of isolation and lack of recognition for the complex nature of the caring she delivers and the care she needs. Her response has been to use social networking to build a community of experience and practice at: http://www.facebook.com/MakingMentalHealthPositive and https://twitter.com/MMHPuk

My NEADs

By the time a wrong diagnosis is reversed, Anne has had to survive many years of physical and mental side-effects from an inappropriate treatment regime. Yet, somehow, she has maintained her own dignity, kept the respect of her family – and prevailed.