Published on: 9 October 2026
To mark World Mental Health Day, Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is sharing stories from people with lived experience, highlighting how listening, understanding and personalised support can make a meaningful difference to mental health recovery.
Izzie, an Expert by Experience, has shared their experience of receiving support from mental health services during their teenage years and adulthood, both in hospital when they were very unwell and in the community during recovery.
What would you like people to understand about your experience of mental health?
I have spent most of my teenage years and adulthood struggling with a mixture of different mental health issues. I have received support from mental health services in hospital, including when I was detained under the Mental Health Act while very unwell, and in the community during my recovery. This has involved multiple teams and services.
When have you felt listened to, understood or taken seriously?
I feel listened to when professionals take me seriously and pay attention to what I am saying, rather than focusing only on my actions. It helps when they get to know me well enough to recognise my warning signs, are honest and try to understand how I am feeling with me, rather than pretending they know exactly what I am experiencing. Making adjustments also helps me to build trust. This can mean spending time together outside or having conversations wherever I feel most comfortable, which might be under a table or in a hiding place when I am struggling.
What helps you feel safe and comfortable enough to speak openly?
Being able to choose where I feel most comfortable makes a difference. This might be outside so I do not feel trapped, around an animal or somewhere quiet. As an autistic person, my facial expressions do not always match my words or what I am talking about. When professionals understand this before speaking with me, I feel safer and less judged. I have felt most able to be honest and open when speaking with someone who has lived experience.
What is working well in the support and care you receive?
My current community psychiatric nurse has supported me throughout my recovery over the past couple of years. She listens to me, advocates for the support I need and adjusts. She also presents skills and important information visually because that is how I learn best. The Community Enablement and Recovery Team has helped me return to the community and become accustomed to daily life again. The team has supported me to attend appointments and take part in trips and helped me secure physical health adaptations and adjustments in my flat so I can live independently.
What is the most important change you would like to see?
I would like to see more lived-experience and peer support workers in mental health teams. Having a peer support worker in the Community Enablement and Recovery Team has been one of the most helpful and therapeutic experiences I have had within mental health services. I feel understood and listened to, and I can see a future because she has come through experiences similar to mine.
How should people with lived experience be involved in decisions?
People with lived experience should be involved at every stage of decision-making, including staff recruitment and training, the development or redesign of services, and the evaluation and assessment of inpatient services. They understand what to look for and what services can feel like from the inside. Their insight is extremely valuable and cannot be learned from a textbook alone.
What message would you like leaders and staff to hear?
People with lived experience understand what it is like to face mental health challenges. When you are struggling, having someone who genuinely understands and has been in a similar place can help you feel listened to and believed. That insight can also improve care plans and treatment by focusing on what a person really needs and what supports their recovery. People with lived experience have developed their own skills and strategies, which can benefit patients and help to train staff.
