“My mental health has improved loads…I don’t think I’ve been this happy since I was a little kid.”

Content warning: This story contains themes relating to suicide that some may find upsetting. 

"I just gave up"

Ella was trying to cope with serious mental health struggles after being hospitalised just before she started getting help from our Greater Manchester Key Working service which supports children and young people with their mental health, who have a learning disability and/or autism. “I was struggling with my self-esteem, my eating, and just struggling to stay alive, really,” she explains.  

“I was very suicidal. I did attempt to take my own life just before I went into the hospital. I'd been struggling for a very long time. I’ve been in hospital with an eating disorder previously in 2022. After that, my mental health started snowballing and in January 2024, I just gave up. 

“Barnardo’s held an intervention while I was in the hospital around three or four weeks before I was discharged to help me prepare.”  

How we helped Ella think about what her future could be 

“Barnardo’s has done a lot to help me think about my future and what I want it to look like,” Ella says. “My keyworker, Mikey, has taken me to job fairs and to universities to help me start looking forward more. 

“Barnardo’s has also helped me communicate more in general. They’ve helped me put the work in for myself and I even got a job in a kitchen where I work now which is amazing. 

“I feel a lot more confident in myself since being at Barnardo’s, and my self-esteem has definitely risen. My mental health has improved loads, and this is the happiest I’ve been since I was really young. I don’t think I’ve been this happy since I was a little kid. 

“I still have days where I struggle a little bit, but it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be. Everyone struggles sometimes, but with Barnardo’s help, I’ve learned how to manage those feelings and find coping mechanisms for myself.”  

Ella’s advice if you’re struggling with your mental health 

Looking ahead, Ella’s main goal is to get into university to study mental health nursing. “When I was in the hospital, I realised that I could use my experiences to help other people, and I really want to give back to the community,” she says.    

“My goal for right now is to finish a whole year of college, because I haven’t completed a full year of school or college since I was in year eight. I also want to keep doing well in my job and carry on coping with everything as I am.” 

Thinking about what advice she’d give to other young people who might be going through tough times, Ella says, "To other young people who might be struggling with their mental health, I would say just keep pushing [ahead]. Recovery is always possible.  

  *A model has been used to protect Ella's identity    

“Even if you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom, you can still recover. Things will always get better and no matter how hard your life feels like it’s getting, there’s always a light at the end.”