Mark’s Story
Mark is 55 years old and lives in Wiltshire. He has a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and anxiety, and he sometimes experiences panic attacks. Mark’s favourite thing to do is watch the Big Bang Theory on Netflix. Below he shares his story with us, explaining how our online community was transformative in making him feel less alone.
"I think it has helped with my loneliness massively as I feel like I'm involved in an online community where I can speak to anyone and actually become friends with them. "
I decided to join Clic as my support worker said I would benefit from joining an online community to combat loneliness. Before I joined, I was feeling very lonely as I didn’t have many people to talk to. I now use Clic daily – it makes me feel included. I often talk to others who I now call my friends.
Clic has helped me learn how to manage my own mental health. It has also taught me breathing techniques which I can use to control my panic attacks. Prior to using Clic I didn’t know any techniques and would often have multiple panic/anxiety attacks a day. I used to rely on medication to calm me down, but since knowing these techniques, I no longer need it as much.
I also find that the mood tracker on Clic is very helpful because it shows that I don’t always have a bad day. Currently, I have only had one red (bad) day and the rest are green and yellow. This is helping me to manage and monitor my mental health a lot.
Clic has given me a lot more confidence within myself to do things, and I feel like I can always go online and chat to someone about anything, whether I’m having a good or bad day. Clic has also helped me learn to communicate with people as I now like interacting with others. Prior to Clic I wouldn’t communicate with anyone unless I had to. I rarely went out anywhere and often stayed indoors. I can now go into a coffee shop and order a hot chocolate with my support worker. Clic has given me a lot more confidence within myself to do things, as I feel like I can always go online and chat to someone about anything, whether I’m having a good or bad day.
I think Clic is an extremely helpful and sometimes lifesaving resource for everyone. A good example of this was when another Clic member stated on the forum that they were suicidal and Clic talked them down, gave them very good advice and kept them safe. Because of this expert safeguarding, I feel very secure on the Clic forum as I know that if I was ever to feel like that, I would be supported. I also like that Clic is an anonymous service – it makes you feel more confident when talking to others as you can protect your identity with your username.
One thing I would like people to know about Clic is that it is a very safe and non-judgmental place. I feel very comfortable using the platform and I would recommend Clic to anyone. I often tell my daughter to use Clic, and I often bring it up in social meetings with Rethink Mental Illness. It’s a great way to meet people as everyone is in the same boat as me and so understands the way I feel.
