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Hanora

“I decided that Law and Politics was not the course for me and spoke to my therapist about changing to Psychology. Although he never said it out loud, I could see him thinking, “oh no, here we go.”

TRANSCRIPT

I was in town on the day of the Omagh bomb in 1998. I was 15 years old and just a few car lengths away from the explosion, thankfully I was not physically injured on the day. I had friends who had been seriously physically injured and GCSE to complete so I ‘got on’ with things and focused on moving on with life. I did receive art therapy, which I found exceptionally helpful for managing the disturbing images I had seen on the day and I also received therapy from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

However I mainly focused on getting through my GCSE and A-Level’s and my friends. 

I got accepted into QUB to study LLB Law and Politics and went to Belfast to start the course in September 2001. During my first week away from home living in Belfast was when the 9/11 attacks took place. The communal fear and grief after the attacks reminded me of my experience in Omagh, hearing the people of New York talk about the impact of their trauma, seemed to bring me back to mine. In hindsight I was able to see that this was the beginning of me becoming unwell, over the next year I slowly became more and more emotionally unstable and unwell. I was able to pass 1st Year of my degree but over summer 2022 I was not able to keep up the pretence and thanks to my parents I was referred to the Trauma service in Omagh.

I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and clinical depression, and started 12 weeks of Trauma Focused cognitive behavioural psychotherapy I truly believe this saved my life.

I decided that Law and Politics was not the course for me, and spoke to my therapist about changing to Psychology. Although he never said it out loud I could see him thinking, “oh no, here we go.” He explained that a lot of people who find therapy helpful feel like they want to give back and help others but this may not be for everyone. I thanked him for the advice and set off to find out if I could change course. I initially came to work in Inspire to get hands on experience so I could go back and complete my PhD in Clinical Psychology, however 17 years later, I am still here.

 

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