Renfrewshire Council

"In December 2020, I had a nasty sinus infection which knocked me for six and so  began a period of low esteem, no confidence and feeling like I wasn't able to deal with anything effectively. My home and work life began to suffer and I decided that maybe I needed some help to deal with how I was feeling.

I had a look online at information relating to employee wellbeing but thought there must be people worse off than me and left it, telling myself that I'm strong, sometimes pushy, confident, have a wonderful life and am a bit of a 'go to' for a lot of people...I'll be fine...but I wasn't.

It took a while for me to actually admit that I needed help and had a very tearful, emotional chat with my manager. The only way I can describe what happened next, is that several pairs of very supportive arms reached into quite a dark place and pulled me back to safety.

The support I've received has been an immense help - from the Time for Talking counselling sessions, through to the tips and advice for rethinking how I get myself through each day. I'm also fortunate enough to have a very supportive GP who took time to get me through. As for my manager, well she has been amazing and I will never forget what she did for me: daily check-up sessions to set manageable tasks and offering me all the time and space that I needed to get back on track.

I'm now walking around 10,000 -15000 steps each day and it is such a mental leveller. Listening to the early morning birdsong and the trickle of the river, nature springing to life and starting to lose the two stones of weight that I put on over lockdown. It's all getting good again for me, and I would urge anyone who is feeling even a little bit low to talk, ask for some help, because it's there for you."

*Hazel requested we keep her real name private.

Published on Thursday 2 February 2023