"Very little help in the past, but a really helpful call recently"

I have suffered with depression for over a decade and have been treated by various mental health workers. I have not found them to be any help whatsover, I feel it's been a waste of time.

I have been accused of being an alcoholic, when I am and always have been tee-total. Once when I was in severe crisis, I was told to 'read a book'.

I feel at times I have been treated like a criminal and patronised.

It seems to me that people think that if you suffer with a mental illness, you are thick. Until my recent crisis when I spoke to one man in particular and he was brilliant, he made me feel much better. He talked to me for ages on the phone and it really helped. In the past I have felt like I was passed from pillar to post and no one cared, but this person was great.