STAR VIEWS

I am one of the service users who attend the Star Centre regularly. I would like to tell you a bit about my experience here and how it has helped me. You may have noticed that on our Home page there is a quote from an anonymous service user: ‘The Star Centre has given me my life back’. That quote is from someone else, but I (who will also remain anonymous!) am finding that I can relate to that statement more and more as I become increasingly involved with the Star Centre.

I was referred to the Star Centre almost a year ago by my key-worker at Lakeside Mental Health Unit, where I am still an outpatient. I have an enduring mental health problem which has caused a great deal of disruption to my life and which continues to affect me on a daily basis, although some days are better than others. My problems pretty much destroyed my self-esteem and self-confidence; I went from being a professional person in a demanding but rewarding job to being someone I felt was useless and a liability. The Star Centre, with its mix of inspiring people -both staff and fellow service users- and opportunities on offer, has done a lot to restore my confidence and remind me that things can and do get better– even for me!

One of the things I have come to love is the sense of community here. Like many new service users I was very nervous when I first began attending the Star Centre, preferring to sit on my own in the back garden than mix with others, due to the way I felt about myself. The staff would talk to me in a way that was gentle, encouraging, and good-humoured. No pressure was put on me to socialise or do anything I didn’t feel comfortable about. The fact is I became more comfortable and optimistic by attending regularly, becoming familiar with the supportive atmosphere here and above all realising that people accept me for who I am. This gives me a feeling of freedom that is hard to put into words and could not be further from the fear I felt when I first arrived!

Things, for me, now have a purpose. One of the best features of the Star Centre is the fact that the staff respect the skills that service users have gained in their lives. Service users are encouraged to share these skills so that everyone learns from each other. As a former literacy tutor, skills that I would otherwise have neglected or put on the backburner, such as proofreading and editing documents, are now being put to use in a constructive way. Equally, I have gained many new skills, especially through the Admin Group, where I have learnt to use the latest computer software applications and developed my general knowledge of IT. Not only am I contributing to the Star Centre as well as benefitting from it, but I am also gaining skills that will help me in the future.

I would highly recommend the Star Centre to anyone who is suffering from mental health problems and perhaps feels isolated and lacking in confidence because of this. Maybe I will meet you here one day!

 

 

 

 

The Star Centre

63-65 Bell Road

Hounslow

Middlesex

TW3 3NX

Tel:  020 8572 4211

Compass:  020 8572 5115

Fax:  020  8814 0311

 

Email: thestarcentre@btconnect.com

 

http://www.thestarcentre.org.uk

 

Registered Charity No : 1066570/0

Updated Feb 2010

Working for the Star Centre:

A Service User’s Perspective

What Is Normal?

 

I have often wondered what the word ‘normal’ actually means.

 

Looking on the internet and seeking information through various other sources, I have found that the definition of normal is what society finds to be acceptable or deems to fit in with other people's perceptions of what they feel connects with their way of thinking.

 

I look at the way people behave and how different we all are in the way that we deal with different situations and apply ourselves to different tasks, and I have noticed how much we fear getting away from the norm that is placed upon us by society and particularly our learnt patterns of behaviour that have been programmed in us by our parents and peers.

 

Do you ever look at people who are quite different from yourself and think, ‘I'd like to have that kind of personality’- a little quirky, a little eccentric, maybe to be able to take life not so seriously and enjoy the moment for what it is rather than have to justify your straying from what you would normally be like.

 

Well for those who present themselves in that way, that is their norm. It is just that we have our own perceptions of what normal is and it goes against our learnt behaviour.

 

I have found during my involvement with my own mental health issues that all of my thoughts and feelings, perceptions, prejudices and theories about people who suffer and who have suffered some kind of psychological trauma within their life has radically changed.

 

I have had the great pleasure of working alongside some wonderful people who due to no fault of their own have had to suffer with psychological turmoil that has had a negative effect on their day to living and also has made them feel alienated within our so-called normal society.

 

I know that I would not have had the insight, understanding, compassion, or vision to understand just how unique everyone is in their own right had I not gone through my own illness.

 

The strange thing about society throughout history is that what is deemed to be normal is almost written in stone, and that should anyone offer ideas or have visions that we don't have an understanding of, it is seen as ‘abnormal’ but that is because we are only able to take on board things within our own scope of understanding.

 

History has shown in so many ways that without these visionaries our progress as a human race and our evolution would not have taken shape in the way that it has.

It is these people who have taken off their blinkers that society has placed upon them to make those important strides that have enabled us to learn about all of the things around us that we would otherwise know nothing about.

 

The point that I am trying to make is that we all need to take off our blinkers so that we can grow and see the whole picture that has been painted for us. It is very easy just to select the part of a picture which is pleasing to the eye, the part that makes us feel comfortable when we look at it, something that we can choose to associate ourselves with that will not take us too far from the ‘norm’. That is what I used to do.

 

I am so grateful that through my illness I have officially had my blinkers removed and am now able to see the whole of life in a more realistic way. Without doubt there are many things that I see within the picture that I find could do with removing or modifying, but surely that is our whole purpose.

Not just to look at it and say, ‘I don't like what I see’ but also to add our own detail to it that will enable others to add theirs and so on.

 

We all have the ability to change things in a positive and meaningful way, to be seen for who we are and not what others would want us to be. To be that unique individual with the quirky ways and the funny dress sense that sets us apart from what is supposed to be normal. To have different viewpoints, likes and dislikes, alternate ways of expression, all without having the fear of judgment placed upon us for being that little bit different from what is seen to be normal.

 

I feel it is so important to my work that I take each individual for who they are and never judge them for what they may present to me.

 

I know that if we can all take on board this kind of attitude, the benefits to our working practices will show the rewards by the responses we receive.

 

It is us who need to lead by example so that others may be inspired to follow.

 

But it's whether we are prepared to put our feet into the water and find out what it is like to feel the freedom of being one's self.

 

For once you are willing to take that risk and try it, there is no going back.

 

I have yet to meet someone who I can attach the word ‘normal’ to, and in reality I hope I never meet that person. But ask me if I have met people who are unique and my answer will be everyone.