Dom’s story
By Dom Daly, Young Persons Champion at Care in Mind
I’ve struggled with mental health for as long as I can remember, but when I was younger I never really told anyone. When I was 17, I attempted suicide and ended up in hospital. Over the next year, I was in and out of hospital until, in February 2018, I attempted suicide again. I barely survived and had to learn how to walk again. That’s when the mental health team said I needed more than hospital treatment—I needed a lot of work.Eventually, I was referred to Care in Mind and moved into Willowhurst in Preston.I lived there for 18 months, and honestly, it changed my life. I decided to go with Care in Mind because as soon as I met the staff, James and Andy, I knew I liked the ethos of the house and they seemed to relate to me. James asked me ‘How’s your cooking?’ and I stuttered and Andy said ‘Beans on toast level’ which was so true and made me laugh. Meeting them felt very casual and calm, before meeting them I never felt that I could build a working relationship with anyone.
What helped me most was their “least restrictive” model of care. It helped me develop because it was ‘least restrictive’. I’d been everywhere else where it was restriction, restriction, restriction… it was actually what I needed to recover. You’re trusted to make choices, and that freedom gave me back a sense of control over my own life. Just being able to go for a walk to clear my head—on my own terms—was a huge step in my recovery.
The staff knew me so well and knew when I needed my time away. They’d let me go and would just text me to say ‘we’re here for you when you come back’. The staff members aren’t there just for a pay cheque; they really do care.
Living at Willowhurst felt more like home than anything I’d ever experienced before. Everyone is very much a part of the house and takes on responsibilities. I even converted the garage into a gym with their support—it became my own little project. They gave me a budget, and I sourced equipment, cleaned and painted the space. It gave me purpose.
The therapy options were also brilliant. I always just stuck to the standard therapy because I just needed to talk but knowing the options were there was really good. I made more progress in weeks at Willowhurst than I had in months of hospital care.
Now I live independently and work for Care in Mind as a Young Persons Champion. I help with staff training, run projects, and give service users a voice. I’ve been doing a lot of work with training new staff. So, I’ve started my own training based on—I call it as a joke ’empathy training’—I basically explain through my personal experience what I’ve been through and certain impactful points in my life and then basically my advice on how to help understand and help the young people (YPs) themselves through, because I’ve been on both sides.
The main thing I learned during my time at Willowhurst was that I’m not a bad person. I learned that a lot of what had happened to me wasn’t my fault, that I’m not a bad person, I like who I am and that being me is okay. I’d recommend Care in Mind because they’re so versatile and they can help you in so many ways. I believe that the company exists because they really do care.