36 SOPHIE’S CHOICE - PUSHING BACK AGAINST STIGMA Labelled ‘too pretty’ to be mentally ill, journalist Sophie begs those working in crisis teams to look beyond a tidy house, and a made-up face.
W
hen the darkness of the night My fight or flight response rocketed. Someone was in the house. I began crept up on me, so did the to blockade the door with whatever wicked grip of psychosis. furniture and toys I could find. But then it wasn’t just my body In reality, I was having a psychotic trembling, the house was starting to episode. I was currently on maternity shake; there must be an earthquake. leave from the BBC, and under the Ever the diligent journalist, I checked care of the home-based treatment my news app and social media feeds. ‘crisis’ team, whose role was to keep Nothing. I must be on to a scoop. me supported with regular checks But suddenly the house shaking was within my home setting. The reality was the least of my worries. I could see there were very few mother and baby a dark figure dressed in a balaclava beds available, so I could have been standing outside my window, and he transferred to another city with my had a gun in his hand. bump, but not my three-year-old.
