Matthew’s story
His mother died of cancer four months after he celebrated his 19th birthday, but this was not the first time that he had experienced a tragic loss. When Matthew* was just three, his father died from gas poisoning, whilst ‘flat-sitting’ a relation's flat. This early bereavement means that Matthew has very few memories of his father and he had become especially close to his mother. When he lost her too, Matthew was hit extremely hard. He found it hard to cope. He had to give up work and he began to show signs of being depressed.
He could see no way to move on, other than to leave home, a place where his memories were too strong and the sense of loss and sadness too hard to overcome. He ‘sofa surfed’, moving from one friend’s house to another after outstaying his welcome.
But Matthew needed to get away to a new place which had no bad memories. So he left for London. But with no connections in the city, he turned to the streets.
He spent the next few months living rough on the streets. Depression took a hold on his life. He recalls:
“At this time I had nowhere to go. I didn’t know what to do and I didn’t want to live anymore. My life was messed up. I felt like I was at the end and there was no way to go on. I felt like I had nothing to live for.’’
Matthew’s depression had hit an all-time low by the time he came to Centrepoint. Shortly after moving off the streets he attempted suicide. It was then that he realised how depressed he was.
“At that point something changed in me. I began working with a psychiatrist I found through Centrepoint and everything seemed clearer.”
He continued to make steady progress; soon he came off his medication.
“My life had started over again, I felt like I was back on track. To me stopping medication was a mind over matter thing.”
Matthew has fully embraced the services available to him at Centrepoint; he has taken part in first aid courses and health classes as well as planning for his future, working towards developing his CV with workshops which focus on CV writing skills.
He was awarded a bursary which he used to complete driving lessons and his driving theory test, developing his skills and his confidence. He has also now started a hypnotherapy course. He is focused now on becoming self-employed and helping people who have suffered from anxiety as he had.
At the time of writing, some two months on Matthew will move into the next stage of residency at Centrepoint. He has progressed well, developed good life skills such as budgeting and cooking, taken some steps towards living independently of us.
*Matthew’s name has been changed to protect his identity
