This wasn’t the first time I’d put myself in harm’s way during a psychotic episode. I once plunged my hand into a pot of boiling water when making spaghetti. Again, I believed it was no big deal, as I couldn’t be hurt. Another time, I drove my car into a central bollard on a busy A road junction, just for the thrill of it, not thinking about the danger or repercussions.

Being knocked down by a car was the catalyst that made me realise something had to change. When the delusion cleared a couple of weeks later, I knew I wasn’t safe anymore. I knew I had to be open, even if it meant difficult conversations. You see, I’d experienced psychosis since I was a teenager but had kept silent for years. It had left me isolated and vulnerable. As a young person and young adult, I spent so much of my time feeling terrified, mostly of what people would think of me. They would think I was insane, a freak, dangerous. Or maybe they’d all abandon me, or I’d be locked away. At times, I was afraid of myself. This is the power of psychosis stigma.

“The shame of psychosis kept me silent for years – until a serious accident forced me to start talking”