Maggie's story
Names have been changed to protect anonymity.
Maggie is in her 50s and lives in the South West. She says: "When I was a young child at school I was constantly bullied and told how ugly I was. Day after day I was followed and tormented. I could do nothing about it, and I felt rejected from society. I told my parents but they didn’t really understand. I felt physically ill facing it everyday. I was told that I was not really wanted, and when I was born my sister couldn’t look at me for several weeks or months.
"I was basically nagged at all the time; being told to turn my music off at nine o’ clock at the age of fifteen because my parents couldn’t sleep. I was told what time I could get out of bed on a Sunday. I couldn’t have my light on in the bedroom at night after nine because of the reflection from the glass at the top of my bedroom door.
"At sixteen I was so unhappy that I walked around my bedroom thinking what can I do? I went into my parent’s bedroom while I was self-harming; telling my parents what I was doing.
"They didn’t believe me at first and told me to go back to bed. Then when they did realise, in no time I was in no time taken off to a hospital and given an injection with a few men holding me down.
"I was Sectioned for six months and at the age of sixteen they found out I was manic depressive. As I have got older people have treated me a lot better, but I find myself very sensitive and I get hurt very easily and I am upset a awful lot."
"I was basically nagged at all the time; being told to turn my music off at nine o’ clock at the age of fifteen because my parents couldn’t sleep. I was told what time I could get out of bed on a Sunday. I couldn’t have my light on in the bedroom at night after nine because of the reflection from the glass at the top of my bedroom door.
"At sixteen I was so unhappy that I walked around my bedroom thinking what can I do? I went into my parent’s bedroom while I was self-harming; telling my parents what I was doing.
"They didn’t believe me at first and told me to go back to bed. Then when they did realise, in no time I was in no time taken off to a hospital and given an injection with a few men holding me down.
"I was Sectioned for six months and at the age of sixteen they found out I was manic depressive. As I have got older people have treated me a lot better, but I find myself very sensitive and I get hurt very easily and I am upset a awful lot."
