'I used to hear voices - now I help others who hear the same'

When Anthony Kenyon was a child, he knew something wasn't quite right. At the age of 10, Anthony started attending a day unit in Burnley and was prescribed sleeping tablets for mental health problems he was exhibiting. At the age of 12, he was admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital for a week and was given the diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder.

To manage this, Anthony was given Epilim - a form of the medication Sodium Valproate used to treat bipolar and epilepsy. "I was at a special school, what they used to call them then, in Burnley," 35-year-old Anthony told LancsLive. "I had a lot of things going on and then, I think I started struggling anyway but I think I was about 13 my uncle passed away. I think they said it was suicide, but it wasn't expected, it was very sudden.

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"I started to hear voices and hallucinate from the age of 13 - very scary for someone so young. I was hearing voices, had aggression, preoccupied with certain things and paranoid, all of those kind of things."

Anthony returned to the day unit in Burnley, but it was quickly realised he needed to be assessed by others and was then transferred to the Junction 17 unit at Prestwich Hospital, which was then known as The McGuinness Unit. Anthony stayed there for around 10 months and was prescribed anti-psychotic medication, but nothing seemed to work.

As a result, he was transferred to a unit in Birmingham and was there for around six months and towards the end, did start to get better. Returning home, it was later determined he'd need to return to NHS services and was admitted to the Gardener Unit, a medium secure inpatient service in Prestwich.

However, during all of this, Anthony says his other condition wasn't been addressed. He was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

On dealing with this, Anthony added: "It doesn't define me. The thing is, now I've written things down so when I talk to you I have a bit more clarity and I can try to remember when I get anxious.

"So I have ways of dealing with it, which helps me. When I got to meetings, I always make sure I set off early so I'm not there late because that causes problems when I'm late, I fluster and struggle with anxiety.

"So I try to make sure I know how to deal with it very well, to help me manage it."

As an adult, Anthony has been sectioned 11 times in various units across the North West and West Midlands. However, he says the last admission he had which lasted two years and 10 months, was the one that made him in to the person he is today.

"Because I've been that unwell and I've been sectioned 11 times," Anthony continued. "I've been on lots of different medications, mood stabilisers, anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, mood stabilisers, benzodiazepine which is lorazepam and stuff like that.

"And being on lots of different levels of security, I believe that last admission got me to where I am today. And support from my placement where I was for the last two years which was also run by the National Autistic Society, making me understand my Asperger's even more."

Anthony spent around eight years in and out of hospital during his adolescence and young adulthood. He explained: "For someone so young, to be going to a medium secure unit, having their medication changed - it shows how unwell somebody is."

He added: "From the age of 13, to 18 and 24, I spent eight years in and out and a lot of those admissions had been long admissions.

"The last one was two years and 10 months, the one before that was 18 months and I think the one before that, 15 months and the first one was 15 months, 13 and then 14. Spending Christmases in hospital is very sad, when you're away from your family."

Along with his diagnosis of Asperger's, Anthony also has Schizoaffective Disorder, but after being under the care of mental health services for more than 25 years, things are looking up. Anthony said: "I live on my own now, I pay my own rent.

"I drive a car, it's a BMW actually and all paid for. I work two jobs - I work for the Trust and my other job is as a personal care assistant."

Anthony works at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust three times a week as a Service User and Carer Council, ensuring voices of service users are heard and can impact the support and services on offer. He also was part of an award winning team at the Trust providing roving mental health clinics for hard to reach communities including the homeless.

This is one of his jobs which he says benefits him greatly. He said: "Working helps my mind, it helps keep me busy but also, it helps keep me well."

Anthony is still taking medication and predicts he will continue to do so for some time, but his next goal is to be completely discharged from community mental health after starting this 10 years ago. He's also working on telling his story and journey by writing his very own autobiography.