\n The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), which is responsible for our county\u2019s mental health care, has come under fire in recent years.\n<\/p>\n
\n Arden Thomas-Harris, 22, reached out to the Ipswich Star to share their own experiences of NSFT, which their mother Katie Harris described as a \u201cconstant battle\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n Arden Thomas-Harris said that they reached ‘breaking point’ with their mental health. (Image: Arden Thomas-Harris)\n<\/p>\n
\n The Trust has said it is \u201csorry that Arden has not received the care they and their family expected\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n Arden, who uses they\/them pronouns, suffers from anxiety, depression, OCD and borderline personality disorder (BPD). They first began receiving care from NSFT<\/a> aged 15.\n<\/p>\n \n Katie said they would often arrive at appointments and find that the computer system had inputted the wrong and nobody was available to see Arden.\n<\/p>\n \n Arden\u2019s mental health \u201cnose-dived\u201d in 2022 and they made attempts on their own life.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cIt was the breaking point of not having help,\u201d said Arden.\n<\/p>\n \n At points, they were unable to speak due to situational mutism, an anxiety-based disorder.\n<\/p>\n \n Because of this, Arden and Katie said their consultant was unwilling to see them, despite Arden being able to communicate by writing things down. The consultant did eventually see Arden, who felt \u201cblamed\u201d for not being able to speak.\n<\/p>\n \n At their lowest point, Arden was hospitalised. Despite Katie pushing for a bed on a psychiatric ward, she was met with pushback from NSFT, who maintained there were no beds available, or else that this was not the right course of action for Arden.\n<\/p>\n \n Arden was admitted to a general ward in Ipswich Hospital, but the consultant there agreed that Arden needed to be on a psychiatric ward.\n<\/p>\n \n Arden\u2019s mental health consultant arrived, and \u201ctried to get the other consultant to change her mind\u201d and keep Arden as her patient, Katie recalled. This happened \u201cover the bed\u201d where Arden was laying.\n<\/p>\n