Hello,
I would like to share a little about myself and the reasons I created this website Peer for Mental Health.
Firstly my name is Erica Golding, I am a peer with lived-living experience in mental health.
In the year 2022, I am a 50-year-old female and from the age of 27 to 37, I suffered 10 years of severe ongoing trauma.
This led to a mental health diagnosis and around 11 admissions to a psych, locked ward in a state hospital in Australia.
With a recovery in mind, I set about research for strategies to incorporate into my daily life.
The first thing I knew I needed to do was to educate myself about exactly what it meant to have healthy mental health.
I read many self-help books and listened to a lot of audio on thinking patterns.
In 2017, I was awarded my Mental Health Peer Support Worker Diploma Certificate. This gave me vital information about self-advocacy, mental health care, and well-being.
I used those skills to help with representing myself at Mental Health Tribunals, which I had to attend every 6 months, while I remained on a Mental Health Order for over 13 years. These tribunals were hard and intimidating, to say the least.
I learned to navigate the complex Mental Health System and found many resources to help throughout this life journey.
My motto is self-determination!
Here at Peer for Mental Health, I am working to provide the resources, knowledge, life skills, and products that can help someone struggling to get on track with their mental health recovery.
I aim to engage my service as a National Disability Service Provider for Australian Citizens and if you are an International, I am certain you will find my website useful as a point of reference and support.
With my focused energy and your self-determination, we can strive for optimal mental health.
Your peer.
Erica Golding