[JasonB]

Interesting topic.

I've never suffered from mental health problems myself, the nearest I came was when I was eleven, when my sister was knocked down and died in a car accident, and I knocked both of my front teeth out against the corner of a brick wall. I guess, moving into my teenage years, both of those events affected me deeply, but I think that was just natural sadness, anger, and a certain amount of embarassment at badly fitting false teeth when I was trying to talk to a girl.

I did work for five or six years in a care home for people with long standing, probably permanent problems. I only worked in the office, but it was a small care home, so I met everybody there, grew very fond of some of them, and I quickly realised that the problems they faced, had totally destroyed their lives.

Epilepsy must also be rough, we had a cat that had it. The first time it happened, I thought she'd been taken by the devil, her body was convulsing, her legs were stuck out at unfeasible angles, and she was bleeding from her mouth.

I learned to recognise the signs of an incoming episode, but all I could do was hold her and keep her out of danger whilst she pissed all over me.