Tom’s story
Tom* aged 15 years was feeling down and, in his words, he was depressed and didn’t know where to turn. In school he happened to see the School Nurse poster offering support and advice. He asked his teacher how to access the school nurse as he wanted to see her face-to-face.
Sarah, the School Nurse arranged a suitable time to see Tom. As Sarah was so friendly and approachable Tom felt at ease and his concerns soon gushed out. He said he was lonely as he had recently split up with his girlfriend of 6 months; his parents divorced a couple of years ago, but he had never come to terms with it or had any support; he was acting as a crutch for his friends who shared their problems with him. As a result of all these issues, he was feeling overwhelmed and couldn’t think straight.
Tom said he needed solutions and someone to talk to regularly without having to be there for everyone else. He had looked up some possible support but wasn’t sure which would be best. He said he just didn’t know where to start.
Sarah discussed his issues in turn and helped him break them down to be dealt with using coping strategies one step at a time. He was under a counsellor at Just Drop In but hadn’t been attending sessions as it was all too overwhelming to share his troubles. Sarah explained the reasons he should go to the sessions and offered to share his story with the counsellor on his behalf to save him telling it again, which Tom was grateful for.
Sarah also provided Tom with some useful online links which would give him a wealth of information to read alone when he felt ready.
Two months later, Tom is accessing support regularly and in his words is feeling
better about dealing with things one step at a time, saying “it’s easier now it’s out there and someone knows, and I gave the links to my friends to use too.”
*Name has been changed for data protection purposes
