Talking Therapies ‘saved my life’ says Doncaster taxi driver - video Dailymotion

Doncaster Free Press

Talking Therapies ‘saved my life’ says Doncaster taxi driver Alan Bell.

Transcript

00:00I'm a taxi driver.

00:11And where do you live?

00:14Stainforth, near Doncaster.

00:15So why did you get referred to Talking Therapist?

00:19Because it was making...

00:20I've got OCD and it was making me depressed and anxious and it was getting worse and worse

00:28every year.

00:29And I wasn't coping very well and it was a horrible, horrible thing.

00:34So can you tell me what you did as part of your OCD?

00:38Checking things, counting in my head.

00:40For years I've had a clock going in my head.

00:42Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.

00:44Now that's less.

00:45It's barely stopped.

00:46But I used to get my wife to say things repeatedly, my son to say things repeatedly.

00:53If one of them smiled or laughed and not a certain look on the face and said how mad

00:58it is, I used to say, can you do that again?

01:01What again?

01:02That facial expression.

01:03And if I walk around Tesco and there's a bit of music comes on and my wife's dancing a

01:08bit, I used to say, can you start dancing again?

01:11And there's people walking past thinking, what's she doing?

01:15So that was very embarrassing for them too.

01:18And it actually led to us not going out as much because I couldn't control what I wanted

01:22them to do.

01:23How many years did you have OCD?

01:25I still got it from 15 and I'm nearly 60, so 45 years.

01:32So what made you seek help?

01:35Everybody was telling me, all my loved ones were telling me, you need to go to doctors.

01:40And I just realised it was time because I was getting worse and worse.

01:44I was drinking too much, not while I was working, but I used to work nights, so I'd drink when

01:50I wasn't working and then morning after I'd be all right.

01:54But it's just that cycle of never ending depression.

02:01You feel low in yourself, you feel embarrassed, you feel inadequate.

02:06All that adds up to getting really depressed.

02:09So you went to the doctors, got referred to a mental health nurse.

02:12She referred me to you.

02:13Who then sent you to Talking Therapies.

02:16So how has Talking Therapies helped you?

02:19Massively.

02:20It's changed me.

02:21It's saved my life.

02:25The people in it, everybody in it, are so intelligent, I can't, it's brilliant, it's

02:32saved my life.

02:33So how did they do that?

02:37By teaching me various techniques and by explaining to me.

02:41You've got to face your fears.

02:44So if you face your worst fear and then you're all right after it, the fear about touching

02:50that or touching that goes away.

02:55That's brilliant.

02:56So if anybody else is watching this video and thinks, you know what, I'm a little bit

03:00like that or I'm like that, what would your advice be?

03:04Go to your doctor.

03:05Or you can even self-refer to Talking Therapies I think, can't you?

03:09Just do that.

03:10So cut your doctor out.

03:12My doctor were brilliant, but not all doctors are.

03:15So go to Talking Therapies, give it a go.

03:18What have you got to lose?

03:20They will help you.

03:22They really will help you.

03:24You've got to trust them, because they know what they're doing.

03:30And it's worked for you?

03:31Yeah.

03:32I mean, they've got years and years of experience.

03:35I've got 45 years of experience.

03:38So we were a good match up.

03:41That's excellent.

03:42Thank you, Alan.

03:43Okay.

Talking Therapies ‘saved my life’ says Doncaster taxi driver

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