Frankie’s story
For World Mental Health Day 2021 the theme set by the World Federation for Mental Health was ‘Mental Health in an Unequal World’. We wanted to explore with the people that use our services and Frankie is a service user at our Boudicca Court Accommodation Service in Kings Lynn.
He shared lived experience of mental distress with us in an interview alongside Together Peer Support Worker Joanne Bailey. Frankie explains how he came to work alongside Together and how he decided to come out as transgender discussing inequalities and discrimination he has faced.
In this first film Frankie shares lived experience of mental distress and how he received a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder. He describes traumatic events in his life that have impacted his mental health and explains how he came to work initially with staff from Together before moving into Boudicca Court:
In this second film Frankie explains how he came out as transgender to identify as a gay man explaining how that felt and making that change. He describes the process of communicating that to people and support he received including the value of attending mental health support groups for LGBTQ+ people to share experiences. Frankie also provides details on work he has done to break down stigma around both mental health and LGBTQ+ issues appearing on local radio and working in the community:
In this next part of the interview with Frankie he describes inequalities he has experienced which have impacted his mental health. He describes receiving a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder and what labels like that mean to him. He also details discrimination he has faced as a transgender man in accessing mental health support:
In this final film Frankie and Jo discuss the impact that moving into Together’s Boudicca Court Accommodation service has had for Frankie. He explains how having the accommodation as a base has been really valuable and how he feels he has developed while being at the service:
