Meet Katee.
She is a strategist who has worked at Pentagram, Future Gov and Nice and Serious.
She set up Hackney Laces, a community club for teenage girls in East London on a mission to get as many girls playing football as possible, whilst raising aspirations.
She is my podcast co-host, long-time friend and accountability buddy.
She is endlessly generous with her knowledge and skills, so it’s hardly surprising she was the first person to respond to my call to arms for readers to share their personal experiences of mental health.
What is your experience of mental illness?
In 2022 during pregnancy, I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I didn’t recognise it at the time nor did I think it was what I was experiencing. I kept referring to how anxious I was feeling, and how convinced I was that my baby had died.
But it wasn’t anxiety. It was a previous experience with pregnancy loss that continuously triggered me.
It wasn’t until I sought help that I was able to name it, have a diagnosis and then proceed with treatment.
What is your experience of getting better?
Long and with lots of ups and downs.
I saw a therapist for a year and that was fine.
However, I changed therapists after the birth of my daughter and my new therapist recognised that I needed a different type of treatment — Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy.
After a few months of this new therapy, I felt more myself again. I could live much more in the present without fear or worry.
How do you maintain your mental health?
Sport, particularly running, soccer and outdoor swimming in cold water.
Arts and crafts and making things by hand.
Spending time with my partner and sister.
Nature makes me feel restored, so I try and spend as much time there as possible.
Thank you Katee.
Sharing personal experiences of mental health helps normalise conversations about the previously stigmatised subject. This in turn helps people to talk more about their own mental health and ask for help when they need it.
Want to know a little more about how you could share your story with The Mind Matters community? You can do so here.