Find out about “Discover 2020: Pandemic Stories”

2020 will be a year forever remembered for a Pandemic that changed the world, that challenged the mental health and wellbeing of us all.  This terrible virus caused our country to be placed in lockdown and life as we knew it came to a stop.  The Discover 2020 project has recorded personal stories of those who experience mental health distress, living in lockdown to create an archive of experience for future generations.  Being able to see life through their eyes, means we can learn from these personal stories to shape and improve mental health services in the future.

Introduction podcast to Discover 2020 32mins

Discover 2020: Capturing Personal Stories of Mental Health

When we look back in years to come what will we think about Mental Health Services and the experiences of the people that use them today?

We have a good record of those institutions and Asylums from the past; what is was like to be a staff member; the people in charge; records of the buildings; even objects, but what we don’t know are the thoughts, feelings and experiences of people who lived there.  If history is as much to do with perception, then we need to ask whose perceptions are we using to understand the past?  Logic and decency would dictate that the people who experience mental health distress are the voices we most need to hear and learn from.  Currently, no such records exist and Discover 2020 aims to correct this omission!

With funding from the Lottery Heritage Fund, Calderdale & Kirklees Recovery and Wellbeing College teamed up with the Mental Health Museum at Fieldhead Hospital in Wakefield to interview and record the voices of people who have suffered mental health distress.  These stories will create an archive of experience, hosted by the Mental Health Museum available for future generations.

There is no doubt that 2020 will be a year forever remembered for a Pandemic that changed the world, that challenged the mental health and wellbeing of us all.  On the 23 March 2020, this terrible virus caused our country to be placed in lockdown and everything stopped.  This once in a hundred-year event led us to change the direction of Discover 2020.  So in June we started to record people’s experiences of the lockdown and its effect on their mental health and now, with the anniversary of the first lockdown approaching we are releasing these stories for everyone to listen to.  We hope you can connect with these stories and learn from the experiences of the people interviewed.  Seeing life through their eyes will help correct our vision on the perceptions of the past in future years.

 

Discover 2020: Pandemic Stories: Gary’s Story

Discover 2020: Pandemic Stories: Michael & Gary discuss

Discover 2020: Pandemic Stories: Tony

Discover 2020: Pandemic Stories: Sara’s Story

Discover 2020: Pandemic Stories: Carrie Story 1 (peace)

Discover 2020: Pandemic Stories: Carrie Story 2 (missing relatives)