Mind matters: Kerry’s mental health story

Feros Care’s Kerry McKie knows what it’s like to have your life turned upside-down by mental health challenges.

And she knows how difficult and demanding it can be to face those battles, beat the barriers, and find strategies that can help you to live how you want.

Kerry is a mental health LAC with Feros Care. She also mentors at youth empowerment camps, has her own blog, and volunteers with South Australia’s Talk Out Loud Youth Mental Health Services.

Kerry believes the number of people seeking support for mental health issues has been increasing, but so has our awareness of mental health and our motivation to break down stigmas that can perpetuate the cycle of poor mental health in our communities.

Here’s more about Kerry, and the personal journey that led to the services she now offers in the mental health sector.

A personal journey…

Kerry’s energy and determination stems from her own journey.

“When I was 18, I attempted suicide and nearly passed away. My mum was told at that time that I would spend the rest of my life in the psychiatric hospital,” Kerry says.

“I was in psychosis for three months and they didn’t think they would get me out of it. They had tried everything and nothing was working.”

“My memories are quite horrific – my psychoses - I’ve had a number over the years. The best way to describe them would be a horror movie amplified by a million.”

After three and a half months, Kerry came out of her psychoses – but she continues to live with complex PTSD and other traumas, bipolar 1, and anxiety, and has learnt that she needs to employ calming strategies and coping techniques.

“Now, I meditate usually daily usually before I go to bed, I attend face-to-face meditations most Mondays, and I have a place on the verandah that my mum calls my ‘fairy grotto’ with fairy lights, a three-seater couch and couple of recliners. I don’t usually watch TV.

“I’m in bed by 7.30/8pm every night on work nights and I spend a lot of time with my friends and family – it rejuvenates me. Once I’ve done all of that, I need some ‘me time’ to go and sit in my grotto and chill on my own for a while.”

Kerry writes a blog post on the Talk Out Loud Facebook page which is published every Friday.

“This week is about exhaustion … it’s a big one. I’m covering that living with bipolar is very much like a mental triathlon, and how it’s perfectly normal to be exhausted.”

Big issues

Kerry believes the lockdowns endured during the height of Covid-19 highlighted any underlying issue for people and, in many cases, spurred people to acknowledge their mental health struggles and reach out for support.

As an LAC focused on working with people to implement their psychosocial plans, Kerry talks to people about their concerns and helps break down stigmas around how they identify their needs and access supports.

In her role with Feros Care, Kerry also works to make positive change happen. She recently attended a Mental Health alliance meeting with stakeholders including the Minister for Health, Mental Health commissioners, and suicide prevention advocates.

“Towards the end we did a think tank, and there were lots of different ideas which will be taken back to the minister. We meet again in February and we’ll discuss what’s been implemented and changed.”

In her role, Kerry also works with organisations to support people who need support in gaining access to the NDIS, and in setting up and facilitating their NDIS plan.

“A lot of people don’t know where to start, and if they don’t gain access it’s about helping them by looking at why they didn’t gain access.

“If it’s because their disability doesn’t meet the requirements then it might be explaining that or it might be important to let them know what reports are needed to meet the requirements.”

Change makers

When people do engage with available supports and seek ongoing help for themselves, Kerry says she has noticed sometimes “huge change”.

“I had a participant a few weeks ago, her mum was so grateful for the level of support approved by an NDIS package for her daughter, and all the services she would be able to work with.

“And that’s not uncommon - people being grateful for the support. This mother had been looking after the participant all her life and they couldn’t handle all the support she required and couldn’t keep up with it.

“So, it’s not only going to change the participant’s life, but the whole family’s life.”

Social participation, Kerry says, changes lives the most in her experience.

“By having community access, people can go to the local shops, or whatever they choose to do as their social activity. It could be going fishing or going to a dance class.

“And the benefits on their mental health is that it’s breaking that social isolation. And then they start making friends and their community broadens, and so they’re able to broaden their horizons on other things including finding the confidence to look for work.

“It is life changing.”

Blue sky thinking

In an ideal world, Kerry says, the suicide rate would be zero.

“But I know that is a hefty task to achieve. Outside of that, I would like to see that no person’s call for help goes unanswered, no matter what service they are calling.”

She said she more 24-hour services would be beneficial, and not only suicide prevention services, but all mental health support services.

“If people have someone to talk to when they’re having a bad day, they might not get to the point where they need to call Lifeline."

Click here to find out more about what Feros Care does in the community to support people with disability to live healthy, connected and fulfilling lives.