16/11/2024
At 31, Lisa Callaghan was living the perfect life - working at an English language school in Italy but she suffered a psychotic episode which she put down to stresss and being alone during the Covid pandemic.
She takes up her story as she recalls her time in a Milan hospital.
“It was September 2021, we were in the office of a psychiatric ward in Milan but that wasn’t what was happening in my mind.
“My perception of reality was completely different and I was convinced that the man sitting across the desk from us was a paid actor and I was a participant in a very strange reality show."
“I was hallucinating, hearing voices and having paranoid thoughts. My psychosis had started very suddenly due to severe stress and possibly the after effect of going through the pandemic alone in Italy."
“Now, over three years on from my initial admission to hospital, I have regained my independence, returned to work part-time and I am also a part-time artist," Lisa explains
“I am currently running a series of art workshops in collaboration with the Sligo Leitrim Mental Health Service with groups of other service users. Through this I want to share the benefits that art engagement had in my own recovery with others who have had similar experiences"
