Living Histories shares the unheard oral histories of people who have used or worked in NHS mental health services in Sussex from the closure of the asylums in the 1980's, up to and including the Covid-19 pandemic. Through a series of podcasts, created using clips from these oral histories, we explore the common themes threaded through these real-life stories. Living Histories is made possible with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, NHS Charities Together and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

By listening to people tell us, in their own words, about their experiences we explore the complex interplay between mental health and a life well lived. Living Histories is testament to the bravery and resilience of people living with mental health conditions, amplifying voices that can be seldom heard.

Our huge thanks to everyone who told their story and to the volunteers who collected them.

Please tell us what you think, whether you've experienced the exhibition online or in person, via our short evaluation survey.

Listen to our Living Histories podcasts

Please select from the podcast titles below to listen. The themes reflect the richness and breadth of experience shared in the oral histories. You can read the document Living Histories exhibition notes alongside.

There is some challenging content held within these podcasts. If you are struggling and need support, help is available.

The Safety of Being Nursed

The introduction of care in the community in the 1980's changed the way people accessed and experienced mental health care forever. Following the closure of the asylums, The Safety of Being Nursed explores what we mean by community, and the support humans need to wrap around us when we are mentally unwell.

Believed and Understood

For people with mental health problems, the right diagnosis and treatment can be transformative, making sense of life and its challenges and building hope for the future. Believed and Understood explores the power diagnosis can hold and the impact it has on recovery.

Support and Friendship

This episode highlights the vital role of relationships in shaping how people live with and manage mental distress. Support and Friendship explores what it means to be vulnerable, and hears how the acts of others; family, peers and clinicians, can help us though our darkest times.

A Different Kind of Life

This episode asks us all to consider, what does it mean to live with mental health challenges? With service users and clinicians, A Different Kind of Life reflects on the role that mental health plays in life and how we shape our worlds around and in response to it, highlighting how fine the line is that divides those who give care, from those who receive it.

Good Days and Bad Days

This episode, Covid 19: "Good Days and Bad Days", documents how people's lives and support systems were impacted by the greatest health crisis in living memory. On 23 March 2020 the first Covid lockdown was announced in the UK, telling people to 'Stay home, protect our NHS and save lives.' What followed transformed daily life.

Safer, Weller, Happier

This episode explores the richness and diversity of mental health recovery, in all its many shapes and forms. In sharing people's experiences of what recovery looks and feels like for them, we celebrate the achievements of everyone who has ever struggled with their mental health, bringing hope for the future no matter how challenging the journey might be.

The Unseen Condition

This episode explores the stigma surrounding mental health and the impact this has on people's lives both whilst unwell and into recovery, from the 1980's up to the present day. The Unseen Condition asks us all to consider how we can embrace and normalise mental ill health, recognising that to live with a mental health condition brings challenge enough of its own.

Come and see us!

You can access the full exhibition online, and also:

The De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill : Saturday 21 February - Tuesday 3 March

West Shelter, Worthing: 16 March - 30 May

Colonnade House, Worthing: 27 March - 1 May

Crawley Library, Crawley: 4 May - 15 May

After the exhibitions, the oral history recordings in their fullness will be archived and kept sealed for 80 years thanks to the support of the Mass Observation Archive and the West Sussex Records Office, so please enjoy these podcasts as a snapshot of people's whole life stories within the context of their mental health journeys. The anonymised transcriptions will be available once archived.

Tell us what you think

Living Histories is being independently evaluated so that we can learn about the impact of the project on both participants and audiences. Whether you have visisted one of our inperson exhibitions, or accessed the exhibition online only, we would be grateful if you could tell us what you think about what you have heard and seen by completing our short evaluation survey.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to National Lottery Heritage Fund and NHS Charities Together, without whose support this project would not have been possible. Living Histories was supported by De La Warr Pavilion, Mass Observation Archive, West Sussex County Council, West Sussex Records Office and Worthing Borough Council.

To our 35 participants, thank you for your honesty, bravery and time. We are grateful to be trusted with your stories.

To our volunteers - thank you for taking the time to learn and understand oral history, for supporting people to tell their stories and recording them so well.

To our steering group made up of external partners and user led organisations, thank you for your clear guidance and support.

Thank you to the many Sussex Partnership staff who have been instrumental in bringing Living Histories to life, with special mention to Charity Director Rachael Duke and Heads On Living Histories Project Manager, Nicola Benge.

Thank you to Charlotte Petts and Michael Umney for audio editing and podcast production.

Thank you to Dave Bain for illustrations that capture the essence of the stories that are being shared.

Thank you to KGK Genix our creative design partner.

Thank you all for taking the time to listen, to hear these stories and to reflect on them.