A former psychiatric patient is backing the UK’s first major fundraising appeal to support people with complex mental health needs.

Sedona Jamieson, 20, from Southampton, spent ten years in and out of psychiatric hospitals after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder during her teenage years.

She is now supporting the For Hope in Every Life appeal, launched by St Andrew’s Healthcare, which she says was the only place where she truly recovered.

Sedona said: "My risk level was very high and I was self-harming a lot.

Healthcare leader backs bold vision to transform mental health servicesHealthcare leader backs bold vision to transform mental health services (Image: Chris Read-Jones Photography) "I had attempted suicide several times and before I came to St Andrew's, I was ending up in intensive care units on the operating table pretty regularly.

"The extreme risk of my suicide attempts meant that the longer that went on for, the closer I was going to be to death.

"All those people that were treating me in the hospital following these incidents, were pretty sure it was going to result in death as well."

Her mental health began to improve in 2021 after being admitted to a personality disorder-specific ward at St Andrew’s.

Sedona said: "For me, being on a ward that was specialised to treat my complex mental health condition, meant I could get purely targeted treatment and I received therapies that are proven to help with the disorder.

"I felt like I was being treated like a human again, and there was that tiny bit of hope that kind of popped up."

During her stay, she was able to take A-levels, learn to play the cello, and earn a lifeguard qualification.

She was discharged in 2023 and has since started studying biomedicine at the University of Bath.

St Andrew’s Healthcare, the UK’s largest mental health charity specialising in complex care, launched the For Hope in Every Life appeal to raise funds for patient recovery and care.

This is the charity’s first fundraising appeal in more than 100 years.

Dr Vivienne McVey, chief executive of St Andrew’s Healthcare, said: "For Hope in Every Life is hugely ambitious.

"We want to help transform the lives of thousands of people who are often overlooked in our society."