In this week’s Mentally Yours, Tina Campbell talked about her time as an inpatient in a Mental Health Unit and how they’re nothing like the wards and asylums you see in films and TV.

‘It looked more like an old people’s home actually – lots of wooden flooring and armchairs, and lots of board games,’ she said.

‘You were free to walk around but the front doors were locked.’

Tina joined us on Metro.co.uk’s weekly mental health podcast.

‘You think mental health you think One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest all in straightjackets – there were no straightjackets.

‘There were alcoholics there, there were people with eating disorders, people who were just mentally vulnerable, maybe emotionally vulnerable, you know, and I just felt we were put there because they didn’t know where else to put us.’

Tina wasn’t on any medication and says there wasn’t any structure to the day, except the odd game of ping pong and, one day, karaoke, describing it as a bit like being in the Big Brother house.

No pills or straightjackets – but not much structure either (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

She said: ‘I saw a doctor occasionally but there was no actual kind of therapy. I was just there. I think it was more to just protect me from myself.’

Tina also talked about how she manages her anxiety and depression with hypnotherapy and colour therapy.

We discussed small tips to improve your mood like smiling at yourself in the mirror and writing down five things a day that made you happy.

You can listen to the full show by clicking the Soundcloud link above, or subscribe to Mentally Yours through iTunes.

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