1,950 Days

I’m not sure why but I’ve been spending a lot of time in Memory Lane the past couple of days.

Facebook seems to be going into overdrive flashing up memories. And next week marks five years since we went to the High Court for the week long hearing. The week that changed both Steven’s and my life.

Five years. So much has happened in that time. Steven has built a new life, in a new home. My life is unrecognisable to the life I had prior to the one I had before. In a good way.

Then I remember the stats that Chris Hatton compiled for Seven Days of Action. One in particular ties in with my current preoccupation. One that makes me feel heavy hearted and a bit guilty too.

1,950 days is the average length of time people are spending in in-patient services. About 5 years. The chances are that someone who was admitted to an ATU on the day our court case began, is still there. Still being held away from their home and family. Still in distress. Still being medicated. Still being restrained. Still without human rights.

I could break my word count record if I listed all the new things Steven and I have done in the last 1,950 days. New homes. New careers. New interests. New relationships.

It’s called living a life. And when you’re incarcerated in an ATU for 1,950 days, you’re not living a life.