Shortly after joining theForum, Adam started a thread asking how other members coped with their emotions. He stated that one day he’d be fine and felt able to cope with anything life threw at him, and the next he’d be extremely depressed having realised that, as a person with a conviction, he was unemployable.
Several forum members responded to the post offering their thoughts and advice. Some gave details of organisations that supported people with convictions back into work whilst others mentioned the benefits of becoming self-employed.
The majority of the posts empathised with how Adam was feeling:
“I can very much relate to what you are feeling and going through. I think to be honest among ex-offenders it is pretty much par for the course”.
“Thank you for sharing this. You’ve articulated a post in such a way I could have written the exact same thing myself. It is tough and myself and others can completely empathise”.
Adam thanked everybody that had responded to him and explained how much it had helped, knowing that he wasn’t alone and that others were there to support him.
Adam stated:
“I’m glad I started this thread, it’s certainly shown how common this problem is. It’s great to have a forum like this where I can go on a regular basis and chat to others in the same situation where we can support each other to get through difficulties”.
Lessons
Having a conviction can be a very isolating experience; people often lose family and friends and can find it more difficult to make new ones.
As Adam has seen from the responses to his post, many people struggle with the same types of issues and having somewhere to share these and exchange ways in overcoming them, makes it feel like a less lonely experience.
Links
- You can visit (and join) the online forum
Notes about this case study
This case study relates to our online forum.
Names and details have been changed to protect the identity of those involved.
