A MUM-of-two was just “days away” from taking her own life after her mental health support was pulled due to coronavirus.

Kim Florence, 33, started a new treatment for her PTSD earlier this year in a “last-ditch” attempt to manage the symptoms of her condition.

The process, eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR), is a relatively new treatment that requires patients to talk about the source of their trauma.

Mrs Florence was just starting her treatment, and was feeling really positive before her support network collapsed overnight.

She said: “I just had that rug pulled out from underneath me, everything that I’d put in place just disappeared.

“I’ve tried other treatments before and they never seemed to work, but right from the first session I was optimistic.

“It was bringing out these memories but it was working fantastically and then suddenly everything was gone.”

It took a call to Crisis Care, a 24 hour mental health service for people who feel suicidal, to keep her safe as she struggled with her feelings.

When the coronavirus lockdown was announced at the end of March, Mrs Florence was unable to access the support she’d come to rely on to deal with abuse she had suffered, with her treatment, therapy, and support groups all axed overnight.

Although her therapist called her a few times, they were unable to continue the treatment over the phone, and it would be almost four weeks before the team was ready to offer video sessions.

Her abuse, which was both physical and mental, started off as normal bullying, before escalating to horrific acts that left her in lots of pain.

Along with her PTSD, Mrs Florence also suffers from Ehlers Danlos, a painful genetic disorder which affects connective tissues.

The pain from her condition worsened her mental health symptoms, and pushed her to breaking point.

She said: “My brain links pain to my trauma, and the pain from my condition was causing flashbacks – therapy was one of my last-ditch efforts to pull myself back to being a human being."

“I was a complete wreck, I’d convinced myself that everyone would be better off without me – I was days away from calling a taxi and taking my own life but somehow I managed to talk myself into ringing the crisis number.

Mrs Florence isn’t sure what convinced her to call the crisis line, but thinks her two daughters and her husband Gordon gave her strength.