For the last three years I have suffered complex post traumatic stress disorder. I have been in a psychiatric hospital for 4 and half months in 2009 and 4 months in 2010. I feel I have damaged my four boys with the stress, trauma and worry I have put them through, and because I have not been really there for them in the last few years due to being unwell. We were very close but I feel that things are not quite the same now. I understand why, but it is difficult to explain that what I did was not because I did not love them but because of my illness. I am really having to work hard at trying to rebuild their trust and love for me. It is not easy. Even my relatives and some friends cannot understand how I could do this to my children. Sometimes I feel that no-one really understands that I tried so hard, I couldn't help my behaviour. They only see that on the outside I appear normal, mental illness is not always recognised, accepted or treated with the support that one would receive if you suffered from another condition. I feel I have such a long way to go, and very isolated and alone sometimes.