PLANNING a wedding is stressful for any bride-to-be but for Megan Finn it almost broke her.
The mum-of-two says she was so overwhelmed by her wedding preparations that she developed psychosis.
Megan Finn says that planning her wedding to husband Jordan pushed her to the brink[/caption]
She was sectioned by the police after landing in Belfast following her honeymoon[/caption]
Megan Finn, 27, had to juggle rescheduling her big day, looking after two children and running her own nail salon from March 2020 to July 2022 which seriously took its toll.
She says her weight dropped drastically from 13st to 6st 7lb she stopped sleeping and hallucinated hearing voices in her house.
But it was during her rescheduled honeymoon on July 13, 2022, that she hit breaking point.
Megan says her brain “had enough” – and she started having hallucinations about her husband, production operative Jordan, 30, falling off their balcony.
On returning home to Belfast, Megan was sectioned by two police officers, and she spent nearly 10 weeks in the Acute Mental Health Inpatient Centre, Belfast.
Now, she says she feels stable – but warns it isn’t healthy to glamourise the stress of being a woman who “has it all”.
Megan, a nail technician, says: “The reason I ended up the way I was, was because I was so stressed.
“Being a woman who owns the business, looks after the kids and has the fairytale wedding is so glamourised.”
Megan says that initially planning her nuptials wasn’t stressful, but Covid restrictions put huge pressure on her.
“Preparing for our wedding was pretty plain sailing at first – but when lockdown hit, there was so much we had to rearrange,” she explains.
“On top of that, my husband was an essential worker – so I had to look after and homeschool two kids under 10.
“My business was struggling as we weren’t getting grants, and he was the only person bringing any money in.
“To be honest, the moment we went on our honeymoon and my brain had time to relax – I think it had just had enough, it didn’t know what to do.”
In March 2020, Megan and Jordan had been engaged for two years, and were looking forward to their wedding day on June 10, the same year.
But when lockdown hit, the couple were told by their venue they would likely have to push their celebration back indefinitely.
Megan had to postpone her photographer, band, DJ, and store her own wedding dress at home – because she feared the shop would go out of business before her big day.
“We had to change everything on our marriage license,” she says.
“As well as rearranging the hair stylist, the makeup artist and the entertainment – I had to take my wedding dress home because I was worried it would be lost forever.”
The couple had to postpone their wedding due to Covid restrictions[/caption]
Megan, seen with her father, says rescheduling her wedding caused immense stress[/caption]
When she was able to open her salon for business, Megan began working 12 hour days without breaks – as well as trying to fit in homeschooling her children on her days off.
In the space of two years, she lost six-and-a-half stone, dropping four dress sizes – which friends and family put down to wedding nerves.
But by June 2022, it became clear that something more “sinister” was at play – when the mum stopped sleeping, and started having auditory hallucinations.
She adds: “Leading up to my wedding, things started to become a little more sinister and concerning.
“I started talking noticeably fast, as if I was really excited.
“This was around the time I started to have real, paranoid, auditory hallucinations.
“I thought I could hear friends in the house – when nobody was there except me and my husband.”
I remember thinking my sister was an MI5 agent – and out to get me
Megan Finn
Megan and Jordan got married on July 9, 2022 – but despite feeling like she could “relax,” her symptoms only worsened.
The pair left with their children, aged seven and nine, and Megan’s mum, barber Tanya, 57, for their ‘familymoon’ to Alcudia, Spain, on July 13.
But Tanya found herself having to look after Megan – as her hallucinations became so bad, she thought Jordan had fallen off their apartment balcony.
With one day to go before the end of the holiday, a Spanish doctor advised Megan to go home.
“My dad and sister flew over to bring me home,” she says.
“On the way from Dublin Airport to Belfast, I remember thinking my sister was an MI5 agent – and out to get me.
WHAT IS PSYCHOSIS?
According to the NHS, psychosis is a mental health problem that causes people to perceive or interpret things differently from those around them. This might involve hallucinations or delusions.
The two main symptoms of psychosis are:
- hallucinations – where a person hears, sees and, in some cases, feels, smells or tastes things that aren’t there; a common hallucination is hearing voices
- delusions – where a person has strong beliefs that aren’t shared by others; a common delusion is someone believing there is a conspiracy to harm them
The combination of hallucinations and delusional thinking can cause severe distress and a change in behaviour.
Experiencing the symptoms of psychosis is often referred to as having a psychotic episode.
You should see your GP immediately if you’re experiencing symptoms of psychosis. It’s important psychosis is treated as soon as possible, as early treatment can be more effective.
Your GP may ask you some questions to help determine what’s causing your psychosis. They should also refer you to a mental health specialist for further assessment and treatment.
“We got into an altercation, which led me to being sectioned by police.”
The mum-of-two was taken to the Belfast Acute Mental Health Unit, where she was hospitalised for nine-and-a-half weeks.
Her treatment plan included taking antipsychotics once-a-day – and it took doctors three different medications to bring her out of her psychosis.
After being discharged, she was provided with a psychiatrist and community mental health nurse, who she still sees every month.
HOW CAN STRESS CAUSE PSYCHOSIS?
The NHS recognise the following as possible causes of psychosis:
- mental health conditions like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder
- severe stress or anxiety
- severe depression – feelings of persistent sadness, including postnatal depression, which some women experience after having a baby
- lack of sleep
Brief psychotic disorder is a sudden, short-term psychotic episode brought on by extreme stress or trauma – that’s more common in people in their 20s, 30s or 40s.
According to Better Help, it is distinct due to its cause, its short length, and the infrequency of its appearance in individuals.
Getting adequate sleep, exercise, eating a healthy diet and meditating can help reduce your risk of psychosis when under extreme stress.
Now, she feels “stable” and on her way to becoming “herself” again – but Megan wants to warn others not to overglamourise stress.
“I’ve learnt not to push myself,” she says.
“I know my limits and my early warning signs to relapse – like not sleeping, weight loss, and spending excessive amounts of money.
“Don’t over-glamourise stress – it’s so much more important to be stable.”
Megan says she feels ‘stable’ once again and says that people should never glamorise stress[/caption]
