'One night, I was so afraid – I closed all of my blinds and was hiding in my bedroom and I ended up taking a massive overdose that left me unconscious for three days.'
A woman's abusive relationship left her feeling like she had no control over her life or her emotions, to the point where she tried to end her life just to escape.
The psychological abuse she suffered at the hands of her partner led her to contact the police - who began a difficult two year investigation.
The mum-of-four, who we are calling Sarah to protect her anonymity, is now backing Labour Police and Crime Commissioner candidate Emily Spurrell and her bid to offer more support to victims of crime.
Speaking about her own experiences, Sarah, from north Merseyside said: "I was with my ex for nearly four years – he was extremely abusive.
"He would do things like let himself into my home when I was asleep because he wanted to explain what he said was a misunderstanding.
"He smashed up my laptop and lamps and made me believe that I was the problem.
"One time he told me that 'I made him abuse me'.
"Another time he drove me to the beach at night, in a storm, and was gripping his fists in anger at the wheel.
"He would not speak to me for days, but I would know that all that time he would be winding himself up and it would make me so anxious because I knew he would turn up.
"He was controlling all of my emotions – I had no space to exist."
She added: “The coercive control had a huge effect on my life – I had his voice in my head all the time saying things he used to say like 'you're mental – everyone thinks you are nuts.'
She added: "One night, I was so afraid – I closed all of my blinds and was hiding in my bedroom and I ended up taking a massive overdose that left me unconscious for three days.'
Sarah had reported the situation to the police but said that while officers were understanding and listened to her - they simply didn't have the resources to keep her updated with all the information she needed during the investigation.
She said: "With the continued government cuts, I think the situation for victims of the criminal justice system has got worse - police have less and less time to deal with people.
"The working environment for police has got worse and more hostile, more are going off ill and with stress - for me, having five different investigating officers was very difficult."
"A lack of resources means that more and more suspects are being released under investigation and not with bail conditions - so victims are being told it is their responsibility to stay away from them, rather than the other way around."
"In my case this led to me not even being able to go into my garden in case he was there - my life was entirely put on hold."
Sarah says she was advised not to seek therapy while her investigation was ongoing as this could potentially have been used against her.
When eventually the investigation closed, with no charges brought against her former partner - she started using hypnotherapy which has greatly helped her Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and crippling anxiety.
She thinks more needs to be done to help and advise victims of crime during investigations.
She said: "Police forces just don't have the resources for this anymore.
"I think there needs to be more in terms of third party victim services who can help to explain the situation – so I really support what Emily Spurrell is saying on this.
"That could have helped me to have the therapy I needed much earlier.
"The police were understanding and did listen to me – the problem was they had a lot of rules to follow and not enough resources to keep me updated on them all."
Emily Spurrell is currently vying for the Labour candidacy to be the next Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner.
She has vowed to put victims of crime at the centre of her plans - and this is one of the reasons Sarah is backing her.
She said: "How victims are treated or spoken to by the police in the first instance can have an enormous effect on them so it is good to see Emily talking about this."
