It’s a good thing we don’t know what the future holds. Otherwise we might never get out of bed.

On Monday, the long-awaited Mental Health Taskforce Report was published. And it made grim reading. Behind the awful stories about people being let down or receiving no treatment at all is the spectre of stigma. How else can it be that government ministers have spouted forth about No Health without Mental Health and Parity of Esteem whilst at the same time services have seen real terms reductions to funding far greater than other parts of the NHS. And despite referral rates continuing to rise? The suicide rate is rising again too, even among groups not previously considered to be at high risk.

The coverage was wide and mainly pretty fair. (I say mainly; the Metro managed to annoy almost everyone on my Twitter feed with an offensive headline.) I was impressed by what Paul Farmer and all my other friends on the taskforce have achieved, and by the measured response of NHS England and the Secretary of State. But instead of feeling proud to have played my tiny part, and girding my loins for the sustained effort that will be needed to hold the government and the NHS to account, I noticed my mood gradually getting lower throughout Monday. By the evening, I was overwhelmed with sadness that it has taken so long for so many people to be heard, and that many lives have been lost along the way. And I was assailed with despondency and a sense of utter failure for what I hadn’t managed to achieve in all those years I was running mental health services and had so much opportunity and influence.

Things got worse on Tuesday. I woke to find myself the subject of an article in my local paper, the Brighton Argus, along with a massive photo of me with a long-forgotten hair colour. It said that 19 staff at Sussex Partnership, the trust I used to run, had received severance pay-outs totalling several millions in the past four years, and that I had received the largest sum, £275k, in 2014.

It was wrong in every respect. The highest payment was £27.5k not £275k. And I hadn’t received one at all. And I felt tearful and scared and powerless and all the other things I remember about being public property for the 13 years I was a chief executive.

I minded most because leaving the trust caused me great anguish. Anticipating it almost certainly led to my last serious depression. Going back to work after my breakdown for another 8 months was very hard. It mattered greatly to me that, having managed to do so, I should leave on my own terms.

A few phone calls later, I was reassured that the story had appeared because of a combination of cock-up and further cock-up. Thank you to everyone concerned for your honesty; mistakes are always forgivable when people tell the truth. By the afternoon, The Argus had removed mention of me from their website and agreed to publish a correction the following day. Which they did. And today they published a letter from me here (there may still be issues with this link if you are on a smartphone. Try Argus Letters in your preferred search engine and ask your browser to use the Argus desktop site. Or try this link directly with the trust website http://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/whats-new/no-severance-package-former-chief-executive-note-lisa?platform=hootsuite)

As I left the house yesterday afternoon somewhat surreptitiously to do some local errands and keep an appointment to give blood, I wondered what people must be saying behind my back. And I was reminded what it felt like to have no place to hide.

However, the week wasn’t all bad.

I was asked to appear on Radio Surrey and Sussex this morning to talk about the stigma of mental illness as part of the BBC #InTheMind series. You can catch me, Danny Pike and the wonderful Sue Baker of Time to Change here 1hr 10 mins into the programme.

Our choir has been rehearsing for a charity concert on Saturday afternoon – details here https://twitter.com/slondonchoir/status/699507596353499136 All welcome.

Brighton and Hove Albion drew away on Tuesday night with Championship leaders Hull and are now third from top, and only one point away from an automatic promotion spot to the Premiership.

And I have at last finished the first draft of my book, which is about being a chief executive who occasionally experiences doubts and depression.

One day I hope you will read it.

Update: I spoke too soon, which after 21 years following the Seagulls, I’ve found it’s easy to do. We got stuffed 4-1 yesterday by Cardiff City. Have a feeling this season could go right to the wire, just like every other year!

But the choir concert was – well I don’t have enough superlatives. Life – affirming will do. And today I helped my lovely husband Steve, who supports me in all my endeavours, to raise money for The Tall Ships Trust, a youth development charity to which he is very committed, via a jumble sale of boat stuff. The two of us were up at 5.00 am. By 2.00pm, we had made just shy of £1,000 which will help kids from disadvantaged backgrounds to experience the joys and lessons that can be learned through sailing.

And I’ve heard from hundreds of people who’ve said kind things. Which for someone like me means more than I can possibly tell you. On Tuesday I was in the depths of despond. Today, on balance, I’m really happy to be me.

Thank you.