I'm in limbo."Do you have personal experience of injustice in the mental health system? Or do you have a story to tell? If so, write to Mental Health, The Independent on Sunday Newsdesk, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS. Or email us at mentalhealth independent.co.uk.What we are demandingThe Independent on Sunday is campaigning for better treatment for mentally ill people. I was only too glad to get out because they were building a personality disorder unit in the gardens and you could not get out for a walk."I could not get out of there fast enough I was surprised when they told me I was going I just packed things up It all had to be listed Every item had to go on a separate page. One girl's CDs and cassettes filled a book."At Thornford Park, patients are given £15.50 a week to spend. There are activities: sewing and art classes, nature walks and shopping trips.

But Ms Cresswell, who is still officially under the care of Broadmoor, has yet to be allowed out."We are supposed to have a care approach plan but they have left mine If I played up they could send me back. The men got theirs back."Self-harm among women also became a nightmare. There were not many women who did self-harm when I went there I reckon the system is creating self-harm. They had to replace all the glass windows with plastic."There are some women who have done awful things but a good third of women were merely epileptics when I first went there I campaigned on the issue They had a terrible life.

A lot of people at Broadmoor are diabetic because of the pills they take."So extreme was the security that, on the day she left, Ms Cresswell had to provide details of all her possessions to a member of staff."I was the oldest woman there All my friends had left or died. I did have contact [with my family] but then they brought in these rules which made it unbearable and difficult to speak on the phone."They became nasty as it became more hardline The security was unjustified They took down the curtains after one patient escaped. The curtains stayed down for five years [on the women's ward]. I've developed a hatred of the system which is so unjust."High-security hospitals such as Broadmoor are often portrayed as holiday camps by the popular press, an image which Ms Cresswell says is inaccurate."At one time you could have everything you could get into a room but then they brought in these rules. At Broadmoor they were counting out the cornflakes."In her opinion, the mental health system is "unjust"."I missed my family, I missed out tremendously on my grandchildren and missed out enormously on living," said Ms Cresswell, who sounded cheerful and relaxed despite her treatment."I did not go to my daughter's wedding or my mother's funeral That was quite hard. Here they are not walking around counting the number of possessions we have, although they still do name checks every half hour."They don't search you and breakfast we get ourselves.