A man who is overcoming the mental trauma of a mid-life breakdown is now turning his attention towards promoting the positive impact that volunteering can have towards recovery from severe mental illness. His message comes in the build up to World Mental Health Day on Wednesday 10th October 2007.

Mick Owen, 50, from Harold Wood, Essex, believes volunteering to help other people with mental health problems has contributed significantly to his own recovery – so much so, that he is now able to return to work for the first time in several years.

Mick says, “I had a breakdown about seven years ago when I was a printer by trade. I felt I wasn’t good enough and everyone was talking about me and slagging me and my work off. One day I just downed tools, left and never went back. I’d experienced bullying at work for some years and I think it built up until I couldn’t take it any more. I became paranoid. I was diagnosed as acutely depressed and I was extremely anxious most of the time. I drank to cope.”   

As part of his recovery, Mick has benefited from Capital Volunteering, an innovative scheme operating in 11 London Boroughs with the backing of volunteering charity CSV and the London Development Centre. Preliminary independent research conducted by the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London indicates that 85% of participants report positive outcomes from getting involved in volunteering despite underlying isolation experienced by many within the community.

Mick says, “I began helping Capital Volunteering Havering to design & produce their newsletter and contributed to it by writing a diary for it. After a while, I gained so much confidence that I was also able to assist in teaching computer courses to other volunteers.

“I am now volunteering with Rethink who trained me over 6-7 weeks to become a mentor for people with mental health difficulties. I meet with my mentees for a minimum of 1 hour a week to guide them and try to install confidence in them to break out of the cocoon of the mental health system and move, one step at a time, back into the world.

“It’s about building belief and confidence. You have to have self belief if you are going to recover. Self belief is a light at the end of the tunnel. That’s what volunteering has done for me.  My self belief had gone through the roof. I’m not afraid to do anything and I’m no longer afraid of failing – that’s part of learning. The light at the end of my own tunnel is much lighter now; I’m not out of it yet but, more often than not, I believe I will be.   

“Some weeks ago I applied for a job with Rethink. I didn’t really expect much; it was my first attempt at getting back in to paid work for some years. I was surprised enough when I was requested to attend an interview; imagine how I felt when I was offered the job!  I gratefully accepted the post of (part time) Employment Support Worker, and started work on the week of my 50th birthday.”

Further press information: Jason Tanner on 020 7812 0038 or Paul Donohoe, CSV on 020 7812 0037.

Notes for editors

1. The Capital Volunteering programme aims to tackle issues of mental health and social inclusion, through volunteering.   Funded by the Treasury, through its Invest to Save Budget (ISB). Its lead partners are CSV and the London Development Centre. www.capitalvolunteering.org.uk

2. CSV (Community Service Volunteers) creates opportunities for people to take an active part in the life of their communities through volunteering, training and community action. Last year 227,000 people gave 5 million hours of their time as volunteers through CSV. CSV trained 12,705 people of all ages. www.csv.org.uk

3. The London Development Centre is part of the Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) and one of eight regional development centres in England. It aims to support service improvement of care services in London and help ensure better outcomes for children and families, adults and older people, including those with mental health needs, physical disability or learning disabilities and people in the criminal justice system. www.londondevelopmentcentre.org

4. For more information: World Mental Health Day: www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2006/
world_mental_health_day/en/index.html