Mental-health and wellbeing trainer Jennifer Neill explains how society needs to care for the mind as much as it does the body. Emily Moore reports
FREDDIE Flintoff, Tyson Fury, Adele, Prince Harry… they are all very different people from different walks of life and yet they have one thing in common.
They have all spoken openly about the struggles they have experienced with their mental health. And they are just a few of the high-profile individuals who, while outwardly happy and successful, have been candid about what, in the words of Tyson Fury, goes on “behind the mask”.
“It is wonderful that such celebrities are talking about everything from eating disorders to depression and suicidal thoughts,” said Jennifer Neill. “Their openness shows that no amount of money, status or fame can act as a shield when it comes to mental health and that if they can experience these struggles, so can anyone else. Their messages also send out a warning that if we don’t care for ourselves in a way that’s good for us, then we could see our periods of poor mental health develop into mental illness.”
Having launched her mental health and wellbeing training and consultancy business earlier this year, Jennifer was inspired to try and “help others” after being diagnosed with severe depression during her time at university.
“When I left university, I started my career as a personal trainer but it wasn’t long before I became burnt out and experienced a relapse in my own mental health,” she explained. “I therefore decided to change careers but I still wanted a job which helped people.”
For the next five and a half years, that expression of help came through her role as a prison officer but, although she loved the job, again it took a toll on her mental health.
“In many ways, it was harder for the staff than the prisoners,” she reflected. “The prisoners had access to education, opportunities to exercise, regular varied meals and the chance to speak to psychologists or counsellors but the staff were working long hours, in a very metallic and clinical environment and there was no support available.
“With many staff presenting signs of poor mental health, I decided to write a mental-health strategy, which I presented to the prison governor. He was very receptive and engaged but, a year later, nothing had changed and most staff didn’t even know that the strategy existed, so I decided it was time to move on.”
That move took Jennifer to Mind Jersey, where she completed the mental-health first-aid qualification – a course which she has been teaching since 2019 – and “gained the skills to help organisations to grow and change and to help individuals to support themselves”.
“I started as a peer support worked, using my own lived experience of mental illness to support those with poor mental health, and progressed from volunteering to managing the service,” she said.
And while she acknowledges that speaking about her own experiences is not easy, she hopes that doing so will empower others to follow suit.
“I do feel vulnerable when I talk about my struggles but I hope that expressing that vulnerability and sharing my story will encourage other people to share their story and reach out for help,” she said.
But while Jennifer and many others, both locally and internationally, are sharing their stories, there remains, she says, a stigma around mental health, which can discourage those who are struggling from seeking help.
“While mental health seems to be openly talked about, there is still a lot of negativity around the subject,” she said. “When Meghan Markle said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that the ‘pressure of being under the microscope had led her to the point of self-harm and thoughts of suicide’, she was accused of being a homewrecker and a drama queen. Anyone experiencing similar feelings and watching her interview, and hearing that response, would have been discouraged from speaking out, as they would have feared a similar backlash.”
Removing these barriers and breaking down the stigma associated with mental health is therefore something which Jennifer is passionate about.
“It is interesting and frustrating that we don’t respond in the same way to mental health as we do physical health,” she said. “We teach children about physical health from a very young age. As soon as their first teeth come through, we teach them the importance of brushing them. If we don’t feel well, we don’t hesitate to tell our family or colleagues that we have a headache or a stomach upset. And yet, when it comes to mental health, there is no education and we still try to hide the way we feel.”
Trying to change that, Jennifer runs courses for both individuals and businesses, which cover a range of mental-health and wellbeing topics.
“One of the key messages is that there are many different types of both mental and physical illnesses but mental illness is preventable,” she said. “People don’t die from mental illness, although they may die from the choices they make while they are unwell. But recognising the symptoms of poor mental health and taking steps to address them can transform a person’s health.”
Central to the training, says Jennifer, is the concept of change.
“While it is not for us to diagnose our colleagues or neighbours, change is often one of the biggest indicators that someone is struggling with their mental health,” she said. “If, for example, someone who usually arrives at work on time, smartly turned out, packed lunch ready and reliably meets all the deadlines suddenly starts coming in late, has a more unkempt appearance and doesn’t seem to be as productive, those are easily noticeable changes.
“The mental-health first-aid course teaches people not just to recognise those – and other tell-tale signs or symptoms – but also how to respond to them. It gives people the ability to ask the right questions and respond in a non-judgmental way.”
Having support in the workplace is, she says, critical both to enhance people’s wellbeing and also to boost business’ bottom lines.
“One in six working-age adults describe feeling symptoms of anxiety, depression or stress,” she said, “and a 2022 study by Deloitte found that poor mental health was costing businesses £56bn every year. Of that, £22bn came from turnover costs, as people left the workplace and companies were forced to rejuvenate their teams.
“If people feel recognised, supported and valued, they will stay in their jobs and feel able to share with colleagues when they are having difficulties and need help. To support this process, I work with HR managers to develop wellness action plans, which are opt-in tools which employees and employers can use to identify what it looks like when a person is achieving and how their performance may be affected if they are struggling.
“The plan also covers the best way to engage with that person if they are feeling unwell and their behaviour is changing, so that their manager knows how to support them.”
Another key area which Jennifer, who also works with Jersey Sport and Birthable, covers in her training is signposting.
“The idea of the courses is to give people the tools and education they need to understand what mental health is and isn’t, to spot the symptoms of poor mental health and to know how to respond,” she said. “Signposting is a key part of this, as sometimes people know that something isn’t right but they don’t know how to support. I would also emphasise that mental-health first aiders are not psychologists or counsellors, just as first aiders are not doctors.
“However, knowing how to respond and understanding the right things to say when you recognise that someone is struggling with their mental health can make all the difference to their long-term wellbeing.
“Sometimes people don’t realise that simple things such as eating well and exercising more will improve their mental wellbeing. Therefore, for me, the goal is to raise awareness that poor mental health can happen to everyone, mental-health first-aid training can save lives and, ultimately, that people are empowered to support themselves. No one stays in therapy for ever, so the overarching goal is to help them to find ways to manage their symptoms and find ways to live well.”
