John Kelly, a businessman from Dungannon, was on his way to a work meeting in Dublin when he felt a tightness in his chest and pins and needles in his arm, prompting him to call an ambulance. Despite spending three days in the hospital undergoing extensive tests, there were no abnormalities found. A doctor eventually told him that his symptoms weren’t heart-related, but rather a severe panic attack. After spending most of his career in the corporate world, Kelly had started his own sales training business and noticed a steady increase in workplace pressure.
Kelly was eventually referred by his GP for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which he described as the starting point of a longer journey towards recovery. After several months of waiting for his first CBT appointment through the NHS, he was given an initial six sessions, but later paid for further sessions privately. This helped him reconfigure his thoughts and not catastrophise events, and realise that they’re just thoughts that didn’t need his reaction. The CBT sessions also took a lot of introspection and personal character-building.
Although psychological therapies are well-recognised as effective, waiting lists for such services are notorious for being lengthy, causing mental health problems to worsen and many people to “suffer in silence.” In Northern Ireland, for example, it is recommended that mental health support or treatments should be made available within nine weeks. However, research indicates that this target is being missed in a significant proportion of cases. Kelly himself had waited several months for his first CBT appointment.
After working tirelessly on his own physical and mental health, Kelly now coaches businesses on how to instil positive cultural change and resilience into their organisations. He is part of a lineup for a speaking event in Belfast that also features Cormac Neeson, frontman of The Answer and the Unholy Gospel. Kelly shared his story to help others who might be struggling with their mental health. He said, “I’m living proof that no matter how down or anxious you feel, things can get better.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
