Key People

Forum Director:  MARK KILBEY

I have been Director of the Canterbury and District Mental Health Forum since 2007. My own experience as a user of mental health services for some 20 years has informed my day to day work. My values have been shaped by the way I have been treated by the health service, employers and society in general.

 Mental ill-health can be very destructive to every aspect of a persons life and at times I have despaired of ever resuming my ‘normality’. It can feel like a hopeless task and the road to a ’social recovery’ can be a very long one. I have met many people in mental distress in a variety of situations and I feel very fortunate to have done so- I’m pleased that I can call many of them friends. It has given me a privileged insight into the peaks and troughs that living with a mental condition can impose on the individual. 

Because of this I feel very strongly that the individuals voice should be at the centre of treatment and recovery. For many years this voice was disregarded and the only outcome of that would be a life of unfulfilled potential and therefore a waste of the enormous talents possessed. This is why I feel so strongly in the positive benefits of the Mental Capacity Act for example and promote those at all times. Every user of mental health services should use their right to have there views respected and the Advance Decision process puts this on a statutory footing. Other important changes include Advanced Care Planning with it’s emphasis on partnership working and putting the client at the centre of their recovery. 

Good practitioners would always have listened to the individual but unfortunately, through poor training or what I call ‘institutional contempt’, there is still a long way to go until treatment is delivered in a person centered way and is more than mere box-ticking. The forum has it’s six point campaign agenda written by the service users we are in contact with. I would urge people to help us with those six points and contact us with examples of good and bad practice of them.

 Another very important part of the work that goes on at the Forum involves the use of all forms of media to highlight the stigma and discrimination endured by those society has deemed ‘different’ or ‘abnormal’. My mental ill- health has led to me being victimised in this way and it is a very painful experience. Things are moving slowly in the right direction- education and legislation is a part of that. National campaigns like ‘Time to Change’ help but so do individuals engaging directly with the media to tell their story. We have supported people who have wished to do this so please contact us if you have any ideas for engaging with the media to shift the misconceptions that exist about mental health. 

I enjoy the many aspects of my current job. I would never be complacent enough to suggest I’ve conquered my illness but feel that I’m mentally in a good place. The Forum has helped me with that and I hope we will continue to be able to help others.

Thanks….

Mark