Occupational Therapy News OTnews October 2019 | Page 16

FEATURE MENTAL HEALTH The art of occupation: wielding the mind Jerome Sewell shares his personal journey, to give a real life example of how occupational therapy helps people recover from a mental illness J erome Sewell is a service user at the Bethlem Royal Hospital. Over the two years he has spent in hospital, he has taken part in over 10 different occupational therapy activities, three psychological assessments and five different groups. Here he shares his personal journey, alongside comment from staff members, to give a real life example of how occupational therapy helps people recover from a mental illness. ‘I first began getting involved in occupational therapy on the Norbury Ward, which is an intensive care unit, 16 OTnews October 2019 where I took part in baking and art therapy, along with developing my CV and applying for a job at the Riverhouse Library,’ he explains. Jerome says that he ‘used occupational therapy as a way to occupy my time and create mental stability, as well as show progress to my clinical team’. When he moved to the Effra Ward for rehabilitation he says that his ‘occupational therapy went to a much higher level’. ‘I began by explaining to the occupational therapist the projects that I engaged with in the community, which © GettyImages/Victor_Tongdee