Andrew takes to national stage to fight stereotypes

Andrew Voyce, 59, who suffers from schizophrenia, spent 17 years as a revolving door patient in hospitals at Hellingly and Oakwood.

He spoke about his experiences, and his subsequent struggle to promote awareness of his condition, to Radio 4's All In The Mind, and to a documentary crew exploring the closure of Britain's mental asylums.

Andrew, who is a regular user of the 73a Centre for mental health in London Road, said he found it "quite an experience".

"They came down and filmed me in the garden of 73a," he said. "I was worried I may have not come across well, but I was delighted they managed to find enough decent stuff to get the message across."

The documentary, called Mental: A History Of The Madhouse, was screened on May 24 on BBC 4, and followed society's changing attitudes to mental illness over the 60-year postwar period which saw the closure of asylums like Hellingly, near Hailsham.

Andrew also travelled to Eastbourne's BBC studio to speak with Geraldine Fitzgerald, producer for the popular Radio 4 psychology programme All In The Mind, broadcast on June 8.

"I wanted to say that I thought, if I had been picked up as prone to difficulties before I was sent to hospital, I might not have wasted the resources I had at the time," he said.

"Some patterns of my behaviour were present before I was diagnosed. I wish it had been picked up quicker."

When you hear schizophrenic, Andrew says, sensationalist stereotypes encourage associations of community care breakdown, and dangerous lunatics.

His work as a media volunteer for two London-based mental health organisations aims to break down these associations. Soon, he is set to meet with researchers from Oxford University and Maudsley psychiatric hospital in South London with a view to compiling case histories, which will shed more light on schizophrenic patients.

He has supported Activ8, another mental health charity in Trinity Street, Hastings, for more than 10 years, and this week helped at a social event run by Activ8 in Parkhurst Hall.

For further insight into Andrew and his condition visit his website at www.andrewsasylumlife.co.uk