(Medicine MBBS, 2017)
I’m no stranger to battling mental illness myself, and one of the big reasons for creating Minderful is that I don’t want others to go through some of the experiences that I’ve had.
Why did you choose to study Medicine at Barts and The London?
I decided to study Medicine at Barts and the London due to my own personal experience with mental illness in my early twenties. In my own small way I wanted to help people who had felt the utter desperation I had felt when depressed. Having come from rural Norfolk, studying medicine in North East London meant I got to experience and learn from a highly diverse group of patients and heathcare professionals.
Was there a specialism that you were particularly interested in pursuing once you graduated?
I decided to go back to Medical School to specifically become a psychiatrist so I had a clear direction even before I started my studies. At times I would get frustrated throughout my degree, as less than 5% of our syllabus was directly related to mental illness. However, the more I understand the role of a psychiatrist within the NHS in my current role, the more I appreciate how important our understanding of physical health is too; especially given that most mental health professionals have very limited training or education in physical health.
This is becoming more and more important with the rising prevalence of patients with an array of morbidities that stretch across both physical and mental health. Fundamentally there is no separation between mind and body; they are intimately interconnected and depend upon each other.
Having a focus early on during Medical School has been really beneficial in my journey as the world of medicine is very broad and I have seen fellow students struggle to find their passion or niche.
Which aspects of your degree did you enjoy and what were your most memorable moments at university?
I think for any medical student learning anatomy by working with a cadaver is unforgettable. Our middle-aged lady, who we named Primrose, still springs to mind regularly!
My first psychiatry placement was transformative for me, most importantly the 5 weeks gave me the reassurance I needed that ‘real’ psychiatry was as fascinating as I had always hoped.
Mental illness is notoriously hard to talk about, especially when one is acutely unwell. If you’re depressed, you don’t think you deserve help, if you're anxious you’re too scared to ask for help and if you're psychotic you don’t think you need help. My one bit of advice would be to ask for help sooner rather than later.
What advice would you give to students who might be struggling with their mental health whilst at university?
Speaking from my own experience, medical school can be a bit of a ‘pressure cooker’. You are surrounded by a lot of ‘high achievers’ who are very good at presenting themselves and creating an ‘us and them’ culture where we have standards and expectations beyond that of the average member of the public. This makes it especially hard to ask for help when it does get too much.
Mental illness is notoriously hard to talk about, especially when one is acutely unwell. If you’re depressed, you don’t think you deserve help, if you're anxious you’re too scared to ask for help and if you're psychotic you don’t think you need help.
My one bit of advice would be to ask for help sooner rather than later. I had to ask for help multiple times whilst at Barts. In reality – asking for help is one of the bravest things you can do.
You are currently a psychiatrist working for the NHS. What are some of your daily responsibilities in this role and how does this role allow you to explore your passions?
I move around every 6 months soaking up experiences across the whole spectrum of mental health (inpatient work, perinatal, community, forensics etc.). I will generally have a caseload that I manage with close support and supervision from my Consultant or Registrar. On calls involve clerking patients, medical clearances and acute medical reviews (e.g. falls, self-harm, physical assaults). As a trainee I also get a lot of protected teaching and career development time. On the whole Psychiatrists are on the gentler side of the Doctor spectrum, more reflective than go go go; more beta than alpha!
How has your Medicine degree helped you in your career and in life?
Medicine gives you a wonderful platform to work from. People rightly (or wrongly) generally make very positive assumptions about you, from integrity through to your intelligence.
From my point of view it has helped give me a platform to voice and campaign for reducing the stigma of mental illness. I am extremely passionate about bringing good mental health to all and I have been focusing on this in the last couple years through a social enterprise called Minderful.
Outside of your role as a psychiatrist, you are also an entrepreneur and Co-Founder of the mental health fitness app Minderful. Can you tell us more about Minderful and its aims?
At Minderful we are making it easy and fun for people to ‘do more for their minds’. Minderful contains a library of mental fitness ideas which people can explore and find something of interest to them. There are a range of different suggestions on offer, from a digital detox to going for a wild swim.
Once users have found any number of ideas that appeal to them, they are provided a 10-step plan to give them motivation and inspiration. This might include hearing from someone who has done it themselves and their tips and advice, or the ability to add a buddy to support them through their specific activity. The app is designed to provide help that is bespoke and personal to whoever is looking for support. In time, it helps build a unique mental fitness routine.
The ultimate aim is to take our community on a self directed journey of self discovery, where they can collect good things to do for the mind and ultimately build their own highly personalised mental fitness routine.
What stage is Minderful currently at and how would you like to see it develop in the future?
Excitingly, we launched the Minderful app in January and Apple have since featured it as a 'trending app' and 'best pick for audio'. Download Minderful from the App Store.
Our Creative Director, James Harrop summarises the Minderful App as ‘1,000 mental fitness ideas in your pocket’; much like Steve Jobs’ description of the I-Pod ‘1,000 tracks in your pocket’.
With the scalability of tech Minderful has the potential to improve the mental fitness of millions of people. The mentally fitter the population becomes the more mental illness we can prevent.
Today is University Mental Health Day. How do you think students in particular would benefit from using the Minderful app?
University is a time for change and growth, where we learn through trial and error who we really are. This process can be really tough: whether it's feeling lonely in a big new city, stressed around exam season or re-assessing your identity. Minderful can help you traverse this journey. Start by exploring our library of mental fitness ideas - I would recommend trying out first:
There is still a lot of stigma associated with mental health and talking about our mental health. Why do you think this is?
Given the prevalence of mental illness most people across the globe will have been touched by it, either directly or indirectly through one’s family or closest friends. Despite this exposure we still see a surprising number of people not able to understand or even be compassionate towards mental illness.
I think this is probably to do with two things:
Lastly, why do you think it is important that we consciously make our mental health and wellbeing a priority?
Too many people have struggled silently for too long; we need to get practical and accessible good mental health into people’s daily lives to prevent mental illness and to be part of the recovery process.
Over the last two decades we have seen a doubling in the incidence of common mental health problems across the globe. Some of the following factors explain this:
Factors such as office work (a more sedentary lifestyle) and cheap fast food in the 80s / 90s triggered the Physical Fitness revolution, and we feel like we’re at a similar tipping point with Mental Fitness. We need to make our mental health as much of a priority as our physical health.
If you would like to get in touch with Nick or engage them in your work, please contact the Alumni Engagement team at alumni@qmul.ac.uk.