18 May LABOUR MP Andrew Gwynne says he feels like he “has his life back” after seeking help for mental ill health.
LABOUR MP Andrew Gwynne says he feels like he “has his life back” after seeking help for mental ill health.
In a moving interview with GB News, Mr Gwynne urged others not to descend down the “rungs into suicide” before seeking help.
The MP for Denton and Reddish said he also regularly privately supports political colleagues going through similar ordeals.
Speaking as part of Mental Health Awareness Week he told Gloria De Piero: “Seek help. It’s not easy. It’s not easy to recognise you are at the lowest point…if you are feeling miserable, if you feel that cloud is there, the black dog, try and do something about it. It’s not easy to recognise that you are at the lowest point because you always feel that there’s still another rung that you can go down. The worry is that that rung might be the rung that is the suicidal rung. So don’t let it get that far. If you are feeling miserable. there is help there. There are organisations out there. There are people that will listen, that will help, that will point you in the right direction. Please use them.”
Explaining how his condition impacts him he added: “This cloud descends on you. And you can’t get your mind straight about anything. Everything, even trivial things, just seem insurmountable and you want to give up.
“Now to be fair, I’ve never felt suicidal. I’ve never felt that I wanted to end my life because I have three children,a beautiful wife. Those things probably kept me in the game, but at my lowest points, I feel like I have absolutely nothing going for me.
“Even the fact that I’ve got the best job in the world, representing the town where I’ve always lived, grown up, gone to school, brought my own family up and it is a real privilege to represent your hometown in Parliament. That in itself is a privilege, but none of it meant anything because I was right on the floor.”
Mr Gwynee said being prescribed antidepressants for depression was a key turning point for him.
“My mental health now is brilliant,” he said. “I wake up and feel normal, whatever normal is.. Nothing troubles me. Well, almost nothing and it’s great to have my life back.
“Obviously, there is some kind of chemical imbalance going on in my body and the pills help fix it. My GP is not concerned about me having been on them now for some time. She says if it’s working, it’s working, and I’ll take her advice on it and it is working. But there’s also living in happier times, things are going well. So all of those things give you a personal boost anyway.
He revealed that former House of Commons speaker John Bercow had also recommended that he try talking therapy.
Mr Gwynne said: “One of the things that John Bercow introduced when he was Speaker was greater mental health awareness amongst Members of Parliament . So when I was at a particular low point I was directed by the House of Commons health team to go and try some talking therapies and I don’t know whether it works or not.
“It was a bit awkward from time to time, talking about your circumstances, your mental health. It wasn’t a game changer for me in the way that it is for some people, but certainly I think it’s commendable that the House of Commons as a place of work offers a whole range of treatments, not just to Members of Parliament but also to people who work there, either as MP staff or work for Parliament itself. And that’s what good employers should do.”
Mr Gwynne said the response from colleagues after he first went public about his illness was eye-opening.
He said: “I was contacted by e-mail, by text message and stopped in the corridors of power by colleagues on both sides of the house to say how refreshing they found me talking about my own mental health, but also to say I’m going through something similar.
“And from time to time I do see people where I can see the signs that they’re struggling a little bit. And I’ll go over and just put my hand on the shoulder and have a little private chat with them.”
