Mental health patient follows his dreams to recovery

Trevor Parsons from Verwood is a budding wildlife and landscape photographer, but life was very different for him six years ago as he battled to recover from a nervous breakdown.

This was his second breakdown and was caused by stress and being overworked. He was off work for ten weeks and was supported at St Ann’s Hospital. He said: “Everyone at St Ann’s Hospital was very kind and caring, providing the highest level of support during a really hard time for me.”

When Trevor left St Ann’s he didn’t want to go out but his doctor suggested he should aim to go out the house for five minutes a day and take a photo of the nearby gardens. This was just the start and over time Trevor spent more time outside, taking photos of wildlife and different landscapes across Dorset.

Trevor said: “My passion for nature and photography helped me to recover. I am hoping to raise awareness of how nature and photography is good for your mental wellbeing by holding talks to those with mental health problems and how this hobby helped me.”

He has even managed to get his work featured in The Times, on TV presenter Julia Bradbury’s blog, BBC South Today and local lifestyle mags Dorset Living and Hampshire Living.

Why not give Trevor a follow on Twitter to view more photos and see how photography has supported him? Visit his profile here: www.twitter.com/sonsrap10