Story by Mark Lankshear
Owen Smith is passionate about mental health. Ever since his childhood in and around Pitsmoor, he’s overcome many obstacles to become one of the few, highly valued, black members of community mental health teams.
He has nine children and a grand-daughter, but he still finds time to volunteer at SACMHA. He works with clients to help them back into their community and loves it. Despite suggestions he should move up and be a co-ordinator, Owen says he just wants to keep doing what he’s good at.
Everyone has a mental illness in them, the smallest thing can bring it out. I can understand the frustration ’cos of my dyslexia. There’s a lot of fear around mental illness, especially for black men. Yeah I’ve been spat at and abused, but I give people the support they need, “I’m here for you, tell me what you need.” I have my own clients and I feel like I’m doing something right!
What was growing up in Pitsmoor like?
No place could beat my childhood. We were four in a big old iron bed in a house on Burngreave Bank. They’ve been knocked down now, but I remember a Blues club in one of the houses, I wanted to be like the guys in the big cars. I remember having a fear of snow, crawling on my hands and knees up the path to Burngreave Middle School (now Byron Wood), scared that I’d slide back down onto the road.
How did you do at school?
School was horrible, very racist in those times, we were always getting kicked out or put at the back. I stuttered and was in hospital with asthma every summer. I got into trouble with the police as a teenager, but I always wanted to get into mental health work, I just didn’t know how.
So how did you start out?
About sixteen years ago, in an old people’s home. I still remember working one to one, six days a week for five years, with a disabled man. We got on really well and I saw his behaviour really change. Since then I’ve worked all over – on psychiatric wards, in secure units, for SACMHA. I had a great experience at Sandy Lee working with people with learning disabilities.
Why do you think black men get such a rough deal from the system?
It’s because there aren’t enough black workers, no one to say “It’s a black thing.” The system doesn’t deal with or understand black culture. Really and truly misunderstandings arise, tempers get lost, leading to fear and more restraint. I was really lucky to get the job at Wathwood, I got good training, but there were no other black staff. I hated parts of it, I felt like a screw. There are lots of black men in secure units, they need help to sort out their problems, deal with their temper and get on with their lives.
So what needs to happen?
We need more training schemes to draw black people into mental health work, give them experience and fight the fear of mental illness.
What would you say to someone thinking of mental health work?
No matter what, stay at school, do your exams, so you can start at the level you want to, not the bottom.
_If you’d like to work in mental health you could link up with SACMHA, or contact the South Yorkshire NHS Recruitment Information Line on 08000 380 100 or the NHS Careers Hotline, 0845 60 60 655.