A man is using his first hand experience with mental health struggles to help others.
Kenny Thompson, who lives in Rock Ferry, Wirral, said he has struggled with his mental health for seven years and at one point during a dark time in his life he took himself in for a assessment at Arrowe Park Hospital, Birkenhead.
While waiting for his results the 37-year-old fell asleep but when the nurse woke him up, he said he couldn’t remember where he was and was startled.
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The actor said he tried to run away but claimed he was “violently restrained", however the hospital disputes this.
He told the ECHO : “After a night of lack of sleep, I ended up in A&E, I was feeling okay but then I ended up with a knee on my neck.
“I was shocked and traumatised and the experience sort of caused me to unravel. I couldn’t believe this was deemed ok.”
Kenny was released the next day but relapsed only a few months later.
This time, he claimed he was detained at Clatterbridge Hospital, Birkenhead, where he was reportedly "dragged down the corridor when his trousers came down and left him with no dignity."
He said: “I was sectioned for the first time. The containment was horrible, I didn’t understand why I was there. I ended up in seclusion for nearly six days.
“The lack of stimulation pushed me over the edge, I was unsure of the practices around mental health, but they seemed dated, traumatic and against human rights.
“When I came out of hospital, I was put on a forced injection.
"It made me dripple, drool, tired, slow and unfocused. People were concerned and I was concerned that their only answer was medication which made me feel awful.”
A spokesperson for the trust which covers both hospitals explained that they couldn't comment on individual cases but said: "We have checked our security records for that period seven years ago and do not have a record that corresponds to the incident described.
"As a Trust, we are committed to providing the best possible care for our staff and patients."
Kenny's mental health first started to deteriorate after he volunteered in a refugee camp in France.
The experience impacted him profoundly and he started to realise there was little difference between him and the refugees.
This experience alongside the pressures of being an actor, the fear of coming out as gay and the racial trauma he suffered, began his mental health decline.
Kenny said: “Basically through continued hospital admissions, and losing my ability to do what I loved, acting, and continuing relapses, I lost everything I cared about.
“I hated my life, changes in medication made me worse, I ended up suicidal and taking an overdose.”
“I came off my meds for a year, but then relapsed and lost my mum. The trauma and experience made me start to hear voices.”
Kenny says while all he wanted was a hug from his mum, the negative and racist thoughts in his head were only getting worse.
After some time, Kenny wanted to try a more holistic approach with therapy to deal with his trauma and began focusing on getting his career back on track.
He said: "What was giving me hope and solace was my network of friends and my dad."
Kenny began his journey to recovery with Hearing Voice Network Liverpool, a support group raising awareness of diverse experiences.
With the support of the network he found the confidence to speak out about his journey at a Black Lives Matter Rally held at St. Luke’s Church.
He says when he began openly talking about what he had gone through, he found others had suffered something similar.
Kenny is now no longer taking medication and thankfully struggles less with his mental health.
However, with black British men being four times more likely then the white population to be detained under the Mental Health Act, he is determined to use his own personal experiences to help others.
Talking more about his campaigning work, he added: “We are looking at detention and black male experience which is an underrepresented area.
“Hopefully by addressing this it will make services better for all people. We work closely with policy makers and organisations to change policy in collaboration with people with lived experience.
“It will include a lot of work and difficult conversations about race and mental health as well as involving police, MPs, Psychiatrists and survivors. But will hopefully help create the urgent change needed in mental health service.”
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