Langley Green
22 November 2013, interview with Professor John Mark Vincent, 'Together in Mind Group, Park Barn, Horsham, covering time spent in Rose Ward, Horsham and Langley Green in Crawley (2012 – 13), plus a brief stay at a mental hospital in Tokyo, 1990s.
Interview by Jon PotterJohn
Physics with micro computing first-class honours, Surrey University, plus Ph.D. at Essex University 1998 in data compression, that's me.
Jon
Fantastic, I'm interviewing Professor Mark Vincent
John
Professor John Mark Vincent
Jon
Professor John Mark Vincent on 22 July 2013. We are in Horsham, outside the Park Barn, at the Together in Mind group, and I am going to be covering John's story. So just, I am going to start off with something we have just been talking about, before the interview, which is that everyone, to some degree, has madness inside themselves. John ?
John
rushing around, panic buying, materialism, err, clueless, in this world of recession.
Jon
And in this world of recession I find also, quite a degree of fear.
John
Such as for example, is the UK going to lose its AAA rating
Jon
And will we be able to make ends meet, personally, and as a country, all that kind of thing.
John
Yes, except for the fact that I am an internationalist, one is an internationalist.
Jon
That's a very old-fashioned word now isn't it?
John
Do you think so?
Jon
I'm afraid so, yes. The idea that we might be part of a larger human race is, I think, very uncommon now. Can I…
John
I'm not quoting Stephen Hawking verbatim but Prof Stephen Hawking of Cambridge University believes that we should colonise other planets, that that's the best way of dealing with the planet's population expansion.
Jon
Right, yes. Can I get back to some specific things to start with, and then we will expand outwards may be, a bit later. Um, to start with, this collection of interviews concerns people's stays in hospitals, could you just describe which hospitals you have been at in Sussex?
John
One that is no longer a mental hospital, that's Rose Ward, Horsham and the other one, most recently, is in Crawley, Langley Green. Um… I just do not want to go into a mental hospital. I am trying to do my best, live as an upstanding citizen, not breaking the law etc. etc.
Jon
And did you find your time in Langley Green helpful.
John
It was helpful in regard to my mental health. The food was good. Um, the worst thing about it was the light, when you were trying to go to sleep, some person, some psychiatric nurse flashing a large torch through the window of your cell.
Jon
Was there therapeutic help at Langley Green?
John
Therapeutic help? Yes. However, I have been to, as an inpatient, quite a lot of mental hospitals in not just this country, between 2012 and 2013, I was in and out of mental hospitals for six months.
Jon
Which countries, which other countries have you been an inpatient in?
John
The only other country where I have been an inpatient at a mental hospital is, Japan. In Tokyo, that was where I was initially diagnosed with mental health problems, or issues, or whatever you call it these days. I wasn't diagnosed as a manic-depressive, or as it is referred to these days as bipolar disorder, um, when I was working as a researcher in Japan, I knew that something was desperately wrong with my mental health, and I hired a freelance psychologist to see if he could work out what the problem was, and I was diagnosed with atypical psychosis. Um, I think psychosis is the worst form of mental illness you can have, so that is the reason why I have to take mental health drugs, and also some drugs, legal drugs for my physical issues as well.
Jon
Can you describe how you were first admitted that first time in Tokyo?
John
I am not going to say because it is too embarrassing. I was arrested by the Japanese cops and put in a cell, in the police station. My next-door neighbour, who was also working for Hitachi Central research realised what the problem was, and he called my boss, who happened to be a, Japanese, he was the manager, he has a Ph.D. as well…
Jon
And did that help you to resolve that issue at that time
John
Well I was in, err, um, in plain English I was in the lunatic asylum, twice in Japan, so unfortunately that, I realised I had to resign from Hitachi, because I realised I had to return to the UK to get better treatment for my mental health condition. It was very unfortunate because I was married to a Japanese television director and we were going to have a family and unfortunately that didn't happen, so we got a divorce. It was a very amicable divorce.
Jon
And do you think you were right, has your mental health condition been easier to deal with back in England?
John
Certainly, because Japanese is a very difficult language, even though I have been learning it for half my life, um…Do you want to?
Jon
Yes, please, I would like to just ask about Rose Ward first of all
John
Err… Well um, I was bullied, I was punched in the teeth, punched in the eyes, um, someone threatened to smash my teeth in, probably all on account of smelly socks in the dormitory, err so, Langley Green is better than Rose Ward because you get individual rooms, so I really didn't enjoy my time at mental hospital
Jon
At Rose Ward, in Horsham. Did the situation improve at Rose Ward, or did it stay unsafe.
John
Um, um, I'm, I consider myself to be a very decent person, hard-working et cetera, I don't like bullying, I know how to cope with bullies of both genders.
Jon
And your time in Rose Ward, did it succeed in helping you?
John
Um, yes and no.
Jon
Can you go into detail about what help it to did to give you?
John
Um, um, well, err, one of the pluses of being in a mental hospital is you are isolated. At least the only, the only, really the only good thing about being in mental hospital, is the socialising, but unfortunately there was some potential bullying going on in Langley Green.
Jon
In Langley Green as well?
John
Yes
Jon
But not physical attacks?
John
Potentially yes. At least I didn't get hit.
Jon
How long did you spend at Langley Green?
John
Well, um, about a couple of months, don't forget I was in and out of hospital for six months, so the effective last stay at mental hospital was December, the start of December, to the middle of May this year.
Jon
And do you feel in a stronger position in yourself, now?
John
Yes.
Jon
Did the care that you had improve the situation during those six months
John
Yes, yes
Jon
Was it through drugs, or through other types of interventions?
John
Both
Jon
And are you now feeling that you are leaving that behind, do you feel that you are in a strong enough position to move forward?
John
Yes, um, but I, unfortunately I am a very anxious person, and the psychiatrist informed me anxiety is normal, human beings, anxiety is one of the human conditions, so in order to take actions, um, things need to be dealt with very quickly. Especially in a recession.
Jon
Great. This project is about transformations and transitions, and I would like to just talk a little bit more about this recent time in and out of Langley Green, can you put your finger on your transformation, and what that transformation is, what has brought it about?
John
The transformation…
Jon
Transformation to feeling more comfortable now than you were in 2012
John
I think we are going to have to end this interview now, Jonathan
Jon
Yes fine, we shall leave it there, many thanks for your contribution, your memories
John
Thank you.
