In the fifth of the series of videos, Jason Berry, co-founder of the Mortgage Industry Mental Health Charter (MIMHC) talks to James Prosser.
Prosser is Global Sports Director at Smartframe Technologies but for almost two decades was a leading figure in financial services event management.
In a wide-ranging discussion, he talks openly about how his alcohol addiction impacted his mental health and his subsequent road to recovery.
For Prosser, alcohol was always a part of his work which blurred into his personal life leading him at times to deep depression. As we tend to link alcohol with celebration and success, it took him many years to realise that for him, he needed to break this association.
In January 2020 he attended his first Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting and the stories of others there instantly resonated with his own experiences. He found the courage to accept his alcoholism and began his rood to sobriety.
Prosser is now three years sober and himself an AA sponsor to others. He recalls a phrase commonly used at AA, “Come in for your drinking and stay for your thinking”.
This helped him to understand that alcohol was a large part of his personal struggle with mental wellbeing but that his recovery would not have been possible without the shared experience and support that AA offers.
He goes on to say that while 75% of businesses now have drink and drug policies in place, only 30% of line managers know how to spot the signs of mental illness and so much more focus on training is needed.
It is possible to support others through simply starting a conversation about our personal issues and challenges. Recognising, accepting, and reaching out are the three first steps towards mental wellbeing and Prosser encourages anyone that is struggling to find the courage to take the first step.
For him, the acceptance of his alcoholism and road to sobriety have been transformational for both his personal and professional life.
In forthcoming videos, Berry will be chatting with key figures across the mortgage industry about how they keep the mental health conversation going in their businesses.
MIMHC is a not-for-profit organisation that was founded to raise awareness of employees’ mental health and how the industry can take positive action to improve it.
It is made up of seven co-founding firms plus over 60 signatory companies across the mortgage industry. All these firms agree to be bound by MIMHC’s six governing rules which apply best practice health and wellbeing guidelines and are summarised as ‘The MIMHC Charter’.
