Be Mindful helps Kieron improve his mental health and confidence to return to work

Background

Kieron was made redundant from his 10-year data analytics role in a mass reduction of headcount. This coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, making finding new employment more challenging. He has also lived with seizures for nearly 20 years due to temporal lobe epilepsy which restricts the roles he can perform.

Kieron became depressed and seriously lost his confidence and optimism. He began neglecting himself and missing family and social gatherings. He found it increasingly hard to leave the house or to even get out of bed some days.

Kieron received support in the past from a neuropsychologist due to his seizures. He took part in courses with Healthy Minds Oldham and had some NHS talking therapy which slightly helped but was of limited benefit. He accessed the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) service and also the DWP's Work and Health Programme (WHP) run by Ingeus where he was recommended Be Mindful.

Be Mindful

Kieron found the structured nature and empathy of the program extremely helpful and tangible. The self-paced nature meant he felt no pressure while completing it. He began incorporating the techniques he learnt into his life within the first couple of weeks, finding the mindful breathing, body scans and mindful eating particularly useful. He continues to use the techniques daily along with planning and structuring his day.

Kieron rediscovered his confidence and optimism and his frustration reduced. The program gave him a sense of self-value and the ability to accept setbacks and pressure, particularly with work and job seeking. He found it helped not just with work but his family life, social life and the structure of his life generally. Kieron is currently volunteering as a project administrator and is looking for a paid role.