Company along the road
THE road to recovery from
mental
illnessFrycan be a long an
By
Douglas
.............................................
arduous
one, often made more
difficult
by the
THE
road
to societal
recoverystigma
from
it attracts.
A program run by the St
Vincent de Paul Society aims to
break down those barriers,
however, by matching volunteers with mentally ill people to
provide them with a friend on
their journey to recovery.
The Compeer program,
which commenced in Sydney
in 1995 and last week celebrated its fourth anniversary in
the ACT, currently has 32 local
volunteers participating in the
one-on-one program.
ACT Compeer program
officer Anchal Goel said the
program had attracted volunteers from a range of different
backgrounds, including public
servants, university students
and retirees.
“There are also people who
have had an experience or a
history of mental illness in their
life, and feel they would benefit
from something like this, and
feel that their personal experience of having gone through a
mental illness can benefit
Volunteer David Pearson Mr Pearson was matched
someone else,” she said.
Volunteers committed at said he joined the program two with a 33-year-old man with
least four hours per month over years ago after seeing an schizophrenia, social anxiety
a year-long period, with the advertisement in The Chron- and depression. “The lack of
goal of increasing the friend’s icle. “I’m a pharmacist by communication in the early
social participation. “The aim is profession, and I have an stages really caught me off
to give the friend someone to interest in the treatment of guard, and I really felt it wasn’t
talk to, someone to reduce their depression through medicines working,” he said. “But of
isolation, the neglect and ignor- and non-medicine therapies as course, that’s part of that person
ance they have received in well, and this seemed to be getting that sense of trust.”
society because of their mental something I could add a bit of Once a rapport was estabillness,” Ms Goel said.
value to,” he said.
lished, Mr Pearson said his
Copyright Agency Ltd (CAL)
licensed copy
friend gradually began to
change, becoming more open in
conversations and starting to
laugh more.
“There’s been a significant
decrease in his anxiety about
attending what we would consider to be ‘normal’ activities,”
Mr Pearson said. “I use the
example of just walking
through a place like the Canberra Centre, which can be
incredibly challenging for people with schizophrenia.”
Mr Pearson said he had
learned the power of friendship
in the mental illness recovery
process.
■ The Compeer program is
always on the lookout for
volunteers. For more
information, email
compeer@svdp-cg.org.au
Northside Chronicle (Canberra), Canberra
20 Aug 2013, by DOUGLAS FRY
General News, page 12 - 364.37 cm²
Suburban - circulation 40,277 (-T-----)
ID 209122986
PAGE 1 of 1
Company along the road
By
Douglas Fry
.............................................
THE road to recovery from
mental illness can be a long an
arduous one, often made more
difficult by the societal stigma
it attracts.
A program run by the St
Vincent de Paul Society aims to
break down those barriers,
however, by matching volunteers with mentally ill people to
provide them with a friend on
their journey to recovery.
The Compeer program,
which commenced in Sydney
in 1995 and last week celebrated its fourth anniversary in
the ACT, currently has 32 local
volunteers participating in the
one-on-one program.
ACT Compeer program
officer Anchal Goel said the
program had attracted volunteers from a range of different
backgrounds, including public
backgrounds, including public
servants, university students
and retirees.
“There are also people who
have had an experience or a
history of mental illness in their
life, and feel they would benefit
from something like this, and
feel that their personal experience of having gone through a
mental illness can benefit
someone else,” she said.
Volunteers committed at
least four hours per month over
a year-long period, with the
goal of increasing the friend’s
social participation. “The aim is
to give the friend someone to
talk to, someone to reduce their
isolation, the neglect and ignorance they have received in
society because of their mental
illness,” Ms Goel said.
Volunteer David Pearson
said he joined the program two
said he joined the program two
years ago after seeing an
advertisement in The Chronicle. “I’m a pharmacist by
profession, and I have an
interest in the treatment of
depression through medicines
and non-medicine therapies as
well, and this seemed to be
something I could add a bit of
value to,” he said.
change, becoming more open in
conversations and starting to
laugh more.
“There’s been a significant
decrease in his anxiety about
attending what we would consider to be ‘normal’ activities,”
Mr Pearson said. “I use the
example of just walking
through a place like the Canberra Centre, which can be
Mr Pearson was matched
with a 33-year-old man with
schizophrenia, social anxiety
and depression. “The lack of
communication in the early
stages really caught me off
guard, and I really felt it wasn’t
working,” he said. “But of
course, that’s part of that person
getting that sense of trust.”
Once a rapport was established, Mr Pearson said his
incredibly challenging for people with schizophrenia.”
Mr Pearson said he had
learned the power of friendship
in the mental illness recovery
process.
■ The Compeer program is
always on the lookout for
volunteers. For more
information, email
compeer@svdp-cg.org.au
friend gradually began to
change, becoming more open in
St Vincent de
Paul Compeer
program officer
Anchal Goel,
right, and
volunteer David
Pearson with
other program
participants.
Picture: Douglas Fry