A former policeman who has credited wildlife photography with his ongoing recovery from PTSD has encouraged others to pick up their cameras to help them cope with post lockdown anxiety.
Mental health advocate Paul Williams, from Kendal who recently appeared on BBC4’s The Great British Photography Challenge developed PTSD while working as policeman, when he was forced to defend himself and others in a machete attack.
Paul attempted suicide multiple times during his long road to recovery, but advocates picking up his camera and capturing stunning images of wildlife as the turning point.
And as people struggle with the inevitable wave of anxiety post lockdown, Paul had the following advice.
“Some people are understandably nervous about coming out of lockdown. I for one have found many aspects of limited social contact have helped my PTSD, but we as a society, sooner rather than later have to reintegrate into our communities, and return to our families and workspaces.
“There are many people during this last 18 months who have involuntarily become isolated, neglected and forgotten about. Reintegration is a process, a destination with a convoluted journey that resonates with much of my journey towards recovery from PTSD.
“For me it was photography that helped me regain some of that lost confidence and ameliorated feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of having to interact once again with the human race.
“Most of us own mobile phones that take images – I often use mine when I don’t want to carry all of my kit but still want something to capture the world around me. Maybe a way to help us all deal with the isolation and eventual reassimilation back into mainstream life would be to use our phones or cameras to express our emotions.
“Whether those emotions are joy at being reunited with people we love or sadness and a sense of loss many people will continue to experience as others reunite, photography has the power to create a lingua franca we can all understand and appreciate.
“So. Step outside everyone. Take pictures, especially of nature. The benefits of being outdoors are unequivocally positive, they’ll lift your mood, help structure your day, get you fitter and promote a more holistic view of life than staying indoors ever will. Photography gives those who don’t want to talk or feel they haven’t got a voice a way to speak a universal language the rest of us can decipher and empathise with – so what’s stopping you, get photographing!”
Paul has written a book about his journey which has been endorsed by Chris Packham. Wildlife Photography: Saving My LIfe One Frame at a Time is out now.
