Andrew Voyce in conversation with Jerome Carson

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a profile of Andrew Voyce.

Design/methodology/approach

Andrew gives a short biography and is then interviewed by Jerome. Areas covered in the interview include the central role of Mrs Thatcher in closing down the old asylums, homelessness, education, benefits and digital art.

Findings

Andrew's recovery from long term mental health problems has seen him return to higher education. He failed to get his undergraduate degree, but decades later and with the encouragement of workers in the community, he completed both undergraduate and postgraduate studies. He talks of the negative impact of asylum care, especially the terrible side effect of akathisia, which resulted from the depot neuroleptic medication.

Originality/value

This paper shows a remarkable journey of recovery, from a life of being a “revolving door” patient, to homelessness, to re‐establishing an ordinary life in the community. The inmate's perspective is one that has largely been absent from narratives of asylum care.

Citation

Voyce, A. and Carson, J. (2013), "Andrew Voyce in conversation with Jerome Carson", Mental Health and Social Inclusion, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 14-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/20428301311305269