Mental Health Awareness Week 2025: From struggle to strength: Paul’s journey of recovery and purpose
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, and in recognition of this year’s theme of community, we are proud to share R-I-S-E: From Pain to Purpose, a powerful short film created in collaboration with the Metropolitan Police. The film explores resilience, recovery, and the reality of living with mental health and substance use challenges.
It features Paul Dorrington, Lead Employment Specialist at our Trust, who bravely shares his personal story, a journey from addiction and mental health challenges to recovery and purpose.
Paul reflects on growing up on a council estate in South West London, where he says “ I was brought into gang culture with my local peers who all used various drugs.” He describes this as his first trigger. But everything changed when a relationship breakdown triggered a period of acute mental ill-health. Paul became seriously unwell, experiencing what he describes as “deep clinical depression and psychosis,” leading to his first admission to a psychiatric ward “against his will,” where he stayed for 28 days.
He describes his drug use as having a “turbulent impact” on his mental health, but he also recognised that recovery meant more than treatment alone: “I knew without meaning or purpose, my recovery and stability would only take me so far,” he explains. That realisation led him to a role within the very NHS Trust where he had once been a service user.
Reflecting on his journey, Paul says to his younger self: “You will find out that what you’ve been through will give you so much faith that it’s possible to survive.”
Today, Paul supports others as our Lead Employment Specialist, helping people find purpose and vocation in their own lives. His story is not only one of survival, but of profound transformation.
Through his work and public speaking, Paul uses his lived experience to offer hope, connection, and encouragement to others across the UK and beyond.
“Recovery is not a finite destination... it's living the life you want to live - it’s home, job, family, all the things most people take for granted, and that’s what recovery is for me.”
In Paul’s own words:
"I was honoured to be asked by the Metropolitan Police to be part of a short film.
It focused on the real-life journeys of adults who have experienced and overcome drug or alcohol dependency and mental health challenges.This film project aims to inspire and empower others at risk, to make positive informed choices and show that recovery is achievable. By sharing my personal journey, the struggles and triumphs, I hope to help others facing similar challenges or save others from the cycle of dependency suffering altogether.
A big thanks to the Metropolitan Police for making this film possible, and to South West London and St George's Mental Health Trust for the filming facilities and for helping save my life and livelihood."
Find out more about Paul’s story and watch the full video here.
