After a difficult period affected his mental health, Owain found support, purpose and a desire to help others.
Owain Hoskins understands how difficult it can be to recognise that you are struggling and admit that you need help. His experience has also shown him the difference the right support can make and why giving someone an opportunity to talk can be so important.
Just over a year ago, his mental health had deteriorated during a difficult period in his previous role. Owain was going into work close to having panic attacks before his time at the club came to an end, leaving him facing uncertainty with a mortgage and two young children.
Since then, he has sought medical help, returned to coping mechanisms that had supported him through previous difficulties and joined Shirley Golf Club, where a positive working environment has helped him rebuild his confidence. He is now drawing on that experience to encourage others to speak.
“It was a very long journey,” he said. “But it was dramatic how, the moment I left the previous role, it was just a weight lifted off my shoulders. By the time I’d found my new role at Shirley Golf Club, I was about two sessions into counselling and was told, ‘I don’t think we need these sessions any more. You’ve made a real comeback.'”
Contacting his GP had been the first step, although asking for help initially felt daunting. An online appointment system made that first conversation possible.
“I remember sitting in my kitchen and thinking, ‘I don’t feel brave enough to actually ring the GP and say I’ve got mental health problems,'” he said. “But putting it into a screen felt like I could do that. Within an hour, I had a phone call saying, ‘Can you come in today?’
“They prescribed some medication and put me in touch with counselling. I was told it could be six months before they could get someone to me, but I was talking to someone within a month.”
Owain also returned to journalling, reading and meditation, coping mechanisms that had helped him through previous difficulties after his mother passed away.
“Even just writing something down and putting down what’s got you into that frame of mind takes that weight out of your brain and gets it on to the page,” he said. “It almost feels like that’s one less thing in your head.
“I had about a month where I didn’t work, and my wife would ask, ‘What are you going to do today?’ Having simple tasks, writing them down and ticking them off, gives you that feeling of going, ‘Right, I’ve completed this today.'”
Returning to work brought a different challenge. Owain knew he could not bury what had happened, so within his first week at Shirley he spoke openly to his general manager.
Access to GCMA Regional Mental Health First Aiders
Our network of GCMA Regional Mental Health First Aiders is available to offer guidance, support, and a listening ear when you need it most. Whether you’re facing workplace stress, personal challenges, or simply need someone to talk to, our trained professionals are here to help. Visit the GCMA Members Hub to find out more about your local MHFAider.
“I said, ‘I want to be brutally honest with you. I have had mental health issues myself,'” Owain said. “He was like a breath of fresh air. He was so supportive and said, ‘If you need to speak, come here. If you need support, get your support. Just don’t go through this alone.’
“I’m not going to say everything has been completely rosy since. I still have days when these thoughts creep in. For about six months, every time I made a mistake at work, I thought I was going to be dragged into a meeting again. It took conversations with my GM to say, ‘You need to get yourself out of that frame. We don’t work like that here.'”
At around the same time as he left his previous role, Owain learned he had been named a finalist for the GCMA Support Manager of the Year. The nomination required him to reflect on his achievements and provided a timely reminder of why he valued working in golf.
“I was going through this horrible process, but at the same time I was celebrating everything I’d done in the industry,” he said. “Perhaps that helped me stay in love with working in golf and made me go, ‘No, I’m not giving up on this just yet.'”
Shirley has since partnered with mental health organisation Florio, led by Danny Clark. Owain wanted to become involved and is now more alert to occasions when a member may need to talk.
“Sometimes they might just say, ‘I’m all good, I’m fine,’ and you have to leave them there,” he said. “But other times they start opening up, and you can almost sense there’s a weight coming off them because they’re actually talking to someone. There might be more willingness to open up when it’s a one-to-one discussion.”
A year after leaving his former role, Owain shared his experience in a candid LinkedIn post. He intended it as a personal reflection on how far he had come, but its reach and the conversations it prompted showed why speaking publicly had value.
“It wasn’t about boasting or saying, ‘I was in this bad place and I’ve done so well to get to this better place,'” he said. “It was about letting people know everyone will go through bad times. It is always a personal experience, but things can get better as long as you know where to turn.”
For anyone else dealing with mental health issues, Owain recommended contacting their GP or a Mental Health First Aider within the GCMA’s regional groups. He also offered to listen himself.
“If anyone is struggling and they don’t feel they can talk to anyone else, drop me a LinkedIn message,” he said. “Having gone through this and been lucky enough to get to the other side, if I can help in any way, that would be a real honour for me.
“There is plenty of support out there. It is knowing who to talk to, but the first thing is recognising yourself that you need help.”
Key takeaways
- Recognising that you need help is the first step, with support available through GPs and GCMA regional mental health first aiders.
- Coping mechanisms can be simple and personal, from writing down your thoughts to setting manageable daily tasks.
- A supportive workplace and someone willing to listen can make a significant difference.
