Grief, stress and shock diagnosis: 'I'm proof anyone is only a few steps from mental health issues'

Next month the 54-year-old, who is also undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, will be telling his story at Millennium Point in Birmingham on July 8.

He has already been giving talks across the country, including in prisons, and hopes to eventually become a professional inspirational speaker.

It is part of Clive's ambition to show people they can recover and move on with their lives, even after major setbacks which have sometimes long-lasting impacts.

Clive, who is married with four children and four grandchildren, explained he suffered a succession of difficulties in his personal life that triggered his mental health breakdown.

His father, who had suffered with Parkinson's Disease, died, he himself had the shock of being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, then the pressures of setting up his own business manifested in a completely unexpected way.

Clive, who spent 17 years working at MoD Donnington, said: "My background there was in industrial relations. I also had red hair and a big gob, was never shy in coming forward – and I built a career speaking to people, listening to people, the art of effective communication.

"When I was going through all the things I was going through I lost my confidence, I lost my perspective and lost my voice for a period of time."

Clive had no history of mental health issues, but suffered from significant anxiety after leaving his job to start his own firm.

He said: "What happened to me is if you ask any of my colleagues, if you said 'is Clive a candidate to have a mental health crisis?' they would have said no.

"I am proof that anyone is only a few steps from having mental health issues."

He added: "I suffered acute anxiety as a mix of grief, the diagnosis and the stress of setting up my own business."

Clive said the onset was 'very quick', leaving him hidden under the covers and unable to leave the bedroom.

He said: "Within a matter of weeks I was taken into psychiatric care and was there for ten weeks.

"For me the biggest thing that really attacked me was acute anxiety. It came from nowhere."

Clive said that in the midst of his crisis he 'lost all rational thought' and as he recovered was hit by the feeling of being a failure, and that he had "let everyone down".

He added: "But there were a number of things I did to find my voice again. I am outside a lot, I am active again, I love being in nature and I have managed to immerse myself in my passion which is boxing, and I have made some incredible friends in the professional boxing world.

"There are a lot of things I can't do – some really quirky things. I cannot open the post and I do not handle the money, my wife does all the banking.

"But, it dawned on me - I have a story to tell here. I am more than happy to share it if it helps other people and allows them to look at life slightly differently, and allows them to think they may be a bit stronger than they realised.

"I talk about the things that helped me and the things that didn't. It is about showing people you can overcome adversity. You can accept you have to live life on life's terms.

He added: "I feel incredibly grateful to have got through what I have got through. That was the driver really and it occurred to me that what I have gone through, my story, is the ingredients for the next chapter of my life."

Clive credits the support of his family, and in particular his wife, for his recovery, and said that he wanted people to find their own hope from his story.

He said: "I am not quoting statistics or numbers from a book, I am just telling people my truth and it resonates with people and it is not a 'woe is me' tale, it is a positive tale and I am excited about sharing it on the next part of this journey.

"Positive outlook is a choice. You can re-frame things, change your perspective on things and find hope."

Tickets for the Millennium Point evening cost £10, with the proceeds going to the Frank Bruno Foundation.