Now retired, he reflected on the realities of supporting people experiencing severe mental health difficulties.
This is Norman Bowman, a retired mental health nurse who has spent decades listening to people in psychological crisis.
He features in a new 15-minute documentary, “The Weight of Listening,” highlighting the emotional reality of supporting others through difficult moments.
Filmed and directed by Will Craig, it’s a powerful, relatable story about the unseen side of mental health support—something many people experience but rarely talk about.
READ MORE: Meet the Belfast mum helping children and their families handle big emotionsREAD MORE: ‘How my mental health struggles inspired me to help others’
Norman, who lives in south Belfast spent many years working on the behavioural side of mental health care. Now retired and far removed from the intensity of hospital wards, he reflected on the realities of supporting people experiencing severe mental health difficulties.
Through personal memories and insights, the documentary reveals the compassion, patience, and emotional resilience required from those working on the front lines of mental health care in Northern Ireland.
Norman now 71, started off his working life as an apprentice joiner, before eventually following his brother into nursing. He and his wife Susan both started out in psychiatric nursing in 1972.
He reflected: “I went to Purdysburn and completed a course in community psychiatric nursing, which took me a year. I started working as a community psychiatric nurse in Shankill Health Centre in November 1982, where I spent 14 wonderful years.
“Then I saw an advert for an 18-month course at Ulster University for CBT, cognitive behavioural therapy. I really didn’t even know what CBT was but I thought a year and a half at university would suit me so I applied and luckily was successful. I left university with a lot more knowledge and that’s really when my understanding with regards to mental illness really began.”
Norman added: “Mental health is feeling well within yourself, being able to cope with stress, being able to make decisions and sometimes our mental health needs a bit of support in those areas.
“Mental illness is a completely different thing. It’s a medical condition and there are different types of mental illness problems – depression, anxiety,bipolar disorder, schizophrenia. What the job has taught me over the years is that everybody is vulnerable.
“I always looked at patients as patients. When I worked in the hospital, they were admitted, they were a patient. When I went out to the community, that’s when I began to see people as people. They had families, children parents and that’s really when I began to see people as that person is the same as me.”
When comes to when it’s time to seek help, Norman has this advice: “Generally, how someone would know if they need to seek advice or help with regards to any kind of mental illness issue is when it begins to impact on their day-to-day functioning – what they’re doing, when it begins to significantly impact on their lifestyle, sleep, appetite, decision-making, being indecisive, irritable, snappy, tearful, upset, feeling guilty,
“Also when they stop engaging in things they would have normally enjoyed doing: hobbies, interests, socializing. When they themselves begin to know, they might not be able to put it in the words, but when they begin to know that they’re not feeling right or not themselves, that’s the time they approach someone and talk to someone.”
Reflecting on the current picture of mental health services in NI, Norman said: “The big difference is now services are just struggling to keep up. It’s not only here, it’s the same in down south and over in England. Waiting lists are growing and I know it’s hard to get a GP but if you want to get into the mental health system, you’re going to struggle.
“Pychiatrists are so few and far between, I don’t know where they’re going or what’s happening but all mental health staff are under pressure. The services are totally stretched and even with things like CBT, you’re gonna be waiting months, if not years, because of the waiting lists.
“The other big thing now is drugs. I retired in 2010, and even though there were drug problems then, it’s nothing compared to what it is at the minute. I honestly don’t know if I’d be able to do what I did now.”
“There’s an old saying, and it goes along the lines of ‘when you’re at peace with yourself, you’re at peace with the world’ . The only words of wisdom that I would pass on to anybody is to be content. If you’re content with your lot, you’re a lucky person,” he added.
“Most people strive for a better house, a better job a bigger pay packet. Contentment’s the thing you want to aim for because if you’re content, you’re a millionaire.”
You can watch the full documentary here.
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