AN OXFORD city councillor who has a history of mental illness is hoping he can use his own experiences to change people’s perception of the condition.

Liberal Democrat Patrick Murray, who represents Barton and Sandhills, is standing as the prospective Parliamentary candidate in the Labour-held Reading West constituency at the next General Election.

When Mr Murray, aged 29, was 16, he became so depressed he tried to take his own life several times and was threatened with being sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

He is now backing a national campaign to get a section of the Mental Health Act, which states an MP can never sit in Parliament if they suffer a nervous breakdown while in office, changed.

Under Section 141 of the Mental Health Act 1983, an MP automatically loses their seat if detained under the Act for a period of six months or more.

He said: “It’s symbolic because it basically says to people ‘if you have suffered from a mental health problem, your opinions will never be valid again’.

“It says the people who have the most experience of the system cannot change the system.

“When I was about 16 I started getting very depressed and I tried to kill myself.

“After that, things became extremely difficult for my family.

“Needless to say, I wasn’t a very pleasant person to be around.

“Eventually, my parents took me to the Warneford Hospital to see one of the doctors there and he said he wanted me to go into hospital.

“They basically said to me I could either go voluntarily, or I could be sectioned for up to six months.”

Mr Murray, who is unemployed and lives in Cowley Road, spent the next few months in hospital in Northampton, where he was treated for severe depression.

Now Mr Murray, who has since recovered from his mental health problems, is backing a national campaign by mental health charity Rethink, to raise awareness of mental health issues with MPs in time for the next election.

He said: “I know there is a certain risk to me in being so open about it and there are things people can, and I am sure probably will, say.

“But if you go through something like that, you should be allowed to have your say.

“It’s important people who have had experience of the system are allowed to help to shape it.

“I am lucky to be alive.

“Some people do manage to get through to the other side and want to help give something back.”