'It’s a strength, not a weakness, to ask for help. There are a lot of chefs out there going through hard times.'

Vice President of the British Culinary Federation Matthew Davies calls on people experiencing psychological issues to reach out for help.

• Silence is deadly when it comes to mental health

Two years ago, Matthew Davies suffered a life-changing electrical injury at work. He underwent surgery – similar to that performed on soldiers injured at war at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham - to save his arm, but the nerve damage was so bad that he lost all sensory and mobile function. 

This brought his career as a chef to an abrupt end, and the psychological repercussions were grave, as he explained in an interview with The Staff Canteen. 

“In my heyday I ran six restaurants. I was untouchable, and that wasn’t because I was a glory hunter. I worked bloody hard.” 

“I lost my sense of purpose, my sense of guardianship, sense of earning, my sense of looking after my family. I suffer from low confidence, low esteem, everything.”

As well as severe depression, the chef is still at the grips of extreme PTSD.

"It's absolutely horrendous," he said. “It affects my sleep, I get anxiety, sickness, nausea." 

“I’d never experienced depression before – you don’t understand depression and the implications of it. I actually attempted to take my own life.”

The chef sought help from Hospitality Action, who put him touch with psychologists; as it was a work-related incident, he was given access to a rehabilitation programme which saw him through his darkest days. 

'It's okay not to be okay'

Though he has not yet fully recovered from either his physical injuries - he has been operated eight times and  could need further surgery in the future - or his mental health problems, Matthew wants to give something back to those who helped him in order to support the industry.

One such means has been to raise funds both for QE hospital’s plastic surgery department and for HA, hosting charitable dinners alongside figureheads in the industry including Aktar Islam, Tom Brown, Liam Dillon, Glyn Purnell, Jonathan Howe, Luke Tipping, Adam Bennett.

So far, he has fundraised more than £8,000. 

But crucially, he wants to spread the word to chefs that there is no shame in seeking psychological support – and that to speak out is to show a higher level of bravery than to ignore symptoms of mental illness.

“Men are buggers for it, absolute buggers for it. We won’t go to a GP, we just hold on. I’m probably speaking for 98% of men out there. It’s a taboo for men to say ‘I’ve got problems.'”

The issue affects chefs disproportionately, he explained: “To be a chef, you have to be mentally strong for the hours and the discipline – so perhaps chefs are worse at speaking out because they see it as weak – which is absolutely stupid.

“It’s a strength, not a weakness, to ask for help. There are a lot of chefs out there going through hard times.

“If you don’t feel well, if you don’t feel right, bloody talk about it, get some help.

“If I didn’t, I would not be here today.”

Some days are still tough, he said, but "you learn to live with it. You see a psychiatrist, you see a special person that gives you the tools to cope."