Leonard Portelli found it hard to leave Mount Carmel Hospital two years ago, but once he ventured out, he knew it would be difficult to return.

“I have been reborn. Now that I’m living within the community, I feel as if I’ve rediscovered life,” the 62-year-old told this newspaper.

The turning point for him came three years ago. Then a Mount Carmel inpatient, Mr Portelli was invited to spend some time at San Anton Gardens, focusing on his lifelong passion of painting.

Soon after, he was able to leave the hospital, and is now being hosted at a semi-independent hostel run by Richmond Foundation.

Mr Portelli was diagnosed with depression as a young man but bouts of sadness started taking over when he was a little boy.

Leaning on his walking stick with one hand, and reaching out with the other to show me how small he was when he first started feeling depressed, Mr Portelli recalled the loss of his mother.

Leonard Portelli’s brightly coloured work reflects his positive outlook on life. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

“I was three years old and I remember I could not express my grief with words, so I took to painting. My first drawing was that of the Virgin Mary… a representation of motherly love.”

In his late teens Mr Portelli migrated to Australia, where he was diagnosed with depression and started being treated for it.

He spent 20 years there and eventually returned to Malta, where treatment continued. But at one point, the side effects of depression had a bearing on other aspects of his life, including finances.  He could not even afford the paintbrushes that lifted his spirits.

Mr Portelli admitted himself to Mount Carmel, where he remained for some six years.

Mentally, that was at the lowest point of his life, but it was also the time when his art excelled.

His brightly coloured work reflects his positive outlook on life, and his biggest problem at the moment is that he is running out of space for his paintings.

The man is aware of the stigma overshadowing Mount Carmel and insists he has always found great support at the hospital.

Mr Portelli believes that despite people’s good intentions, there are several misconceptions about mental health issues.

One such misunderstanding is that even when surrounded by people – from relatives to Mount Carmel staff – who showed care and love, he still felt “lonely and sad”.

“When you’re low, it is extremely difficult to pull yourself up and remain positive. Not everyone understands that.”

Leonard Portelli took to painting when he was too young to express his grief. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

This newspaper met with Mr Portelli at the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society in San Anton, after he was mentioned by Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca at a psychiatric nurses’ conference. The President had recounted how, one day, she was invited to an art exhibition where she was surprised to learn that the artist behind it was someone she knew and who was receiving care at Mount Carmel Hospital.

With the cooperation of the hospital staff, she invited him to paint in a private garden at San Anton Palace and he soon became the artist-in-residence.

After just one year of visits to San Anton, he felt empowered enough to leave the hospital and today enjoys semi-independent living at a Richmond Foundation hostel.

Mr Portelli has fond memories of the time he spent at San Anton. His social worker Fabienne Grech spoke to this newspaper about the importance of reintegrating people with mental health issues back within the community.

At the hostel, which Mr Portelli calls “home”, the residents are tasked with housekeeping duties and taught budgeting skills among others, in a bid to help them gain independence.

Richmond has three such long-term hostels – in Paola, Qormi and Attard.

Ms Grech admits that the stigma around mental health usually stems from lack of awareness. Mr Portelli, she said, was a prime example of how a person with depression could still have a positive outlook on life. At the hostel, he often tried to lift the spirits of the fellow 11 residents.

Mr Portelli hopes to eventually live on his own again. At his age, he has accepted that “everyone has their downs, but also their ups”.

He will continue fighting depression, and whenever he feels like complaining about something, he just heads to his art studio.

sarah.carabott@timesofmalta.com