Love Island Star Jack Fowler found it difficult to adjust to his newfound fame after he emerged from the Love Island villa. The sudden attention the reality TV show brought made him feel as though he was ‘in a zoo’. He has learned that showing emotion, like the heartbreak he felt after breaking up with […]
Suicide
Baring Body and Soul, Ben, The Naked Professor
The Naked Professor Ben uses striking naked images of himself, often in dramatic locations, as a way to draw attention to his writing on mental health. He says that in the early part of his life he was living on autopilot and felt unable to show his sensitive side. This led to anxiety, depression, feelings […]
We’re On the Same Team, Josh Smiiffy
Musician Rapper Josh Smiiffy found himself isolated as a child and severely depressed and suicidal as a teenager. He found help in writing and performing his own music. Although he still suffers, he says, from ‘more downs than ups’ he is keen to see more help for children. Josh would like more arts and sports […]
Paralympic Surfer, Bruno Hansen
Surfing Champion “You’re paralysed and you’ll never walk again.” Those were the words Bruno Hansen heard after his spine was snapped. A broken shell of a human being, Bruno tried to drown himself before a wave hit him and, as he says, “the joy kicked in”. Bruno is now three-time ISA World Adaptive Surfing Champion. […]
A Bridge to the Future, Jonny Benjamin MBE
Mental Health Campaigner Ten years ago, Jonny Benjamin was at a low point. He was talked out of a suicide attempt on Waterloo Bridge. His quest to find the man who rescued him, Neil Laybourn, became famous. Jonny’s now written a book about his story, his illness and his progress towards recovery. Jonny talks to […]
The Power of Telling your Story, Lily Asch
As a teenager she was labeled ‘unsafe to self’ and locked in a psychiatric ward. For a long time Lily Asch continued to be ashamed of her experience, until she opened up and discovered the power of conversation. Now Asch runs Real Talk, a social enterprise organizing storytelling workshops in a safe space, enabling people […]
We Need People Who Think Differently, Vikie Shanks
Author, Speaker & Mentor Vikie Shanks was widowed when her husband took his own life. She was left to bring up seven children, six of whom are on the autistic spectrum. Two of her children have cerebral palsy. Vikie, on her own, had no choice but to cope and to enable her children and herself […]
Finding the Answers Inside Yourself, Dave Lee
Ex Builder Turned Mental Health Campaigner Ten years ago, Dave Lee was working as a builder. He was depressed, drinking heavily and attempted to end his life. Recovering, he looked for answers. Eventually he realised that he could only find those insights and answers inside himself. He describes the difference between the ‘personal mind’ and […]
Former Olympic Heavyweight Gold Medallist, Audley Harrison
Boxing Champion Audley Harrison grew up in a broken home in a tough part of London. By the age of 17 he had been expelled from schools and ended up in juvenile detention. Relying on willpower, he turned his life around, becoming a university graduate and a boxing sensation. Harrison, who is retired and lives […]
When Not Killing Yourself Becomes the Goal, Maggie Robbins
Bipolar Art Therapist When she was a college student, Bipolar Disorder brought her to her knees. Now well-known New York art therapist and psychotherapist Maggie Robbins helps others connect with their ‘inner monster’. ‘You can almost think of anything someone makes as a self-portrait.’ Robbins, an artist herself, wrote a semi-autobiographical novel of poems while […]
Surviving Suicide, the Tartan Way, Josh Quigley
Two years ago, Josh Quigley woke in the middle of the night, got into his car and drove into a concrete barrier at 80 miles-an-hour. A crippling battle with depression had held this outwardly happy Scottish entrepreneur in a deadly grip. Miraculously, Quigley escaped unscathed. He decided to travel the world as ‘The Tartan Explorer’, […]
Team GB Olympic athlete, Jack Green
Team GB Olympic Athlete When 20-year old Jack Green stumbled over a hurdle during the 2012 London Olympics, his dream and his mind exploded. ‘I couldn’t do one run without feeling awful.’ Green descended into depression, contemplating suicide. During an 18-month break he learned to control his self-destructive perfectionism. ‘I never fell out of love […]
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