Adventurer Alex Staniforth turned to outdoor sports as a teenager as a way of counteracting a lack of self-confidence caused by a bad stutter, mild epilepsy and anxiety. Immediately he felt like he had found his calling… until he was injured and the resulting time off led to an eating disorder. Alex tells of how […]
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Finding your own personal Everest, Alex Staniforth
Expressing feelings through fashion, George Hodgson
After a teenage episode with drugs triggered physical and mental side effects, including frequent panic attacks, George Hodgson started experiencing suicidal thoughts. He found therapy hugely beneficial in tackling his OCD and other issues, but telling people his story has been one of the best ways of alleviating his anxiety. George has founded a fashion […]
Spotlighting social issues, Dominic Streeter
Filmmaker Dominic Streeter wants to shine a spotlight on social problems through his work. This year, he will release a film on men’s mental health, called Feel the Burn, featuring a retired firefighter suffering from PTSD and suicide ideation, and looking at masculinity, macho environments, and how we can have more empathy. Dom also talks […]
Listen to the right voices online, Phil Clifton
TV and radio presenter Phil Clifton is a comedy creator, who runs several popular, global content platforms. He says that running these accounts has opened his eyes into the dynamics and the relationship that you have with social media and the impacts of that on your mental health. “Social media can be an incredible way […]
The joy of sobriety, Millie Gooch
Almost four years ago, Millie Gooch gave up alcohol to save her rapidly declining mental health. When she first stopped drinking, she couldn’t find support and a community that reflected her experience of sobriety – most were related to recovery programmes. So she founded Sober Girl Society, a growing community who are either committed to […]
Closing your mind’s apps, Richie Norton
Richie Norton discovered yoga when struggling to recover from injuries from his rugby career. The different forms of movement, plus the connection to his breath, helped him deal with what was going on in his mind at the same time. “That took me into breathwork, and meditation, and the power of restorative movement, and functional movement.” […]
The most empowering work you can do, Christo Hudson
Christo Hudson had always wanted to be a pilot, and spent 12 years doing the job he loved, until it all stopped overnight with the pandemic. He suffered anxiety and bouts of depression, unable to see a way forward. “My dream was stolen from me. I had been completely defined by the job I had. […]
From Soho to sheep farming, Zoe Colville
Zoe Colville was a hairdresser in Soho until she gave it all up to protect her mental health. Moving to the countryside, she and her partner Kriss started farming their own flock of sheep. Following the death of her father, she got therapy to deal with extreme anxiety and panic attacks. “There wasn’t a minute […]
Rapper, musician and mental health campaigner, Nick Brewer
Rapper and musician Nick Brewer has suffered anxiety since childhood. He found a lot of peace in reading, as well as being able to escape from his worries. When his father gave him a rap CD, it connected with him, and how he could tell his own story and make sense of his thoughts. “Writing […]
Author and journalist on happiness,
Author and journalist Oliver Burkeman reminds us that what will be pleasurable and fun for us isn’t always easy at the beginning: think of it as weight training, and do a little more every day at the point where it’s a tiny bit more uncomfortable than you’d choose. “The advice you don’t want to hear […]
Breathwork coach and male mental health expert, Jamie Clements
Jamie Clements learned the healing power of breathwork through a gym when suffering from depression and anxiety in his early 20s. Now he teaches others, and also hosts the very successful Man Down podcast. He explains that our breath can tell us a lot about our mental and physical health. “If you stop, shut your […]
Irish actor turned NLP coach, Michael Legge
Actor Michael Legge first realised that the noise in his head wasn’t ‘normal’ when he suffered a prolonged panic attack on a flight. “I realised I needed to find out who I was because there was clearly stuff in my head that needed sorting out.” Seeing a NLP practitioner helped him start to be able […]