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. […]
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The most empowering work you can do, Christo Hudson
Helping people belong, Augustine Ihm
Augustine Ihm and his family were in and out of homeless shelters in Chicago through his childhood. Often alone and vulnerable, he was abused and the experience left him racked with shame and estranged from his mother when she didn’t protect him. He has since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and uses mindfulness and his […]
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 […]
Don’t suffer in silence, Jack Fowler & Marcus Tisson
Love Island star and mental health campaigner Jack Fowler and Don’t Suffer In Silence co-founder Marcus Tisson discuss the pressure to “man up” and how they want to open up discussion over mental health issues and suicide after Marcus lost his mother.
Forgiveness brings us peace, Swati Dlamini
Swati Dlamini, granddaughter of Nelson and Winnie Mandela, vowed to carry her grandparents’ work and values with her through her life. “One of the great lessons I learned from my grandfather was one of forgiveness. Forgiveness is for me to have peace, and not being imprisoned by what others have done.” During the pandemic, she […]
Loving the skin you’re in, Eryca Freemantle
As a child, Eryca Freemantle was bullied at school for being different, and remembers the constant feeling of heaviness and sadness. Home was her safe space. But when a life-changing accident left her with serious facial scarring from burns, those memories of childhood bullying came back. After suffering a breakdown, having suicidal thoughts and finally […]
Tomorrow might be great, Josh Zitser
Josh Zitser was always a deeply sensitive child, but when a teenage friend took her own life, he suffered depression, panic attacks and an eating disorder. But it took a while for him to realise his feelings weren’t the same as everyone else. Josh has had suicidal thoughts, but recent therapy has changed his life. […]
From tragedy, comes hope, Orin Lewis
When Beverley De-Gale’s son Daniel was diagnosed with leukaemia for the second time in 1995, he needed a stem cell transplant to survive. But stem cell matches outside of the family are race-related, and the chance of finding a match was 1 in 250,000. The match was found, but it was too late, and Daniel […]
Music, mental health and me, Jack Williamson
After his brother took his own life, music executive Jack Williamson started to question his purpose and his drive. Artist management was taking its toll on his mental health, and he realised there was a need in the music industry to provide early onset mental health support. Since then, Music and You, which Jack founded […]
Art brought my life back, Lorna Collins
Lorna Collins suffered a life-threatening brain injury and total amnesia, and she had no concept of who she was. She tried to exercise control in the only way she knew how – by controlling her eating and by self-harm. Art became her lifeline: it was Lorna’s way of expressing her hallucinations and her pain. One […]
It’s time to challenge our thinking, Hayley Barnard
Hayley Barnard is passionate about diversity and inclusion. Her world view when she was growing up was formed by her adopted family, with a sibling who was gay and one who was disabled, and now through her children, who are both non-neurotypical. We need to think about our thinking – see if we could be […]
Family is the one constant, Jamie Jewitt
We spoke to Love Island star Jamie Jewitt a couple of years ago. Then, he spoke about his disillusion with how his modelling career had panned out and how unhappy he had been over social media and the pressure to present a perfect image. Now, he and partner Camilla are expecting a baby and he […]