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HEALTHY LIVING 5 WAYS TO TACKLE MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS: SLEEP: Give yourself plenty of time to unwind before bed. Make sure your bedroom is cool and dark. If you’re finding it hard to get to sleep it’s worth trying to cut down on stimulants like tea, coffee and alcohol. GET SOME BACK-UP: Dealing with a mental health problem alone can be daunting. Tell someone you trust how you feel, whether that’s your partner, mates or your GP. Getting it off your chest can be the start of feeling better. READ-UP: One in four of us will experience a problem with our mental health each year, so find out more about looking after yourself through Mind’s award-winning online guides at mind.org.uk. LOG-OFF: It is important to maintain a good balance between your online and offline activity. If you’re spending too much time on social media, take a break for a bit or set aside some time each day to do something like reading or physical activity. GIVE BACK: Doing good deeds, whether that’s volunteering, fundraising, or just checking in on your neighbours, has been shown to be really beneficial to wellbeing. SPORT HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE THE WAY WE ALL SEE MENTAL HEALTH AND HELP CHALLENGE THE STIGMA sevenstarmedia.co.uk Start talking Cameron, 23, from Dartford in Kent has had his fair share of ups and downs with his mental health, “It was around this time last year, after two years of battling, I finally admitted to myself that I shouldn’t keep shutting everyone out of how I was feeling. I felt worthless, like my life had no value. I have a wife that I love very much and a really supportive family, but in spite of everything I found it hard to care about anything. I was trapped in my own little shadow and became really scared when my thoughts turned to suicide.” For Cameron, football has been a lifeline: “Despite everything, one of the few things that I got myself up for was football. That camaraderie of captaining my 6-aside team has been crucial to getting me out of the house. Even just running around for 60 minutes win, lose, or draw, gives me a distraction from my thoughts.” Mental health and the EFL As part of Mind’s partnership with the EFL, and for the first time ever, all 72 EFL clubs now have the squiggle of Mind’s logo incorporated into the names on the backs of players’ shirts. For many people the squiggle represents the confusion that we can feel when we have a problem with our mental health. For Cameron, an avid Charlton fan, it also represented the start of his journey to getting support: “Seeing the squiggle on the back of my team’s shirts made me feel more comfortable reaching out for support, as if we’re at a stage that it’s normal enough to be so visible in football, it must be okay to deal with it in our own lives.” Take steps What’s clear about sports is that it has huge potential for transforming mental health. Both on a national level, where Mind hopes it has the power to change the way people see mental health, and on a personal level, where it has the power to boost our mood and protect us from mental health problems. So, however bleak the winter can get, don’t forget that even just taking those first steps forward can make a huge difference. Mind is the official Charity Partner of the EFL and provides advice and support for anyone experiencing a mental health problem. Find out more at mind. org.uk/sport <strong>MAN</strong> MAGAZINE WINTER <strong>2019</strong> 59