MAN Magazine Winter 2019

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
MAN MAGAZINE WINTER 2019
59