What are your thoughts on using sport as a platform for raising awareness for mental health? We’ve seen big figures like Tyson Fury becoming very outspoken about it. The Premier League has worked with the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) in the past. What is your stance regarding sport as a platform for mental health, and can it be doing more as a collective unit to raise awareness? We’ve also chosen the winter colour of the season, and embroidered the word that has helped to change my life: STOMP 🥾 The publisher’s synopsis says: “ The Mind Manual will show you how to assess your mental health today and understand what’s normal for you. It will reveal the seven universal truths that everyone should remember and the mental fitness foundations that will boost you. Me being an ardent Liverpool fan, we laughed off the Liverpool-Man United rivalry here. “It’s all fun and banter”, joked Alex. By 2021 he had signed up for the King’s College Master’s course in Public Health with its focus on mental health. He lobbied the Government on child mental health capacity during the pandemic. He started to write books, first, Live Well, Every Day, then, A Better Day (a mental health primer for kids) and the one being discussed today, The Mind Manual.

What you do consistently has a direct impact on your day-to-day health, your immune system, your mental health, your metabolism, your bone density, your heart health, your blood pressure, your energy levels and how you fight disease generally. Your lifestyle is often your body's biggest support system and the more robust you can make that, the more you can rely on it to get you through. Think of it like your life insurance policy.You take ownership of the things you can control, and you let go of the things you can’t Dr Alex George Mind has a confidential information and support line, Mind Infoline, available on 0300 123 3393 (lines open 9am - 6pm, Monday – Friday); mind.org.uk George is a TV doctor, author and Youth Mental Health Ambassador to the government. His first book, Live Well Every Day, was published by Aster in May 2021. He campaigns for early support hubs, which give young people easy access to mental health support, and in November 2021 presented his first full-length documentary for BBC One and Children in Need, “Dr Alex: Our Young Mental Health Crisis”. He also hosts his own radio show on Classic FM, “Uplifting Classics”. He has two major goals for mental health in this country. To fund Early Support Hubs so people can access support before they reach crisis, and to establish legislation for the workplace which would include training around mental health first aid in parity with physical first aid. George passionately believes that “we must change the idea of what it is to be masculine. You can follow female leadership, you can learn from women, you can show your sensitivities, you don't have to be strong all the time and act like bullets bounce off you.”

But you are a journalist”. said Alex. “Change that. You are a journalist. You’re doing journalism right now.” I hear it all the time, in literature, in healthcare, in politics: ‘committed suicide’. And it’s wrong. You commit arson, you commit murder, you commit a crime. Suicide is not a crime.” In 2018 George was a 27-year-old A&E houseman at Lewisham Hospital, on two months unpaid leave so he could take up a place as a contestant on a popular reality television show, ‘Love Island’. Among the perma-tanned Essex boys, with their acid white teeth, was this handsome young medic with a kind face, “our dreamboat doctor”, as the programme hype went. Set in a sun-drenched villa, the ‘work’ entails living in swimwear and going on dates to find a potential love match.Health and happiness come from the cumulative effects of many small and positive daily changes to our lifestyle. It's about building sustainable and healthy habits - taking small and purposeful steps to a healthy future. By the end of the book I hope my readers have developed their own 'bespoke health toolkit' to be used across every aspect of their lives, and to make long-lasting and meaningful change." Health and happiness come from the cumulative effects of many small and positive daily changes to our lifestyle. It's about building sustainable and healthy habits - taking small and purposeful steps to a healthy future. By the end of the book I hope my readers have developed their own "bespoke health toolkit" to be used across every aspect of their lives, and to make long-lasting and meaningful change.' We discuss antidepressants, their efficacy and over-prescription. George is not against them. He says his #postyourpill campaign, which asks people to take a selfie with their medication, is anti-stigma and not pro-medication. Amidst The Boar’s coverage of the 2023 Cheltenham Literature Festival, I sat down with Alex to discuss mental health, student life, and the release of his latest book, The Mind Manual. Alex said that he finds it “inspiring” to see mental health being brought up in sports like boxing, rugby, and football. He’d “absolutely encourage” more people to use sport as a platform for raising awareness, adding: “It makes you feel that it’s not just you. It shows you can be successful and have things that you struggle with.”