My name is Ethan Freeston, and I’m the Research and Insight Lead on the FA National Youth Council, and Vice-Chair of the Lincolnshire FA Youth Council. I am also a level 5 referee, and currently developing a Youth Refereeing Council for Lincolnshire FA. For this Mental Health Awareness week, I am here to talk to you about mental health, how it can affect everyone, and what you can do to keep a better mental health.

To start off with, what is ‘mental health’? The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines mental health as; ‘a state of well-being that enables people to cope with the normal stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.’ The WHO goes on to say that ‘it is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in. Mental health is a basic human right.’ This is a very in-depth definition, so in simpler terms, what does a good mental health actually look like? For the most part, having good mental health is about caring for and about yourself, looking after your physical health including eating, sleeping and exercising along with relaxing, and being able to see yourself as a valuable person.

1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem, however many of us still do not feel comfortable asking for help or talking about our mental health struggles. Mental health does not discriminate; some of the richest and most famous people struggle with their mental health – Jesse Lingard has previously opened up about how he faced depression and anxiety whilst playing for Manchester United, he spoke about feeling isolated and emphasised that the main management tool he used for his mental health was seeking help. Another celebrity figure was Lewis Capaldi, who took a break from his very successful music career to concentrate on rebuilding his mental health. Mental health really is not something to be ashamed of – especially when you consider how common of an issue this is.

This year’s mental health awareness week theme is ‘Movement’ and this is such a key element. Have you ever heard the saying; a healthy body is a healthy mind? This saying refers to the Latin phrase ‘mens sana in corpore sano’ which translates to ‘a healthy body can sustain a healthy mind.’ This is something that is definitely true, and having a healthy physical health will heavily influence your mental health. A key part of the youth leadership space, and something that we value so highly on the FA National Youth Council, is being the best version of ourselves, something that we often discuss and link back to for this is our ‘SHED’, SHED is a model created by Sara Milne Rowe and stands for Sleep, Hydration, Exercise and Diet – 4 areas that are incredibly important to ensure your body is healthy and also helps your mind. Another key tool, and something that has already been mentioned, is speaking up – finding somebody who you know you can trust to speak to, whether this is a friend, colleague or a trained professional. Talking does not have to be formal, or scary, it can be as simple as taking a walk in your local park with a friend and speaking about life in general, which will then open up the conversations that are really bugging at you to be discussed. If you do not feel comfortable speaking to somebody you know personally, a good place to turn to would be a medical professional – a lot of schools, colleges, universities and workplaces have schemes where you can be referred to a counsellor or talking therapy.

One final piece of advice would be to treat your mental health in the same way that you treat your physical health, if you wouldn’t go to work the day after you broke your leg, why is looking after your mental health any different?

So my question to you is; what are you going to do, starting today, to look after your mental health more? Comment your ideas below...