Tom Boyd speaks on Mental Health - The Courier - October 13 2023 - video Dailymotion

The Courier

Tom Boyd speaks on Mental Health. Video supplied

Transcript

00:00 (gentle music)

00:02 - Throughout the 2016 year,

00:07 clearly we had an amazing year,

00:09 managed to win the flag,

00:10 which was an incredible experience.

00:12 But I think from my point of view,

00:14 I probably covered up a lot of the cracks

00:16 that were starting to appear in my mental health.

00:18 And I was really struggling with quite a bit of stress,

00:22 and though I didn't know it at the time,

00:24 a bit of anxiety and sort of

00:26 really not feeling great about myself.

00:29 I started suffering from quite bad insomnia

00:31 and spent probably a month to six weeks

00:34 without sleeping really at all.

00:36 The real moment where my mind started to turn

00:40 was having panic attacks when I was driving.

00:42 And I suppose the physiological effect

00:45 of your heart racing and sweating

00:48 and you can't concentrate, feeling dizzy.

00:50 That was a really, really challenging

00:52 period of time in my life.

00:53 I was seeing a psychologist from the club

00:55 who was an amazing support for me.

00:57 And quite honestly, not sure what would have happened

01:00 if she wasn't there.

01:02 It's hard for some people to sort of understand.

01:05 It's not tangible, it's not something you can see.

01:09 You know, some of the things that can be really helpful

01:10 during challenging times.

01:12 For me, something as simple as monitoring your breathing

01:15 and getting on top of, I suppose,

01:18 moments where you feel anxious or nervous or stressed out.

01:22 And all things that are, in a way,

01:26 putting money in the bank in terms of your mental health,

01:28 really sort of continuing to look after yourself,

01:31 make decisions that are helpful.

01:34 And now I can address everything realistically

01:38 and say, you know what, I'm not feeling great.

01:40 Let's go and do something enjoyable.

01:41 Let's take the dog for a walk, go surfing,

01:44 take the camera out, do anything,

01:45 and just invest in enjoying life

01:48 and trying to be yourself.

01:50 We always have to make time to try

01:51 and really look after your mental health.

01:53 And that's clearly one of the really important

01:56 parts of your life.

01:56 And even as of a couple of years ago,

01:59 I really had no idea about some of the techniques

02:01 that you can use to not only deal

02:03 with mental health issues, but also to prevent them.

02:05 I think the one thing that severe anxiety

02:10 and depression will teach you is a real self-awareness

02:13 and an ability to monitor your own mental headspace

02:17 more effectively and really unwind.

02:19 (upbeat music)

02:22 (upbeat music)

02:24 (upbeat music)

02:27 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Tom Boyd speaks on Mental Health - The Courier - October 13 2023

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