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LIVE HEALTHY NOW - Episode 44
Knocking out depression
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We all know how important our mental health is and the impact it can have when it’s not strong.
Yet so many of us are still worried to talk about depression and seek help when we face this struggle with our mental health.
“I certainly worked in a company where it felt quite open door and that there was acceptance around mental health, yet for 20 years I hid my anxiety, panic disorder and depression because of the fear of stigma being attached to me.”
— Nicola Mercer
“I like the idea of externalising depression as an opponent, as opposed to it being a fundamental part of who you are. It’s not a fundamental part of your identity, it’s not a flaw, it’s not a weakness.”
— Matthew Williams
Today we’re talking about depression and finding out how our guest Matthew Williams faced three different episodes of depression and what he’s taken from his own experiences to now help others.
Matthew is an advocate for mental health, working mainly with men, and he’s passionate about normalising conversations on our mental health so that we don’t have to wait until we’re at crisis point before reaching out for help.
In the episode we chat about:
What depression is and why it’s often a term that’s misused and misunderstood.
How Matthew supports his mental health now and why he hasn’t labelled himself as someone with depression.
The challenges we still experience as a society opening up about our mental health.
Evolving our understanding and approach to depression and mental illness so it becomes comfortable and easy to talk about it.
Culture being key to normalise sharing our emotions and health challenges.
The struggles men have sharing and the stigma that can be associated with mental illness.
The power of boxing to help understand depression and build your health to feel better all round.
The importance of community and sport together and how powerful they are when combined.
Why it’s vital we model healthy habits and normalise talking about your emotions to our kids.
About Matthew:
Matthew always felt he had a charmed life, until he didn’t anymore. In 2006 severe depression knocked him off his feet. He almost didn’t get up.
Despite a beautiful family and a career in boxing, the sport he loved, depression wasn't finished with him, and in 2013 and again in 2019 it beat up on him some more.
But like his childhood hero Rocky Balboa, Matthew ‘didn’t hear no bell.’
He hit back, and has used his experiences to help others, by writing his book, ‘Something Changed: Stumbling Through Divorce, Dating and Depression’, published in 2017, by featuring in a number of major mental health campaigns, and by creating Knock Out Depression in 2021.
Matthew is a qualified life coach and boxing coach, and holds a degree in sports science. He spent 11 years working for the national governing body for boxing, England Boxing, where he created Box In Mind, a boxing-specific mental health awareness workshop, in partnership with Mind. He has worked for a mental health charity, supporting individuals to improve their mental health, as well as featuring in a number of mental health awareness campaigns.
Connect with Matthew:
Free Guide - Going the Distance With Depression - 5 powerful lessons that boxing can teach us to escape the black lights
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