Movement for Mental Health

In this episode Josh and Anna talk to Centrepoint's Head of Psychologically informed Environments, Helen Miles. Joining them is Georges, a former Centrepoint resident who now manages a martial arts gym.

The discussion this month ties in Mental Health Awareness Week and the focus is on the benefits of movement for your mental health.

Here are some links to a couple of the resources, organisations and research mentioned in the podcast.

https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene
https://www.youngminds.org.uk
https://centrepoint.org.uk/research-and-reports/mental-health-needs-homeless-young-people

Transcript

MH and Movement Mixed

[00:00:00] Young person: Point Made, the Centrepoint podcast by young people for all people.

[00:00:08] Young person: Centrepoint is the UK's leading youth homelessness charity. At Centrepoint, we believe no young person's life should be defined by homelessness. We give young people the support they need to heal and grow no matter what. For over 50 years, we've been the center point for change, personal and political.

[00:00:29] Young person: Everyone has their part to play, with young people leading the way. This podcast has been created by young people with lived experience of homelessness. We'll be shining a spotlight on some of the issues that affect us. We hope to challenge and change some of the stereotypes and bring others with us as part of a movement to end youth homelessness for good.

[00:01:02] Josh: Hi, welcome to Point Made, the Centrepoint podcast by young people for all people. Today you'll be hosted by me, myself, Josh. I am part of Centrepoint's Strategy and Operation team within the Fundraising. Co hosted with 

[00:01:15] Anna: Anna, I'm the Campaigns Officer here at Centrepoint. 

[00:01:18] Josh: In today's episode, we're going to be looking at and talking about mental health, self care and the impact of movement on our well being.

[00:01:25] Anna: At Centrepoint, we know it's not enough to give someone a room and expect them to heal and grow. Our support goes beyond just providing accommodation. We provide young people with the holistic support they need to reclaim their dreams and have a future beyond homelessness. This includes therapy, jobs, education and training support, and organizing activities to improve well being too.

[00:01:45] Anna: This could be cooking classes, gardening workshops, and boxing courses. Movement and exercise is such a huge part of that, and we know that physical activity can have a huge impact on your mental health. including reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, before we really get into that, I would love to just introduce our panel.

[00:02:04] Helen: Hi, my name is Dr. Helen Miles. I'm a Consultant Clinical and Forensic Psychologist and head of Psychologically Informed Environments, otherwise known as PI at Centrepoint. 

[00:02:15] Georges: Hi, I'm George. I'm a Martial Arts Instructor/Personal Trainer. I'm a former Centrepoint resident. I was based in one of Centrepoint's foyer in North West London.

[00:02:25] Anna: Thank you both so much for joining us today. Before we really get into it, I would love to just ask you a question. So what is something that brings you joy and helps your mental health? Or maybe something you do every day that brightens up your day? 

[00:02:37] Georges: Personally for me, it's training. I train on a regular basis.

[00:02:41] Georges: I mean, every time I work, I'm constantly moving. So training for me is something that helps me with my mental health. 

[00:02:49] Anna: That's cool. What kind of training? 

[00:02:50] Georges: So, I do a different type of training. It can be weight training or martial art training. 

[00:02:55] Josh: So, to be fair to say, the physical training that you experience and you put yourself through is your mental escape and your mental de stress.

[00:03:03] Georges: Absolutely. Absolutely. It's my mental escape. I feel so much better after training. We like it, we like it. And for yourself? 

[00:03:11] Helen: Probably two things I do every day. I start the day with yoga. So, it's a really important part of my routine. And it, yeah, just makes me feel better mentally and physically and then if I have enough time as well, I'll take the dog out for a walk.

[00:03:26] Helen: So, my dog brings me a lot of joy. 

[00:03:29] Anna: Aww. What about you, Josh? Me? 

[00:03:31] Josh: Uh I've got a dog as well, so I'd take him for a walk in the morning before work. He's very happy for that. So seeing him jumping up around and prancing in the morning, that is nice. But honestly, a little thing I do daily is I started meditating again.

[00:03:46] Josh: And it's just a simple one that I do. I am I and I am worthy and I am capable. And I just say that to myself every morning. And just no matter what I've got to face. I like that. It just helps me keep focused and remember I've got a value. Thank you. 

[00:04:02] Anna: It's like that affirmation. 

[00:04:03] Josh: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

[00:04:04] Anna: The one habit I do every day is I have a cup of tea first thing in the morning. But otherwise I do like going swimming. That's my like exercise related one. 

[00:04:11] Josh: So let's lead into some of the questions that we've got for today as well. Could you talk to us about some of the reasons that young people who have experienced homelessness? Thank you. Might have additional struggles with their mental health.

[00:04:22] Helen: Yeah, I mean I think it's very varied. Obviously every young person is unique, has been on their own journey, in, towards homelessness. But we know that a lot of young people who are coming to Centrepoint, who've, they've had very difficult early experiences. Childhood experiences, they might have experienced family breakdown.

[00:04:40] Helen: They might've been in the care systems. They may have also, we have a lot of young people who are asylum seeking, so they've come to this country from traumatic backgrounds, all of which we know is going to have an impact on your mental wellbeing and your mental health. And we know that sometimes the ways that they have coping short term for that such as substance misuse can then have a further detrimental effect on mental health. But I think it's also worth acknowledging that actually being homeless can have an effect on your mental health. You know, living in temporary accommodation, sharing spaces with people you wouldn't necessarily choose to share spaces with, having to move perhaps between temporary accommodation. 

[00:05:22] Helen: Thank you.

[00:05:22] Helen: Even the experience, you know, sadly a lot of our young people have experienced rough sleeping and that can be extremely traumatic and frightening and that can also impact on mental health. So, we know it's both before they become homeless, but also the added effect of sometimes the experience of being homeless as well.

[00:05:39] Anna: Thanks so much for sharing that Helen. What would you say are some of the links between mental health and physical well being? 

[00:05:45] Helen: So again, there's a huge amount of psychological evidence that shows there's a relationship between how we feel mentally and also our physical well being as well. Lots of evidence that shows that if we look after ourselves physically, we feel better mentally.

[00:06:01] Helen: There's a lot of health benefits of physical exercise as well. Improves our sleep, it helps stress, it helps our mood, our energy. It can help our physical actual health in terms of weight management and strength and it also has impact on things like cholesterol, cardiovascular impact as well. And unfortunately what we know sometimes is when people's mental health is really, they're really struggling with their mental health.

[00:06:27] Helen: The first thing that will often go is them actually looking after themselves physically. So they might feel that they, you know, they can't get out of bed. They might have a lack of motivation and that can create a bit of a reciprocal cycle. So as their mental health gets worse, their physical health gets worse and so on.

[00:06:43] Helen: So often it's about kind of educating people that they're linked together and helping them to break that cycle, even if it's just a five minute walk. 

[00:06:54] Georges: Can I just add to that as well? And I think when we talk about physical wellbeing and mental wellbeing, I think we have to touch on confidence. I think confidence is very, you know, is part of the whole topic.

[00:07:05] Georges: When you talk about physical appearance. someone who's not physically fit, or they think they're not physically fit, even if they are, they might think they're not physically fit mentally. It does affect their confidence. And once you affect your confidence, it affects you mentally, meaning your physical and your mental state will deteriorate in a way.

[00:07:25] Georges: So once you're able to, in a way, work on your physical appearance, and you gain that confidence, you feel mentally stronger, you feel mentally better. 

[00:07:33] Helen: Yeah, definitely agree. There's been studies that have shown the impact of physical exercise on self esteem, on cognitive functioning and also reduction in social isolation and increased sort of social confidence as well.

[00:07:49] Helen: So, yeah, absolutely. 

[00:07:50] Georges: Absolutely. And also, I think from my experience as a personal trainer and martial instructor, one thing I noticed most of the time is, you know, when people train, They feel good after their session. But while they're training, I always say to people, it's all in your head. So once you're able to, you know, switch, turn on that switch mentally, you're able to, you know, show it physically.

[00:08:11] Georges: So sometimes in our sessions as well, I don't know if you've seen online, they always say to you, you have to make sure you, you contract your, your brain, contract with your muscles. It's because it's all, it's all brain work. So once you're able to, you know, switch on mentally, your muscle, your muscles will grow.

[00:08:28] Georges: So there's been multiple studies which shows that once you're concentrating on what exercise you're performing. You tend to have, you know, a fair chance of muscle growth quickly. 

[00:08:39] Helen: And we know a lot of the brain chemicals that get released during exercise are actually good for our mental well being. You know, the dopamine, the adrenaline, all of these things.

[00:08:47] Helen: So, yeah, the hardest part I always think with exercise is getting started. Yes, yes. The best 

[00:08:53] Anna: part is when you've finished. Yeah, my housemate always says, all it takes is like putting your shoes on and getting out the door. And 

[00:09:00] Georges: in my job as well, what I always say to people who come in for their first session, the hardest thing to do is walking through that door.

[00:09:06] Georges: Once you walk through the door and you're there, training is the easiest part. It's all mental. 

[00:09:13] Helen: Because routine really helps, and I think, you know, it takes about three months, they say, to establish a habit. So, you know, even if it's just five minutes a day, after a few weeks, that'll be ten minutes, and then after a few months, it will be, certainly that's been my experience with yoga.

[00:09:27] Helen: I can't imagine not doing it now, and I can do a lot more in the morning than I used to be able to do. 

[00:09:34] Josh: Yeah, 

[00:09:35] Anna: I think it is so hard though, because I feel like with exercise, I don't know, I think from conversations with friends, it's like, you know that it's important, you know it's good for you, you know it has all these like mental health benefits and like physical as well.

[00:09:46] Anna: But I feel like, you know, around the gym, there's so much about it being like an intimidating space, or like more for women as well. Or just like, you know, the idea of going on a walk if you're really low mental health wise, like it's really hard to find that like effing energy. So like, what would you say to people who, like, they like theoretically know they should be doing that, but because of their mental health they just like feel like they can't, what would you suggest?

[00:10:06] Anna: I 

[00:10:06] Helen: mean, I think with things like walking, you know, even if it's just walking to the shops to buy your groceries, you have to do that. And then we forget that actually you've done maybe a 10 minute walk and a 10 minute walk back. That's 20 minutes walking a day, you know, so building exercise into what you already do.

[00:10:23] Helen: I think is a really good one. Setting realistic goals. No offense to George here, but I am very unlikely to ever set foot in a gym. I find the massively intimidating places. It's not for me. And in fact, I've trained as a yoga teacher now, but have rarely gone to yoga classes. I prefer to do it in smaller groups.

[00:10:43] Helen: I find it more intimidating. So know what, know what you struggle with, find an alternative to that, I would say. And I think, you know, taking advantage, I know cost is also a massive problem as well. So I think thinking about what are your free options. So, you know, going for a walk is free, going for a run is free, although I'm Don't really do running.

[00:11:05] Helen: If you ever see me running, okay, something is chasing me, but you know, a good walk is, is great. You know, there are various gym schemes that you can, you know, do discounts as well. Look online. I always think, you know, I started with good old yoga with Adrian online. There's so many free. Videos, YouTube things.

[00:11:26] Helen: You can start with doing the comfort, your own home. So no one has to see you and your gym kit. I don't even have a gym kit. I do yoga in my pajamas, you know, but also even going to the park, a lot of our, certainly a lot of parks near where I live, they have green gym equipment, you know, climbing frames, just doing something fun going, you know, when was the last time we went on a kid's climbing frame, 

[00:11:49] Anna: you know, 

[00:11:49] Helen: actually just doing something a bit fun and just getting yourself moving.

[00:11:53] Helen: That can start to build the confidence in me for, Oh, actually I can do this. You know, cycling, if you have a bike, that's another freebie. I mean, George, you've probably got some other good suggestions. You've 

[00:12:05] Georges: stated most of them, to be honest with you. I'm just going to track back, to COVID time. I was thinking that.

[00:12:13] Georges: Yeah, the COVID time, because I remember that was the time where, you know, most gyms were closed and you really hit personal trainers. And I remember working, you know, when COVID happened, I had to go on furlough and I was also self employed in a way. So it was very difficult for, you know, for me to have an income.

[00:12:35] Georges: But one of the things that helped is online classes. But whilst I was doing online classes. There were so many people who lack motivation just because they were indoors most of the time. So what I decided to do, you know, with some of my, my private clients is, you know, we spent 10 minutes a day and we just start building it up as time went along and, you know, sessions after session, we just start taking it from 10 minutes to 20 minutes to 30 minutes to 40 and to an hour.

[00:13:03] Georges: But it's just about starting very small. You know, it's like they say. It's just like babies, for example, you know, they start crawling before they can walk. It's just about taking those baby steps, you know, to achieve your, your, your big goals. 

[00:13:16] Helen: And I think doing it socially as well. Again, coming back to lockdown, you know, that was the only thing we could do was go for a walk.

[00:13:23] Helen: And actually it was a night like, we've missed that now, but actually there's something nice about maybe you and someone you know is a friend or, you know, also struggling. I think it's less intimidating. Gym buddies. Gym buddies. Absolutely. The only thing with a 

[00:13:36] Josh: gym buddy is, the minute the other one starts to, I don't know.

[00:13:39] Josh: Like derail you. 

[00:13:41] Anna: You get jealous of them. Yeah, or they're like 

[00:13:43] Josh: derailing, like, I'm relying on you to go. So it's one of them ones, like. 

[00:13:47] Georges: But then this goes back to mental, the mental state we were talking about earlier. Because if you're comparing yourself to your gym buddy, then This is not the right place for you to be in, you know, so you should have someone who is going to help you progress in a way who's going to challenge you to strive, but not someone who you think you're going to be jealous of.

[00:14:07] Georges: You don't always have to go to the gym, but most important thing to remember is you're your own challenge. Don't look at other people. 

[00:14:15] Josh: In talking about that, I would like to actually find out a bit more about your history as in what got you into PT and what motivated you to do PT and what impact do you feel like you've had on other people through your PT?

[00:14:28] Georges: What got me into PT? Exactly this topic, mental health. You know, at the time I was struggling, I had a family breakdown and it was very difficult for me. And I was at a stage where I was looking, I was just about to finish. Sixth form I remember and I was going to college and at the time I needed a part time job so I spoke to a friend of mine who Knows the company I work for he knew he knows the owner the co founder of the company I work for and he basically Helped me out and you know, he introduced me to the co founder spoke to him Had a couple of interviews had a trial session for for one week and which was successful And eventually I got the job and I've been in, I've been in there ever since up until this day.

[00:15:16] Georges: And it was, it was very challenging, you know, I mean, when I walked in, I looked, I remember, the only thing I did at the time was playing basketball. And this was a whole different, you know, field for me in the martial art. I had no experience whatsoever. So I remember thinking to myself, this really what I want to do, but I didn't want to give it up because I couldn't play basketball anymore.

[00:15:39] Georges: Because I wasn't in school anymore, I had to find something outside of school. Wasn't going to the gym, wasn't lifting weight. So I decided, you know what, I'm going to give it a go. 

[00:15:48] Helen: Actually, the service you're in is the service that I'm supporting at the moment. And, I've noticed there's quite a big gym there.

[00:15:57] Georges: When I was stolen in that fire, I noticed that it wasn't a gym, there wasn't anything for young people to do in house. So I remember speaking to some of the staff members, you know, some of the key workers at the time, and, and I remember asking them if we could have a gym, you know, in house, so it's easier for us to not always have to go further, you know, out, because again, You know, as a young person, you talking about mental health, you don't want to necessarily put yourself in the situation where you're at the gym and you feel like people are staring at you.

[00:16:29] Georges: I rather, you know, you want to, you want to be somewhere where you feel comfortable. And with most of us felt comfortable in the foyer. So I requested if we could have some gym equipment and yeah, they put the request forward up to the hook to the head office and they approved it. And from there they, we got funding and yeah, they bought some gym equipment I'm happy to hear that it's still there.

[00:16:54] Georges: Still used, still 

[00:16:55] Helen: regular session. So yeah, that's really cool. Yeah, this was, this was, 

[00:16:58] Georges: this was important. I remember using the gym. I was using the gym quite a lot, pretty much around four to five times per week.

[00:17:08] Josh: So honestly, I hope you take pride in the fact that you've established something, not just for your household at the time or your residency at the time. But for the generations afterwards and other people that have needed and utilize that service afterwards as well. Yeah, 

[00:17:23] Georges: like 

[00:17:23] Josh: honestly, take pride. Thank you a big thing. 

[00:17:26] Anna: So from like a professional and then also from working with people in your own experiences What would you say some of the challenges to accessing mental health support in the UK? Do you think it's enough? 

[00:17:35] Helen: The short answer is no, it's not enough. So I think there are significant challenges. We are seeing an increase in mental health issues amongst young people.

[00:17:46] Helen: Obviously we've come out of the pandemic, we've come out of that lockdown period. I think that really did impact on young people because of time, but also, you know, there's critical things that happen, developmental milestones that you have in childhood and adolescence, you know, and a lot of that is around social connection and education and a lot of that was disrupted and work and people being furloughed.

[00:18:10] Helen: So I think there is an impact of that, particularly around things like depression and anxiety as well. In terms of what's available or, you know, Lack of what's available. I think again, there's been real challenges. I'll try not to get too political, but you know, since austerity in 2010, mental health resources have been consistently cut.

[00:18:30] Helen: The whole NHS has been cut. But in particular mental health services have, and in particular for young people, we know the wait lists for CAMHS, child and adolescent mental health services can be up to two or three years to get support. So I think it's getting much harder for young people to access that.

[00:18:50] Helen: On a positive, I think that young people are more willing to talk about mental health. So, you know, when I was young, there was quite a lot of stigma around having mental health challenges. I think it's much more normal to talk about now, and, it's much more accepted now. But that means more people are identifying as having challenges, coupled with A reduction in a lot of the resources, so it can be very, very challenging to access.

[00:19:16] Helen: You've got to really advocate for yourself or have someone to advocate for you to get access to services and the thresholds are higher to gain access to services. The pathways are tighter and what I mean by that is, you know, In the past, if you didn't turn up to an appointment, something happened, you would have another appointment.

[00:19:37] Helen: Now, if you DNA a couple of appointments, and you often then taken discharged from that care and have to go back on the waiting list. And, you know, those appointments are often nine to five, Monday to Friday. And if you're trying to work or study, they can be a challenge as well. So. resource issues, access issues, and increasing prevalence have created a bit of a perfect storm really in mental health services.

[00:20:04] Georges: I totally agree with everything you said. I think the criteria at the moment is too high for people to access mental health. I think they, you know, from my experience and some of my friends experiences, from what I've been told, it's, they, there are so many questions, you know, to be answered. Which are being asked in order for you to be referred or to be seen by someone, they ask you so many questions about, you know, whether you've been suicidal or you've had suicidal thoughts, etc.

[00:20:33] Georges: But I think it doesn't need to get to that point. Well, you have to have those thoughts in order for, you know, someone to intervene and give you that helping hand. So I think those are things that we need to look at a bit more and see whether, you know, mental health has different forms. You can't, it's not just serious.

[00:20:51] Georges: Not when he gets to number eight, number nine, number 10, that we have to intervene. You can start from number three. We can, you know, step in. whilst it's so low and give someone help before it deteriorates. So that's my personal opinion. And I try my best all the time to always, you know, be there for people as much as I can because I first handle how hard that is.

[00:21:14] Georges: And I'm It's 

[00:21:16] Helen: actually picking up on your point, George, about intervening when it's a 3 or a 9. 

[00:21:21] Anna: Yeah. 

[00:21:21] Helen: It's actually thinking about early intervention, thinking about prevention as well. That's right, yeah. And having more resources available at that early stage. So we, you know, we know it's harder as a professional, it's much harder to treat when it gets to crisis.

[00:21:35] Helen: It's much better that we're thinking earlier on. And spotting things and people feeling able to come forward interventions that can support young people, particularly, but across the lifespan, rather than getting to the stage where we're only going to offer you statutory support when you get to the crisis point.

[00:21:53] Helen: I would like to also see a national conversation around young people's mental health and the consequences of COVID. We've sort of forgotten about COVID. No one's wearing masks, everything's gone away. But actually, there's quite a lot of Collective trauma to process and support and the consequences of that period of time still to be unpicked and For young people in particular to be supported to recover 

[00:22:17] Georges: I still see it happening quite a lot that that trend of not wanting to talk not wanting to open up is still around and For and other people thinking that you know opening up and telling and speaking about what what you're going through You know in your life is weak, and I don't think that's weak actually I think To me, that's very impressive and it takes a, you know, a very strong person to be able to share and say, look, I'm not okay.

[00:22:41] Georges: I need help and I need support. 

[00:22:44] Anna: I was going to say that about validating it because I think that everyone has mental health and you know it varies in degrees of what's going on. But I think we can think there's like the mental health, the people who are struggling with mental health and then the people who are fine when actually like we're all on that spectrum.

[00:22:57] Anna: And I think there's so much like shame and kind of like self criticism of like if you're struggling with your mental health. Then you're like a failure, or you like should have done more, or like it's your fault. But actually like so much of like mental health can come from what you've experienced throughout your life, or what, you know, might have happened to you.

[00:23:12] Anna: And then it isn't your fault, but it's actually like you really need help and healing. But I 

[00:23:15] Georges: also think it depends on, you know, each person's view of mental health. Because mental health means different things to other people. I was about to say, but I think it's 

[00:23:23] Josh: down to acknowledgement. We know, biggest stereotype right now is a man crying is a weak man.

[00:23:28] Josh: That's right. Well, realistically, if I've got emotions and I'm a human. Does that mean everybody's weak then? Or is everybody super strong because they hide their feelings, but then when they go home, now the person that smiles the most outside is normally the person that breaks down the most at home.

[00:23:43] Josh: So then, realistically, am I strong for not seeking help in society's eyes, or am I strong for actually acknowledging myself and seeking the help that I need? So it's the concepts and perceptions, like you said earlier, of how people get information delivered to them, how people receive information, and also the accessibility for any resources after.

[00:24:06] Josh: And their level of understanding as well. Yeah, absolutely. I feel like he did pay already. 

[00:24:15] Helen: But those conversations are so important because, you know, I think I have often had young people come to me and say, get rid of my anxiety or why do I feel sad? And actually, no, we're all going to have, you always have anxiety.

[00:24:26] Helen: The issue is around managing that or you're never going to not, I mean, we all have days where we feel happier and there are days where we feel better. Not so happy. And just normalizing a little bit of that, but then helping people to go, okay, what can I do on the days that I don't feel so good? Exercise, for example, or talk to someone, you know, and that will help me to manage my mental health.

[00:24:50] Helen: Cause as you say, George, we all have mental health. 

[00:24:52] Josh: Is there any advice for someone that is a resident, someone that's not coming, but suffering or struggling with their mental health from both your perspectives? Is there any advice that you would want to give? 

[00:25:04] Helen: I think I would say reach out. You know, there's always somebody that can help. Perhaps the first time, maybe you've had experience of reaching out and you haven't been heard, but keep going. There will be somebody that can support you, someone that will be able to take To listen, to empathize, to validate how you're feeling, um, and hopefully then signpost you to the right place, whether that be through statutory services, charitable services, online resources, Young Minds is a really good resource, for example. So I think it starts with that acknowledgement of, you know what, I might not be okay. I might need some help. And that is the biggest step, but then taking that step. 

[00:25:51] Georges: My advice for, you know, one thing I always, I used to say to myself is, you know, always, and I would like to share this so you can use it, you know, if you, if you feel like you, you know, it works for you is there's always a sunshine after a storm.

[00:26:06] Georges: So regardless of how tough, you know, things are for you at the moment, it will never last forever. So you just have to be reminding yourself that, you know, what your goal is and just hold on tight and reach out more. You know, like Helen said, you've got to reach out more. Don't be ashamed to reach out.

[00:26:22] Georges: Actually, I think that it takes strength. It takes, you know, a lot of courage and strength to be able to, to admit and acknowledge that you are not okay. So once you take that first step, Everything else will fall in place. 

[00:26:35] Helen: I think I'd also add about compassion. We talk about being compassionate towards other people.

[00:26:41] Helen: I don't think we're very often compassionate towards ourselves, you know, and actually being kind. And it's, there's no shame in admitting you're struggling. For a lot of people, they've been through really, really difficult things. Of course, you'd be struggling, you know, that's okay. And actually, I'm always impressed by the young people that I meet that are survivors.

[00:27:01] Helen: that have been through really difficult things and actually, you know, being, stopping for a moment, being kind to yourself and actually thinking, wow, you know, I'm still here, I'm still doing this, you know, and as my now sadly deceased grandmother, who made it to the age of 90, God rest her soul, used to tell me the hardest thing every day is that first step.

[00:27:24] Helen: Take that first step every day and everything else follows from that. Whether that be exercise or just literally getting out of bed or picking up the phone to talk to someone, whatever that first step is. 

[00:27:35] Georges: It only takes one day for you to start feeling okay, you know, for the rest of your life to improve.

[00:27:41] Georges: It only takes, you know, one job. Let's say for example, you're seeking for a job. It only takes one for you to succeed into being, you know, in the space that you want to be. So. Hey, you only take one opportunity to lead you to your goal. So, don't be discouraged no matter what. I like 

[00:27:58] Josh: that. I like that, I like that.

[00:28:01] Josh: I've not always been the strongest person. I've had my past like a lot of other people, but I would definitely advise is always strive to be a better person than you was the day before and if you are struggling with your mental health have the confidence to speak up and don't feel berated by the fact that what you're struggling with is somebody else's.

[00:28:22] Josh: Mental health is actually more normal than a lot of people actually acknowledge and feel free to seek help, ask for help. Absolutely. And if the people that you're asking do not support or can't support you, there's more options. Go find them options. Giving up is at the point of where you will struggle the most.

[00:28:40] Josh: That's right. And for yourself, any advice? Well, yeah, I don't have the lived experience of homelessness to contribute, but have struggled with my mental health in different moments. And I think for me, it would be like looking for those moments of hope. So like, I think like conversations with a friend where you felt super safe, and you could literally be like, I'm at a really low point.

[00:28:59] Anna: Or even it might just be like a nice note from someone or like a sunny day. I think sometimes there are patches of our life where it's not about the big, like mountaintop moments. It is about just trying to keep walking through that like wilderness. Yeah. And I think, like, we can't just glamorize life as just all of the successes.

[00:29:16] Anna: Like, there are some points that are super mundane, or boring, or you've just got to, like, get on with the next day. But I think knowing that, like, everyone's going through that as well together, and yeah, I think just seeing, I think maybe being like younger as well, I think I was quite naive to think life just gets better each year.

[00:29:31] Anna: That's right. But I think like, you know, some years have a lot of suffering in, and some years have a lot more joy. But just to know that, yeah, there's lots of different moments to experience. I love that. Find the joy. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, both of you, for sharing. And yeah, just for talking about this.

[00:29:46] Anna: For anyone listening, if it has brought up anything, please do, like, make sure you've chatted to someone about it. The Young Minds is a really good website to look at, just to know there's more support out there. And just to know that you're not alone, as well, in what you're going through. But yeah, I hope it's been really helpful and informative for you to listen.

[00:30:01] Anna: And please continue to support this podcast and like, subscribe and share. 

[00:30:05] Josh: And that's our Point Made. 

[00:30:07] Anna: And that's our Point Made. 

[00:30:08] Josh: And that's our Point 

[00:30:09] Anna: Made. And that's our Point Made. And that's 

[00:30:12] Young person: our Point Made. Point Made, the Centrepoint podcast by young people for all people.