World Mental Health Day - a personal story
If my memory serves me correctly, the photo below was taken in July 1994. The old South Stand had just witnessed a Windsor Miracle weeks before, the kop terrace stood proudly in the sun, and Linfield wrist sweat bands were in fashion, or so I thought at least.
Autograph hunting that July afternoon with my Dad, I had no idea that this summer would be a very significant moment in my life, the start of a life-long love affair with Linfield that had its roots buried deep in family tradition decades before.
For the last 30 years I’ve followed Linfield home and away with my Dad, throughout the various seasons of both our lives it’s been the very welcome common denominator. Somehow when the whistle blew on a Saturday afternoon at 3pm, Linfield matches became a tonic, a vacuum and an escape.
On top of following the Blues for 30 years and more together, my Dad and I also share a wealth of experience of mental health blues, something that we have both battled for several decades.
There’s something very similar about being a football fan, and being someone who battles seasons of mental ill health. The highs, the lows, the victories, the losses, the smiles, the tears, and the desperate hope that there will be far more good days than there are bad ones.
My Dad and I have shared both the good and the bad days when it comes to mental health. We both battle anxiety, depression, seasons of insomnia, and crippling low moods. We both are on medication, go to therapy, and regularly speak to our doctors.
1 in 4 of us suffer from seasons of mental ill health in some shape or form. It’s quite likely that if you’re reading this, you know this well, or you know someone who does.
On World Mental Health Day 2023, perhaps our Mental Health Team Talk will help you, or someone you love, in some way:
Talk to someone: the bravest thing I’ve ever done in my life is tell a close friend or family member what’s going on in my brain.
Speak to your doctor: I’ll never forget the day I spoke to my local GP about my mental health, while it was scary to do so-it has opened up a world of options that have helped me in so many ways.
Reach out to a local charity like Pips or Aware NI: both of these organisations are at the forefront of helping people in NI and can help.
Get some exercise: Nothing lifts my mood more consistently than a regular walk, jog or some form of exercise.
Remember the bad days aren’t permanent: I could list some of my hardest days being Blueman here, some of the most painful defeats. As difficult as they were, there was always the next match and the next season. And those future wins far eclipse any of the bad defeats.
Audaces Fortuna Juvat,
Steve Caldwell
