From my experience working as a doctor, it’s very clear that we don’t treat mental health in the same way as physical health. And even though awareness about mental health has grown in the past decade or so, we still have a long way to go when it comes to understanding this topic and changing our attitudes towards mental health. Someone at the front of the campaign to change the conversation around mental health is Dr Alex George. Dr Alex is a TV doctor, best-selling author, and Youth Mental Health Ambassador to the government. Alex has become a well-known and respected figure amongst healthcare professionals in the UK, from his years as an A&E doctor, bringing the nation accessible and reassuring advice directly from the frontline throughout the pandemic. Alex is on a mission to improve mental health support for young people and has become prolific throughout the UK in his campaigning for Early Support Hubs and he’s recently published his latest book The Mind Manual: Mental Fitness Tools For Everyone - which we dive into during this episode. In the conversation, we talk about how to assess your mental health and understand the baseline that’s normal for you, we talk about how to build mental fitness and navigate feelings like anxiety and loneliness, and also discuss some of the ‘universal truths’ from Alex’s new book that everyone needs to remember. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer - this conversation includes discussion around suicide.

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00:00 Intro

01:37 What is mental fitness?

03:16 How does someone know what normal is?

07:06 Why we have high suicide rates amongst men

09:08 The hardest thing about mental health

10:40 The power of therapy

23:09 Dealing with anxiety and ADHD

31:00 Loneliness

34:01 Losing your brother

41:36 The stigma of mental health

48:59 The wheel of life exercise

58:21 How to set boundaries

01:15:37 How to deal with imposter syndrome

01:23:30 The mind manual

🔗 CONNECT WITH DR ALEX

📕 The Mind Manual Mental Fitness Tools For Everyone
🎙 Stompcast

🔗 CONNECT WITH ALI

📲 Join My Telegram Community - https://t.me/+bH5gLHty5kBiOGZk

📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED
Attached: Are you Anxious, Avoidant or Secure? How the science of adult attachment can help you find – and keep – love by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller - https://geni.us/CGV7Pb
Alain de Botton - https://www.alaindebotton.com/
Ben West, Mental Health Campaigner - https://www.benwest.org.uk/
No More Mr. Nice Guy by Robert Glover - https://geni.us/IwIFR

📄SHOW NOTES & TRANSCRIPT

Visit the website for the transcript and highlights from the conversation - https://aliabdaal.com/podcast/

🎙 ABOUT THE PODCAST

Deep Dive is the podcast that delves into the minds of entrepreneurs, creators and other inspiring people to uncover the philosophies, strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives.

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