Having struggled with Bulimia and disordered thoughts around food and exercise, food freedom coach Lydia uses her experiences to help women create healthy relationships with their body and food.

Having shot to fame following his time on reality TV show Too Hot to Handle, David attributes fitness, self-awareness and reflection to maintaining a positive mindset, especially during lockdown.

The relationship between mental health and financial problems is a complex one due to the stigma associated with financial issues. As a society we need to become more open about talking about these issues.

Mental illness can be unexpected, it can be unique, and often it can be very isolating. My mental health journey has been prominent with those 3 aspects and a whole variety of emotions.

By the time I found out I was pregnant, I was 19 and on the tail end of relapse of my eating disorder, and I struggled with binge drinking. Overnight, the light and direction I had been needing became so clear. But then at the start of the third trimester, my baby boy had died suddenly, and without explanation. I went back to square one. I drank every single day. I looked for my baby everywhere.

Throughout school, I felt like I was a shell of myself. Most days I would come home and cry to my mum who would always be there to listen. When I was told that I was not good enough, at times I believed them. Throughout college, I was also told that A levels would be too hard for me and that I would struggle. They defined me by my grades and didn't look at me as a person.

At just 13, I was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa and a few years later Bulimia. Society’s unrealistic expectations of body ideals have already claimed too many victims. I for one am fed up of hating my body. To recover, really recover, from the pandemic of disordered eating we need to reject diet culture and fight against those norms. We need to disengage in the cycle of dieting. Stop allowing people to profit off our self-hatred. Reject the notion that smaller body = more desirable.

If mental health has affected your life you are not broken, and you do not need to be fixed. Don't focus on ridding yourself of what affects you. Instead focus on coping with it day to day, and soon it becomes a much smaller part of your life. If we give something less ability to affect us, it can do less damage.

The room around me was strewn with my belongings and it was as though I had been possessed. Doctors informed my parents that I had suffered a severe mental breakdown and that I needed to be sectioned immediately under the Mental Health Act.  This diagnosis was completely incorrect. 

The constant rejection contributes to growing self-doubt, often triggering a deep, aching loneliness that makes you question what kind of value you bring to the world. It seems like most artists struggle with some form of depression or anxiety. Factors like exhaustion from over-touring, inadequate nutrition, substance abuse, etc etc are all big issues.