We spoke to Mind media volunteer James Lindsay to discuss how his lived experiences of physical activity, walking, and other sports have positively impacted his mental health.

The 31-year-old is a Fundraising & Marketing Officer for his local mental health charity, Hertfordshire Mind Network. As part of our One Lap for Mind initiative, James will be completing a lap of Silverstone on June 30.

Driven by his desire to raise awareness and reduce mental health stigma, James has blogged extensively about the subject, spoken on several podcasts and made appearances on videos and TV.

When I think back over my entire life, from infancy to now (31), I have always been keen on sport and exercise, and they have played a vital role in helping maintain my mental wellbeing in so many ways.

Unfortunately, they were unable to prevent me from having my first psychotic episode in 2016. This was triggered by extreme stress and a severe lack of sleep after coming out of a long-term relationship. It didn’t help that I wasn’t happy with my job at the time either. I also experienced a major relapse in late 2019/early 2020. This was followed by a new diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder.

It took me a while to recover from both as they were such traumatic events, but one of the things that always made me myself again was being active. I feel very lucky that I will be walking around the famous Silverstone track on 30 June as a Mind media volunteer, and it feels very fitting as walking has always done so much for me mentally.

Many of my favourite memories with friends and family involve long walks or hikes, some in nature, which I find very therapeutic. The beauty of walking is that you can have deep and meaningful chats as you go, because you’re not as out of breath as you would be when running or cycling, for example. It can be a form of talking therapy for your mind, while your body is burning calories at the same time!

I have also discovered benefits from a bunch of different sports. Football is top of my list, as I get so much enjoyment out of it. I am part of a men’s mental health football group, and we regularly do our talking both on and off the pitch. We get the physical benefits from playing a match, but then we also have a peer support element where we talk about our mental health - either together, or one-to-one with the staff who run the sessions.

I think men are generally getting better now, but we haven’t always been the most open when it comes to discussing our feelings. I am a firm believer that the more people you share with, the more allies you are likely to make. The beauty of sport is that it gives us the chance to talk about something we have a common interest in, helping us to connect with new people. Without my love for sport, I would not have discovered my football group.

Football is not my only outlet, though. I am able to look after my mental wellbeing through other things, including regular yoga and meditation, as well as writing about my lived experiences. If you are struggling, I think it’s important to be open-minded and try out a few different things to find what works for you.

You might not want to tell the world about it, but sharing it with someone you trust – like a friend, family, colleague or GP - is better than keeping it to yourself, in my opinion. One of my first steps towards getting help was reading books, primarily memoirs from people experiencing the same or a similar condition to me. I also find it so useful that more and more public figures and celebrities are now talking about their experiences of mental illness. As someone who follows football, it is comforting to see the Premier League, as well as lower league men's and women's football, being more open. This is particularly important for young fans as it gives them role models and helps to normalise talking about mental health.

This also applies to Formula 1, as I have seen plenty of drivers speaking up in the media in recent years. I was pleased to see Lewis Hamilton discussing depression a few years back, and today it gives me great joy to see Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo being so involved in the McLaren Racing and Mind fundraising partnership.

I feel truly honoured and humbled to be part of this opportunity, as I still have plenty of warm memories of watching F1 races with my dad as a kid. He is still obsessed with the sport and watches every race, so I will be thinking of him when I do my 5.9km around the famous Silverstone track.

I love how Mind keeps coming up with unique fundraising initiatives such as this, which are a bit different to the usual run/cycle/walk ideas you’ve seen. It’s also wonderful to see more big brands like McLaren Racing joining the fight for better mental health and leading by example. I am sure this will be a huge success, and I can’t wait to be part of it and see what else we can achieve together!

To sign up for the challenge, please visit the One Lap for Mind JustGiving page:
www.justgiving.com/team/McLarenRacingMind

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