The mental health warriors you need to know
It’s Mental Health Awareness day this weekend and whilst it’s great that so many people are talking more actively about mental health this week, this shouldn’t be an isolated conversation. This is a conversation that we have to have so many times over that it becomes as normal as breathing. And thanks to that pandemic thing floating round (you may have heard about it), it’s more important than ever before.
For both Laura & I, the past few years or so have been pivotal in our own relationship with mental health. I have battled on and off depression (which hit hard late 2018/early 2019), whilst Laura suffered from post-natal depression with her second baby and since becoming a mum of three, has grappled with serious self-doubt, and imposter syndrome alongside extreme parental fatigue. Throw running a business into that mix for us both and let’s just say the challenges have been well and truly faced.
We are very aware that 2020 has not been kind to the mental health of our community (and beyond). But this year, the internet has introduced us to a whole host of incredible humans who have shaped their digital channels to talking more actively about the mental health challenges we face every day and sharing tools for us all to use to help navigate it a little better. So this post is a love note to them - the mental health warriors who are normalising mental health for us all by encouraging us to talk more openly and freely about our experiences without stigma or judgement. We hope it helps some of you in the way it has, and continues to, help us.
Nedra Glover Tawwab
You know those quote shares on Instagram that really cut deep and hit home? We bet you’ve liked or shared a few of Nedra’s over the years. A licensed therapist and relationship expert, Nedra is focused on helping her clients and her audience improve boundary setting and improve relationships in their lives.
Her philosophy is that a lack of boundaries and assertiveness underlie most relationship issues, and her gift is helping people create healthy relationships with themselves and others. Don’t just take our word for it - she’s been featured in the likes of The New York Times, The Guardian, Psychology Today, Self, and Vice, and has appeared on numerous podcasts including Therapy for Black Girls and Whole 30's Mama.
Her Instagram is packed full of practices, tools, and reflections for mental health and she also hosts weekly Q&A's which are you shouldn’t miss! Nedra’s content helps us hit that reset button on days where our thoughts might get a little grey.
Natalie Lue
I first discovered Natalie at Blogtacular a few years ago where she was a keynote speaker. The moment she walked into the green room (we were both doing talks but I was curled up in a corner with the start of a stomach bug that consequently lasted 3 horrendous days but that’s another story), the energy of the room lifted. She has this indescribable happy aura to her. The kind that you look at and go “I want what she’s having”. But as her talk eluded to, that wasn’t always the case. She’s had her fair share of low self esteem, self-doubt, toxic relationships and topped off with a crippling immune system disease which is incurable. She turned her life around by compassionately looking at her past and understanding why certain behavioural patterns kept repeating themselves. She took it one step at a time. Day by day. Allowing herself to grow her self-esteem and live life as fully as possible.
Her mission is simple:
“If I can help even one person avoid what I went through and can support others who have struggled with abandonment, rejection, trauma, people pleasing, emotional unavailability, and feeling ‘not good enough’, to name but a few, I’m doing my little bit in the world to spread more compassion.” - Natalie Lue
Whether you want to overcome your past so that you can raise your self-worth, break depleting habits like people pleasing, unfulfilling relationships, poor boundaries, being self-critical, or being triggered in certain situations, learning how to reclaim you from your emotional baggage and increasing emotional availability through self-care, will make a profound difference to your life. Natalie inspires and empowers people to do this every day.
She’s written multiple books packed with the tools you need to unpack this yourself at home and follow her lead on the journey to feeling free as well as running a host of online courses and a membership program.
Matt Haig
If you’ve not heard of Matt Haig, you must have been living under a rock. He propelled to notoriety with his best selling book, Reasons to Stay Alive and his follow up guide, Notes on a Nervous Planet. Aged 24, Matt went to the edge of a cliff with the intention to kill himself. Thankfully, he took a step back and didn’t go through with it and instead unravelled the heady mix of depression and anxiety he was facing at the time, wrote down his experience and Reasons to Stay Alive was the result. He has helped countless numbers of people navigate similar paths to his. He is now one of the UK’s leading mental health campaigners.
If you’re struggling with body positivity, Chessie is someone you must follow. With her effervescent personality, she infectiously shows her community every day that jiggly bits, stomach rolls, scars etc. are well and truly on surface level only. She is also single handedly breaking down the norms we’ve been led to believe by mainstream media, in the way that all mental health warriors really should! Just watching her Instagram stories for a few minutes each week will undoubtedly help you to love your body that little bit more.
Our favourite thing about Chessie is her open and honest approach to her influence. She doesn’t plaster her content with a filter - she is unashamedly herself, even on the days where she’s not feeling 100%. Seeing her content is like having a digital hug that you didn’t know you needed.
Tabitha Brown
I first found Tabitha on TikTok during lockdown. Her voice alone is THE most soothing thing to listen to - along the lines of a female Morgan Freeman. But more powerful than that are her motivational words. They give you the pick me up that you need on down days. She shot to fame in March when she began sharing content on TikTok, including words where she talks to her audience, making you feel like she’s talking to you personally. Tabitha’s vibrancy shines through her videos and makes you feel you warmth even on the coldest of days.
Her life has not been short of struggles. An actress by trade, Tabitha developed chronic pain shortly after her son was born, which heavily impacted her day-to-day and career. She was forced to take a year out from work and turned to veganism to help her deal with her symptoms, something she passionately talks about today. In late 2017, she was rapidly running out of the disability insurance funds that helped her survive financially and consequently became an Uber driver to supplement her career as a part-time actress. She had a social media video go viral - a review of a vegan BLT from Wholefoods - and the brand then hired her as an ambassador. She took to TikTok in early 2020 and amassed a whopping two million followers in just five weeks.
Matt Cama
Another find through TikTok, Matt transformed his life from living in his Mum’s garage, being totally broke and binge eating to help deal with stress, to living his dream life in Bali, travelling the world and creating a six figure business. He helps his followers (and clients) to put perspective on the issues they’re dealing with and move on from it. His smile is infectious and his words are hard hitting.
He founded his business Health To Build Wealth as a program to help entrepreneurs master their health, body and mind to become more effective throughout their business and personal life. He has amassed a huge following online for his constructive words and positive attitude to everything.
Ben Bidwell
Known as The Naked Professor, Ben is a mental health campaigner who is deeply passionate about removing the stigma for men to talk more openly about their mental wellness. He transformed his life from being a prisoner of corporate life to being entirely free of limiting beliefs. Talking about what it means to be a real man, why happiness isn’t the answer, how to find peace in a chaotic world, the meaning of self-love and how to discover your authentic purpose, Ben works as a coach and workshop leader.
He’s about to launch Heart Space, a private membership community for like minded people to feel seen, heard & valued.
Lucy Sheridan
Lucy describes herself as the world’s only comparison coach. Through her private coaching sessions and group workshops, she’s helped thousands grow from despair to being independent from comparison. She is friendly, approachable, real talking and opens your eyes to new ways of thinking. Her words help build confidence up so much that the concept of comparing yourself to anyone else just dwindles away. Like many of our mental health warriors on this list, Lucy has learnt her craft through her own journey. She was once crippled with self-doubt and low confidence, so much so that crying in the toilets at the job she had was a regular occurrence. She was plagued by comparison, which lead to jealousy, insecurity, procrastination, poor choices and a detrimental impact on her health, money and relationships. She’s transformed her life and shows her followers and course participants how to do the same.
