The Mind Manual: Mental Fitness Tools for Everyone (Dr Alex George)

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Suicide has not been a crime since the sixties and we aren’t supposed to be a society that criminalises people for being mentally ill. And yet those words are still used. No wonder there is so much stigma still attached to mental illness.” George passionately believes that “we must change the idea of what it is to be masculine. You can follow female leadership, you can learn from women, you can show your sensitivities, you don't have to be strong all the time and act like bullets bounce off you.”

On bullying we talk for a long time, about the multiple, unremitting, “nuanced” and insidious ways it can manifest in young people’s lives in the digital age. The publisher’s synopsis says: “ The Mind Manual will show you how to assess your mental health today and understand what’s normal for you. It will reveal the seven universal truths that everyone should remember and the mental fitness foundations that will boost you. A lot of what you do is about raising awareness, and I wanted to talk about sport. I understand you’re a Manchester United fan. Health and happiness come from the cumulative effects of many small and positive daily changes to our lifestyle. It's about building sustainable and healthy habits - taking small and purposeful steps to a healthy future. By the end of the book I hope my readers have developed their own "bespoke health toolkit" to be used across every aspect of their lives, and to make long-lasting and meaningful change.'

About Alex George

George is a TV doctor, author and Youth Mental Health Ambassador to the government. His first book, Live Well Every Day, was published by Aster in May 2021. He campaigns for early support hubs, which give young people easy access to mental health support, and in November 2021 presented his first full-length documentary for BBC One and Children in Need, “Dr Alex: Our Young Mental Health Crisis”. He also hosts his own radio show on Classic FM, “Uplifting Classics”. As explicitly mentioned in this interview, in July 2020, Alex’s younger brother, Llŷr, died by suicide. Alex, a former GP, has since used his platform and large social media following to raise awareness about mental health. In January 2021, Alex launched a campaign directed at the UK Government to prioritise mental health amongst young people. On 3 February that same year, Alex was appointed as the UK Ambassador for Mental Health by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson. But it wasn’t this that turned the social media influencer and A&E doctor into one of the most prominent and influential mental health campaigners working in this country today. A lot has happened between then and now, and especially to George. Which is why we are here, talking in granular and grim data-supported detail about suicide and this country’s youth mental health crisis. Dr Alex is on a mission to empower us to make our own health choices, take positive control and feel equipped and inspired to make those small changes today that energise and future-proof for life.

What you do consistently has a direct impact on your day-to-day health, your immune system, your mental health, your metabolism, your bone density, your heart health, your blood pressure, your energy levels and how you fight disease genreally. Your lifestyle is often your body's biggest support system and the more robust you can make that, the more you can rely on it to get you through. Think of it like your life insurance policy. About This Edition ISBN: The name Dr Alex George is one that many people our age seem to associate with the reality TV show, Love Island. Me, not being an avid viewer of the show, I first came across Alex’s work during the Covid-19 pandemic – a time that in many ways redefined the public perception of mental health. Me being an ardent Liverpool fan, we laughed off the Liverpool-Man United rivalry here. “It’s all fun and banter”, joked Alex. Alex said that he finds it “inspiring” to see mental health being brought up in sports like boxing, rugby, and football. He’d “absolutely encourage” more people to use sport as a platform for raising awareness, adding: “It makes you feel that it’s not just you. It shows you can be successful and have things that you struggle with.” Health and happiness come from the cumulative effects of many small and positive daily changes to our lifestyle. It's about building sustainable and healthy habits - taking small and purposeful steps to a healthy future. By the end of the book I hope my readers have developed their own 'bespoke health toolkit' to be used across every aspect of their lives, and to make long-lasting and meaningful change."He has two major goals for mental health in this country. To fund Early Support Hubs so people can access support before they reach crisis, and to establish legislation for the workplace which would include training around mental health first aid in parity with physical first aid.

Amidst The Boar’s coverage of the 2023 Cheltenham Literature Festival, I sat down with Alex to discuss mental health, student life, and the release of his latest book, The Mind Manual. We discuss antidepressants, their efficacy and over-prescription. George is not against them. He says his #postyourpill campaign, which asks people to take a selfie with their medication, is anti-stigma and not pro-medication. Learning life skills, even things like finances – the number one cause of stress in adulthood is finances. We need to learn about that in school. Financial health is actually a topic – it’s a real thing which even I didn’t know until a couple of years ago. Fundamentally, schools should build emotional literacy from a young age, resilience training, [and] mental fitness training. That’s partly through classroom activities and partly through what the school’s structure is. We need to get in early and give them the support they need. We’ve spent ages putting this together and are SO excited to finally share it with you! The quality of products has been extremely important to us. I’ve made sure to try on every hoodie and cap to make sure that we sell you the perfect ones. I am so proud of the quality and design of this Stompwear 💚Aster, part of the Octopus Publishing Group, has signed The Mind Manual: Mental Fitness Tools for Everyone by Dr Alex George. His family thinks his brother was about to start taking medication before he died but patient confidentiality has meant they can’t be certain. His own life, he says, was saved by them given how depressed he was following Llŷr’s death. “I don't know for sure that I’d be here if it wasn't for my medication that I took. I wouldn't have done it because of my brother and my family, but I was in a very, very dark place.”

But you are a journalist”. said Alex. “Change that. You are a journalist. You’re doing journalism right now.”

You take ownership of the things you can control, and you let go of the things you can’t Dr Alex George On top of this there is the problem of, as he says, “How we build our boys.” In his book he reflects on how we are all born the same, but men are chiselled by ideas of what masculinity is.