Video Transcription

headcoach – Tom Boyd

Throughout the 2016 year, clearly we had an amazing year. We managed to win the flag, which was, you know, an incredible experience. But I think, from my point of view, I probably covered up a lot of the cracks that were starting to appear in my mental health, and I was really struggling with, you know, quite a bit of stress. Though I didn’t know it at the time, a bit of anxiety and sort of really not feeling great about myself. I started suffering from quite bad insomnia and spent probably, you know, a month to six weeks without sleeping really at all.

The real moment where my mind started to turn was having panic attacks when I was driving. I suppose the physiological effect of, you know, your heart racing, sweating, and not being able to concentrate, feeling dizzy… you know, those are really, really challenging periods of time in my life. I was seeing a psychologist from the club who was an amazing support for me, and quite honestly, I’m not sure what would have happened if she wasn’t there. It’s hard for some people to sort of understand it. It’s not tangible, it’s not something you can see.

You know, some of the things that can be really helpful during challenging times, for me, something as simple as monitoring your breathing, and you know, getting on top of, I suppose, moments where you feel anxious or nervous or stressed out. All things that are, you know, in a way, putting money in the bank in terms of your mental health. Really sort of continuing to look after yourself, make decisions that are helpful. Now, I can, you know, address everything realistically and say, “You know, I’m not feeling great. Let’s go and do something enjoyable. Let’s take the dog for a walk, go surfing, take the camera out, do anything,” and just invest in enjoying life and trying to be yourself.

We always have to make time to try and, you know, really look after your mental health. That’s clearly one of the really important parts of your life. And even as of a couple of years ago, I really had no idea about some of the techniques that you can use to not only deal with mental health issues but also to prevent them. I think the one thing, you know, severe anxiety and depression will teach you is a real self-awareness, and an ability to monitor your own mental headspace more effectively and really unwind.

Video by headspace