Football legend Andres Iniesta recently spoke about his Mental Health in an interview with The Wild Project.
Iniesta scored the World Cup winning goal for Spain as well as winning nine La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues during his time with Barcelona, leaving as one of the club's most gifted and successful players.
During the interview, Iniesta discussed his mental health issues and problems he had to endure in his career: “I decided to speak out on my mental health when I was struggling. I know that I am a public personality, but I had to say things like they were. I never thought about people calling me crazy, or weak.
"When I was struggling with depression, my most enjoyable part of the day was when I took my pill and went to sleep at night. You lose joy from life, from everything. I hugged my wife, but it felt like hugging a pillow. You feel nothing."
The midfielder revealed that he still goes to therapy, highlighting how important it is to speak out: “I am still going to therapy, as I need to be at peace with myself. I like to listen to professionals talk about mental health and depression.”
“Eventually, life teaches you that depression and mental health can affect anyone. It’s not about material things. I could have had all the cars in the world and everything I wanted, and it still is hard to face life’s problems. You need to train your brain.”
Credit: AFP
Here at Future Action we feel that it is vital schools help young people to train their brain.
We use a range of sport stars such as Iniesta, and celebrities to open up conversations with young people around mental health.
We help teachers give young people the skills to build a self-care tool box to help them protect and build their mental well-being now and long after they have left school.
We guide teachers to support their young people to reduce their students' anxiety, build their confidence and create sustainable early intervention wellbeing programmes within 90 days through our online teacher training courses.
We incorporate the latest trauma informed practice to transform relationships, behaviour, learning and progress.
We work with over 100 trailblazing schools in the UK and Internationally who are incorporating Early Intervention Mental Wellbeing programmes into a range of subjects and extra-curricular activities so that as many young people as possible can take on proactive self-care strategies to improve their mental wellbeing now and long after they have left school.
Innovative teachers are strengthening their practice in identifying students who are struggling, building their confidence, self kindness, using worries as a positive, creating plans for dream futures, moulding healthy habits, balancing social media usage and giving young people the skills to access the four happiness chemicals.
They are placing movement at the heart of school life so young people understand the clear link between physical activity and mental wellbeing in a memorable way and which is now statutory for schools to deliver in RSHE.
As Andreas Iniesta says ‘You need to train your brain’. We can show you how you can give this gift to your young people to transform their life chances.
How can we help you?
If you would like to join this movement of inspirational teachers but are not sure where to start, then why not complete the 3 minute School Wellbeing Scorecard to find out your school's score and receive a personalised report on how you can take it to the next stage.
Alternatively, why not click on the link below to find out more about our course.
Or get in touch for a friendly conversation about how we can support you!
We look forward to hearing from you.