"Nearly 1 in 10 men experience some form of depression or anxiety but less than half seek treatment. Feeling depressed or anxious is not unusual or shameful."

 

Hi Everyone, I'm Dave Moreno, Team Leader and Wellbeing Champion in Liverpool!

 

For me, I've often found there's an all too often assumption or judgemental idea of why regular gym/fitness people do what they do and why.

 

As both a Mental Health Champion and someone who can openly say themselves has struggled with their own Mental Health/Anxiety issues, which often surprises people. I am more than fully aware of how important and even fragile Mental health is. Mental Health affects both men and women, but not in equal measure according to the mental health foundation.

 

"In 2020, men died by suicide 3.88x more than women. Though men experience a higher rate of suicide, they are less likely to seek help and more prone to suffering in silence."

 

For me keeping fit physically, comes hand in hand with me keeping fit mentally. As someone who engages in some sort of sport or physical activity on a daily basis, these activities give me an opportunity to strengthen both of them. They also give me the opportunity to switch off from what may be going on in life, at work, and focus on something completely different while at the same time, enabling my body to release some endorphin chemicals which are a natural pain and stress reliever.

 

I go to my local the gym daily and workout for an hour at least. I go boxing once a week. I go cold water swimming weekly in The Albert Dock with Merseyside Water Sports. I run once a week with my running club "Cool Runnings" which recently appeared in the Liverpool Echo for an article on helping men struggling with fitness and mental health.

 

As often as possible I get involved in any sort of walking, be it either hill/mountain walking activities or even just taking my mother's dog for a walk on the beach weekly.

 

 

I was proud to recently represent Bedspace by completing the charity walk Mahdlo 3 Peak Challange and representing Bedspace again by taking part in the Windermere 21-mile Row raising money for (Cardiac Risk in the Young) in memory of Eddie Parry's son.