Colchester mental health champion releases song to mark Time to Talk Day
A man from Colchester is encouraging people to talk about mental health
People are being encouraged to speak about their mental wellbeing to mark Time to Talk Day by a Time to Change Champion from Colchester.
We've gone Behind the Mask of 37-year-old Dan Turner, who's lived with depression and anxiety for a lot of his adult life.
The pandemic has impacted many people's mental health due to feelings of loneliness and isolation caused by being unable to see loved ones as much as we're used to.
Dan told us it's been difficult: "Loneliness has been a big problem, I live alone and when you're limited to who you can see, you don't get the human interaction that you need. It can really bring you down and I'm sure a lot of people are in the same position.
"I just try to keep myself as busy I can, I've been writing a lot of music and done a lot of writing courses for short fiction, just trying to do things to keep myself slightly occupied."
While Dan has and continues to experience difficulties with his mental wellbeing, he has highlighted the importance of actively seeking help.
He continued: "I've been struggling for quite a while and having my ups and downs, but there's help out there, there's people that are willing to listen. If you are willing to put in the effort to improve your mental state then it will get better, even if it feels impossible sometimes."
Under lockdown restrictions people can leave their home for exercise, which has been important for Dan to "escape" from his day-to-day life.
To mark Time to Talk Day 2021, he's joined other Time to Change Champions to create a song, which you can listen to below.
You can find support via Hub of Hope or Mid and North East Essex Mind, or by calling Samaritans on 0800 116 123 if you are struggling.