There’s still a long road ahead to end this stigma

Over the past year, staving off the numbing tedium of lockdown has been a serious problem for many. The grinding feeling of being trapped at home with little idea of when, or even if, there would be any respite, or the pandemic would recede, was one that many struggled with.

And for those with mental health problems, those feelings could be exacerbated until they became unbearable.

Exercise has been a path

– no pun intended – to helping preserve and improve both mind and body for a great number of people these past months.

Without access to gyms or the need for potentially expensive equipment, there are those who have discovered that walking or running has been their saviour.

Jim Barber is one such person – over this past winter the 45-year-old has walked the equivalent of Lands End to

John O’Groats – all without ever leaving the region.

And in the process he has raised more than £4,000 for a charity close to his heart – Tonic.

The Southsea-based music for mental health charity has gone from strength-to-strength since it started in 2012.

Jim experienced an alcohol and drug-induced psychosis when he was just 19 – before Tonic started.

And even though this was not that long ago, attitudes were still markedly different to now.

Awareness of mental health problems, particularly in men has come some way out of the dark in recent years and is now talked about more, and more openly, than ever before.

Jim used some of his time while walking to talk about mental health and the associated stigma on Facebook live.

It is through charity efforts like his, and a willingness to be open about what he has been through that will hopefully help others.

Attitudes to mental health have improved, but they remain a long way from perfect.