Mental Health, Necessity or Luxury?

Hi everyone, my name is Rene Deceuninck and I'm running a company in London called IPBLTD, the Institute for Personal Development and Body Language. Now I travel the world with my body language courses, just got back from Australia, I was in Thailand, and the thing is that I also collaborate with Tony Robbins, for example, and other speakers. And I came back to the UK and found out through a charity that there's different charities on this planet. Now one of them is specific, and, you know, I invited, uh, Harry Mansfield. She is running an amazing, an amazing, uh, concept, and she's on an amazing journey as well. And I was so mesmerized by it, I'm so inspired by it, that I thought like, hey, why don't we do a Zoom, a recording, and put the message out there because mental health today, ladies and gentlemen, it is an issue. I mean, I never knew it was that big. Now, I'm not going to take too much time. Uh, Harry, why a petition?

It's lovely to be here. Thank you so much, Rene Deceuninck. So a petition is in place which is different to mental health petitions that have been in place before. The reason why it's different is because this is actually going to prevent mental health problems. The reason why that's going to happen is quite simply because the government will fund sessions to teach mental health in both schools and workplaces. And mental health, everything that's in place in the UK at the moment, and actually not just the UK, it's around the world, which is a really, really sad thing to hear, but actually everything is treated once you've had a problem. There is nothing in place that's proactive and preventative, and this is what we're looking to get away from. So it's a huge, huge task, a completely new way of thinking about life and mental health. But mental health is the foundation for absolutely everything we do, whether it's our personal lives, our work lives, families, fitness, hobbies. If we are mentally strong, in everything we can do, we are actually up to 12% more productive. So, it's a bit like if you get up in the morning and you're feeling rubbish, you're sluggish, you're really just not functioning on top form, and that's the way we work when actually we don't have the skills to be mentally strong. But if you do have those skills, it's like getting up in the morning and feeling as though you're really ready for the day and you are completely on top of it, going for it and producing great work. Wow.

So, Harry, I love the— what you're doing is amazing. I mean, I'm really, really inspired by this. Now, you're talking about numbers, and we got overwhelmed by numbers today more than ever due to all kinds of things. But what would be the numbers in mental health in, in, in your area? What would these numbers be? Because I hear numbers that are really, like, frightening.

Yeah, they are. Scary is exactly the right word. Scary and frightening. So prior to the pandemic, 1 in 4 people were diagnosed with a mental health problem. So that equates to over 16 million people in the country. And actually, from the pandemic, it's expected that an additional 10 million people will develop mental health problems because of having to face all the difficulties and challenges that come with the pandemic alone. So that's going to mean that a third of our country is suffering from mental health. So if actually we are allowing members of the public, whether they're adults or children, to get to that state, I really do think that's wrong. Because if you think about it, you have to learn everything in life, right from when you were first born. You have to learn how to walk, you have to learn how to talk, you have to learn how to, you know, eat as well. Really, really simple things. You go through your school life learning, you choose your career and you go to college or university and you learn how to do that particular career and you learn physical fitness, you learn sports, you learn particular games, but nobody teaches you how to manage your mental health and actually the fact that you can prevent it, which is why this is such a hugely different concept. And we're looking for people to get behind the petition because we don't want to miss this opportunity. The petition runs out at the end of May, and we need 100,000 signatures for this to be discussed in Parliament. So we really, really must not stop, and we need to keep going and get this service into schools. With regards to numbers, actually, I've just had a conversation this morning with a charity event that I'm speaking at in Children's Mental Health Week, which is the first week in February, and they were inundated with requests from schools to take up the positions and places for the schools to have a speaker host an event to give advice on mental health and wellbeing. And the demand has been so great that from 400, it went up to 600 within a week. And this morning, a week later, we have just been told that it's now 800 schools that have applied for this free event because they are crying out for these skills which are life-changing and essential to the children and the next generation as well, for the whole of the nation to be actually taught, and nobody teaches it, which is such a shame. So we really, really do need to get behind this petition.

Because the other day I saw a picture from a school, and the school in 1959 and then the school in 2019, And actually nothing changed. It's all the same stuff. The only thing that I had as a difference was a black and white picture and a color picture. But this is all the same, right? Now, if people, let's say, are going through that journey of mental health, that they are struggling, there's something going on, and then they say, hey, wow, why don't we call Harry and see what Harry can do for us, for our family, for our situation? And if they call you or if they get in contact with you, What would you suggest? How do you work? What is the procedure? I mean, for example, if I would come with my family and say, Harry, you know what, we have this issue going on, what is it that you do at that very moment? And what might be the journey when they join you?

Yeah, great question. I think the key thing to realize is that as with physical fitness, it's completely individual to you. So if you go to a gym and a PT trainer actually puts together a physical fitness session for you, that is specific to you, and if it's used for somebody else, it's not going to be as effective for that other person, or in fact actually completely incorrect, and it's just not going to work. So when someone contacts me, the key thing to find out is the situation they find themselves in, why they've contacted me in the first place, and what they're looking to get out of it. Because people will contact me for a number of reasons. They will contact me because they're thinking, actually, do you know what, I want these skills, But then somebody else will contact me and go, "Oh, do you know what, actually, I've got a daughter that's finding this difficult," or, "Actually, my team at work isn't actually gelling very well together, and they're not productive, and they're not positive." So the key thing is to have the initial free consultation to find out where you're at and what you want, whether it's from kids to corporates, because mental health is so individual. And then from that, I can work out whether it's a coaching side that comes across, so that we're actually teaching you the skills to prevent mental health problems, to stay mentally strong, or whether actually it's more from the counseling side and it's help from past events. But in all my work, even if I put you in touch with the counseling side of The Awareness Key, actually we still always want to to be doing the coaching side. I've been coaching for, oh dear, 20, 25 years now, and coaching is the most amazing business to be working in because you can see the improvement in people's lives and you can see that they're just lighting up and learning things and going, "Oh, I didn't realise that." And as I said, you know, we learn everything. We learn how to drive, we learn all these new skills. And if people don't know them, they're already putting themselves on the back foot. So actually, don't put yourself on the back foot. Actually, put yourself out there and say, actually, what am I going to get out of this? And when they initially speak to us, that's what we're aiming for, because we want you to be mentally strong, and we want to show you what you can get out of being mentally strong.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I was at your place on Monday, last Monday, and because I'm in the coaching industry, I traveled around the globe, I speak with a lot of well-known speakers. And I said, I'll, you know what, we did it. We did have a phone call, right? And I came to your place and I was so surprised. The exercise that you did with me, the breathing exercises, and then the horses, and because you work with horses as well. I mean, that was just amazing. I mean, I, like I said, traveling all over and I see a lot of things, but that was to me very special. I really enjoyed it, and that's for sure.

So if you, if you were coming to me, what I would do is, as you were interested in the horse side, I would actually focus on teaching these skills that I have. And the skills that I teach are called Mind Power Proficiency Techniques, and it doesn't matter how I teach them. So you came here and you gelled with horses and had a fantastic time with the horses, which is awesome, but we're all different. So someone else could come to me and go, do you know what, I really can't stand horses, please don't teach it to me like this, please can we go off and do the nature side? So you could be sitting around a fire pit, or you could be gardening, or you could be doing forest school skills. And I'm an ex-rugby coach, and actually I know that my rugby coach colleagues wouldn't want to come here to learn the skills to be mentally strong if they thought they were going to be stroking a dog or doing dog training and things like that. But they will come and learn the skills if it's competitive and they're doing circuits and they're throwing a ball into a basketball net, or I'm chucking a rugby ball around with them. So This goes back to what I was saying earlier, that mental health is so, so individual. I don't mind how I teach these skills. I'm just really, really enjoying seeing the benefit in people's lives and the increased productivity that they have as a result of learning the skills to be mentally strong.

That was going to be my next question. When people come out of it, what is the result? But you just mentioned it, right?

Yeah. Yeah, I've got such a huge number of examples. So from a young person's point of view, a teenager's point of view, I had a young girl come to me and she was just having a tough time when sort of, it wasn't quite bullying, but it was the start of banter just going a little bit too far and peer pressure, and she didn't know how to manage it. And because she didn't know how to stay mentally strong in that situation, it was starting to change and affect her life in a detrimental way, and as a result, the whole dynamics of the family started to suffer. So she did, on this occasion, it was just a standard 8-session program with me, and at the end of it, I said, you know, what was it you enjoyed the best? And most importantly, what was it that you learned about herself? And she actually said to me that she learned that she was a bigger and stronger and more important person than she ever thought she was. And I was on cloud nine. I was like, oh my God, wow, if she can learn these skills now, she's going to be taking that into her life because there are so many curveballs in life that you actually get thrown at, you know, some small, some huge, and you need to know how to manage yourself mentally in order to get through it. And she will inevitably get other curveballs thrown at her in her life. But if she's got those skills to keep her strong throughout it, she's got that skill for life. And likewise, with a corporate team, I equate it to an interview, actually, where in the last Rugby World Cup a couple of years ago over in Japan, the two leading teams at the time were England and New Zealand. So, they were interviewed, the players, by the press, saying, "How is it that your coach has got you to be leading in the world and absolutely top of the world in your game?" And every single player— so silly, I was dancing around the room with this, because this is how I teach. So basically, every single player said, "Our coach gets us. They know us as individuals. And if we are understood as individuals, valued as an individual, and are taught how to work as an individual, then we come together as a team so much stronger." And the result of the rugby teams was quite literally that they were at the top of the world, because they felt so valued and so good and so mentally strong and mentally powerful as individuals, put all that mental strength and power together in a team— unstoppable, quite literally. And they were the two top teams in the world.

And stories do say, hey, they give you the evidence, right? Now, I've got one question for you, Harry. Yeah. Let's say we get to 100,000 signatures. Let's say we get there.

Yes.

What is your one and only one question to Parliament? What would it be? If you would have a question to the Parliament, because they're going to handle it in the Parliament when we have 100,000 signatures, what would be the main question for you?

Do you know what? How quickly we can get this into place, simply because the numbers are just going completely the wrong way. And what I don't want when it's discussed in Parliament is for it to go through this great big long cycle of ifs and buts and whys and wherefores and how are we going to implement it. It needs to be implemented obviously successfully and in a well-thought-out strategic manner. But what must not happen is that it's still being discussed 2 years later. You know, these figures have come out today. We're not at the end of the pandemic. The vaccination is not rolled out yet. People are not back to normal lives. And throughout all that time, people will be struggling mentally. So we need to get the implementation of the free funding for both workplaces and schools in situ as quickly as possible.

And in the end, it will add value to the UK society in general, right?

Yes.

I mean, it can only add value what you're doing. Now I've got one more last question now.

You just said that a second ago.

On and on because it's so fascinating what you're doing. Um, but one more, one last question though, um, Harry, is the following. Suppose I would be a famous UK VIP person and I would be interested in what you do and pull the carriage, you know, to get to that 100,000 signatures. What would your message be to that one person that said, hey, I'm gonna pull the carriage, Harry, I'm gonna help you? What, what would your message be to that person.

Yeah, definitely get in touch. My website is www.awarennesskey.co.uk, and through that you've got emails, telephone numbers, and all my social media platforms. And to get a well-known personality that is a UK resident behind this petition will be huge because it will build traction, obviously, because somebody is well known. But actually, to have that behind you, to know that you have actually made mental health in this country proactive and preventing mental health problems is huge. And I know I get just amazing satisfaction from my work. So who wouldn't want that, to actually be part of that fantastic process? So yes, any well-known personality that wants to jump on board and actually get behind this petition, I'd love to hear from you, really would.

Alright, that's amazing. I mean, if you're out there and this is a project that you really would like to pull the carriage and say, hey, let's do it, because mental health, I guess if that would happen, if that one personality would help you, Harry, that will help another lot of organizations as well who are in mental health, right?

It will do. Yeah, it's a whole business. Yeah, whole business area. It's the future of the country. It's the schools, the universities, and we know how the young people and the students are struggling. We know how adults in workplaces are struggling with working from home and financial difficulties. To have a part in actually putting that right is huge. So yeah, be great to get in touch.

One of the quotes I use on my website and in my sayings and in my seminars and my lectures is that change is daily. We all change on a daily basis, right? We change on a daily basis. Today we are different than yesterday and than 10 years ago. However, personal development is a choice. Now, there's so many people out there in mental health situations don't have that choice because of the finances, because of all kinds of objections and things that holding them back. And that's why I'm so interested in what you do, Harry. And I do hope there's one person out there, a VIP, a famous person that said, hey, I want to help you, let's do this thing.

Yeah, jump on board, let's get this done and let's make a difference to everyone's lives. Definitely.

Is there one more thing, one thing that you would like to say before we wrap it up? Is there one more thing that you say, hey, that's it?

Yeah, don't think that preventing mental health problems can't be done. When I'm speaking to the media, I'm often getting the reaction of, why is this a different story? Well, actually, this is a different story because this is a completely different product, a completely different concept. So don't think we can't prevent mental health problems. I prevent mental health problems as an expert in that line of work, as a mental strength coach. It is possible. So let's jump on the bandwagon and get it done.

Harry, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

Amazing journey. I mean, from my heart, an amazing journey. And I do hope somebody out there says, hey, let's do this thing.

Let's go for it.

Thank you for your time. Bye. We'll keep in touch.

Thank you. Bye.