David

'I discovered Health in Mind in September 2019. I was born in Switzerland, and I lived there until I was about 8 or 9. I moved to England, South England by the coast, before coming up here to Edinburgh a couple of years ago.

I was looking for something to do, through the Uni. I liked the look of Health in Mind, and I spoke to Alice a fundraiser, and I had an interview, and here I am.

I am a second year medic. There’s a lot going on with the body, and the brain. A lot to learn, I was always drawn to medicine. Your mental health has full control of your body. Your mood can cause actual aches and pain. If there’s no reason to feel them, to have the aches and pains. If you are down, there are a lot of physical pains people can feel. I’m not sure everybody realises that. I think it’s a systemic stress thing, I’m not sure exactly, the mind and body connection.

As a teenager, I think I became aware of mental health. I found it difficult when I was a young child, and I looked back, and thought about it, and realised, that was poor mental health.

I do fundraising for Health in Mind. It’s an incredibly warm organisation, and welcoming. There’s good things said about Health in Mind, think they do a good job. They welcome people into an environment that cares, that thinks.

This is personal to me, as a child, I really found it hard. I never had any support. I never knew what I was going through was so bad. This is me trying to give something back, in the hope that somebody gets support that I wish I had. A one-off chance, that one person could receive some help is worth it.'

If you would like to join David and be part of our community, you can support our work by volunteering or with a donation.  Please visit our Health in Mind Heroes page here.