Last night Ex-footballer Clarke Carlisle claimed “British stiff upper lip” attitude to mental health and “code of silence” around the issue have finally been broken
As Clarke and his wife, Carrie Carlisle, accepted the Speaking Out Award at the 25th annual Virgin Money Giving Mind Media Awards, which honour the best portrayals of mental health in the media, he said:
“Don’t be shackled, do not be burdened, do not be conditioned by what has gone before. The stiff British upper lip, it’s gone. That code of silence around what you’re thinking and what you’re feeling, it’s gone.”
The couple won the Speaking Out Award at last night’s event hosted by Mind’s President Stephen Fry. The award is given to people who have made a significant impact by sharing their own experiences of mental health problems. The star-studded event took place at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, with Fearne Cotton, Frankie Bridge and Nicola Roberts among the celebrity guests celebrating storytelling which helps improve understanding and attitudes towards mental health.
Clarke Carlisle, a former chairman of the Professional Footballers Association, and a player for Burnley, QPR and Leeds, has a history of depression and was reported missing by his family last September, who feared for his life. In a candid interview with Liverpool’s Radio City – which has won the Radio award this year – Clarke spoke about how he had been “strolling around Liverpool looking for a responsible way to die” until a passerby spoke to him and encouraged him to call his wife. Carrie was interviewed alongside him, and was recognised for her bravery in recounting her experience of Clarke’s disappearance and how she helped her husband.
The full list of Virgin Money Giving Mind Media Award winners:
· Digital Champion sponsored by Konica Minolta
Chuck Draws Things, Charlotte Mullin
· Journalist
Hannah Jane Parkinson, The Guardian
· News and Current Affairs
· BBC News at Ten
· Podcast
I Hear Voices, BBC Newsbeat for Radio 1 and 1Xtra
· Radio
· The Mental Health Marathon, Radio City Talk
· Drama
Overshadowed, Rollem Productions for BBC Three
· Entertainment sponsored by Integrating Solutions Limited
The One Show, BBC One
· Documentary sponsored by Counselling Directory
BBC Two – Girls on the Edge, Presented to Dragonfly Film and Television for BBC Two
· Student Journalist
Hannah Currie, We Are All Here
· Publication
The Doctor, Disparity of Esteem series
· Soaps and Continual Series sponsored by The Energy Network
Coronation Street – Aidan’s Suicide, ITV Studios
· Loose Women Lighten the Load Hero
Amy Lawrence
· Speaking Out sponsored by Bupa
Carrie and Clarke Carlisle
· Making a Difference
Hollyoaks #Don’t Filter Feelings campaign
