George Russell has opened up on his own experience with mental health, and says he is unsure why men see it as a weakness.
The Mercedes driver says that he has been speaking to a psychologist for some time, as he originally sought out help to benefit his on-track performance.
However, through the sessions, Russell says that he discovered that they offered him a better outlook of his own personal life.
“I haven’t always been into my mental health – I only started getting into it about a year and a half, two years ago when I started speaking with a psychologist mainly for my on-track personal performance,” he told Men’s Health UK.
“It was only through those conversations that I felt like ‘this is giving me more than on-track benefits’.
“I’m coming away from this session feeling better about myself, feeling like there’d been a weight lifted off my shoulders.
“Sometimes I went into these sessions with not a lot to talk about and thinking it would only last five or 10 minutes and I was there for over an hour. Since that, it’s something I’ve felt quite strongly about.”
Russell is not the first F1 driver to open up over mental health, with McLaren’s Lando Norris revealing his own struggles on national television in 2021.
Russell says that he sought professional help when he was feeling down following a difficult race weekend.
“The moment I thought I needed to seek some professional health was when I had a really difficult race, I had a crash,” he stated
“It was a very low point in my career. I thought I could just pick myself up from that moment and I was picking myself up but we decided to speak with a professional.
“I was so grateful I was advised to do that because I came away from that conversation and meeting feeling so much better about myself, putting those negativities to the side, lifting myself up.”
Outlining that he hopes to see a convergence between physical and mental health in the future, Russell has called on men who are feeling low-spirited to not shy away from seeking help.
“Physical health and physical exercise has a huge impact on my mental health, at least,” he said.
“I think there’s too much of a divide between physical and mental health. I feel like we need to move towards converging those two and making this global health.
“I’m really not sure why so many men still see mental health as a weakness. We have so much pride about being strong and any difficulties we try and push aside and power through.
“I feel like this is where we need to try and turn this tide and there’s nothing to be ashamed about.
“Talking about something, whether it’s to a friend, a member of your family or whether it’s seeking professional help.
“Just having open, honest conversations and I think so many men would be surprised about the results.”
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