Entertainment

Rebekah Vardy and Dr Alex George among stars marking World Mental Health Day

A number of famous faces shared their own stories or messages of encouragement on social media.
A number of famous faces shared their own stories or messages of encouragement on social media. A number of famous faces shared their own stories or messages of encouragement on social media.

Rebekah Vardy, Kate Ferdinand and Dr Alex George were among the celebrities sharing positive messages on World Mental Health Day.

Actors, presenters and TV stars marked the international day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma.

The day was first celebrated in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health, a global organisation working in some 150 countries.

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#bekind ❤️

A post shared by Becky Vardy (@beckyvardy) on

Vardy shared a graphic with her 419,000 Instagram followers featuring the message: “It’s okay to not be okay,” captioning her post with the hashtag #bekind.

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#worldmentalhealthday 💖 Mental health is something I have struggled with for as far back as I can remember …. it can be a rocky journey, and one that we have to take with care, being kind to ourselves can be one of the hardest things to do. I just really wanted to say to everyone who is struggling you are not alone. Although we often feel alone and like no one understands, there are many avenues of help available, talking to someone can really lessen the pressure on your shoulders. Peoples lives may look a certain way from social media and everything can look perfect but this doesn’t mean they don’t have internal struggles. It’s ok to feel overwhelmed and unstable even when everything looks perfect from the outside. Sending you all lots of love and strength today and always 🤍💗 #youarenough

A post shared by Kate Ferdinand (@xkateferdinand) on

Ferdinand posted a drawing of herself with husband Rio, his two sons and daughter, with a message of support.

She told her 1.3 million Instagram followers: “Mental health is something I have struggled with for as far back as I can remember …. it can be a rocky journey, and one that we have to take with care, being kind to ourselves can be one of the hardest things to do.

“I just really wanted to say to everyone who is struggling you are not alone. Although we often feel alone and like no one understands, there are many avenues of help available, talking to someone can really lessen the pressure on your shoulders.

“Peoples lives may look a certain way from social media and everything can look perfect but this doesn’t mean they don’t have internal struggles. It’s ok to feel overwhelmed and unstable even when everything looks perfect from the outside.

“Sending you all lots of love and strength today and always.”

Dr George, who rose to fame on ITV’s Love Island in 2018, has spoken candidly about his grief over the death of his 19-year-old brother Llyr in July.

Sharing a photo of them together as well as a drawing, he wrote on Instagram: “Today is incredibly hard, there is no way round it. I was so proud having Llyr with me in A&E, the day this photo was taken was the last time we were together. Lockdown hit and I had a job to do in London.

“This drawing means the world to me, it took @emmartinillustrations_ 5 days to do by hand. Thank you so much. I am so grateful.

“World Mental Health day is a reminder for us all to hold our loved ones close, to reach out to those who might be struggling and, importantly, to look after ourselves.

“I have made a promise to Llyr that I will be relentless in my mission to bring change to mental health at schools. For you, my boy.”

Strictly Come Dancing professional Janette Manrara shared a photo of Caroline Flack.

Television presenter Flack, who won the 2014 series of the BBC One dancing competition, killed herself in February.

Manrara wrote: “Today is #WorldMentalHealthDay…. Let’s always remember that sometimes those that seem the strongest, can sometimes be fighting the toughest battles.

“The simplest choice for us all to make is to #BeKind. For anyone suffering, remember that you are never alone; this too shall pass…”

Former Love Island contestant Malin Andersson shared a quote on Twitter.

It said: “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time the tide will turn.”