We Must Learn to Normalise Talking About Mental Health Issues: Monty Panesar

Former England cricketer Monty Panesar believes society in general needs to normalise having conversations about mental health.

Panesar has been open about having to deal with mental health issues in the past and he said that using the word 'taboo' in this case was wrong.

“You need to talk about it. We use the word taboo in a wrong way. It’s like how can we normalise having conversations when you are sitting with your parents, you talk to them and say look ‘I just can’t concentrate or I felt I over-slept this week, don’t know what’s going on’,” Panesar was quoted as saying on the Hit and Miss Podcast.

“The more you talk about it, the more your family would know what’s going inside. If you don’t, you are digging yourself a bigger hole and you get to a point when you may need medication."

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Panesar then went on to add that medication is only a temporary solution as once the effects of the anti-depressants go away, the pain inside comes back.

"What medication does, you don’t care about the problem. Anti-depressants numb the pain and you don’t care and it’s like it doesn’t exist now.

“But when the numb goes away, you feel the pain again. That’s what ends up happening and I’m not a big fan of it. Sometimes you have to walk through the truth, talking to friends in order to walk through the anxious phases.

"If you don’t do, you are never going to overcome your fear."