Millie Bright special: What World Mental Health Day means to me

The Chelsea manager has been incredibly open about his experiences with mental health, but that’s not always the case.

It took time to find his voice and talk about his problems. The first step came a few years ago when she confided in someone she knew she could trust.

‘You look like you’re about to explode,’ Bright recalls former Blues boss Emma Hayes telling her during the interview. He was right.

Millie felt herself boiling. Those who were close to him noticed. And an interview with Hayes – one the Blues captain admits he was ‘terrified’ about – helped turn his life around.

The 31-year-old now appreciates mental health isn’t something to tackle alone. By sharing his story, our director hopes to help others.

She does so as an ambassador for YoungMinds, which today launched its Hello Yellow campaign which encourages people to wear bright colors to show that no one is alone.

Being an ambassador for a charity that helps young people and their families means a lot to Millie – and it’s emotional.

He has seen for himself how a loved one can be affected by mental health, while the family has been the cause of his problems due to bearing the weight of other people’s problems.

Bright explains: ‘When I was a child, I saw myself as the glue in my family and trying to hold everyone together. ‘I probably take the burden of people’s problems and make sure my family is supported and gets everything they need.

My mom struggled with anxiety and depression, so when I see her journey and the effects that mental health can have on someone, I don’t think people understand the lengths it can go to. affect you too.

‘It’s sad to see someone – especially my mother because she’s very close to me – go through it. He has come out on the other side and I feel lucky to be able to say that and that he is happy. He still has his demons and dark days and some days take their toll, but he’s come out on the other side.

However, not everyone is lucky enough to come out the other side and return to a happy place. So it’s important to make sure you have a support network and have the option to talk to someone for advice if you’re struggling to feel like yourself.

‘I’ve had my hard times. It’s not always talked about because I keep it to myself. I owe that to Emma Hayes about being confident enough to speak up. He taught me a lot about speaking up as a strength, not a weakness.

‘I hope to share my journey, my experiences, the ones that helped me, and the ones that I struggle with that will show people that life can be beautiful, and you can have all the success in the world, but you can still struggle.

‘Sometimes you can be too careful with what we see on social media when compared to what is happening in reality. I’m happy to say that I’m in a good place and I’m confident enough to share that. I read what works for me and what helps me in those difficult times.’

What works for Millie is a safe circle of people, which includes but is not limited to her mum and dad, her boyfriend Levi, Chelsea teammates Sam Kerr, Guro Reiten, Erin Cuthbert, Former Blue Carly Telford and Rachel Daly.

She also writes in a journal – something she would do with Daly, detailing the highs and lows – and takes time away from social media, especially in high-pressure situations like football.

‘Mental life can be a dark journey,’ Bright adds. But when you have people around you, you can endure and you don’t have to suffer. It doesn’t have to be a choice because there is so much support.

‘I don’t write in my journal every day, but if I need to I will. I did it for every competition because being in sports is the hardest time mentally and I get off social media to focus more.

‘Recording for me is not just writing down the bad things or the things I’ve struggled with, but the good things that I look back on and believe in myself.

‘Limiting social media at the most important times. For football and big games, it limits what I allow in my safe zone – not reading unnecessary comments from people who don’t know me or who don’t like my life.

‘I always say to young people to appreciate people who can bring change in their lives. Someone who stalks you on the Internet will not affect your life in any shape or form, and will not bring anything good to your life. Therefore, that opinion is useless.’

The pressures that soccer players face can be overwhelming. For Millie and her England mates, one such example happened overnight in the summer of 2022.

‘The pressures of the game have gone through the roof,’ our director says. ‘It has been used to a different life.

‘Ever since the Euros, it’s been one in and one out. That was a very difficult change. I had to adapt to a completely different life.

‘It shows the growth of the game – which is amazing – but it’s affecting people more than people thought it would.

One minute you could walk down the street and get away with it, and the next minute you couldn’t go anywhere without being seen or attacked.

‘It’s amazing to see where the game has gone, but it comes with more pressure and more eyes on you. This is where we have to adapt and find ways to deal with those pressures in order to move forward.

‘We have to make sure that they can become good things and not bad things.’

However, Millie appreciates that it’s not just people in the public eye who struggle with their own mental health battles. And no matter how big or small something may seem to others, the Blues defender knows how its presence is still felt.

‘You don’t have to be a footballer to struggle with mental health,’ Bright adds. ‘It can happen to anyone. You may be a single parent with three children working around the clock to put food on the table.

‘Life affects people a lot but I can only talk about my experiences – and football is only a small part of my life. There are things going on behind the scenes or I’m thinking of being a great player, with retirement life after football. It’s all these different factors.

‘Mental health is always talked about in terms of tragedy and sadness. I want to turn that into someone else’s superpower. If you really take care of your mental health, it can lead you to amazing things in life and you build this strong mind.

‘Your mental life is so powerful that you have to make sure that you respect it, that you take care of it.

‘Now when you face your difficult times and factors that can affect you, they don’t know because you understand, and your mind, and you know what to do at that time.

‘Not all days are dark.’

Millie is right. Mental health is not limited to fights and battles. They are all emotions that we feel throughout our lives. That’s why our captain wants to encourage us to talk about it all.