This ex-soldier climbed Africa's highest peak to highlight the challenges faced by those with mental health challenges.
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00:00 Day 7 and we are on the rooftop of Africa.
00:07 The summit is literally over there in the distance, literally surrounded by snow and
00:17 glaciers.
00:18 My man Joe Amaya.
00:22 My man Bryson.
00:25 Honestly man, some stupid **** ideas I've got but this is definitely up there.
00:44 Day 7 and I am the first man in history to climb Kilimanjaro whilst carrying a fridge
00:52 to represent the burden of poor mental health.
01:08 I am Mike Copeland, also known as the fridge man to a lot of people.
01:14 I am attempting to be the first man to ever climb Kilimanjaro while carrying a fridge
01:19 on his back to represent the burden of mental health.
01:23 It doesn't really matter what it is, the fridge is just a representation, it's a big, heavy,
01:30 awkward object.
01:31 Just like mental health, talking about mental health, it's very awkward, especially for
01:36 men.
01:37 So the fridge represents that burden of mental health and it was basically a conversation
01:43 starter.
01:44 So if I, which I have done before, I've done charity events where I've been wearing a t-shirt
01:49 and no one speaks to you, no one knows what you're doing.
01:52 So the fridge in essence is a way to get people up about their own mental health.
01:57 So on the sides of the fridge there was mental health phrases like suicide, depression, anxiety,
02:02 overthinking.
02:03 So it was almost like a visual representation of mental health, if someone could see how
02:09 you feel.
02:10 I joined the army, obviously that's a lot of physical training, I became a personal
02:14 trainer in the army at PTI.
02:16 And then when I left the army that's when I started struggling with overthinking and
02:23 I started bodybuilding.
02:24 And that was basically my way of getting the structure and the discipline and the routine
02:30 back that I lost when I left the army.
02:32 And that's why when a lot of lads leave the army, they struggle to reintegrate to civilian
02:38 life because they feel lost, they've had this regiment, they've had this discipline, this
02:44 routine.
02:45 A lot of people think I'm absolutely off my head, which is not a normal thing to do, is
02:49 it, carrying a fridge up a mountain.
02:50 But like I said, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, it's the representation.
02:55 I think a lot of people do get it when they see me climbing with this fridge and they
03:01 see all the mental health phrases on the side.
03:03 Some people who are struggling, which a lot of people have come up to me while I've been
03:07 on these training hikes and opened up about their mental health and that's exactly what
03:12 it was intended to do, to get people to open up about their mental health.
03:16 Friends and family, they're proud of me.
03:20 Some people just think it's odd, which it is, it's not a normal thing to do.
03:24 But to get a reaction as such or get people talking about a subject that especially men
03:33 don't want to talk about, it kind of takes an extreme way of getting it out there to
03:41 get people talking.
03:43 We all struggle with our mental health, it doesn't matter whether it's small or major,
03:47 you've got the high spectrum of PTSD, you've got people who have money worries or whatever,
03:54 but mental health is relative, it doesn't care who it affects.
03:57 So all I'd say is try and put these positive outlets in place, help yourself as much as
04:05 you can.
04:06 If you need help, go and get help.
04:08 If you need to speak out, speak out.
04:10 It's a lot better for you to speak out to a friend than then go to your funeral.
04:16 So I think don't be afraid to talk about it, you're not weak if you speak.
04:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]