AFTER mental health awareness week this month, The Gazette talks to Leigh Johnstone from Fluid Motion Theatre Company about the importance of talking about mental illness and why speaking out is the best thing to do.

“No one should face their problems alone,” Leigh said.

"I never wanted to talk to anyone about my past, I found counselling unhelpful and the thought of sitting down and baring all was scary to me. However, I found another way to open up, theatre.”

Founded in 2010 by Leigh, Fluid Motion Theatre creates professional touring work on a range of mental health themes as well as delivering education and community projects that engage with more than 2,000 people a year.

In a bid to raise awareness of mental health issues through the creation of theatre, the idea to speak out and begin to understand there should be no stigma attached to talking about your problems is key.

“My childhood was tough and it really impacted on my mental health, I found it difficult to form relationships, developed nervous ticks and I lost my hair through stress,” said Leigh, whose parents divorced when he was young and his mother turned to drink.

“What saved me was moving to university, it removed me from the toxic situation at home and gave me a purpose, something to work towards which kept my mind healthy and active.”

He added: “I was able to build my ow n self-confidence.

It doesn’t matter ho w yo u choose to speak about it and through what means but the most important thing is that you do.”

Earlier this month, The Gazette launched its campaign ‘Talk About It’, which is trying to encourage people to speak up and openly about their mental health issues .

For the second year, Fluid Motion’s All in The Mind festival will return to Basingstoke.

Aimed at challenging preconceived ideas about mental health, the one-day festival brings together performing and visual artists to showcase the very best of work around mental health themes.

And although Leigh is upbeat about the influence the festival will have, he fears that prejudiced opinions on the topic still exist.

To find out more about All in The Mind, being held on June 24, visit fluidmotiontheatre.com or email info@fluidmotiontheatre.com.