It's time to Talk: Craig Grayson - Model

Hinton Magazine was proud to launch the 'It's time to talk' campaign getting men to openly talk about their mental health issues some of which includes some of the toughest times in their lives. We kick off our campaign by sitting down with Model Craig Grayson, a 28 year old business owner / model with 2 kids. Craig tells us about when he found himself in a very dark place and talks through how he got through some of the toughest times. (The interview below was between Curtis Hinton (editor in Chief of Hinton Magazine) & Craig Grayson.)

Curtis: Talking open and honestly how would you say your mental health affected your life? 

Craig: Mental health effected me massive at first I was in a dark place and wouldn’t open up to it to anyone and it got worst doing it that way, I didn’t want to be in contact or see the outside world and would always be on edge thinking people was judging me.

Curtis: Do you believe there is enough support out there for men suffering with mental health? If so do you think it’s visible enough? 

Craig: I think there’s a lot of support for mental health now over the last 12/1months, social media accounts that allow you to open up and speak to them is a massive improvement, a lot more people talk openly now about it but 5-6years ago I don’t think people really cared about guys specially suffering.

Curtis: when would you say mental health because a problem in your life? 

Craig: Mental health became a problem in my life when I didn’t have the courage to open and speak to others or even family about it, like I touch on earlier I didn’t want to be out in public and that put a massive dark cloud over my life.

Curtis: Going back to the support. How supportive were your family and friends throughout the hardest period for you? Did you feel you could speak to them straight away? How did you approach the conversation. 

Craig: For me personally I thought family and friends understood mental health problems and helped me as much as they could to get through it, even something as little as a message checking your ok was little improvements in my mission to tackle it and knowing your now alone helps massively.

Curtis: you say modelling helped you through your mental health issues. Can you explain more about this?

Craig:  When people suffer with mental health it often damages their confidence and approach on life, when I was 16 I got offered a really good contract with a big modeling agency but I laughed at it because I struggled massively with self confidence, it took me 5yrs to build the courage to actually accepted I wanted to do modeling and from there I progressed and it boosted my confidence and helped towards the days I was struggling.

Curtis: Social media has a huge physiological affect on people these days cause many to have a mental health break down. How would you address this situation and this current problem where people think they aren’t pretty enough of don’t have the best life compare to those they see on Instagram?

Craig:A lot of people watch all theses reality tv shows and how good theses people look on them and then start to ask themselves why they don’t look like that, this then turns to low confidence and mental health and anxiety. Same with social media when theses ‘reality celebs’ have 1000s of followers and likes people then look at themselves and judge.

Curtis: let’s talk about your brand collaborations, why did they happen? Do you believe that they have helped you through your mental health issues? 

Craig:I have worked with a lot of brands over the years of modeling and I think getting out and meeting new faces helps a lot when your mental state is low, I’ve meet some amazing people through collaborating I even met my best friend just through him owning a clothing brand and me being a model. I think it’s had positive reflections on my life, modeling career so I’d say meeting/ collaborating has helped me a lot.

Curtis: if someone reading this interview is suffering with mental health, what pieces of advise would you give to them? 

Craig: If anyone that comes across this interview that suffers from mental health, I would honestly say be open and speak to people about it, nobody can help or be there for you if they don’t know what’s going on in your head, as I’ve always said my dm's are always open and I will help anyone out as much as I can. 

Curtis: being brutally honest mental health isn’t something you get over quickly and it’s always there and could affect you in your future. What are you doing to prevent this from happening? 

Craig: Mental health just doesn’t disappear it’s always there, I think it’s how you approach it and who you surround yourself with, if your with positive minded people you’ll be thinking positive and that helps to distract any issues, I like to enjoy life and always be jokes and smiling, rather then sitting on my own thinking over stuff, do the little things that put a smile on your face and you’ll get through it. 

Curtis: Thank you for your time Craig.

Craig: No problem, Thank you.

Hinton Magazine will be speaking too men who have and still are struggling with their mental health as part of this new, 'It's time to Talk' campaign. If you have suffered with mental health or are struggling now, remember their are always people to talk. You can contact The Samaritans suicide hotline on 116 123.