Former Norwich City director ready to ‘Challenge Stereotypes’ around mental health

It will be the first of a four-part series organised by the club and War Paint For Men with the first episode containing an in-depth chat on mental health with Fry alongside City legend Darren Eadie and War Paint founder Danny Gray.

Fry has previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and he spoke candidly about his experiences, current attitudes in society to mental health and also how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the thoughts and emotions of people around the

world.

Fry sat down with Eadie and Gray at Carrow Road, for a discussion which can be viewed on the club’s official YouTube challenge from 1pm today.

Discussing his own journey in the first episode, Fry said: “There’s a recognition that courage and bravery, which are supposedly a manly quality, comes from people who admit their flaws. There’s nothing brave about saying I am very strong and fast and I am good at football, that’s just boasting, it’s not brave. But brave is saying I have weaknesses, I have fears, I have a secret... that’s courage.”

Mental health is a subject close to War Paint For Men founder Danny Gray, who suffers from body dysmorphia. The aim of his company is to help men feel confident in their skin and break stigmas around makeup being exclusively for women.

“When you talk about it, you start to feel better. The first step is always the hardest, to admit you have a problem. Once you do that, you learn to deal with it. It’s never going to go away for me, but I have learned to manage it,” said Danny.

Canaries legend Darren Eadie played 204 matches for the club between 1993 and 1999 and has also suffered with mental health problems since being forced into an early retirement.

“Since I’ve opened up about my issues, people I’ve known for years who I didn’t know were struggling have come forward to say they have suffered and suffered in silence because they didn’t speak to anyone. This needs to change.” adds Darren.