The Rest Is Football: Daly Brightness - World Mental Health Day Special

Episode Date: October 8, 2025

Rachel and Millie sit down to discuss World Mental Health Day on Friday 10th October 2025. Millie - as an ambassador for Young Minds - explains why she’ll be wearing yellow. They delve deeper into the topic of Mental Health & Professional Sport explaining how they cope with their own mental health both on and off the pitch, and how they support each other in difficult times. If you need support with any topics discussed in this podcast please consider using the resources below: MIND: ⁠https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/⁠ YOUNG MINDS: ⁠https://www.youngminds.org.uk For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello everyone and welcome to daily brightness. We are not doing a Q&A episode this week because we turned our attention to something that is really important to both Millie and I, which is mental health. This is our special World Mental Health Day episode. So what is World Mental Health Day? It takes place every year on the 10th of October and it's a reminder. of the importance of good mental health and the need to prioritise and invest in good mental health. This year's theme is access to services, mental health in catastrophes and emergencies.

The theme highlights the importance of people being able to protect their mental health in times of global instability. We wanted to touch on Young Minds, we're in Yellow for their Hello Yellow campaign. And Millie, you are an ambassador of Young Minds. So do you want to touch on a little bit about Young Minds and what they do and also the campaign? yeah definitely shout out to young minds first and foremost um unbelievable people unbelievable charity and their hello yellow campaign i took part in it last year as well it's on every single year and you just wear a piece of clothing item it could be anything a bobble you could wear yellow lipstick for all you want whatever it is just wear a something yellow to represent um mental

health but you know it's all about children and young people and kind of all standing together and showing that no one is ever alone with their mental health. And I think for me, something that I've learned is mental health is not just the bad days. It's the good days as well. And mental health is so important to look after yourself. When things are going good, it's easy to kind of get caught up in the highs and be like, oh, I'm fine, I'm fine. And then all of a sudden you're crashing down. And I think in society these days there's so many young people and children that suffer with mental health.

And I've heard so many comments like, oh, children don't know what mental health is. they're too young to understand mental health and since having my nephews they're so in tune I don't know if you've noticed it with Orson but they're so in tune with their feelings so in tune. Orson is like at nursery

he learns all about how he's feeling and you know what what he's feeling like today. Yeah I think they're trying to teach them that a little bit more so yeah for anyone out there that please please change your perception when you say that young people and children don't understand mental health

and oh it doesn't affect him like as a as a kid, what you see is what you learn. So if you're displaying things in front of children, they're going to learn off that and they're going to, you know, it could affect them. You know, you talk about trauma. That happens by what kids see. But the hello yellow.

So yeah, please, please, please get involved. Take part with thousands of schools, communities and companies wearing yellow on this world at mental health day is to raise money, again, to show young people that they are not alone with their mental health. It's really, really important. And I think now more than ever, the world is a very, very tough place. to be for anyone of any age but especially children and young people

growing up can they dress like this can they look like this can I be this can I be that no I'm going to be judged do I need to fit in with social media am I too skinny do people think I'm overweight like there's so much judgment flowing around is such a hard place to grow up in

so yeah we want to keep showing that this day is super important it's important every single day but the 10th is, and the hello yellow is to highlight the importance of mental health. It's not just that it matters on that day. It matters every single day. And, yeah, when I got the opportunity to be an ambassador for him,

I actually got to go into the headquarters in London. And I got to witness the people at work and how it goes. And not only do they support the young people, but they support the families as well and direct them to different support systems. And that's the thing with mental health. It's not just that individual. It's the people around that situation as well. and how it can affect everyone

and now you can influence the people that you're near. So it's something that's super close to my heart. The charity is, is amazing. And although we're not wearing yellow right now, you will be seeing pictures of us on social media wearing something yellow. So please get involved. Tag daily brightness.

Tag young minds will tell you where to go after if you want to go and check out their socials and websites. And if you do need anything, please, please, please reach out because, yeah, no one is alone. ever for now we're going to head to a little break but when we come back myself and rach are going to be talking about mental health from personal experiences and yeah just having a little bit of a chat about it and highlighting some of the important things that we've learned along the way and things that can be better in society really so we'll be back soon

welcome back to the second part of our world mental health day episode um yeah like milly said before the break we are going to discuss a few topics around mental health around things that experiences that we've had and yeah just a bit of more of an open chat really about how we feel about mental health and you've just touched on there about you know young minds and the work that you do and I think it's inspirational to me the work that you do with them and the work that they do it's it's something that yeah I'm really proud of you know take away from football like I'm really proud that that's something that you're a part of I'm proud of everything you do but that that is one that is

It is. I'm really proud of you. Thanks, Bestie. I think over the years, we probably have had really good avoidance strategies. So you and I both would just end up laughing something off or brushing it under the carpet and not acknowledging the fact that we probably were struggling a lot more than we thought we were. I think because we were fortunate enough to have each other throughout the years,

you know, we've kind of just survived and not thrived in some moments, I would say. And I think for me, mental health is it's just as important, if not more important, and physical health. Because what I think about it is the fact that it's largely invisible and yet debilitating at the same time. Because, you know, if you break your leg, you know, you're on crutches and your legs in plaster, everyone's aware of that injury, right? If you're struggling mentally, a lot of you and I both know, we can hide, how we feel we can you can mask how many times have you wore a mask at training how many times have you wore a mask

I've been doing it for the last two years yeah and I think that that is something that you you just learn to live with and you learn to just cope and you find methods that help you cope but I also think me and you have been in environments where we've had to do that as well which is when I look back it's so wrong but in certain situations we've had to

Do you know what I mean? Like, you go on a football pitch, you can't show any weakness when you step over that white line or, you know, you don't want to let your teammates down so you don't have a choice. Like, you have to just keep moving. I've played games where I feel like my world's just crumbling down. Yeah, there's been days when we don't want to...

In my head. Nothing to do with football. Nothing to do with football whatsoever. But I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders in the past, in the game. And I remember it. I remember it visibly. And you've got to show up, yeah.

And I remember a... Coming off the game, going in the change rooms and just absolutely breaking down. Like, I was at, I was at breaking point. We always text each other. We've had enough. And we've, we've had so many moments where you're the only person I say it to. I'm packing my bags. I'm going abroad.

You want to come with me. We do that often. Like, people don't ever think that. And with us, with our characters as well, I think when you're a really bubbly person, like, we then feel like we're expected of us. Like, we have to do it. We have to be the jokers in the room. people expect us to be bubbly every day

and the amount of times me and you have been at our lowest point and so drained we've still been the life and soul of the room like that is the toughest thing to do like ever yeah I absolutely agree and I think obviously we can speak on sort of like pressures in sport right so what we go through on a daily basis I think that it's really tough placed

and we've touched on it before on episodes but I think being a professional athlete at the top of your game is really difficult because you have performance expectations you pressure the pressure you put on yourself the pressure you get from the fans from the media from your teammates from coaches

you under a microscope 100% and you are deemed as a footballer you're not a person you're an asset you're a number you're an object you're an object and I think that that in the last few years has been a lot more prevalent because I feel like we've gone through football in an era where it was always people first.

Yeah. And now I think the game is growing, which is great, but as it grows and as it becomes more business-like, there are environments that people really struggling because you're now largely viewed as an object. You go to a game on a match day and fans don't see you as Millie Bright, the human. They see you as Millie Bright as the Chelsea captain. They see me as Rachel Daly, the Astonville. captain and that's where I think we've probably put masks on a lot of the time yeah but I think

what is really really important is creating an environment for athletes not just footballers for athletes to feel psychological safety and that is really really tough in modern day sport I think I think people go through a lot more than what a you let on and B what you can share right like we're very guarded like what we say and how we act and what we do and like you say we've got to have this mask on all the time yeah there's very much a lack of trust it's something that i think i'm quite passionate about because i think i'm very much the same as you we're so for the people so like i think right you walk in in the morning to a shop coffee shop and you say morning how are you but are people doing that for you every day and i think

for me and for you is if people we're very much driven off energy aren't we so if people are giving that energy to us we're always like what have we done wrong what why have they not said hello to us or you know and i think the smallest thing that you do can make somebody's day amazing you can make it or break it and i had conversations around this in the last couple weeks and the tiniest little thing that someone could do for me could could literally i could wake up and feel so heavy and so like, I can't get through this day. I'm struggling, I'm struggling. And then I could go to training and say, and someone brings me a coffee or somebody

texts me and says something nice or, you know, and it's something that can be so small, but you can change somebody's whole outcome of their day. And I think, but in football and sport and stuff, it's not as easy, is it? You're in a high pressure environment all the time and the people first mindset sometimes gets lost. Yeah, I don't think in certain situations that exist and I think one, that's why it's hidden. Two, I don't think people always feel it's a safe space enough to say it. And three, it's judgment. Like for me, there's two big things in sport that I've experienced as an athlete. And the first one is becoming more and more of a thing, which I'm finding it harder and harder

to deal with and harder to tolerate. For example, I can't remember which game it was. I think it was against you guys. We've just finished the game. I had five minutes. minutes, five minutes with my family after the game before. I had a warning in our text, in our group, the operations lady texts. You've got to be on the coach by this time. So by this point, I've got a 10 minute warning. I was still butt naked in the change room, just got out the shower. I'm thinking, shit, I've not seen my mom and my dad and my grand. And my grand just had a bit of a health scare recently, which no one would know. And nor do I have to publicize that. I don't have to send it out to the world for you to understand why I want to spend

five minutes with my grand and mom and my dad. This is another thing I'd really get. to me is unless we explain everything that's going on in our lives, people don't judge, but I don't have to tell anyone that that's a private situation. But now I feel like I have to say it for people to understand why it rubs me up the wrong way. So by this point, 10 minute warning, butt naked, quickly, quickly, getting ready, getting ready. Like, by this point, I don't even got my protein shape, but I'm thinking, shit, I need to see my mum, my dad, and my grand, like I have to see them, like I have to. I don't know when the next time I'll see him. I live miles away. It's not possible. So I go out, by the time I get out,

to the coach. I've got five minutes, five minutes before I have to be on that bus and we're leaving back to London and my dad had got loads of stuff in the boot for me so I'll walk over to his car, better than in mind I'd already done the signatures in the stadium and yes, there's fans outside the coaches and

trust me, me and Rachel are the same, if I could sign every single person's item and I could get a picture with every little girl and boy and everyone that wanted one, I would, like I would, I normally spend 45 minutes there and And now we have a new rule where players have 10, 15 minutes with fans

and then we get dragged away because we have to go and do recovery, get our showers, get home, travel back, and then we're training the next day. So anyway, I get to the car. There's loads of people shouting, shouting. I put my hand up, I said, sorry, guys. I'm just having five minutes with my family. On my way back, bearing of mind,

I've got massive boxes in my hand. My mum and dad are carrying everything. You can see that I'm with my family. I have this one fan. Oh, you're just going to ignore a seven-year-old like that. So I said, excuse me, I said, don't, don't make me out to be that player. I said, please don't disrespect me like that. I said, I have five minutes with my family, five minutes, that's it.

That's all I get, like five minutes. And you know me better than anyone. I don't take any time with my family for granted. And if my, if me putting my family above any fan is a crime, then lock me up, arrest me now, arrest me 20 times over. I do, I'll do life. I do not care. nothing is more important than my family in that moment

and it's just a reminder for people out there whether you're a fan, whether you watch on TV whether you're a journalist like I don't care who you are like please please remember that we're humans and we value time with our people and by me having that five minutes with my mum and dad and my grand that allowed me to go back and be in a great place mentally

yeah and I think that's what I mean that's what I mean by people first like I think it's becoming more and more of a problem like the amount of that's three occasions now where I've had abuse from from fans for not signing when I've been with family and I'm like that's like it's not respected at all like and we always say about stop judging you don't know what's going on in my life like you don't know what my nan's been through recently and we've been through as a family like you have no idea nor do I need to put that on Instagram or just a heads up guys like if I'm rushing after the game and

I'm like five minutes with my family like I'm not being disrespectful like this is what I mean by it being invisible. So in that moment, right? In that moment, you're not Millie Bright, human spending time with her family dealing with an awful situation in your family for five minutes.

You are Millie Bright, the Chelsea captain, and you must do as I say. I'm owed a shirt signing. And just to have that like hurled across at me, like are you really going to ignore a seven-year-old like that? That also, and that's what people need to understand, is that, just that statement there will hurt you

because you'll think, not only when you get on that bus irritated by the fact that somebody tried to take you away from your family in that moment, but secondly, you'll be disappointed that, you know, you've left that fan disappointing because that's the type of people are. And that they now think that off me and you've yelled that for all the other fans to see it.

And that's why I turned around and I said something because I said, I'm not ignoring nobody, but my family and my priority in this situation. And that goes on to my next point with journalists and obviously what we've seen recently and the awful news about Matt and what everyone's been experiencing, I can't tell you how much my heart hurt seeing the headlines and seeing, like, as journalists, please, please,

stop using people's personal situations as an article, clickbait article. I don't care if it's your job. You're still a human being. You still have a level of respect. and like just common sense that you think that his family want to read headlines of that like we talk about mental health

do you know what that's doing to them to that family do you know what it's doing to the people that knew Matt do you know what that does to kids reading that whether you knew him or not seeing that sort of headline and showing what society is

like and what happens in the world like I just I think it's disgusting I think it's wrong I think all the journalists that have done it should be embarrassed and should apologize to his family in friends. That's exactly my point about being in the public eye and being

like, you know, in professional sport because when I lost my dad, if that was blasted in the newspapers, I would be beside myself, more so than what I was, more so than ever, because his children go to school, their

friends will see these articles. It will be a talking point. Now, if you're a 13, 14, 14, year old kid walking on a corridor and someone has something to say, like, think about it, please, because I would be, I felt the same as you. Like, it, there's no thought process. And I hate when people say, oh, but you're in the public eye,

it's something that you have to deal with. No, it isn't, no, it isn't. That goes exactly against, like, everything that we sound, riles me up. You wouldn't, Joe Bloggs wouldn't have that article in the newspaper. And, yeah, I could go on about this for a long, long time. But I think that something so small can make someone, but something so small can absolutely destroy them and people need to be a lot more mindful

of how they treat people. How about you doing an article that's going to make a difference? Do an article that's going to influence people. Like, be a better, you know what, go to bed that night knowing that you can put your head on your pillow and go to sleep knowing,

do you know what, shit, I've made a difference today or are you going to go to bed and think, God, what have I done to his family? Like, what have I put people in? You're not even thinking. And there's no erasing that. Like, you and I both know, Once something's out in the media, it's out in the media.

It's disgusting. Honestly, it should be embarrassed. It destroys lives. Like, facts. Like, we have all been a part of this world where we've lost people through damage mental health. And it's just, just please, just think. Think before you speak. Think before you do.

Think before you act. And just think about how you would perceive that behavior. Or, you know, it's the same as like I said to you, Mill in the morning. If I say, morning, Mill, like, how are you? Like, have you had a good day? Like, tell me, you know, did you sleep well? Like, something like that engages you. And it instantly makes you feel better.

If I just went, all right, I didn't make a point to say, good morning. Or I didn't say, are you okay? Like, there's something so small. And it goes on to my point of how we as people support each other and our friends and our family and our teammates if they're going through tough times. Number one thing for me, right, is one. Be kind. Because that is something that you...

Cost nothing. It costs nothing. It costs nothing to just be kind. And if you're not going to be kind, don't expect everyone else to be kind to you. Like, it can't be double standards. And that's my number one thing is just kindness. No judging.

Stop judging. It's a free tool to make somebody feel so much better. Check in is another one of mine. Like, why we do our podcast and we check in with each other, because it's important. Because I know for a fact, if I've not spoken to you for a week, say I didn't speak to you since the previous podcast episode, you would be able to know straight away by asking me how I am, even if I'm saying, oh, I'm all right, Mill. You'd know straight away that something's wrong and you'll pick up these traits of people when you do check in, when you do ask them how they are. Because again, it's invisible. We could do it with a smile on our face. I could be struggling with everything going on right now, but you would never know. You've been through a hell of a lot. And this summer was a really hard, you know, I know you weren't mind me saying, but it was a hell of a tough time for you, but you

showed up every single day with a smile on your face and got through it. But again, we're just coping. And I think that that's where it needs to be, the awareness needs to be raised on that. There needs to be support systems, you know, you need to have people. You need to listen to people. You need to encourage people to just pay attention as well. Like, pay attention to people, body language like tone like and for me like going off your point by checking in you'll start to learn like do you really know your friends do you really know because i can i can count on one hand this is bad one hand how many people actually genuinely know me as a person and would be able to check in and notice if something was wrong in fact i dare say there's maybe less than five

that would check in with me before something's wrong now i know a lot of a people but that to me is it's really sad because I think as well as people that we are we we are the type of people that I'll say oh you see him quiet today are you okay you know and that there alone if somebody did that to me on a day that I was feeling quiet or feeling down I'm like you've acknowledged me today you you're looking at me yeah you're seeing me yeah and you're aware that something might slightly be off. I do think as you get older

you really start to realize like who's in your circle. Your circle gets smaller and smaller and if you're currently experiencing yeah, mine's you. No, if you're out there and as you're getting older you find that your circle's getting smaller

and smaller, please don't think that it's abnormal because it is completely normal and I think it's, you know what, you start to prioritize where you put your energy, who you put your energy into and not because, and do you know what, that's something for me that I've really had to learn and I felt super guilty.

But I had to start taking my time away from people that were being detrimental to my mental health and my life and I had to start putting more into the people that were influencing me in a good way. And for ages, I felt guilt and guilt and I was telling my counsellor that I'm really struggling with this feeling of guilt. Like, I don't think I've got enough time for everyone.

She says, did I have a positive influence on your life? I was like, well, actually, no, they made me really sad on this or that, that, that. And I had to really start protecting my energy and protecting me and it is okay to be selfish when it comes to your health like it is so okay to do that

but I think off of that it's probably good for us to say how we actually cope like me and Rachel have spoke before about journaling for me journaling is the biggest tool for me and the best tool I know we're the same we feel guilty when we put our problems on people or we offload on people

because then we feel like we're just passing I'm passing my shit to rage and I'm like well that's not fair she's got her own shit so journaling for me years away for me to get it all out, process it as well and not be emotional or be emotional while I'm doing it. And then I don't feel like I've put it on anyone. So for me, journaling is like a massive way. And I think it's super important for you all to find what works for you.

But yeah, because what works for me doesn't work for you. Like it's not one size fits all. And I think yeah, journaling is a tool that we've both used. And I think it's a great way to get your thoughts and your feelings down again, not put it on people. Yeah. But I've said this before. I mean, I've said it to you, but I think I've touched on it on the podcast before it. I do like DIY or I do stuff around the house.

And it just calms my mind. It just like grounds me a little bit and gives me like that moment of quiet or I like to go for a dog walk. And it's like things that you have learned yourself over the years that keep your calm and keep you calm, but get your energy back up again, like your back, fill up the batteries. But anyway, I think we could talk about this for a long time

because it's a topic that I think we're both we could we're both really you know but everyone just do better be better checking on your people people first always yeah just no just and please be mindful if you're out there and you're a journalist or you're a fan or you're supporting someone that is in the spotlight just remember that they they do have hearts and they do have feelings and they do have emotions and they do have responsibilities and they do have families and they are okay to say I need time with families or whatever it is or do you know what if they didn't sign something on that one particular day maybe they were having a bad day maybe they were emotional maybe they were sad

maybe they didn't want to be sad in front of people so just please zoom out look past yourselves think of the bigger picture this is what i do and i feel like i'm a bit rachel doodles and if you've not noticed she's actually been doing this on every single episode and i'm about 50 sheets of these that i just do random stuff on but it helps me keeps my mind calm exactly that's fine but anyway we could talk about this for a long long time so Millie over to you yeah just wanted to shout out to Young Minds again

please head over to their Instagram Young Minds you can also go over to their website wwww-yongmines.org.org and yeah if you need anything please keep speaking up to anyone out there and yeah we're always here from your daily brightness we love you all and yeah thank you for checking We hope you enjoyed this episode on mental health.

Look after yourself in the good times, just as much as the bad times. Mental health is not an occasion. It's an everyday part of our lives. So thank you for listening and we will see you very, very soon. Love you all. Take care, everyone.