Stephen Fry officially takes on new role as Mind President
British treasure Stephen Fry is officially handed the torch, as he becomes mental health charity Mind’s new president.
Fry is famed for many reasons – his acting, his comedy, his writing, his general intelligence, and his incredible ability with words.
If ever there was a person who could accurately articulate the ordeal of living with a mental health problem it is Fry, which is what makes him such a utterly brilliant new president for Mind.
Fry has experienced a very long and public battle with bi-polar disorder. Back in the mid-nineties, Fry famously walked out of a West End play after which he disappeared off the radar and was feared dead. It was later revealed that after coming very close to gassing himself in his car, he fled to Belgium where he was later found.
2006 marked the release of an extremely powerful documentary, ‘The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive’, in which Fry spoke very honestly about his experiences of manic depression and confronted many previously unknown facets of the disorder by talking to experts and other sufferers.
Fry’s celebrity status and influence has undoubtedly helped to increase awareness of mental health disorders, and he hopes to continue to do this as Mind president.
Speaking at the Mind gala dinner on the 21st of September when he officially took on his new role, Fry commented that he felt both honoured and delighted to become the new Mind President, and that we must all work hard towards ending the stigma of mental health problems.
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