LUKE’S STORY
I’m Luke, THE FOUNDER OF TWO PINTS DEEP.
IN 2019, I LOST MY MUM TO CANCER.
That’s when MY MENTAL HEALTH JOURNEY BEGAN.
IT WAS DURING THE BEST PERIOD OF MY LIFE.
I was living and working over in Australia, playing semi-professional football, living near the beach with friends and in a job that I enjoyed. When I got the call to say my mum's cancer had spread, life turned upside down. A whirlwind week.
A 26hr journey home where my head was all over the place, no signal, no one to talk to. I landed back into gloomy Manchester, and got a week with my Mum before we lost her. That dream life felt so far away. I was now living in rural Lancashire in my family home, with my grieving dad and heading towards a British winter.
I didn't process my grief well. I processed it like a classic bloke - straight into protection mode. I thought I had to look after my dad, 'be a man' and I pushed my feelings away to deal with later. But of course, later never comes.
OVER THE NEXT 6 MONTHS, THOSE THOUGHTS ATE ME UP INSIDE
Social Anxiety
I was afraid to go out, see friends and put myself in social situations as I was scared of being asked how I was. Mostly because, I wasn't sure what the hell would come out of me if someone did.
Depression
The repressed feelings ate me up. I couldn't get away from them and it felt like a spiral that I couldn't find happiness within, even in the things that previously made me happy. I slipped into online gambling to take my brain away from the reality.
I WENT TO A PARTY WITH MY MATES – AN ACHIEVEMENT IN ITSELF
But what was to follow would be my motivation to start Two Pints Deep.
I’d had a couple of drinks and was surrounded by close friends. I had the feeling of more confidence, the slight buzz, within the safe space. I decided to open up the Pandora's box of what I had been going through for the last 6 months.
My mates were very receptive, wanted to listen and didn't ask questions. Exactly the opposite of what I was anxious about.
Then another mate spoke up. He spoke about his troubles, and a huge event in his family that had happened over the last few years. Years that we had been friends within, and a problem that none of us knew he was struggling with. Another mate spoke up about his battles with his grief that he hadn't opened up about to us.
All because one of us spoke up.
I'd seen the statistics. This conversation made me scared sh*tless that I could have lost one of my mates over the last few years, we didn't know what was going on in our closest mates lives and I wasn't going to stand for that.
TWO PINTS DEEP WAS LAUNCHED AS A POST OF OUR LOGO ON INSTAGRAM IN FEBRUARY 2022
I spoke about my truths and what made me normal. I sometimes drink too much at the weekends and sometimes don't exercise enough. But I'm also normal because I still suffer from anxiety, and still feel down sometimes. The post got over 23,000 likes and 3,000 followers overnight.
People felt it too.
