Alan Quinlan has spoken passionately about the need to look after mental health on many occasions, and he says now is as important a time as ever to mind our heads.
The former Munster and Ireland international spoke with Adrian Barry on OTB AM this morning, and said coming up with a daily schedule was imperative, as the country remains in effective lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.
"It's very tough on everyone. It's very hard to get a schedule, and that's probably the key is some form of routine.
"We've nothing to measure this on before because we've never been in this situation. I think it's hitting everybody differently.
"My biggest fear for everybody is... obviously people are going to be struggling from a financial point of view and worrying about their jobs, it's just the psychological impact of the whole thing is going to be quite difficult for people going forward."
Quinny also spoke about how he expects the world to change completely when we all come out the other side of COVID-19.
"We live in a very materialistic world with a lot of rubbish, a lot of false advertising, celebrity bullshit... that's all gonna change. The world has to change with all the false rubbish that we're being sold and shown.
"I think it'll certainly bring people back down to Earth and realise the important things in life... family, friends, people around you, and the simple things in life.
"A big part of mental health stuff I've spoken about, and for myself, and this doesn't apply for everybody, but it's pretty common in experts and people that have experienced mental health difficulties that I've spoken to over the years...
"John Kirwan is probably the most obvious example, the former All Black legend, who suffered a lot with mental health problems earlier in his life, a pin-up poster boy in New Zealand and superstar rugby player.
New Zealand's John Kirwan is chased down by England's Chris Oti"One of the things he always said to me, I linked up with him and got to know him very well, about enjoying the simple things in life. It sounds very obvious and maybe some people may not understand this, maybe they'll understand it now - the simple things of going for a walk, having a cup of tea, a nice shower or bath, and kind of being present in those things.
"The world is a very, very busy place... [there are] so many distractions, so much rubbish that we're spoon-fed if you like. The simple things in life for me are what we'll need to get back to and understand.
Like our parents and their parents before, where they didn't have all the modcons and luxuries we have in the modern-day world. I think people will appreciate that side of things more, the simplicity of being able to go out for a walk and being out in nature and maybe not looking too far ahead.
"It's definitely going to be a hot topic and a hot subject coming out of this, the psychological effect of the whole thing for people. Positive mental health programs and awareness are going to be vital for sportspeople and people in the employment sector, and right across the board."
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