DIRTY HABITS Presents “We Need To Talk” a heartfelt documentary about Mental Health in Extreme Sports and action sports athletes. It follows Professional Kiteboarder, Graham Howes & Pro Wakeboarder Ryan Peacock as they explore the unique challenges and stigma surrounding mental health in the high-stakes world of action sports from wingsuiting to downhill mountain biking.
*If this video resonated with you, go give our previous video a watch:
– “Is Depression & Anxiety the New Normal?” a watch: https://youtu.be/gk90aupZiSM
Through intimate interviews with top athletes and a professional sports psychologist, the film delves into the personal struggles and triumphs of those who live and breathe extreme sport and compete on the highest level.
From Kiteboarding and Downhill MTB to BASE jumping and wakeboarding, these athletes push the limits of what is possible, often at great physical and mental cost. With raw and honest storytelling, the film shines a light on the very real struggles that many action sports athletes face, including anxiety, identity, depression, and addiction.
We Need To Talk is more than just a film about struggles – it is also a celebration of resilience and the power of community. Through the stories of these brave and inspiring athletes, the film showcases the strength and courage it takes to confront and sometimes overcome mental health challenges.
Featuring interviews from 5 times world champion Aaron Hadlow, Kiteboarding pioneer Ruben Lenten, Wingsuit flyer Jason Baker and true legends of the action sports, Theo Erlangsen, Matti Buys & Tommy Swaan. Mental Coach and Author, Paddy Upton joins them along the journey to shed some light on recurring topics that a lot of elite athletes and people are struggling with.
Whether you are an action sports enthusiast or simply looking to better understand the mental health struggles of those around you, Mental Health in Action Sports is a must-see documentary that will leave you inspired and motivated to take action.
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DIRTY HABITS Production by:
Graham Howes
Ryan Peacock &
Nicolas Cattelan
Graham Howes – https://www.instagram.com/grahamhowes/
Ryan Peacock – https://www.instagram.com/ryanxpeacock/
Aaron Hadlow – https://www.instagram.com/aaronhadlow/
Ruben Lenten – https://www.instagram.com/rubenlen10/
Theo Erlangsen – https://www.instagram.com/theo_erlangsen/
Jason Baker – https://www.instagram.com/bakingjasonbaker/
Matti Buys – https://www.instagram.com/mattibuys/
Tommy Swaan – https://www.instagram.com/tommyswaan/
Paddy Upton – https://paddyupton.com/
Nicolas Cattelan – https://www.instagram.com/nic_cattelan/
Credits:
Thank you to everyone involved in this project, from the conversations we had along the way, to the videographers who’s footage we used in this project. We are forever grateful.
If you are struggling or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please start a conversation.
If a conversation is hard… it’s probably the one worth having.
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Loved how you broke it down.
Such a satisfying video.
This needs to go viral.
This gave me a new perspective.
Such a creative idea!
"The moment your only goal is to be better than everyone else, quit". So true.
Rip Graham 😢❤
English please
I am a 61 year old Male I don’t know if this will help anyone ! I lived and breathed Cars even as a child of 2 years My parents told me I knew every car on the road ! I always operated on a very High Level ! I became a Vehicle technician which should have been my dream ? But it wasn’t ! What I learned was You Can’t Use your “Passion “ for a means of living ! Your Passion is emotional ! I have played safe with everything since having a heart attack in 09 ! But I have found life very challenging being without my Passion ! I’m starting to get back into mountain biking and want to learn Many other adrenaline fuelled Sports ! But I Has to be my “Passion” Nor Work !
I know it will be difficult for some But if it Helps Someone to realise Passion and work can mix But it NEVER works Out !
YOU are All Amazing and Talented and Driven ! God gave you these Gifts Live Your Life With Love and genuine Gratitude 🙏❤️
I appreciate how clear this was.
Very and very good video. Thank you. I have never thought that X-sportsmen might have suicidal thoughts or this bad mental problems. You have opened up for me the new cluster of health problems in PRO athletes, thank you!
But still, I think a part of it is publicity and pressure, but not Xsports themselves. Here is why… I started when I was 5 or 7 years old. And by the age of 25, I tried A LOT of different Extreme sports (starting from all varieties of street sports and ending with solo climbing, snowboarding and Enduro DH). As for now, I made a decision to stop at MTB and I love my sport! I have plans to go PRO one day… But you know, what I am trying to say, I never hated, never was scared or depressed because of what I am doing. Extreme is the only thing I have known since I was a little kid; this is in my DNA, it is me. I don't know, how can you hate or not like yourself? And yes, I know, I am going to die or become disabled because of this (and I have had pretty nasty traumas already), and so what? Everyone dies; it doesn't matter how. At least I love what I am doing!
In the end of the day, even when guy said "I am scared to break my spine", I believe, he didn't mean he is afraid of the physical limitations of disability, he was afraid of what he is going to eat tomorrow, because he tied up Xsports with his income. At least, this what I think… You might disagree…
Adrenaline junkies will do anything for another fix, except admit what the problem really is.
What a great documentary. Definitely an important subject, and I am so happy that such a good video is out there to speak about it. Great job !
Choose God. What we are looking for cannot be found in things, other people, places or even experiences. When you are no longer the center, everything else falls into place.
If you always rely on yourselves to perform, it is it normal that you will have anxiety and fears. The doubts, the fear, the exhausting thoughts will trap one. The one and only remedy is Jesus Christ. To live for Him, through Him and with Him replace every depression. Because not only He will save You from Hell if You believe with all of your heart, that He is the Son of God, that He died on the cross to wash you from your sins, and that He rose on the third day, but you can give Him all that worries you and He will help you. He is faithful. He is one' s all. He will become your identity. Amen ❤ " John 3:16: " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Amen ❤
This reminds me of my lost son
And now you are gone
Hi, I dont know you, but the best advice to you is to ask God to help you. No one else can do it like Him. HE is the ONLY answer. Time is very short. Will pray for you. Good luck and all your friend to. 🙏🌻
This is great! Mental health needs to be much more talked about and treated the same as physical health. Good job on this guys.
Rest in peace Graham
RIP Graham Howes. ❤
As an actor and an athlete I relate to this more than I expected to
It breaks my heart to learn today that he is gone. Rest in peace beautiful soul. This world is a harsh place for the deep and goodhearted❤
EGO CAN KILL
They all suffer some degree of brain trauma. Not good. Micro-Concussions add up. I got a mTBI. Drugs can also really mess a person up. All docs will push drugs hard. Listen to me very carefully. Be careful about drugs. All drugs. Watch Dr. Josef channel. He talks about the very real possibility of getting permanent sexual side effects if you take a SSRI and also, when you come off and especially if you try to come off too quickly. Some have taken one pill and it happen. Not reversible people. Men or women- does not matter. Permanent. Gone. No more. It is called PSSD from taking SSRI's. Just learn about it- google it, before you ever consider going there. You think you are depressed now… You have no idea. And I mean, no idea.
Stay safe- stop concussion your brains. Take a break. Pick up a new fun thing to do or job.
im still rlly young so i hope there will be help for mental health when im in my 20s and 30s like the people in this video
21:51 – 23:05 states the important fact we must keep in mind when taking decisions. Thank you for making this documentary, it helps a broad audience!
RIP ❤
❤
More must be done to save the suicides of young talented sportsmen of this world
That's why i am a totally freerider in all kinds of extreme sports….just doing my thing and my way…low ego ,no expectations no stress and not for the money….just spred my wings and fly and have 💯 %fun…👻crossed the street of Gibraltar more than 100 times , surrounded by dolfins, flying Fish ,and rainbows all around me….and in some points…yes we crach ! Stand up….take ouwer time to heal to understand ….and if the universe is on your side…🌬️🌊 Lets do it again…. Bearfoot hurricane Riders for Life 🙏🏾
Precisely why I dedicated the rest of my life to the process of God-Realization. I have a Spiritual Master who has absolutely changed my understanding of our fundamental error, and this is the activity of egoity. We are all utterly guilty of our own egoic motives that have systematically destroyed peace on this planet for every living being. The only liberating principle in the entire universe is association with Wisdom and the Adept Spiritual Masters who offer the Process of God-Realization.
Avatar Adi Da Samraj once said:
'In traditional societies, such as those that have appeared among ordinary people in the rural areas of India, the Divine is simply presumed to Be— not because these people have deduced, through reading and study, that the Divine Exists, but because Spiritual sensitivity to the Reality of the Divine has been allowed by tradition, from birth. Traditionally, there has also been respect for the lineage of Realizers, those beings whose Word and Sign—simply as they appear—is sufficient proof of the Divine Reality.
Because of the force of that still-respected tradition, ordinary people—especially those who live outside the rather “Westernized” context of the cities—make this presumption without “problem”, and they are given dharma, or instruction in right life, as the means whereby to acknowledge and resort to the Divine.
Westerners, on the other hand—meaning “Westernized” people of both East and West—live in a culture where no such presumption exists, no Great Tradition of “religion” and Spirituality is respected, and no history of Realizers is respected. Realization Itself is not respected. Only a “self”-based, body-based, materialistic presumption is propagandized and made into the social reality for everyone.
Therefore, for those who come out of the “Westernized” circumstance, the Divine is a “maybe”. In general, that is so. As “Westernized” individuals, you have no Great Tradition that you respect. You have no body of Realizers that you instinctively respect. And your respect for Me is certainly not just a “given”.
From your “point of view”, the Reality of the Divine is something that you expect to become a certainty somewhere down the line, in the really mature stages of practice-demonstration.
In contrast to the “Westernized” view, the right (and, also, traditional) view is that the Divine must be Real from the beginning of the Way, not merely at the end. In the traditional setting, people make their efforts to Realize the Divine—but they do not presume that the Divine does not Exist until Realization. The Existence of the Divine is presumed from the beginning. That presumption is the basis for all of their devotional activities and Yoga. For such people, the process of Realization is not a process of discovering that the Divine does, in fact, Exist. Rather, the process of Realization is the devotional process of going beyond separate “self” to Realize the Divine Self-Condition, Which Always Already Exists.
If you are a Westerner and possessed of all the deficiencies of materialistic-minded people, you are going about Spiritual life backwards. If you cannot find and (thereby) presume the Divine Reality before you enter the mature stages of Spiritual practice, how are you possibly going to Realize the Divine at a later stage? By indoctrination, you tend to be characterized by the non-presumption of the Divine, the presumption of “anti-God”. From the traditional “point of view”, you are “Godless”.
By contrast, villagers in India—even though they are ordinary people, just like you—do not have that impediment. Even My parrots do not have that impediment. It is not native (or natural) to human beings to have that impediment. It is an impediment that you have gained by indoctrination, by cultural-social imposition— an indoctrination that has reinforced in you only the materialistic and ego-based “point of view”.
Your physical faculties may all be functional—but, as Westerners, you are missing something fundamental, as if your eyes were blind or you were crippled. It is an inner impediment, and you cannot even make the gestures that ordinary people make when they are free of your indoctrination. You have been so thoroughly indoctrinated as to divorce yourself from the Source, or the Eternal Divine. You have no sense of the Divine or of What It would be, What It is about, or what to do to relate to It or connect with It or Commune with It.
This impediment is exactly what has made the “dark” time in which you now live. Wherever this “Westernizing” influence has taken hold, people are “dark”, in the sense of being divorced from the “Bright” Radiation of the Source That Pervades everything, divorced even from the natural “world” that is one with That Source.
By taking up the devotional Way of life in My Company, you are making a gesture for what is right.
You are willing to let the “Godly” Way of life be crushed by the materialistic mind that denies Real God, denies Real-God-Realization, denies Real-God Communion, denies the Great Tradition, denies Realizers, denies everything associated with Truth, and reduces existence to ego based “consumerism”, the expectation that you can “do your own thing”, and “get what you want”—all the nonsense that Westerners take for granted, calling it “democracy”.
-Avatar Adi Da Samraj, My "Bright" Form, Pages 12-13
Profound insight to the emptiness many those with abundance feel, now image how those who live in a constance state of marginal existence and pain of prejudice feel?
Modern problems
Hey everyone,
I am not a full time athlete but I often dream about it. I love this documentary it really hit hard and I am so grateful for it. A couple of things I wanted to share is that this life reminds me of my life as a sound engineer – you always have to be on top of your game, you can always be replaced at a moments notice and you sacrifice so much to be so career that it becomes your identity. It is so close to the heart.
Another thing that I also noticed is that a lot of people in the music industry are neurodivergent and being ND also ties in with having depression.
I wonder if maybe there is also a link in extreme sports because it would explain the hyperfocus, the dedication , the need to be doing stuff and the depression that can come with that that can also drive you forward. That’s just a thought not based on any facts but definitely worth looking into.
I
People all over are fighting to afford food to survive until the next month… And extreme sports mommy boyz complaing of their "problems" … Please be a man and get real.
When you get to a certain level in an extreme sport and then you get hurt and you start to age out it’s very hard to know what to do because it is who you are and defines you as a person it’s tough
I GET IT !!! It’s so crazy when you achieve all the goals you had but still you don’t feel like I’m on the podium.I can’t do relate to what he’s saying, stuck on the couch with everything in the world you ever wanted
Broke my Collarbone 5 days ago… This hits different <3
Try not doi g things for fame, adulation, and other ridiculous social reasons.