How to overcome adversity: Alex Staniforth

The Brave Front

A motivational speaker, charity founder, endurance athlete and all round nice guy, it’s hard to believe that Alex Staniforth has battled poor mental health his whole life. Bullied at school after being diagnosed with epilepsy and living with a lifelong stammer, he has lived with anxiety and depression, as well as enduring panic attacks and battling an eating disorder. However, a teenage passion for the outdoors provided Alex with a focus and drive that twice took him to Everest in pursuit of a dream to become one of the youngest Britons ever to climb the world’s tallest mountain. Along the way, he was challenged physically and mentally, at home and under tragic circumstances while in Nepal. Today, Alex continues to challenge himself in the most extreme of ways and has ploughed his considerable energies into founding a charity to help others overcome poor mental health, by taking them up some of the UK’s most challenging mountains. Alex’s story is one of passion and determination, of facing fear, overcoming adversity and discovering unexpected mental strength. Listen to it in his own words on The Brave Front. Show outline: 00:00:00 - 00:03:45 - Welcome and introduction 00:03:53 - 00:07:17 - Meet Alex 00:07:53 - 00:13:29 - Childhood, growing up, facing bullying at school 00:13:38 - 00:18:00 - Discovering the great outdoors, a paragliding breakthrough 00:18:10 - 00:33:49 - Stepping outside your comfort zone, Mount Everest, escaping death 00:33:58 - 00:40:00 - Mind Over Mountains, launching a mental health charity 00:40:26 - 00:48:06 - Alex’s mental health today and the future Useful links: You can find out more about Alex on his website You can follow Alex on X As well as on Instagram And you can find out all about Alex’s charity on the excellent Mind over Mountains website. Share the show: If you’ve enjoyed this episode of The Brave Front, you can share it through any of the following links: Our Linktree site (for links to all the podcast platforms): linktr.ee/thebravefront Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Amazon Music Interact with the show: Answer our episode question on your mobile via Spotify app episode page Get in touch Send us a voice message Full transcription: Click here for a full transcription of the show --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thebravefront/message