Dr Alex to front new digital mental wellbeing series on the quirky ways people get through life's low moments

ITV2 is today launching a new digital series on mental wellbeing fronted by Dr Alex, encouraging 16-34 year-olds to ‘do what gets them through’.

How We Move, presented by the UK’s Youth Mental Health Ambassador Dr Alex George, explores the different ways people boost their mental wellbeing.
 
Through honest conversation with pairs of influencers, actors and broadcasters from various cultural backgrounds and communities, the new digital series encourages people to do whatever gets them through low moments, no matter how quirky.

The first episode includes Dr Alex in discussion with Irish actress Evanna Lynch who reveals that her method of getting through low moments involves handstands and finding meditative moments in mundane Amazon product reviews. Irish Youtuber Riyadh Khalaf also shares that singing show tunes to his cat and plane spotting puts him at ease.

The title of the series produced by ITV’s Digital Content Innovation team originates from the slang term “we move'', often used to describe persevering in a challenging situation. “How We Move” flips the term on its head by encouraging people to do what gets them through rather than simply powering through.

The digital series launches as part of ITV2’s landmark partnership with mental health charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), aiming to help drive 5 million actions to help 16-34s cope better with life’s ups and downs.

There will be monthly episodes released of How We Move, available on ITV2's YouTube channel.
 
ITV2’s core audience of viewers is aged between 16-34 years old, so its partnership with CALM aims to ensure younger people feel equipped to do what helps them get through tough times. In addition, this is part of ITV’s commitment to encouraging 200 million actions to support mental or physical health by 2023. 

Dr Alex George, Mental Health Ambassador said: “It is an absolute honour to be fronting this campaign, a collaboration between ITV2 and CALM. I think over the last couple of years we’ve all learnt how important it is to take care of ourselves and our mental health. We often think of self-care as doing things like having a bath or going for a walk but in truth self care is individual and unique to every person. Ultimately it's about doing what gets you through. Each episode we have spoken to a wide variety of guests from different backgrounds with different ways they get through. I hope viewers and listeners will enjoy each episode and take something away that helps them with their self-care.”

Simon Gunning, CEO for Campaign Against Living Miserably said: “It’s been a hard couple of years, and young people have had to deal with more than their fair share of challenges. Which is why now more than ever we must continue to redefine the narrative surrounding mental health. 
 
By working with ITV2 and their array of talent, we hope this series will equip young people with the tools to cope with whatever life has to throw at them. And crucially, highlight that there are no right or wrong answers, and what might work for one person might not for the other.”

Susie Braun, Director of Social Purpose at ITV said: “Our goal at ITV is to normalise caring for your mental wellbeing, no matter what works to get you through low moments. How We Move helps to challenge self-care stereotypes and encourage people to think about what works best for them.” 

Katherine Dove, Digital Video Unit Manager at ITV said: “We’re really excited about launching this new digital series. This isn’t a typical way of approaching conversations around mental wellbeing, we’re not offering people a bunch of self-help tips. Instead, we’re creating a safe space for authentic and vulnerable conversation - those unique things we all do to help us are often a lot of fun, and we want to show that off."

Watch episode one here.

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Notes to Editors 

About ITV Social Purpose:

ITV entertains and connects with millions of people globally, reflecting and shaping culture with brilliant content and creativity. 

Reflecting and shaping the world we live in gives us a great opportunity to use our content to reach and inspire positive change in the wider world. This is ITV's Social Purpose - shaping culture for good. We do this across four focus areas: Better Mental and Physical Health, 

Diversity & Inclusion, Climate Action and Giving Back.

For more information, please visit https://www.itvplc.com/socialpurpose/overview