Stuart McCloskey support for ‘Tackle Your Feelings’ schools’ mental wellbeing app

Capped three times at international level and with 120 appearances for Ulster, McCloskey has forged a reputation as a tenacious tackler and now he is encouraging students across Ireland to proactively care for their metal wellbeing as part of a daily routine.

“You see so much more about mental wellbeing now in the media than five years ago, the more you talk about and the more that someone who has a profile speaks about it the more socially acceptable it becomes for everybody to speak about it,” said McCloskey. “If you speak to one person about it, it will always help and that is the message we are trying to get across.

“Speak to someone, don’t bottle it up and don’t hold it in for long.

“It is an app and it is quite easy to use - it has goals and there are a few different bits and pieces.

“It is TYF (tackle your feelings) on the App Store.

“I go into schools and do a Q & A, we are just trying to get young people to talk about their feelings.

“You know what you’re like when you’re 15 to 17, you don’t want to talk about anything to anybody but it is not great to bottle it up at times, so we’re just trying to do all we can.”

McCloskey feels that mental wellbeing is being discussed more by rugby players than ever before.

“There is definitely more awareness of it in life and general and it has become such a big thing, there is more funding for mental health and it is only going to get bigger and bigger and the bigger it gets hopefully the more people it helps,” said McCloskey. “In rugby circles we have had this ‘Tackle Your Feelings’ campaign for two or three years now, hopefully, it has helped a few players and it has all been positive.”