Jeremy Thomas Speaker | Creative & PHSCE & Well-being & Teacher CPD & Literacy & Mental Health & Parents

Jeremy Thomas

Delivering talks on 'Good Mental Health'; informative, entertaining and authentic

As a result of overcoming his own battle with bipolar disorder, Jeremy co-produced with Dr. Tony Hughes the Emmy Award winning documentary ‘Stephen Fry, The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive’ and is the co-author of 'You Don’t Have to Be Famous to Have Manic Depression – An A-Z Guide to Good Mental Health'.

He has written articles for The Times and The Daily Mail and he has appeared on BBC Television and Radio. He lives in London with his wife, cat and dog, and on the Greek island of Patmos with 7 cats. Jeremy reaches out to students in schools, colleges and universities in an attempt to normalise the subject of mental illness and take the 'Hammer Horror' out of old perceptions.

The talks are based around Jeremy’s own experience of dealing with depression, addiction, and manic depression, and offer a series of practical and useful honest tips on how to stay mentally healthy and get the best out of life. He also demonstrates why prevention is far better than cure and that humour can be the best way of talking about such a serious subject. His talks are authentic, funny, poignant, passionate, at times hard-hitting and is built around an informative and entertaining slide presentation which lasts for one hour with a Q and A session. It makes the whole subject of good mental health interesting and something to be embraced.

He draws on his extensive experience of good and bad mental health, twenty years experience in the music business and a writer of crime thrillers. The aim is for the students to learn something that might be useful for themselves now or later in their lives or simply help understand a family member or close friend encountering mental health problems.

Some of the topics Jeremy covers are:

Anxiety
Balance
Stress
Common sense
Depression
Resilience
Bullying
Self-harm
Anger Management
Self-esteem
Drugs and alcohol
Bi-polar

Jeremy's keynote talks include

How To Stay Mentally Fit - For staff and staff inset days
How To Stay Sane - For parents and guardians

Visit Jeremy's website here

Watch Jeremy in action here

Testimonials from Teachers

"Jeremy Thomas is a complete original. His writing, like his life, is a whirlwind of brilliance, wonder and blunder; by turns hilarious and terrifying. Highly recommended.”

– Stephen Fry, Actor/Author

“Jeremy Thomas’s talk was fantastic. He was wonderfully engaging, disarmingly honest and full of very sound and practical advice. Whilst he deals with a desperately serious subject, his sense of humour is evident throughout”

– Andrew Hobbs, Deputy Head, Downside School

"Jeremy’s talk was extremely engaging, informative and funny; especially dealing with such a serious subject matter. He was able to draw from his personal struggles to provide an uplifting talk to our Year 13 students, who not only thoroughly enjoyed it but got so much out of the experience. He discussed topics for young adults such as stress, the importance of resilience, self-esteem and routine, which supported their understanding of mental health and well-being."

– Fiona Templeton, Assistant Principal, Harris Westminster Sixth Form

"I loved his energy and how brave he was to tell his own story and how he succeeded. As he has been through a mental illness himself, I felt as if he really did know what he was talking about. The most valuable thing I learned from this talk is that if Jeremy can overcome his mental issues, we can. I have learnt new skills and really respect Jeremy and thank him very much."

– Student, Francis Holland School

"Jeremy was truly an inspirational speaker to attend school today. From the outset, his wit and informal approach had the boys ‘on-side’ and utterly enthralled at his talk. Here was someone who has the experience and erudition to speak to the pupils and yet never preach, a rare quality in a speaker. His talks were incredibly well received, interlaced with practical and heartfelt tips, generating discussion amongst the students for the remainder of the day. The dominant theme was ‘why cannot more speakers be like Mr Thomas?’ Quite – he is a rare type of speaker and his message is poignant and vital for all ages from Year 7-13. We were incredibly grateful for his presence in school: professional, humorous and delivering a powerful message. Cannot recommend him highly enough. Many thanks!"

– Lloyd Charman, Deputy Housemaster, The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School