Bear Grylls has urged the UK's schooling system to improve when it comes to helping students deal with mental health issues.
The adventurer, 48, believes that while things are getting better, schools are still "woefully ill-equipped" and are failing to teach children a number of important life lessons.
Speaking candidly to The Mirror, Bear opened up on how the state must continue to get better if it is to help the latest generation through what he has called labelled an anxiety pandemic.
"I think the UK’s school system is woefully ill-equipped," he claimed. "None of this stuff [mental health] is taught and I certainly wasn’t taught this stuff at school."
He told how he believes one of the main reasons we are seeing a "staggeringly high" number of suicides in people in their 40s and 50s is because that generation simply wasn't well equipped from a younger age.
And that is something he is determined to see change in today's society.
"It wasn’t something people spoke about 20 or 30 years ago," he admitted. "When you lack the tools and the framework to understand the battles you’re going through, people often don’t know which way to turn."
He added: "I think we’re beginning to get a little better but ultimately all of us in life have to be our own doctors."
The former solider in the British Special Forces continued: "We’ve got to find things in our lives that help us be physically strong, mentally strong and emotionally strong, and learn life skills; all this stuff that schools fail to teach people. In life, we have to be our own doctor."
Bear, who is dad to three teenage sons, was speaking ahead of the launch of his new book titled Mind Fuel, which offers readers a number of daily strategies to build emotional health and resilience.
The Scout Association's Chief Scout went on to admit he is thankful the conversation surrounding mental health has improved significantly in recent years, saying it's certainly something people avoided talking about 20-30 years ago.
However, he insists there is still a lot of work to be done if we are to remove the stigma surrounding it.
"The stigma is going and it has to go as it’s part of health," he said before opening up about his own mental health.
"[To build strength] you have to first have moments where you struggle and I’ve had many, many moments in my life when it’s felt like a dark battle through the day and you know what, that’s okay, it’s part of life.
"Share it and equip yourself with things that can help make tomorrow a little better."
He continued: "[Mental health] is something all of us need to keep an eye on, all of us need to be alert to, and all of us need to have simple tools and things that can help us because you’re going to hit some storms at some point."
Bear added the public shouldn't be scared of mental health and is hopeful we can break the mould in the near future, removing our fear of vulnerability.
"I think everyone is always scared of vulnerability," he confessed. "But vulnerability is strength."
He labelled sharing vulnerability as being "like a muscle".
"The more we do it, the stronger it gets, the easier it gets and the better off our lives are and our friends lives are. So, you know, breaking the mould is so important in life and let’s do it by example.
"A problem shared is a problem halved."
He revealed his hope that his book will help provide readers with the ammunition to help equip themselves of any mental challenges they may face in life.
"I want [people] to be equipped and preventative strength is the type of strength to build. Preventative health is the type to build.
"A key thought to have (about the book) - ask yourselves questions and just take the positives from the stuff that will really help you. I want it to be simple, easy and daily.
"I’m proud to have written a book to help get the mental side of things going."
‘Mind Fuel: Simple Ways to Build Mental Resilience Each Day’ by Bear Grylls and Will van der Hart is available now from Bear's official website and Amazon.
