Mental health is not discussed enough, despite it being an important element of the 007 stories. In this series, David talks very openly about mental health with members of the Bond community. He has a theory: these are the sorts of things on many of our minds but we often struggle to put them into words. Maybe we can change that? Here, David talks with Blake Powers ( @BondLifeChicago ) about hypervigilance. As a first responder in the Police, Blake is the ideal person to guide us through what it's like to be in an elevated state of constantly assessing potential threats. Blake can certainly relate to Bond in this regard and has written a brilliant article about this in which he insightfully makes many links with Bond's behaviour in the books and films. David and Blake focus in particular on the film of Quantum of Solace and Fleming's Thunderball. Together they explore: What impact does hypervigilance have on the brain and body? What should you do when you go 'off duty' and find yourself slipping into a depression-like state? How do we avoid using coping strategies which are bad for us? How much should we follow the example set by Bond? Read Blake's article here: https://spygestmag.com/posts/the-melancholy-spy/ If you are interested in appearing on a future episode of 'On Our Minds Only?' then please get in touch.