This Mental Health Awareness Week we are publishing stories to promote the power of our community, which is founded on passion and enthusiasm. Corryn Banham founded Girls Across the Grid four years ago to channel energy from her undiagnosed ADHD and it became a powerful example of how the motorsport community can rally round its members.
Corryn has had challenges with mental health since her teenage years. “I’m 30 now and I have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety for almost 14 years,” she recalls. When she went for a second opinion, she was advised to take a test for ADHD. “The effects of this, because it was unmanaged, caused depression and anxiety symptoms,” she says.
“I was having antidepressants,” Corryn continues. “I struggled a lot with impulsivity, concentration, as well as financial problems and it just felt like it was snowballing. Every time you tried to chip a little bit off, something else would come along.”
Diagnosis is often just the start, and Corryn is going through the medication pathways, of which there are many. “You have to find the one which suits you,” she explains, adding that “it’s better to have an understanding about it and the symptoms. It was a really weird feeling [being diagnosed]. I felt relieved, but I felt a sense of grief for the life that I could have had if this had been picked up [earlier].”
During this process Corryn found the motorsport community an invaluable outlet that took her focus away from day-to-day challenges. “Girls Across the Grid really helped give me a support network,” she says. “I’ve got my best friends from it, who I can talk to about anything. A couple of them I’ve known whilst I’ve been through the whole diagnosis route, and they’re just so supportive; we all connected over our shared love of motorsport.
“Running the community does get stressful, there are days where I feel I cannot do it, but I’ll just text and say I’m not feeling great and I’ll get ‘I’ve got this, don’t worry’. It’s a really good support network.”
Corryn also oversees marketing operations in her role at Lydden Hill circuit. “My employers are really supportive,” she says. “Every day is different and it just is so good to just keep your brain engaged. I think that is such a good part of working in motorsport, especially being neurodivergent. You never know what to expect and that just keeps it fresh and exciting.”
Working within the motorsport environment has also given Corryn a good perspective on how the community deals with mental health, and she feels it has been hugely positive, remarking how easy she feels talking about the subject. “If you would have asked me 10 years ago, I probably wouldn’t have told anyone, it was such a stigma,” she comments. “Girls Across the Grid was set up because I was watching F1 on my own, and I thought there’s got to be other girls out there who want to watch with people. All I wanted to hear was someone who was going through the same as me and I now if I’m scrolling TikTok, I’ll come across someone describing exactly what I’ve been through, it makes you feel so much better knowing that you’re not alone.
“Mental health can feel quite isolating because you feel misunderstood, by doctors and generally in the world. Hearing other people’s stories and seeing other people go through the same makes your feelings feel so validated and it encourages more people to talk about it. Motorsport, especially when you look at like the higher levels like F1 and the massive growing fan base, is quite aspirational; a lot of the younger people that are getting into it having those conversations just adds a touch of reality that’s really important.”
The next edition of Revolution magazine will include a feature on how our community can provide a positive influence on mental health. Find your community using our Club Finder tool here and click here for a list of organisations that can assist with mental health