A YOUNG doctor is on a mission to support his colleagues who are experiencing mental health issues and substance abuse.

Mike Nally, who works at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and Worthing Hospital, had wanted to become a doctor since he was a child.

When he went to medical school at University College London (UCL), he felt “on top of the world” as he was close to achieving his dream.

However, his excitement started to waver when he became a trainee. The 26-year-old, who lives in Brighton, said: “I was spending more time in hospitals and doctors would be telling me ‘oh, it’s tough’ which can be quite disheartening.

“But since I started as a trainee, I’ve had the best time.

“However, it really gets me down seeing colleagues feeling low.

“My friend told me about his colleague, also a junior doctor, who sadly took their own life.

“For me, this raised a lot of questions about what was happening in the system for doctors to feel that low.

“I also came across an article about a Brighton paediatric trainee, Sophie Spooner, who took her own life.

“She struggled to find a mental health service that would have understood her problem in the context of being a doctor.

“The story had a profound effect on me because doctors need help too sometimes, and our problems shouldn’t be kept quiet.

“I was shocked when I learnt that doctors are twice as likely to take their own lives compared with the general population.”

To support his colleagues, Mike has taken on a 19,000-mile bike ride challenge to raise money for the charities the Royal Medical Benevolent (RMBF) and Mind.

He aims to raise £20,000 while spotlighting the pressures that doctors face at work.

On Saturday, Mike set off from Buckingham Palace for the first leg of the trip which will take him through Europe to Istanbul.

Read more: Brighton junior doctor killed herself after suffering depression

He will also navigate through Myanmar and Malaysia, and on to Australia and New Zealand.

Mike said: “I remember my first tutor at UCL, Dr Philip Lodge, telling us about some of the problems faced by doctors, including the higher rates of mental health issues and substance abuse.

“This came as quite a shock, and it’s stuck with me since then. It’s my firm belief that without healthy doctors you simply cannot have healthy patients.”

To support Mike, go to drmikeonabike.com.