Josh Patterson's 'biggest fear' and the health battle he will fight for the rest of his life

GB News sat down with Josh to understand the motivations behind his new book and the complex journey he has been on to get it from idea to execution.

"I just want to give someone hope. That's the biggest thing: you've got to be able to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel, that there are solutions for anything that you might be going through," he said.

To this end, Josh has penned 76 powerful lessons that have helped him to get over the finish line both mentally and physically.

He hopes the book will help others to deal with their internal demons: "The biggest fear when you struggle with your mental health is that there's no obvious solution: how long is this going to last for? What is this going to mean for me in my life?"

Having been through this journey himself, his mental health "impacted by so many different things, such as relationships, friendships, career and parenthood", Josh felt he could connect with many different demographics.

The TV personality has previously spoken about his battle with depression, which brought him close to suicide.

Last year, he became the first person ever to run 76 marathons in 76 consecutive days in a bid to raise £1 million for Samaritans - a charity close to his heart.

Drawing upon the memories of his darkest days and spurred on by his daughter, India, Josh pushed through the pain, knowing that there were happier times ahead.

But he admits you never quite cross the finish line, adding: "Every day if I don't follow the appropriate steps it can cripple me."

Josh explained: "I'm only several decisions away from it being detrimental. That's not me - that's just my mindset. That's just what I've been gifted by whoever. These challenges remind me ro shut those voices down in my head. I am resilient. I am strong and I do have purpose, and there is a reason for me to live in this world."

It is this mindset that goes some way to explaining Josh's enthusiasm for extreme endurance: he derives meaning and purpose from serving something greater than him.

"But equally, for every successful one that I achieve, it's another moment of reflection because unfortunately for the rest of my life - it doesn't matter how many of these I do - I will always battle with my mental health.

"It's something that I've come to accept and I live with. It's just a part of my story. And so my responsibility is to ensure that I surround myself in the right environment and I make the right decisions to silence that as much as I possibly can," he added.

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Turning to the process of writing his new book, Josh faced a smaller but no less significant challenge: his dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that mainly causes problems with reading, writing and spelling.

Thankfully, he found his publisher to be "unbelievably supportive, really empathetic to my learning difficulties and really helped me to tailor this in order for me to be able to write this to the best of my ability. The stars aligned".

Fortune Favours the Brave by Joshua Patterson, published by Penguin Life, is out now £18.99

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this story you can contact Samaritans in the UK and Ireland on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie.