The Proper Mental Podcast

Welcome to episode 205 with Dr Ross Ellenhorn, who is a sociologist, psychotherapist and social worker. Dr. Ellenhorn is encouraging mental health professionals to be more present with patients and think outside the box when it comes to treatment methods. With offices in Boston, New York and LA, he offers the types of care that serve and empower anyone who has been diagnosed with psychiatric and substance-use issues and helps them recover outside of hospital, in their own communities.  In this episode I chat to Ross about his incredible work, how he began working in the mental health space and how that informed his ground breaking approach to working with so called complex states of mind and mood. We chat about using a human first approach, the medicalisation of the human experience, approaching therapy as improv, the importance of play and curiosity and why human conformity is the illness that gets in the way of being authentic. Ross has spent many years researching change.  More specifically why as humans we find it so hard to change, even when staying the same is killing us.  We talk about this work; we talk about why we struggle to do things differently and how underpinning all of this is a fear of hope. I never say this lightly, but this is one of the most powerful episodes that I have recorded.  If you’ve spoken to me in person over the last few weeks, I’ve probably told you about it and I’ve been taking a deep dive in to Ross’ work regularly since we spoke. There is some incredible thinking points here and I’m sure it will give you plenty of food for thought.  On top of that, Ross is a really lovely man and he was a lot of fun to chat to! He is the author of two books ‘Purple Crayons – The Art of Drawing a Life’ and ‘How We Change (and 10 reasons why we don’t) and they are available everywhere. For more information head to www.ellenhorn.com You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 204 with Ginger Wildheart, who is the singer, songwriter and guitarist in The Wildhearts. The Wildhearts formed in 1989 and over years since have celebrated top 20 singles and top 10 albums and sell out tours all over the world while navigating record company battles, industry politics, multiple line up changes, drugs, depression, splitting up, going on hiatus and getting back together again. Ginger has always been open about his struggles with mental health issues and in this episode, he joins me to chat about how these things have impacted his life and his music over the years. We chat about him being sectioned last year and how that forced him to make some big life changes and how all of this led to the incredible new Wildhearts record ‘The Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts’ We chat about moving to the countryside and learning to slow down, how he took control over his mental health by asking himself some very difficult questions and why doing the inner work is worth it despite being really hard to do. And we chat about approaching the world from a place of love, the healing power of music and animals and looking forward to the ultimate test of his new approach to life when the band hit the road this month. He also tells me a great story about meeting Dolly Parton! Ginger is a true rock legend and it was an absolute pleasure to chat to him! The new album is currently getting 5 star reviews across the board and is out now in all formats. The Wildhearts are on tour throughout March and you can get all the info here: The Wildhearts Official Website Follow Ginger and The Wildhearts on Instagram @gingerwildheart @thewildhearts Twitter @GingerWildheart @TheWildhearts And Facebook www.facebook.com/TheWildhearts You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 203 with Sam Delaney, who is a journalist, author, broadcaster and podcaster whose work has featured in Guardian, Big Issue and Talk Sport. Sam guested on Proper Mental a couple of years ago back at episode 127, and in that episode, we talked a lot about his problems with addiction and how he adjusted to getting sober. This time around, Sam and I chat about some of the things that drove addictions and the reasons why he turned to drink and drugs in the first place. We talk about work, ambition, competitiveness, about why these things often push people towards addiction and mental health issues and we chat about lad culture, learning to sit with yourself and how self-acceptance trumps self-improvement. We also talk about male friendship, having fun and reframing laziness. Sam’s new book is called ‘Stop Shitting Yourself: 15 Life Lessons that might help you calm the f*ck down’ and in the book, Sam dissects our obsession with hyper-productivity and high performance living and here he also guides me through the issues with this approach to life and how a low performance mindset is actually the way to go. I always enjoy spending time with Sam.  He’s always insightful, always honest and always good fun to chat to! Sam’s book is out now in all bookshops!  You can order a signed copy of Sam’s book and request a personalised message from him here:  home - The Barnes Bookshop Follow him on Instagram @theresetsam or Twitter @DelaneyMan You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 202 with Dan Astles, who is a musician and singer songwriter from Liverpool who makes music under the name Astles, either on his own or alongside a 10 strong musical collective called The Balloon Moon Orchestra. Dan has a new album on the way that has a very sad but beautiful story behind it.  Dan’s uncle Joseph died by suicide before he was born, but it was often commented on by the family that they had things in common.  While searching through his Nana’s loft, Dan found glimpses in to his uncle’s life through a collection of albums, posters, gig tickets and assorted memorabilia from a fellow music lover. Amongst this musical treasure trove was also a mix tape titled ‘Soundtrack for the 21 Bus Home’ and it was this collection of songs, and everything he found with it, that inspired his most recent E.P and upcoming album, which is named after his uncle’s handcrafted playlist. In this episode I chat to Dan about his uncle’s passing, how it has impacted his family through the years and how he felt that impact around him growing up. We chat about his upcoming album and how his uncle’s collection of songs inspired him to reflect on his own struggles with his mental health. And we also chat about growing up as a young lad on Merseyside while embracing the softer side of masculinity, working with local legends Bill Ryder-Jones and Mick Head and what it was like to play one of his tunes for Sir Paul McCartney. Dan and I were acquaintances before having this conversation but since chatting I feel like I can call him a mate.  We were able to record this episode in person, over a cup of tea, and it was an absolutely lovely way to spend a morning! Follow Astles on socials @astlesmusic Pre-order the new record here: Soundtrack For The Twenty One Bus Home | Astles You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 201 with Dr Martin Brunet, who has been an NHS GP for more than 20 years and is also well known for his social media channels and videos about different aspects of mental health. In this episode I chat to Martin about his time in general practice and some of the changes he has seen in mental health over the years. We also talk about his new book ‘Your Worry Makes Sense’ and how anxiety and burnout are logical and some ideas about what we can do to overcome these challenges. We chat about worry and over thinking, about facing your fears and seeing your triggers as shortcuts to your emotions and we also talk about how to define and understand burnout and why there is a certain type of person that tends to go through it. I’ve followed Martin on social media for a while and always get a lot from his video’s.  I was also lucky enough to get an early look at his upcoming book and I can highly recommend that too! His book is due out in March and there is more info here: Your Worry Makes Sense | Jessica Kingsley Publishers - UK Follow Martin on social media @doc_martin_gp You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 200 with Professor Joanna Moncrieff who is a psychiatrist, author and researcher who is one of the founding members of the Critical Psychiatry Network. In 2022, Joanna was the lead author of a study that explored the ‘chemical imbalance’ theory of depression and found that no clear evidence that serotonin levels or serotonin activity are responsible for depression. The study became one of the 400 most shared of the 21 million papers that have ever been tracked and caused great debate throughout the mental health space. In this episode I chat to Joanna about this research, what it involved and what the findings showed. We chat about some of the response and criticism to this piece of work and how the chemical imbalance theory came to prominence in the first place. We talk about some of the other’s factors that could be causing depression if it isn’t in fact serotonin as the research shows. We also chat about depression, serotonin, anti-depressants, diagnosis and labels and what the future of mental health treatment and support could look like. Medication is a very personal choice and the aim of this episode isn’t to debate or influence anyone on their views on anti-depressants, just simply to explore this aspect of the mental health conversation because I think that’s important. Don’t make decisions about your own medication without discussing it with a medical professional. You can find the original study here: The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence | Molecular Psychiatry A summary of some of the responses and criticism here:  expert reaction to a review paper on the ‘serotonin theory of depression’ | Science Media Centre And a response from Joanna to that specific criticism here:  Response to Criticism of Our Serotonin Paper - Mad In America Joanna’s new book is called Chemically Imbalanced: the making and unmaking of the serotonin myth and it’s out now. There is loads more information about Joanna’s work at her website https://joannamoncrieff.com You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 199 with Georgia Lock, who is an actor, poet and an advocate for obsessive compulsive disorder. In this episode I chat to Georgia about the moment that her ‘brain broke’ and OCD became a part of her life. We chat about what happened next, what helped looked like for her and how she manages her OCD on a day-to-day basis. We chat about things like guilt, memory loss, community, going mental and being scared of your own brain. Georgia uses poetry to explore and understand her diagnosis of OCD and has held workshops to help others to do the same and we chat about being creative and using words to take back control of your story. It’s a powerful conversation about what it’s like to lose your mind and work to get it back again and it was a wonderful experience to hear Georgia’s story first hand. Follow Georgia on social media @georgia_nathalie You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 198 with Dr Susie Bennett, a psychologist and research fellow at the 'Suicidal Behaviour Research Lab' at the University of Glasgow. Her work focuses on trying to understand why men are more at risk of suicide and what can be done to help more men access a dignified and meaningful life. Through this work, Susie has been involved in reviewing two decades of research on male suicide, joining forces with 242 people impacted by male suicide to create an agenda of research priorities for male suicide and asking men who have been suicidal in the past week or year to tell her about the barriers they experience around accessing professional support. In this episode I chat to Susie about why she got involved in researching such a specific topic and how the work has impacted how she sees the world. We chat about some of the outcomes from her research and get in to things like the cultural norms of masculinity, gender bias and psychological pain and we chat about emotions, relationships and success and how they impact men specifically. We also chat about how to move past awareness and just telling men to talk and what needs to change if we want to change the heartbreaking statistics around male suicide. Susie’s work is fascinating and vital.  It was an absolute pleasure to explore it with her. This episode is a big one, we cover important things and things that are tricky to talk about but these are the conversations that we need to having and I hope you get a lot out of listening. On Susie’s website, http://malesuicideresearch.com you can access all of the studies we talk about in this episode as well as all sorts of interesting reports and talks.  Her socials are amazing too @male_suicide_research. You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 197 with Kevin Briggs, who is a retired sergeant for the California Highway Patrol, known as the "Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge”. The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California.  It’s about 200 feet above the water and there are 6 lanes of traffic that cross the bridge as well as a separate pathway for pedestrians and cyclists.  It is one of the most famous landmarks in the world, partly because of the incredible architecture but also because it’s reputation as a suicide hot spot. Part of Kevin’s job, as part of the Highway Patrol was to respond to calls for anyone attempting suicide by jumping from the bride.  He was the person responsible for talking them back over the railing and keep them safe.  It’s estimated that Kevin helped around 200 individuals over his 20 years on the force. In this episode I chat to Kevin about joining the force and how, as a new police officer, he had to learn very quickly how to talk people off the bridge despite having no formal training in this at all.  We chat about what it was like to do this 4 or 5 times a month, just as part of his job and how his approach changed over the years. We chat about how to talk to someone about suicide and the importance of actually listening and the difference between having these conversations in day to day life versus having them on a ledge, more than 200 feet above water. We also chat about the picture of Kevin talking a man off the edge of the bridge, how that day played out and what it was like when that photo became famous all over the world. I’m sure you’ve seen that photo; it does the rounds on social media all the time!  It was incredible to chat to Kevin about that day and also all the other days and the work he does now.  He has so much experience in this space and so much knowledge and it was a real pleasure to chat! There is everything you need to know about Kevin’s work and links to his Tedx at www.pivotal-points.com and you can follow him on social media @guardianofthegoldengate You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 196 with Rory Lamont, who is a former professional Rugby Union player and the co-founder of CAIM, a health and wellness retreat centre in highland Scotland. During his time as a professional rugby player, Rory played for Glasgow Warriors, Sale Sharks and Toulon.  He has 29 international caps for Scotland and has represented his country in two world cups. Over the years he was plagued by various injuries and concussions and whilst playing against Wales in the 2012 Six Nations tournament, he suffered a career ending leg break. The injury, the surgeries, medical drugs and loss of both his career and identity pushed Rory in a mental and spiritual crisis which took him to the brink of ending his own life. The collapse of his physical and mental health forced Rory to confront himself and he travelled to Costa Rica where he experienced the transformational healing power of the plant medicine Iboga which helped him to identify the changes he needed to make and he began the journey of healing and inner work that would lead him to the work he does now. In this episode Rory guides me through the highs and lows of his rugby career and the injuries that kickstarted the decline in his mental health. We chat about his first experience with plant medicine and how it helped him and we chat about what we can learn from depression, about learning to let go and to be vulnerable, the importance of healing as part of a community and why this work needs to be made more accessible. We also chat about how scary it is to do these things, why men need rites of passage and the role of the hero’s journey and we chat about some of the incredible things that Rory has witnessed while holding space and supporting others. It was wonderful to hear Rory’s story and how he learned to navigate his struggles.  I can’t thank him enough for his openness.  The work he does now feels vital and I came away from this conversation feeling hopeful and inspired. Follow Rory @rory_lamont and @welcometocaim Learn more about his work at www.welcometocaim.com You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 195 with Dr Linda Gask who is a writer and a psychiatrist who has been an advisor to the World Health Organisation and been awarded the President’s Medal by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2017. Her latest book is titled ‘Out of Her Mind’ which asks the questions ‘Are we failing women’s mental health and what needs to be done?’ In this episode I chat to Linda about some of the more common societal factors that can impact the mental wellbeing of women and how she went about learning more about these issues for her book. We chat about how the treatment of mental health has historically let women down and if that’s changed in more recent times and we chat about the role of feminism in this conversation and whether women are depressed or oppressed. We also chat about community, single issue politics, medical gaslighting and men’s mental health too. I really enjoyed chatting to Linda and I got a lot out of our conversation!  Her book (and previous books) are available now and you can connect with her at Patching the Soul – Linda Gask or via @suzypuss1 You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 194 with Dr Benji Waterhouse who is a front-line NHS doctor specialising in psychiatry and an award-winning stand-up comedian. He is also the author of the best-selling medical memoir ‘You Don’t Have to Be Mad to Work Here’ where he has written about his work as a psychiatrist and the stories of the patients he has met along the way. In this episode I chat to Benji about his book and his work and why he decided to work in medicine’s most mysterious and controversial speciality. We chat about the process of sectioning someone, the origins of psychosis and delusions and some of the myths around mental illness in general. We also chat about the impact that working in mental health can have on medical staff and the difficult decisions that have to be made when mental illness accounts for 28% of the overall disease burden but only receives 13% of funding. We also get in to empathy, burnout, psychedelics and how to deal with a patient who thinks he’s a werewolf. This episode is a lovely mix of humour and insight and it was fascinating to learn more about the other side of psychiatry! You Don’t Have to Be Mad to Work Here is a wonderful read and I highly recommend it! You can connect with Benji on social media @doctor_benjis You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 193 with Tom Fleming of One True Pairing and formerly of Wild Beasts! As a member of Wild Beasts, Tom released 5 acclaimed albums, one of them was nominated for the Mercury Prize and two of the records charted in the top 10. Wild Beasts called it a day in 2018 with Tom putting out his first material as One True Pairing in 2019.  His new record, Endless Rain, is out later this month. In this episode, Tom and I chat about growing up in small towns and finding community through being creative and making music. We chat about masculinity, what that term means and how it’s affected by society, geography and the class system. And we chat about depression and the guilt and shame that come with the bad behaviour that is caused by mental ill health and we chat about Tom’s autism diagnosis that received in his late thirties and how that’s impacted his life. Follow Tom on Instagram @onetruepairing and connect via www.onetruepairing.co.uk or www.dominomusic.com. Endless Rain is out on all formats on 25th October 2024. You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 192 with Nathan Filer, who is a writer, university lecturer and broadcaster and a former mental health nurse. In this episode I chat to Nathan about his route in to nursing and how it formed some of things that he has written books about. I reached out to Nathan after reading his book ‘This Book will Change Your Mind about Mental Health’ and it was great to chat about some of the themes from his work. We chat about the stigma around mental health and mental illness, if it still exists and who exactly benefits from the constant conversation around removing it. We chat about both sides of the diagnosis debate, why language is everything and the why comparing physical health to mental is problematic. There is a lot of complexity to the themes throughout this conversation and it was wonderful to have the time and the space to explore the nuance from all sides. I really enjoyed this and I think it is this level of depth and compassion that is sorely needed in the mental health space.  I hope it gives you lots to think about! Follow Nathan on twitter @nathan filer and learn more via his website www.nathanfiler.co.uk If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast.  For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests!  You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free. You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 191 with Dave Lock, who is more commonly known as the running telephone. For the last 25 consecutive years, Dave has ran the London Marathon to raise funds and awareness for the Samaritans charity and along the way he has become an iconic part of both the marathon and the mental health space.  This year he ran as team captain for the charity’s fundraisers. In this episode I chat to Dave about the mental health challenges that he has faced and how they inspired him to start running in fancy dress. We also chat about his relationship with The Samaritans who he credits with saving his life when he was at his lowest and we chat about how he has also worked for them as a volunteer on the phones. We chat about running, the pressures of the corporate world, connecting with others and the emotional impact of this year’s marathon, his 25th in a row, but the first one without the support of his brother who took his own life last year. Dave is a truly lovely man and it was a joy to chat to him about his special relationship with The Samaritans charity and some of the changes he has seen in the mental health space over the years. You can call The Samaritans any time, day or night, on 116 123. Learn more at www.samaritans.org If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast.  For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests!  You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free. You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 190 with Philippa Dawson, who is a writer, producer and performer who is also the creator of Character Flaw, a show about her experiences with ADHD and how it’s impacted her throughout her life. In this episode I chat to Pip about her show, about living with ADHD and how this has impacted her mental health over the years. We chat about the before and after of diagnosis, her experiences with medication and how different aspects of her identity are wrapped up in her ADHD. We also about Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, emotional dysregulation and hyper focus and we chat about dealing with depression, forgetting to eat and going to the Edinburgh Fringe. It was wonderful to chat to Pip about all of this stuff.  Her life and experiences and ADHD all interact in both hilarious and challenging ways and I think a lot of people will relate to that. Follow Pip on social media for updates, show dates and tickets @characterflawtheplay and @probablypip If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast.  For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests!  You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free. You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 189 with Alex Staniforth, who is an adventurer, speaker and the founder of Mind Over Mountains, a charity that brings together walking in nature, mindfulness & professional coaching and counselling in support of good mental health & wellbeing. Alex was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of nine and this would be the catalyst for several years of bullying, anxiety, panic attacks and a lifelong stammer. He found that time in nature, and more specifically time on hills and mountains, helped his mental health and he was just 14 when he set his sights on climbing Mount Everest. His first attempt, aged 18, ended when an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall killed 16 climbing Sherpas. During his second attempt, base camp was hit by the Nepal earthquake which killed 3 Sherpas in Alex's team. This led Alex to a long period of survivor’s guilt, depression and Alex also fell in to bulimia, which he was still dealing with when he set out to climb all of the highest peaks in the UK, in 72 days, with only a bicycle for transport. We talk about all of that in this episode. We also talk about dealing with failure, why it’s important to take on challenges and what we can learn from both these things and we chat about identity and what it was like for Alex when he was forced to step away from endurance challenges by long Covid and how he had to learn to do things differently. Follow Alex on social media @alexstaniforth_ and @mindomountains Learn more at www.alexstaniforth.com and https://mindovermountains.org.uk If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast.  For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests!  You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free. You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 188 with Jaxon Feeley, who is a Life and Mindset Coach, motivational speaker and TV personality. Jax served in the military as an RAF Corporal for 4 years, which included a tour of Iraq, before joining MHP Hindley as a prison officer. Throughout his life, Jax had been through plenty of mental health struggles but had always managed to pull through and distract himself through his work.  Eventually things got to a point where he had to face these struggles head on and face some things that he had been ignoring since childhood. Jax came out as transgender and made the decision to transition from female to male whilst still working at the prison.  He served 3 years as a female officer, and 3 years as Jaxon. Since leaving the prison service, Jax has been on a mission to advocate for the trans community and demonstrate the sort of visibility that he needed to see all those years ago. In this episode I chat to Jax about his time in the military, some of the mental health struggles he faced through this time and how they ultimately led him to start questioning his gender identity. We chat about showing up and being vulnerable, asking yourself difficult questions, living authentically, learning how to be your true self and his recent appearance on Channel 4’s Hunted. Jax has an incredible story and it would have been really easy to make this a whole episode about gender but we had so much more to talk about than that alone! Follow Jax on social media @jaxryderfeeley Learn more here: Professional Mindset Coach | Motivational Speaker | Jaxon Feeley If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast.  For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests!  You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free. You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 187 with Chris Baker, who is a mentor, coach and public speaker. Chris got in to crime at a young age and spent a long time bouncing in and out of prison.  He ended up losing an arm in a motorbike crash while being chased by police and this sent him in to a spiral of depression and self-loathing and he was also sentenced to longer stretch inside. Chris decided that he didn’t want to keep repeating this cycle and set out to make some changes.  He started reading, working on himself and exploring Adverse Childhood Experiences studies and the links between childhood trauma and repeat offenders. Now Chris works with prisons, schools and business’ delivering talks about his own experiences to promote resilience and inspire hope. In this episode I chat to Chris about his early years growing up and how he started to get in to trouble. We chat about going to prison, why so many people can’t get out or stay out and what needs to change in the prison system, particularly with regards to mental health. And we chat about losing an arm, losing identity, building resilience, lessons from fitness and making big changes. You can learn more about Chris and his work at chrisbakerspeaker and follow him on social media @chris_baker_ If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast.  For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests!  You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free. You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Welcome to episode 186 with James McInerney, who is the creator of The Poetry Project. James started off experimenting with words by writing out his thoughts and feelings to instrumental film scores and he found that expressing himself through poetry helped him navigate his way through depression. After publishing several books, he launched The Poetry Project with the aim of spreading mental health awareness, throw people in at the deep end and inspire them to think, pause and reflect. Since his first piece was displayed on a train station platform, the project has grown and James’ words have been displayed by some of the world’s biggest brands and in iconic locations all over the globe. In this episode I chat to James about his experiences with depression and these experiences led him to poetry. We chat about the origins of The Poetry Project, how he got it started and how it spread all over the world. We chat about creativity, self-expression, healthy distraction and why, when it comes to mental health awareness, it can be useful to throw people in at the deep end. I stumbled across one of James’ poems in a Portland shopping mall last summer and it really was striking to see the word ‘depression’ in big letters on the wall in the middle of a huge shopping centre.  I love anything that takes mental health outside of the usual clinical spaces and it was awesome to chat to James about his work and the impact that he’s having. You can follow James on social media @poetryproject08 and @millsmc07 Learn more on PROJECTS | James McInerney Poetry If you would like to watch this episode or any of the others, you can do so by joining the Patreon community at www.patreon.com/propermentalpodcast.  For £3 a month you’ll get early access to any and all episodes that aren’t available to watch anywhere else and you can submit questions for upcoming guests!  You’ll also be helping to support the show and keep it fully independent and ad free. You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!