The Proper Mental Podcast

Jonny Benjamin MBE

Welcome to Proper Mental episode 71 with Jonny Benjamin, who is the CEO of Beyond, a young person’s charity that raises money and gives out grants to help other organisations and schools that are underfunded or underutilised.

He is also an award-winning mental health campaigner, speaker, author and vlogger and in 2017 was awarded an MBE.

Jonny is known for his book and documentary film, The Stranger on the Bridge, which fought to end stigma around talking about mental health, suicidal thoughts and schizoaffective disorder.

When his campaign to find the man who prevented him from taking his own life went viral, Jonny was one of a wave of new figures lifting the lid on mental health struggles.

You can watch his documentary here:

The Stranger on the Bridge - All 4 (channel4.com)

Jonny’s story is well documented and documented very well so I thought it would be more beneficial to focus on the now and the future and that’s where most of this conversation takes place.

His latest project, The Book of Hope, brings together people from all walks of life – actors, musicians, athletes, psychologists and activists – to share what gives them hope and aims to be a supportive hand to anyone looking to find light on a dark day and shows that, no matter what you may be going through, you are not alone.

Jonny and I chat about the process of putting all these wonderful essays together and the importance of hope through shared experience.

We also chat about the work he does with Beyond and their recent festival, the power of music, compassion-based therapy and how an absence of hope led him to the bridge back in 2008.

You can learn more about Beyond here:

Beyond – Beyond the shame and stigma of mental health (wearebeyond.org.uk)

And you can learn more about Jonny here:

Jonny Benjamin – Mental Health Campaigner

The Book of Hope: 101 voices on Overcoming Adversity is out now in your local bookshop!

You can catch up with me at www.propermentalpodcast.com  or connect with me via social media @propermentalpodcast.

If you would like to support Proper Mental by buying me a virtual coffee, please go to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental

Another way to support 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!

Juliette Burton

Welcome to Proper Mental episode 70 with my guest Juliette Burton, an award-winning comedian who is also an ambassador for Rethink Mental Illness.

At one point in her life, Juliette was diagnosed with 13 different mental health conditions and over the years she has battled OCD, anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, complex post-traumatic stress disorder, separation anxiety disorder, anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder.

She has been in and out of therapy for 20 years and doing a lot of self-work has given her an incredible understanding of her brain, her thoughts, emotions and her actions.

Juliette’s new show is called No Brainer and is all about neuroscience and why her brain sometimes makes her behave in a way that’s against her values and principles.  She has done an incredible amount of research in to this and it was fascinating to hear all about it.

We also chat about diagnosis, the therapeutic process, doing the work and trying to deal with regrets.  It’s a deep dive and I enjoyed it immensely!

You can grab tickets and check dates for Juliette’s new and future shows via her website

Juliette Burton | Comedian, Writer, Speaker, Actor

As mentioned in the intro I’m going to the Mach Fest show and if you would like to join me the ticket link is here:

Machynlleth Comedy Festival | Juliette Burton - No Brainer (Work in Progress) (machcomedyfest.co.uk)

And connect with her via social media @juliette_burton on Instagram or @JulietteBurton on Twitter.

You can catch up with me at www.propermentalpodcast.com  or connect with me via social media @propermentalpodcast.

If you would like to support Proper Mental by buying me a virtual coffee, please go to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental

Another way to support 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!

Talk Club

Welcome to Proper Mental episode 69 with Gavin Thorpe and Ben Akers from Talk Club!

Talk Club is a talking and listening club for men that is also described as a behaviour-changing movement.

It all started after one of the Founders, Ben Akers, lost his childhood best friend to suicide in 2014.  Struggling to process his grief, Ben set out to make ‘Steve’, a documentary about male mental health.

Talk Club came from the process of making the film and everything that Ben learned along the way about men’s mental health.

For this episode I chat to Ben and fellow co-founder Gavin about making the documentary and how it led to the formation of Talk Club.

Talk Club sessions are based around the question ‘How are you, out of 10?’ and then explaining why.  Gav and Ben chat about the importance of this leading question and how what they do works.

We also chat about men’s mental health in general and the terrible suicide statistics that come with it and we chat about keeping mentally fit, finding the words to talk and learning how to listen and support other men.

Talk Club have a big fundraising project coming up next month called Miles for Miles and if that is something you’d like to get involved in then all the details are on Home – Talk Club (wetalkclub.com) and you can get all the latest news via social media @talkclubuk

You can watch Ben’s incredible documentary ‘Steve’ here STEVE DOCUMENTARY

You can catch up with me at www.propermentalpodcast.com  or connect with me via social media @propermentalpodcast.

If you would like to support Proper Mental by buying me a virtual coffee, please go to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental

Another way to support 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!

Enjoy!

Ben Coomber

Welcome to Proper Mental episode 68 with Ben Coomber who is a nutritionist, speaker and coach.

He has worked in the fitness industry for 14 years as a personal trainer, coach and nutritionist as well as hosting the Ben Coomber Radio Podcast.

I reached out to Ben after reading one of his social media posts about his experience with depression as a result of long Covid which, at the time of recording, he was just coming out of after 18 months.

Ben is used to being both physically and mentally healthy and it was a big adjustment for him to slow down life in order to heal and recover fully.  Ben has done an incredible amount of research and experimentation in to recovery from long Covid and I think anyone who listens will get a lot out of his experience.

We also chat about his journey in to fitness, learning to slow down, working on the inner stuff as well as the outer stuff and why the gym is not your therapy.

It was brilliant to chat to Ben, there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of conversation around long Covid and how it affects Serotonin levels or the actual recovery process and what’s involved.

You can follow ben on social media @bencoomber and find out more about him at www.bencoomber.com.

If you would like to work with Ben you can do so at www.btn.academy and for more about his supplement company go to www.awesomesupplements.co.uk

You can catch up with me at www.propermentalpodcast.com  or connect with me via social media @propermentalpodcast.

If you would like to support Proper Mental by buying me a virtual coffee, please go to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental

Another way to support 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!

Enjoy!

Sanisha Wynter

Welcome to Proper Mental episode 67 and I’m joined by Sanisha Wynter, a mental health advocate and Tedx Speaker and Inclusion Consultant who works in the charity sector and advocates for marginalised people in the workplace.

Sanisha and I chat about her diagnosis of BPD and how she had to learn to talk about it, we chat about how mental health is viewed in different communities and we chat about the extra stigma in the mental health conversation with regards to race, sexuality and gender.

The role that identity plays in mental health is at the forefront of this conversation and it was incredible to hear about Sanisha’s lived experience and route to recovery.

In 2021 Sanisha delivered her Tedx Talk, Vulnerability is Your Superpower, which to date has had over 38,000 views and we talk about everything that comes with advocacy on that scale.

You can watch it here: Vulnerability is your superpower | Sanisha Wynter | TEDxUniversityofBristol - YouTube

It was an absolute pleasure to speak with Sanisha about her life and her work, it’s a deep conversation that covers a lot of important ground and I can’t wait for you to hear it!

You can catch up with me at www.propermentalpodcast.com or connect with me via social media @propermentalpodcast.

If you would like to support Proper Mental by buying me a virtual coffee, please go to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental.

Another way to support 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!

Enjoy!

Joseph Bates

Welcome to Proper Mental episode 66, my guest this week is Joseph Bates, the co-founder and CEO of Halen, an app that is working to change how people view mental health and wellbeing.

Joe lost his father at a young age which led him to join the military as a sniper.  This would take him on back-to-back tours of Afghanistan with UK Special Forces.

By his mid-twenties he was working in The City in a fasted paced job and running on adrenaline and late nights and it was at this point that his emotions started to catch up with him and his mental health started to rapidly deteriorate.

Both therapy and coaching played a big part in his recovery journey and that’s where the idea for Halen was born.

Halen is an app that offers access to therapy and other forms of coaching and gives users the opportunity to pick who they want to work with in an easy and accessible way.

It was incredible to hear about Joe’s journey and the impact it had on his mental health and we cover a lot of ground in this episode!

You can learn more about Halen here:

Halen Strength

You can connect with them via social media @halenstrength and download for yourself wherever you get your apps from.

You can catch up with me at www.propermentalpodcast.com or connect with me via social media @propermentalpodcast.

If you would like to support Proper Mental by buying me a virtual coffee, please go to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental.

Another way to support 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!

Enjoy!

Natasha Devon MBE

Welcome to Proper Mental episode 65 with Natasha Devon MBE!

Natasha is a writer, campaigner and broadcaster who has dedicated her life to promoting positive mental health, body image, gender & social equality.

She tours schools, colleges, universities and events throughout the world, delivering talks as well as conducting research on mental health, body image, gender and social equality.

Natasha is intrinsically linked to the topic of mental health through her work in schools, her writing and her work with charities and organisations and she was appointed MBE in 2015 for her services to young people.

It was incredibly to get to chat to her about mental health and life in general and we really got in to a lot of different topics!

We chat about her work in schools and the role she plays in young person’s mental health by communicating with pupils, teachers and parents.

We chat about advocacy and changes in the mental health conversation, about being ‘woke’, public speaking and anxiety.

You can learn all about Natasha and her work at www.natashadevon.com and connect with her on social media @_natashadevon.

You can catch up with me at www.propermentalpodcast.com or connect with me via social media @propermentalpodcast.

If you would like to support Proper Mental by buying me a virtual coffee, please go to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental.

Another way to support 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!

Enjoy!

Andy Chambers

Welcome to Proper Mental episode 64 with Andy Chambers, the founder of Born Human, a holistic mental health consultancy that is working to improve paternal mental health in the workplace.

Andy has personally experienced the impact of Post Natal Depression and has a background in the corporate environment and these combined helped him to realise that there is more needed to be done to support parents and their mental health at work.

Andy and the team at Born Human help parents to be prepared and keep mentally fit to be productive at home and work with the aim of tackling issues proactively, before they become a reality.

The podcast of the same name hosts a series of down to earth conversations with inspiring individuals, who have faced the challenges of parenthood in all its forms.

In this episode, Andy and I chat about the power of shared experience and the importance of open and honest conversations.  We also chat about being parents and the challenges of modern-day parenting and how this can impact mental health.

Andy and I also chat about supporting a loved one through a period of mental ill health which is a real stand out podcasting moment for me which I think you’ll find incredibly moving.

You can learn more about Born Human here: BORN HUMAN

You can connect with Andy on social media @we_are_born_human and @bornhumanpodcast

The Born Human podcast is available on all podcast platforms!

You can catch up with me at www.propermentalpodcast.com or connect with me via social media @propermentalpodcast.

If you would like to support Proper Mental by buying me a virtual coffee, please go to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental.

Another way to support 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!

Enjoy!

Susie Weaver

Welcome to Proper Mental episode 63, this week’s guest is Susie Weaver, a campaigner, advocate and blogger.

Susie is a passionate advocate for young people’s mental health, in 2019 she launched the S.H.I.T. Tee campaign, with the main message for young people being that it’s ok to feel shit, but it’s a lot more ok if you don’t feel alone.

100% profit from every single sale goes to Young Minds, raising an incredible £35,000 so far and still going strong.

Susie and I caught up to chat about her own experience with depression while at university, the idea behind the S.H.I.T campaign and how celebrities getting on board has helped to spread the positive message further than she ever imagined.

We also chat about learning to love yourself, the positives and negatives of social media and being an ambassador for My Black Dog and the amazing work they do.

You can purchase your own S.H.I.T Tee and join the cause here:  So Happy In Town | S.H.I.T. –

You can follow Susie on social media @sohappyintown

You can learn more about the My Black Dog charity here: My Black Dog | Free Online Mental Health Chat Support

You can catch up with me at www.propermentalpodcast.com or connect with me via social media @propermentalpodcast.

If you would like to support Proper Mental by buying me a virtual coffee, please go to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental.

Another way to support 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!

Enjoy!

James Withey

Welcome to Proper Mental episode 62 with my guest James Withey, an author, editor and public speaker.

He has written 5 books about mental health and mental illness and his own experiences with anxiety, depression, suicide and anorexia.

James is also the founder of The Recovery Letters project which publishes letters from people recovering from depression, addressed to people experiencing it.  The idea came to him during a stay in a psychiatric hospital when he wanted to hear about recovery from depression but couldn’t find anything.

James and I chat about his mental health journey and his decision to write and talk about it.

We chat about the importance of humour in his books, how the mental health conversation has changed and how he works to normalise this conversation and tackle the stigma around it.

I also ask James about some of the specific management techniques and ideas from his latest book about anxiety and he tells me a beautiful story about how he came to live with an emotionally damaged cat.

You can learn more about James and his work via his website www.jameswithey.com and follow him on social media @jameswwithey.

You can learn more about The Recovery Letters at www.therecoveryletters.com

His new book, that we chat about in this episode, ‘How To Tell Anxiety to Sod Off’ is out now in your favourite bookshop and the amazon link is here: Amazon.co.uk: James Withey: Books, Biography, Blogs, Audiobooks, Kindle

You can catch up with me at www.propermentalpodcast.com or connect with me via social media @propermentalpodcast.

If you would like to support Proper Mental by buying me a virtual coffee, please go to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental.

Another way to support 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!

Enjoy!