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Normalising open and honest conversation about mental health by having open and honest conversations about mental health.
Episodes
Thursday Dec 23, 2021
Thursday Dec 23, 2021
Welcome to a very special, Christmas episode of the Proper Mental podcast!
Tis the season that not everybody enjoys, for a lot of different reasons. I wanted to put something out at Christmas that might give someone a little lift if they needed one, even if it’s just for 5 minutes.
Sometimes 5 minutes can make all the difference.
I reached out to advocates, campaigners, authors, speakers and podcasters and friends and I asked them to record a voice note that might be nice for someone to hear over Xmas. Some of these people I knew and some I didn’t but all of them are wonderful and inspiring and I was so touched by the response.
You’ll have to listen to hear if there is anyone you recognise!
I’ve put them all together here in this episode. There are some anecdotes, some advice, some kind words and even the odd gag. You can listen in one go or dip in and out when you want to. It might help if you’re not really in the mood for Christmas and if you love this time of year, then it will inspire you to love it even more.
I reached out to a bunch of strangers and asked them to leave a supportive message for a different bunch of strangers and all these people said yes.
That truly is a sign that you are not alone and to me, it’s the true spirit of Xmas.
There are so many support services that stay open and available during the Xmas period, please reach out if you need to.
Please talk to someone if you need to.
If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, head to www.hubofhope.co.uk. There’s a link in my bio.
A huge thank you to everyone involved in this episode and a huge thanks to you, for listening!
Jonny Benjamin. Eddie Temple Morris. Brendan & Matthew/Bottoming. Susie Weaver/So Happy In Town. Mark/Dopamine Shred. Zoe Burnett. James Withey. Bryan Ingram. Rob Evans/Fireman’s Tired Eyes. Niki Clarke/My Black Dog. Dr Mike II. Talk to Coco. Joe Plumb. Hope Virgo. Tom Davies/Proper Mental.
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas, in whatever shape or form that needs to take for you, and all the best for the New Year.
Here are some more links that might help:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/36Wkp4bduwuR8uH9bDAJGe?si=gtg6WJk1SE2vpw5DnWmUTg
Monday Dec 20, 2021
Monday Dec 20, 2021
Welcome to episode 52 and my guest this week is Chris Hemmings!
Chris is a public speaker & workshop facilitator focussing on healthy masculinity. He is also a trainee psychotherapist and the author of ‘How to be a Man’ a book about masculinity and the damage caused by masculine ideals.
We chat about what it means to be a man and how this causes men to struggle and stops men asking for help.
We chat about the research that Chris has done in this area, about his work in schools with young men and we chat about empathy, vulnerability and owning our mistakes in order to grow.
I have had Chris on my list to contact for months but only recently reached out as I felt this conversation was just too big for me when I started. I’m glad I waited because I feel like I was able to do it justice and I’m so glad with how it came out!
It’s deep, it’s complex and it’s given me a great deal of inspiration. As well as being passionate and articulate, Chris is incredibly brave in taking on some of these bigger topics and it was a pleasure to hear what he had to say.
You can learn more about Chris and all of his work via his website Chris Hemmings (chris-hemmings.com) and follow him on Twitter @Hemmch
You can email me via www.propermentalpodcast.com or DM me on Instagram.
You can contribute towards the podcast at www.buymeacoffee.com\propermental
You can make me very happy by leaving me 5 stars and a few kind words in the form of a review!
If you, or anyone you know, needs support in your local area please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk
Thanks for listening! Enjoy!
Monday Dec 13, 2021
Monday Dec 13, 2021
The Proper Mental Live Show was recorded in front of an audience on 9th November 2021 to raise money for The Open Door Centre, a local young person’s support service.
You can learn more about them here Open Door Charity - Shaping Change
In total we raised enough money to fund 103 hours of their peer-to-peer support programme!
My second guest for the evening was Chris Kirkland!
Chris is a football coach and former goalkeeper for Coventry, Liverpool and Wigan.
In 2001, at the age of 20, he was the most expensive goalkeeper in English football when Liverpool paid Coventry £8 million for his services.
Since retiring from playing football in 2016, Chris has spoken regularly about his own lived experience with depression and mental health. He is an active advocate in the local community and well known for lending his time and voice to important causes.
Chris’ openness and honesty around mental health is inspiring and he gives a fascinating insight in to the life of a football player at the highest level and everything that comes with it.
I loved chatting to Chris, he is the loveliest man, with a powerful story and he has a fantastic approach to all thing’s mental health.
Chris is involved with the walking and talking charity @walkingsbrill and works closely with Liverpool Football Club and the LFC Foundation Home (liverpoolfc.com).
Chris has also teamed up with Edge Hill University and St Bede’s Catholic High School in Ormskirk, Lancashire, to launch Make Talk Your Goal, which we chat about in the episode. The campaign will see leading speakers from the world of sport and the arts promote conversations around mental health among boys and young men.
Connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com
You can support the podcast at www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental or by taking just a minute to rate and review on iTunes.
If you need to find support in your local area, contact www.hubofhope.co.uk
Thanks for listening! Enjoy!
Thursday Dec 09, 2021
Thursday Dec 09, 2021
The Proper Mental Live Show was recorded in front of an audience on 9th November 2021 to raise money for The Open Door Centre, a local young person’s support service.
You can learn more about them here Open Door Charity - Shaping Change
In total we raised enough money to fund 103 hours of their peer-to-peer support programme!
My first guest for the evening was Rachel Brown!
Also know an ‘The Forrest Gump of Merseyside’, Rachel is the founder of the Mums to Marathon running community.
Rachel is diagnosed with ADHD and has lived experience of depression and mental ill health. After her life took a very dark turn she started running as a way to cope and improve her situation. Rachel takes me through her journey, starting as a teenage dancer to being trapped in an abusive marriage in Japan and back to Bebington where she discovered the joy of running.
It led her to start a running community that has changed the lives of hundreds of local women and between them, they have raised over half a million pounds for charity!
She wrote about this journey in her book ‘Marathon Mum’ which was published earlier this year.
Rachels story is has to be heard to be believed! She is an incredible person who was an absolute joy (and a challenge) to chat to on stage!
You can find out more about Rachel here Welcome to Mums to Marathons - Mums to Marathons and her book is available wherever you get your books!
Connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com
You can support the podcast at www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental or by taking just a minute to rate and review on iTunes.
If you need to find support in your local area, contact www.hubofhope.co.uk
Thanks for listening! Enjoy!
Monday Dec 06, 2021
Monday Dec 06, 2021
Welcome to episode 49 and my guest this week is Gabriel Nathan!
Gabe Nathan is a suicide awareness advocate and writer.
He is also the Editor in Chief at OC87 Recovery Diaries, an online publication devoted to publishing first person essays and producing original documentary films about mental health, empowerment, and change.
Gabe lives with anxiety and depression, and has struggled with many aspects of his mental health and overall self-image since he was a little boy.
He first reached the point of considering suicide in college, after incessant bullying.
In 2019 Gabe drove 1100 miles around America with the National Suicide Prevention Hotline number emblazoned across the back of his 1963 VW Beetle.
He documented this journey and all the conversations he had along the way for his documentary “A Beautiful Day Tomorrow: Taking Suicide Awareness on the Road”.
Gabe and chat about his film, his car and his advocacy. We chat about the stigma around suicide and how to talk about it. We talk about why it’s important to talk and vital to listen.
You can watch the film here:
You can explore OC87 Recovery Diaries here:
Mental Health Recovery Stories - OC87 Recovery Diaries
You can watch his TedX talk here:
And you can follow Gabe and Herbie on Instagram @lovebugtrumpshate
Connect with me below:
@propermentalpodcast
www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental
Please take just a minute to rate and review this podcast!
If you need to find support in you local area, contact www.hubofhope.co.uk
Thanks for listening! Enjoy!
Monday Nov 29, 2021
Monday Nov 29, 2021
Welcome to Proper Mental episode 48!
My guest this week is Stevie Georgina!
Stevie Georgina is a vlogger who chats about arts, crafts & crochet and the power they have when it comes to wellbeing.
She started using crochet and arts and crafts to improve and manage her mental health after being hospitalised in 2017.
Stevie experienced psychosis as a symptom of undiagnosed and untreated bipolar disorder. When she was discharged, she felt lost and it was discovering crochet that helped her to get back on her feet.
We chat about how her mental health declined to the point of hospitalisation, we chat about her diagnosis and we chat about her recovery and the role of crochet and creativity in this process.
We also chat about the importance of having a project to focus on, taking small steps forward and how creative pursuits like crochet can help us with these things.
Stevie was just wonderful to chat to and this episode was an absolute pleasure to record. She is a lovely person who has been through a lot and I found her to be inspiring and a lot fun! I think this one might just inspire you to get the knitting needles and wool out!
You can connect with her via Instagram @steviebythesea or subscribe to her YouTube channel here:
You can get in touch with me @propermentalpodcast on all socials or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.
You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental
You can help me to spread awareness and connect with more people by rating and reviewing this episode, or any others on iTunes.
You can find support services in your local area via www.hubofhope.co.uk
Thanks for listening! Enjoy!
Friday Nov 26, 2021
Friday Nov 26, 2021
I recently had the absolute pleasure of little a catch up with Scroobius Pip!
For Black Friday, Pip turned his website into a donation site to raise money for the homeless charity Shelter and made himself available on zoom for anyone who donated!
I threw in a few quid and jumped on to say hello and ask him a question about mental health. I was over the moon when he said he’d heard of my podcast!
I’d bribed my 4 year old with a penguin to stay out the way for 5 mins but as soon as I pressed record she started yelling down the stairs to tell me she had done a poo.
You can hear her in the background all the way through but Pip and I, like the two podcast professionals we are, completely ignored her.
What a lovely bloke and a lovely gesture for an incredible cause!
Nice one Pip, it was great to meet you!
Monday Nov 22, 2021
Monday Nov 22, 2021
Episode 47 with Dr Ellie Harper is out Today!
My guest this week is Dr Ellie Harper!
She is also known as The Human Flow Psychologist, and she uses a revolutionary approach to psychology and mental health, designed to help you discover who you are and how to understand your own uniqueness.
Ellie’s journey has not been a straightforward one to say the least and she takes me through her story and explains how she came to struggle with her mental health, how she nearly lost everything and how she took control and got back her life back.
We also chat about her process, how to connect with your true self, build resilience and find your flow!
Ellie’s story is complicated and uncomfortable but the way she tells it, and takes ownership of her mistakes, is incredibly brave and I have so much respect for her honesty and for how she has rebuilt herself.
Ellie and I have had many conversations about the system she uses and how she uses it to help others who are struggling and there is so much useful information to take away from this conversation!
You can connect with Ellie on social media @drellieharper or via her website www.humanflowpsychologist.co.uk.
You can read more about her work and take the Intangible Driver test at www.flowcess.com/intangible-driver.
For all things Proper Mental head to @propermentalpodcast and email me via www.propermentalpodcast.com!
You can support the podcast via www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental or by leaving a 5-star review and/or so kind words on iTunes.
If you need to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk.
Thanks for listening! Enjoy!
Monday Nov 15, 2021
Monday Nov 15, 2021
Welcome to Proper Mental episode 46!
My guest this week is Dr Brendon Stubbs!
Dr. Brendon Stubbs is a clinical-academic physiotherapist with an interest in physical activity & mental health.
He has published over 650 academic papers in several leading journals across multiple scientific fields and co-authored the first evidence-based book on the use of physical activity for the treatment of people with mental illness.
He has featured on Sky News, ITV, BBC and in The New York Times.
Brendon and I chat about the benefits of physical activity on mental health and mental illness and breakdown what exactly constitutes physical activity.
We look at why exercise is good for mental wellbeing and what is happening in the body when we move and why it makes us feel good.
This one is a deep dive and was an absolutely fascinating conversation to be a part of.
Physical activity is a key component of good mental health but it tends to get banded around and prescribed whether it’s appropriate or not. There is a lot of power in knowing ‘why’ something is good for us and how it works and that is what this conversation will give you!
You can connect with Brendon via social media @brendon.stubbs or the Kings College website Brendon Stubbs (kcl.ac.uk)
You can chat to me on Instagram @propermentalpodcast or email via www.propermentalpodcast.com.
You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee www.buymeacoffee.com\propermental.
Please take a minute to rate and review, it makes a huge difference and really is appreciated!
If you need to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk.
Thanks for listening! Enjoy!
Monday Nov 08, 2021
Monday Nov 08, 2021
Welcome to Proper Mental episode 45!
This week I’m joined by Bethany Rose!
Bethany Rose is a poet, author and educator.
She is a Tedx Speaker and her poem PINK has been viewed 5 million times after being shown on BBC3.
I connected with Beth after watching her Ted Talk which is called ‘Breaking Out if Concrete’ and is about her battle with depression. It is one of the most powerful talks I’ve ever seen! It’s a mixture of speaking and performing and it genuinely gives me goosebumps each time I watch it.
Beth suffered a breakdown in 2019. She fell in to a deep depression and didn’t want to go on living. After being carried in to her local doctor’s surgery she was told she had lovely smile and invited to try badminton. It’s this story that inspires her incredible Tedx talk.
This is the longest episode I’ve done so far and maybe the most fun! Beth and I went absolutely everywhere and we talk about mental health, medication, therapy, breakdowns, suicidal thoughts and Beth tells me why she would really love to turn purple.
Beth is incredibly open and passionate and this chat is both hilarious and vulnerable and I loved being a part of it.
I would definitely watch her Tedx Talk, then listen to our conversation and then leave a lovely 5 star review.
You can learn more about Beth at www.bethanyrosepoetry.com or @bethany_rose_poetry on Instagram.
You can watch her incredible Tedx here Breaking out of concrete: six ways out of depression | Bethany Rose | TEDxLondonWomen - YouTube
And you can buy her book NEON wherever you like to buy your books!
If you would like to chat to me just message me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via my website www.propermentalpodcast.com.
If you would like to buy me a coffee just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental. All ‘coffees’ go towards keeping the podcast going and are greatly appreciated.
Please take just a minute to leave a 5 star review if you want to.
If you or anyone you know need to find support in your local area, head to www.hubofhope.co.uk.
Thanks for listening!
Enjoy!