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Normalising open and honest conversation about mental health by having open and honest conversations about mental health.
Episodes
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Welcome to Proper Mental Episode 7 and this week it's my story.
My name is Tom Davies and I’m a husband, father and at the time of recording a co-host of The Proper Mental Podcast.
In 2016, after the birth of my first child, I started to struggle with my mental health. It was the start of a long journey towards recovery and put a huge strain on my life and family. I spent 2 years pretending that nothing was happening before my wife intervened. Last year, after a particularly rough few months, I decided to close my business and focus purely on recovery.
While dealing with all this, I took strength from hearing other people talk about their own mental health and it was this that eventually led to The Proper Mental Podcast.
Chris and I chat about my journey, not asking for help, meditation, medication, self-talk and self-care. It’s a big chat and we cover a lot of ground! As usual we tackle some pretty dark subjects but there’s humour in there too. I hope you find it relatable and I hope you get something from it.
I’ve got to admit I feel a bit nervous about putting this out! I’m happy to chat to my family and friends about mental health and I consider myself open about the subject but putting it out to the world on a podcast is quite intimidating to say the least!
I want to encourage people to speak up and ask for help but I don’t want to skip over the fact that speaking up is incredibly hard to do. It’s not easy, there’s a million reasons why people feel like they can’t. I don’t believe in regrets but if I could change one thing then I would have asked for help sooner. That’s something that really comes across in this chat.
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!
Monday Apr 12, 2021
Monday Apr 12, 2021
Welcome to Proper Mental Episode 6 with 3 x CrossFit champion Amanda Allen!
Amanda Allen has qualified for The CrossFit Games 6 times. On 3 of those occasions, she won. Her third win (in the 50-55 age group) came just 7 months after having 4 kg of tumours removed from her abdomen.
In 2006 she ran 1000km across Australia for mental health awareness. She is a cycling and canoeing champion at world level, a state champion mountain biker, a firefighter recruit and the Australasian Grape Spitting Champion! She is also an author, coach and podcaster.
This time last year she was homeless and living in her van. She currently resides in a rain forest with her two white wolves. She has been sober for 16 years and is incredibly open about her struggles with suicidal depression, anxiety and trauma.
Amanda and Tom navigate the time difference to chat about depression, CrossFit, nature, rituals, meditation, nutrition and loads of other things relating to mental health. Amanda is just a lovely person!
Her life to date has been an incredible journey of dizzying highs and crushing lows and it all gets covered during this conversation. She has been to hell and back on more than one occasion and continues to be a compassionate, caring human being.
She is truly inspirational!
Amanda has her own line of supplements and nutritional products that you can find at www.amandaallen.com.au and if you enter PROPERMENTAL at the checkout you’ll get 10% percent off your order!
You can connect with Amanda on Instagram @amandaunicornallen.
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!
Monday Apr 05, 2021
Monday Apr 05, 2021
Welcome to Proper Mental Episode 5, this week is former co-host, Chris Redmond!
Chris is a running strength and endurance coach and mental health advocate.
In 2015 Chris experienced a nervous breakdown. After a long time suffering with anxiety, stress and depression, which was proceeded by a long period of recovery. Overall, he considers this the most harrowing time of his life.
Throughout his recovery, Chris utilised running to aid his progression and to manage the symptoms of his ill mental health. This resulted in what has mostly been a successful transition in to a ‘normal’ state of mind.
In 2019 he founded Running Head First, a not-for-profit organisation which utilises walking, jogging, running and physical activity to improve the mental health of the population in the North West England.
Chris and I chat about his life, his experiences with anxiety and depression, his passion for running and everything in between. It was an honour and a pleasure to chat to my friend in this way and hear about his journey and I think you’re really going to enjoy hearing a bit about one of the men behind the microphone.
You can connect with Chris on social media @chrisredmondcoaching and @runningheadfirst.
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!
Sunday Mar 28, 2021
Sunday Mar 28, 2021
Welcome to Proper Mental Episode 4!
This week Tom & Chris chat to award winning film maker Hannah Currie!
Hannah Currie is an BAFTA-winning filmmaker from Glasgow, Scotland. She is a very passionate campaigner for mental health awareness and recently attended parliament to ask the prime minister to provide a mental health spokesperson at future press briefings during the pandemic.
Rather than fill this space with details from the podcast we’ll just put links to Hannah’s films. Please go and watch them. They are all incredibly powerful, beautiful, heart breaking and inspiring all at once. They deserve to be seen by as many eyes as possible.
Lumo Too Young to Die:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00054s7
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore:
Not Your Average Influencers:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000q7l3/not-your-average-influencers
Blogs:
The making of my award-winning documentary | Mind
I asked the PM to provide a Covid-19 mental health spokesperson | Mind
You can find more about Hannah on her website www.Hannahcurriefilm.com.
Twitter @hannahcurrie or Instagram @hannahmilk
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!
Sunday Mar 21, 2021
Sunday Mar 21, 2021
Welcome to Proper Mental Episode 3!
This week Chris & Tom chat to former professional football player Alex Hay!
Alex Hay is a former professional football player. He signed for his local club Tranmere Rovers at the age of 10 and came through their school of exigence and making his full debut at the age of 19.
He went on to play for Rushden & Diamonds and Morecombe and also worked as a scout at Tranmere, Chester and Stockport County.
Alex is hugely passionate about mental health and really open about his journey. It was great to get some insight in the life of a professional football player and what it’s like to sign for your home town club at such a young age.
We chat about pressure, the impact of isolation, early retirement and adjusting to life after football. Alex spoke very honestly about everything he’s been through and we also chat about managing mental health and looking to the future.
Alex runs Blossom Skills which offers 1 to 1 football coaching with a strong focus on engagement and confidence. Alex uses his knowledge of football and his life experiences to help children develop new skills and play with a smile.
You can connect with Alex on social media @AlexHay2 and @BlossomSkills.
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!
Sunday Mar 14, 2021
Sunday Mar 14, 2021
Welcome to Proper Mental Episode 2 with ultra endurance athlete Brutal Claire Smith!
Claire competes in triathlon as well as Ironman distances including Decca and Double Decca! That’s 20 consecutive Ironman triathlons! Last year she ran the length of the UK from John O Groats to Lands’ End completely unsupported and wrote about the 900-mile run in her book ‘No Easy Days’.
She also runs an endurance events company and organises ultra-races all over the country.
They discuss mindset and mental resilience, managing mental health in extreme conditions and the importance of failure!
It’s a great chat and Claire was very open and honest throughout. She brings a really positive energy that is incredibly infectious even over Zoom.
WARNING: This conversation may inspire you to start triathlon or at the very least get your running shoes out the cupboard!
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!
Wednesday Mar 03, 2021
Wednesday Mar 03, 2021
Welcome to Proper Mental episode 1!
Proper Mental started as two mates having a chat about mental health. It was never going to be anything more that a short series of conversations that was probably never going to be heard.
We sat down on Zoom and started chatting and this is the result.
At this point I knew nothing about mics, editing or how to make a podcast and I knew even less about the complexities of mental health but the content was good and it felt like there was something there.
It felt like the sort of conversation that I needed to hear when I was struggling with my mental health and I didn’t know what was happening.
It’s rough around the edges but everybody has to start somewhere, right?
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!