The Proper Mental Podcast

Welcome to episode 180 with Andrew Jenkins, who is a mental health advocate, speaker and star of the hit BBC series The Traitors.

At the age of 21, Andrew was in a car accident that left him pronounced dead at the side of the road.

He spent 5 weeks in a coma and when he woke up, was told that he might not recognise his family or be able to walk.

The impact that this had on his sense of self, his identity and his life in general wou...

Welcome to episode 179 with Tim Owen, Mike Palmer and Andy Airey, who are collectively known as the 3 Dads Walking!

Tim, Mike & Andy are 3 dads, bereaved by suicide who have been walking in memory of their daughters, Emily, Beth & Sophie.

In 2021 they walked 300 miles between their 3 homes, to highlight the fact that suicide is the biggest killer of young people across the entire UK.

In 2022 they set off again, this time wa...

Welcome to episode 178 with Hannah Phillips, who is a mother, a runner, a writer, speaker and trainee psychotherapist.

Han is a returning guest and first appeared on Proper Mental back at episode 110. 

In that episode we covered her early experiences with OCD, her relationship with alcohol, getting sober and hitting crisis point shortly after.

I reached out to Han to invite her back on for a specific conversation. 

For episode 177 ...

Welcome to episode 177 with Joe Griffin, who is a psychologist and co-founder of the Human Givens approach to psychotherapy.

Human Givens is a practical, holistic and scientific approach to therapy that focuses on what individuals need to live mentally healthy and fulfilling lives.

It draws on the latest insights from neuroscience and psychological research, and combines this knowledge with proven therapeutic techniques from a wide...

Welcome to episode 176 with Vince Freeman, a singer and songwriter who is about to release a debut album that has been a decade in the making.

Vince started out by running and playing club shows and regularly racking up 300 gigs a year.  He appeared on The Voice in 2012, written multi-million streamer dance tracks, had 5 European Top 10 hits and played at the FA Cup Final and The Royal Albert Hall.  He even has a thank you on Ed Sh...

Welcome to episode 175 with Allie Bailey, who is an ultrarunner, coach and author.

She was the first woman to run 100 miles across a frozen Lake in Mongolia, has ran the full length of the Panama Canal, crossed the inhospitable Namib Desert three times, and completed a 1,000-mile off-road version of the classic Land’s End to John O’Groats route in just thirty days.

Allie has finished over 200 marathons and ultramarathons in some of...

Welcome to episode 174 with Paul Danan, who is an actor and the founder and creator of Morning After Drama (MAD), a theatre company that provides specifically tailored workshops to support people who have experienced trauma, been involved with the criminal justice system, suffered from addiction or experience poor mental health.

Paul shot to fame when he landed a part on Hollyoaks straight out of drama school.  He has worked on sta...

Welcome to episode 173 with Gulwali Passarlay, who is a speaker and campaigner for refugee rights.

Gulwali was sent away from Afghanistan at the age of twelve, after his father was killed in a gun battle with the US Army.

He was smuggled into Iran and spent the next 12 months traveling through Europe.  He crossed 10 countries, was put in prison 6 times, endured a desolate month in the camp at Calais and almost drowned at sea before...

Welcome to episode 172 with Bill Ryder-Jones, who is a singer-songwriter, musician, music producer and composer.

Bill was a co-founder of The Coral, which they started when he was 13, and he played lead guitar on the first five albums, eventually leaving in 2008.

It was around then that Bill started to experience depression, agoraphobia and panic attacks which would eventually lead him to leave The Coral at the height of their succ...

Welcome to episode 171 with Mark Williams, who is an author, speaker and international campaigner for father’s mental health.

Mark suffered with PTSD and depression after the birth of his son and he suffered in silence for many years while trying to support his wife who was also struggling with her mental health and they were both in at crisis point at the same time.

He is an incredibly active campaigner for parental mental health ...

Welcome to episode 170 with Lily Bailey who is an author, journalist and activist who has been writing and speaking about OCD and mental illness for a long time and in this episode, I chat to Lily about her experiences with obsessive compulsive disorder and how it’s affected her over the years.

We also chat her new book, When I Feel Red, written for middle grade age children, about a young girl with Dyspraxia, which is a neurologic...

Welcome to episode 169 with John Rattray, who is a former professional skateboarder and the creator of Why So Sad?

Why So Sad? Is a skate and cycling focused campaign with the goal of driving awareness and education around mental wellbeing and suicide prevention.

In this episode I chat to John about getting in to skating and the importance of community and sub cultures.

We chat about his experiences with depression at different poi...

Welcome to episode 168 with Jess Greenfield, who is a multi-instrumentalist and a singer with Wonder 45 and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying birds.

In this episode I chat to Jess about singing, the music industry and balancing being a mother and a touring musician.

We also chat about Jess’ experiences with post-natal mental health issues, the impact that had on her family and how she got through it.

We chat about the vulnerability of s...

Welcome to episode 167 with Nadia Gilani, who is a writer and yoga teacher.

Nadia was introduced to yoga as a teenager when her Mum took her along to a class as a way of helping her mental health.

Since then, yoga has been a constant and important part of her life but her relationship with the practice has not always been a smooth one.

In this episode I chat to Nadia about her experiences with mental illness that started when she w...

Welcome to episode 166 with Tate Smith, who is an award-winning trans activist, consultant and speaker.

Tate started to experience anxiety at high school but this had nothing to do with his gender. 

It was only later on in his teenage years that he became aware of what it means to be trans and was able to start making sense of himself.

In this episode I chat to Tate about anxiety, why it started and how it affects his life.

I also ...

Welcome to episode 165 with Roxy Longworth.

When Roxy was 13, she was coerced then blackmailed into sending explicit photos, which were spread around her school.

The school blamed all of this on Roxy and the shame and embarrassment that was heaped down on her, by the very establishment that was supposed to be looking after her, took a huge toll on her mental health and eventually led to self-harm and hearing voices. 

At 14 she suff...

Welcome to episode 164 with Ian Tucknott who is a creative coach, arts educator and the curator of the Mental Wealth Festival which is hosted by City Lit.

The festival is an annual event that provides a forum for informative, challenging and inspiring discussion through workshops, talks, exhibitions, and other activities.

In this episode I chat to Ian about the festival, the incredible work that they do and how it has evolved over ...

Welcome to episode 163 with Steve Warwick, who is a men’s mental health advocate, eating disorder survivor and the man behind the Instagram page Healthy Done Sexy.

In this episode I chat to Steve about his relationship with food from a creative perspective and a mental illness perspective.

We chat about Steve’s history with Bulimia, how it showed up in his life and how he learned to manage it.

We also chat about his diagnosis of BP...

Welcome to episode 162 with Aidy Smith who is an award-winning broadcaster, journalist, content creator and speaker and the only TV presenter in the UK with Tourette Syndrome.

Aidy created The Three Drinkers on Amazon Prime; the show has released 3 seasons since 2019 in over 100 territories and 10+ languages around the world.

In this episode I chat to Aidy about Tourette Syndrome, when it showed up in his life and the impact it has...