Hello You Podcast

Content warning: this episode discusses suicide, suicidal thoughts, childhood sexual abuse and depression. If you’re affected by anything in it, Samaritans are free on 116 123, any time, day or night.

Dr Diane Kaufman spent her career as a child and adult psychiatrist, six and a half years of training at NYU Bellevue, twenty-eight years at what is now Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. She also, while in medical school, attempted to take her own life, and told nobody.

She prefers to go by Diana, her creative name, and the gap between those two names is most of what this conversation is about.

We talk about growing up as the third child behind two siblings who both became doctors, and going into medicine because she didn’t believe she was allowed to go into art. About the poems she wrote in her twenties that describe exactly how close she was, and that she never showed to anyone — not a friend, not her family, not the health clinic at her own medical school. She was afraid of what it would do to her career.

We talk about what it does to a psychiatrist when a patient dies by suicide, and how badly her own organisation handled telling her. About whether “mental illness” is even the right phrase, or whether she was simply a person with a complex problem who needed different kinds of help at different times.

And we talk about creativity, why it’s so much easier to say something difficult through a story than straight out. Her answer: the page is not going to reject you. Her children’s story Bird That Wants to Fly came out of a workshop exercise in one sitting, and later became an opera narrated by the actor Danny Glover, and a puppet show that debuted on a driveway during lockdown.

At 70 she launched the Hold On campaign for suicide prevention, which uses art to educate, connect, express and heal. Her message, which she wrote down and reads out at the end of this episode: you can survive your hurt and pain. The killer is not the hurt and pain. The killer is believing nothing will ever change.

Find her work at holdoncampaign.org, including her podcast Talking Back to Suicide.

Support: Samaritans, 116 123, free, any time. Papyrus HOPELINE247 for under-35s, 0800 068 4141.

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Content warning: this episode discusses suicide, self-harm and depression. If you're affected by anything in it, Samaritans are free on 116 123, any time, day or night.

David Last was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at twelve months old. He's now 26, in Denver, Colorado, and has had eight surgeries, six of them between the ages of thirteen and eighteen — one after another, through the whole of secondary school.

This conversation is less about the diagnosis than about what he did with everything he felt about it, which was nothing. David decided early on that his job was to be the strong one: absorb it, push it down, and get through in one piece. He talks about not knowing he was depressed through his teens, because he assumed everyone was miserable and he was simply on track. And he describes the particular loneliness of being surrounded by people and feeling like you're on an island.

We talk about the "audition" — the sense that a visible disability puts you permanently on trial in public, having to prove yourself before anyone sees you properly. About what his parents got right, and what he'd say to any parent given a diagnosis they weren't expecting. And about the night at university when the strategy stopped working.

David has written a book, Forged by Limitations, which started as an exercise his psychologist set him to get his feelings out. He's clear about why it exists: if what he has to say helps one person, it stops being an option and becomes an obligation.

Support: Samaritans, 116 123, free, any time. Scope's helpline for disability support is on 0808 800 3333.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leadership coach and author Adam W. Barney on being laid off twice, losing his mum to ALS, caring for loved ones through illness, and why resilience isn't about bouncing back.

What happens when the career, the title and the future you planned are taken away? On this episode of Hello You, the mental health podcast, Dan is joined by Adam W. Barney, a transition leadership coach, author and host of the Is Anything Real podcast, for an honest conversation about redundancy, grief, caregiving and mental health.

Adam spent over 20 years in corporate marketing, managing more than $100 million in ad spend across agencies, start-ups and global tech companies. From the outside it looked like success. Behind the scenes, he was made redundant twice, lost his mum to bulbar-onset ALS (motor neurone disease), supported his dad through hydrocephalus, and is now caring for his wife through breast cancer.

Adam and Dan talk about how losing your job disrupts your identity as well as your income, why high performers struggle to ask for help, and the loneliness caregivers carry when all the attention rightly goes to the person who is ill. Adam shares how getting involved in a familial ALS research study gave him a sense of agency after his mum's death, and why he chose to seek support for his anxiety.

He also explains the thinking behind his book, Make Your Own Glass Half Full: The Empowered Path to Optimism and Autonomy. It argues that optimism isn't pretending everything is fine. It is believing a meaningful next step is still available. Dan reflects on losing his own father and on rebuilding his identity after leaving the police.

If you're facing a layoff, burnout, grief or caring for someone you love, this episode is a reminder that you're not the only one without a playbook.

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Content warning: this episode discusses violent crime, homicide and suicide.

In 2016, Ashley Michelle survived something most people will only ever see on the news. She spent two hours in an apartment with a man who had just killed his best friend, kept herself calm because she knew fear would get her killed, and escaped down eighteen flights of stairs.

But the crime is not what this conversation is about. Ashley talks about what came afterwards — the survivor's guilt, the triggers she never saw coming, the trial two years later that undid a lot of the work she'd done, and the fact that she is still dealing with the man responsible through hearings today.

She's since written a book, Finding Strength Through Tragedy, and talks openly about what actually helped: counselling, the gym, and learning which people to keep in her life. She's also clear that she'll never be the person she was, and that this is part of healing rather than a failure of it.

Support: Samaritans, 116 123, free, any time. Victim Support, 08 08 16 89 111.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Infertility affects roughly 1 in 6 people worldwide — yet most people go through it in silence, while still turning up to work as if nothing is happening.

In this episode of Hello You, Dan Darwin speaks with Dr Marline C. Duroseau (Dr Mar) — CFO, Managing Director of HR and Leadership Development, TEDx speaker, author and fertility coach — about her 15-year infertility journey, IVF, pregnancy loss and what real support in the workplace actually looks like.

Marline talks openly about the shame and stigma that surrounds infertility, the five IUIs that didn't work, financing IVF over seven years, and losing her daughter Angel Grace at 22 weeks. She shares how sepsis nearly cost her her own life, how therapy became a 15-year lifeline, and how her doctoral research into the lived infertility experience of women in leadership roles led her to the TEDx stage.

This is a conversation about grief, mental health, resilience and leadership — and about what to say (and what not to say) when someone you love is going through baby loss.

In this episode we cover:

• Why infertility is still stigmatised and why so many people suffer in silence
• The emotional and financial cost of IUI and IVF treatment
• Choosing between a career trajectory and starting a family
• Pregnancy loss, grief and returning to work when you can't function
• What managers and leaders get wrong about supporting employees through personal disruption
• Why "everything will be okay" is the wrong thing to say — and what to do instead
• Marline's MCD framework: be Motivated, be Courageous, be Dynamic

Dr Marline C. Duroseau is the author of It'll Happen by 30: A Relentless Journey of Faith, Delayed But Not Denied, and hosts an annual event for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month each October.

Hello You is a mental wellbeing podcast built on real stories and honest conversation. If anything in this episode resonated with you, reach out, talk about it, and educate others.

🎧 New episodes fortnightly. Follow Hello You wherever you get your podcasts

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Nan Saysana: Breaking Free From Food Addiction, Binge Eating & Emotional Eating

In this powerful episode of Hello You, Nan Saysana opens up about her 30-year journey with food addiction, binge eating and emotional eating and the mental patterns that kept her trapped in a cycle she struggled to break.

Nan explores the connection between food, emotions and the subconscious mind, sharing how deeply ingrained habits and thought patterns can influence the way we eat, feel and view ourselves. She explains how techniques including hypnotherapy, subconscious reprogramming and visualization helped her change her relationship with food, rebuild self-trust and ultimately break free from binge eating.

We talk honestly about weight loss, emotional eating, habits, self-sabotage, manifestation and mental health, while exploring why lasting change isn't always about having more discipline or following another diet.

Now, Nan uses what she learned from her own experience to help others understand the psychology behind their relationship with food and create healthier, more sustainable patterns.

If you've ever struggled with binge eating, food addiction, emotional eating, overeating, weight loss or feeling out of control around food, this episode offers a different perspective on where those behaviours may come from — and how changing the mind can help change the behaviour.

In this episode, we explore:

• Nan's 30-year experience with food addiction and binge eating
• The connection between emotional eating and mental health
• How the subconscious mind influences habits and behaviours
• Why diets and willpower don't always solve binge eating
• Hypnotherapy and subconscious reprogramming
• Visualization and manifestation
• Building self-trust around food
• Breaking destructive habits and thought patterns
• The psychology behind weight loss and sustainable change
• How Nan now helps others overcome their relationship with food

If food has ever felt like a battle, this conversation is for you.

#HelloYou #BingeEating #FoodAddiction #EmotionalEating #Hypnotherapy #MentalHealth #WeightLoss #SubconsciousMind #SelfTrust #HealthyHabits

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What happens when your entire life changes in an instant?

In this powerful episode of Hello You, we sit down with former U.S. Air Force refuelling specialist Kijaun Amey, whose life was transformed forever following a devastating motorcycle accident.

Kijaun woke in hospital one month and one day after the crash with no memory of what had happened. As he slowly regained consciousness, he was faced with the unimaginable reality that he had lost his sight. From that moment, he had to relearn almost everything—how to walk, how to talk, and how to navigate a world he could no longer see.

Rather than allowing tragedy to define him, Kijaun chose resilience. His remarkable journey is one of courage, determination, and an unwavering positive mindset. Through immense adversity, he has rebuilt his life, proving that our greatest limitations are often not physical, but the stories we tell ourselves.

This is an honest, emotional and deeply inspiring conversation about overcoming trauma, embracing change, and finding purpose after unimaginable loss. Kijaun's story is a powerful reminder that even in life's darkest moments, hope, strength and resilience can light the way forward.

This is an episode that will stay with you long after you've finished listening.

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In this episode of Hello You, Jayne Clayton shares her deeply personal journey through grief, resilience, and rediscovery. Following the devastating loss of both her mum and sister, Jayne speaks candidly about the unhealthy coping mechanisms that gradually became part of her life as she tried to stay strong for those around her.

She also opens up about the profound impact menopause had on both her physical and mental wellbeing, describing how it became a turning point that led her to seek understanding, support, and change. Rather than allowing her experiences to define her, Jayne used them as inspiration to help other women navigate the challenges of menopause with greater knowledge, compassion, and confidence.

This is an honest, powerful conversation about loss, mental health, the importance of self-care, and finding purpose through helping others.

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In this inspiring episode of the Hello You Podcast, we sit down with Shona Hamilton, Founder and CEO of Lilac HR, to explore the remarkable journey behind building a successful business while navigating some of life’s toughest challenges.

Shona shares her personal story of resilience, opening up about the realities of stress, burnout, and divorce, all while growing her company from the ground up. We discuss the lessons she learned along the way, the importance of self-awareness, and how adversity can become a catalyst for growth and success.

The conversation also dives into mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, examining the topic from both an individual’s perspective and through the lens of HR. Shona offers valuable insights into creating healthier workplace cultures, supporting employees effectively, and why wellbeing should be a priority for every organisation.

This is a powerful episode about determination, leadership, and an independent woman taking control of her career, overcoming obstacles, and building a thriving HR business. Whether you’re a business owner, people leader, or someone navigating your own personal challenges, Shona’s story is packed with inspiration, practical advice, and hope.

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In this powerful episode of Hello You, we speak with Sophie Wilson, whose life was turned upside down when her close friend, Gareth Huntley, disappeared while volunteering on a remote island in Malaysia.

What began as a missing person appeal quickly became an international campaign. Faced with limited information and growing concern, Sophie took matters into her own hands, coordinating a global effort to find Gareth. Harnessing the power of social media, international news outlets, political influence and public support, she helped transform a local search into a worldwide movement. The campaign drew attention from senior British government figures, including Prime Minister David Cameron and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, as pressure mounted on authorities to intensify the search efforts.

Behind the headlines was a friend battling her own fears and uncertainty. Sophie shares the emotional toll of leading a high-profile search while desperately clinging to hope, navigating media scrutiny, and carrying the weight of responsibility for keeping Gareth's story alive. As the days passed and the search grew, she found herself confronting every possible outcome, including the one nobody wanted to face. Gareth's body was eventually discovered close to the conservation project where he had been volunteering, bringing a devastating end to the search.

This is a story of friendship, resilience, determination and the extraordinary lengths ordinary people will go to for those they love. Sophie reflects on the lessons learned from tragedy, the strength found in community, and how one person's refusal to give up mobilised people across the world in pursuit of answers.

A moving conversation about hope, loss, courage and the power of human connection when it matters most.

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