Your Brain Isn't Broken. Depression, Anxiety and Mental Health with Gary Johannes

Episode 3: Depression - What's Really Going On, What Keeps It Going, and What Actually Helps

Depression isn't weakness. It isn't laziness. It isn't something you can just think your way out of.

It's a serious mental health condition that affects how you feel, how you think, and how you function and most people who are living with it have no idea what's actually happening in their brain.

In this episode, Gary Johannes,  solution focused hypnotherapist, founder of Inspired To Change, and MSc graduate in Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health from King's College London, breaks down everything you need to understand about depression.

What it actually is. What's happening in the brain. What keeps it going. And what the evidence shows actually helps.

This isn't a self-help episode. It's an honest, grounded, neuroscience-backed conversation about one of the most common and most misunderstood mental health conditions there is.

If you're living with depression — or you love someone who is, this episode is for you.

In this episode:

• Why depression is so much more than feeling sad
• The physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms most people don't recognise
• What's actually happening in your brain when depression takes hold
• Why men experience depression differently, and why so few seek help
• The patterns that keep depression going (and how to break them)
• What solution-focused hypnotherapy does differently
• One practical thing you can do today, however bad things feel

Timestamps:

00:00 — Who is Gary Johannes 02:30 — What depression actually is 05:00 — Physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms 07:30 — Crisis support — please read this first 08:30 — What causes depression 11:00 — Genetics, brain chemistry and lifestyle 13:00 — Men and depression — why it looks different 15:30 — What's happening in the brain 18:00 — Neuroplasticity — why the brain can change 19:30 — What keeps depression going 21:00 — Withdrawal and why it feeds the cycle 23:00 — Sleep disruption and negative thinking loops 25:00 — What actually helps 27:00 — Solution-focused hypnotherapy and the preferred future 29:30 — Rebuilding sleep and the nervous system 32:00 — Small steps and how the brain actually changes 34:30 — One thing you can do today 37:00 — A message to anyone struggling right now 40:00 — Where to get help

If you're struggling right now, please reach out: Samaritans — 116 123 (free, 24 hours a day) Your GP is also a good first step. You don't have to be at the bottom before you ask for help.

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one condition, the same lens. What's going on, what keeps it going, and what actually helps.

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Panic attacks feel like your body is betraying you. They're not. Here's what's actually going on.

If you've ever had a panic attack, there's a good chance you genuinely thought you were dying — or losing your mind. You weren't. But no one ever explained why it felt that way.

In this episode, Gary Johannes — solution focused hypnotherapist, founder of Inspired to Change, and senior lecturer at CPHT breaks down panic attacks in plain language. Not the clinical version. The version that actually helps.

What's covered:

• What's happening in your brain and body during a panic attack
• Why panic attacks feel so terrifying  and why that makes sense
• What causes them and what keeps them going
• The difference between a panic attack and panic disorder
• Why avoidance feels protective but makes things worse
• What to do in the moment when one hits
• What lasting change actually looks like

Plus, one simple thing you can start doing today to understand your own pattern.

This isn't about managing symptoms forever. It's about understanding what's going on so things can actually change.

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Gary Johannes left school at 14 with no qualifications, served in the RAF, and spent 30 years in business before retraining as a hypnotherapist. He went on to build Inspired to Change and complete a Master's in the Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health at King's College London — at 60.

Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction 01:10 – What a panic attack actually feels like 03:00 – What's happening in your brain (fight or flight explained) 05:00 – Why it becomes a loop 06:00 – The physical and emotional symptoms 08:00 – What causes panic attacks 10:00 – Panic attack vs panic disorder 12:00 – How avoidance makes things worse 15:00 – What to do in the moment 18:00 – What lasting change looks like 21:30 – One thing you can do right now 22:30 – Closing thoughts

#PanicAttacks #PanicDisorder #Anxiety #MentalHealth #Hypnotherapy #SolutionFocused #InspiredToChange #GaryJohannes

Over 8 million people in the UK are living with anxiety right now. Most of them have never told anyone. 

If that's you,  this episode is for you.

In this first episode, solution-focused hypnotherapist and founder of Inspired to Change, Gary Johannahs, breaks down what anxiety actually is, what's keeping it going, and what genuinely helps. 

No jargon. No judgment. Just the science, explained clearly, and a practical place to start.

Because here's the thing: anxiety isn't a sign something is fundamentally wrong with you. It's your brain doing its job. It's just doing it a bit too much.

What we cover in this episode:

• What anxiety actually is, and why it's not a character flaw
• The fight-or-flight response and why your brain can't always tell the difference between danger and a difficult conversation
• The two parts of the brain that drive anxiety (and why "just calm down" never works)
• Why avoidance feels like relief but makes everything worse
• The role of sleep and serotonin in keeping anxiety going
• What solution-focused hypnotherapy does differently
• One simple daily practice that starts to retrain your anxious brain

About Gary Johannahs: Gary left school at 14, joined the RAF at 16, and spent his first 30 years in sales and running bars and nightclubs. In his mid-40s, he discovered hypnotherapy, and it changed everything. He went on to retrain, found Inspired to Change, and completed an MSc in Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health at King's College London at the age of 60. He was also diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD that same year. He now leads a team of solution-focused hypnotherapists and is a senior lecturer at CPHT.

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Every episode covers one condition, what's going on, what's keeping it going, and what actually helps. There's a lot more to come.