In this episode, I speak to Emma Tomes. Emma experienced a heartbreaking bereavement to suicide after her son’s father lost his struggle with poor mental health. After working through her own grief Emma is now giving people help that supports positive mental health and prevents other families from experiencing loss due to poor mental health.

In this episode we cover:

A note from Emma's website:

People often ask me why I do what I do. Well, in 2010 I experienced a heartbreaking bereavement to suicide. Sadly, my son’s father, lost his struggle with poor mental health.

My son and I faced the challenges and adversity that came with this traumatic experience. This bereavement to suicide contributed towards experiencing a downward spiral of declining mental health. The ‘’just keep swimming’’ mantra, so prevalent in society, became unmanageable. I was drowning and recognised I needed HELP.

While researching my way back to good mental health, using tools such as GRM (The Grief Recovery Method ®), Mindfulness and NLP, I discovered that truly HELPful support was hard to find. My realisation that I needed help brought about a motivation to survive and thrive from my experience.

I am a proactive and HELPful coach. I use my credentials as a Master NLP practitioner, Grief Recovery Method® Specialist and Mindfulness Teacher to provide an all-encompassing approach that has resulted in helping over 1000 people. My mission is to provide people with HELP that supports positive mental health and prevent other families from experiencing loss due to poor mental health.

In all my coaching and training, I apply Honesty and Empathy while really Listening and giving Practical advice that makes a difference. Because it’s OK to ask for HELP.

Emma.

Thank you Alexi Pittalis for coming on Never Fully Heard. A space for men to listen to and engage in vulnerable conversations with the aim of reducing the number of people going through battles in their minds and feeling like they're alone.  

In this episode, we cover topics like...  

- Being a dreamer 

- The meaning of life 

- Letting the inner voice take over 

- Freedom from authority 

- How fear can turn thoughts into suffering 

- The danger of attaching your identity to the success of a business 

- Accepting help at the right time 

- Going to therapy 

- Being there for friends in their darkest moments.  

Alexi's profile:  "I support founders in building & running successful businesses without sacrificing their mental equilibrium.  

Why? Because 30% of startups fail due to the emotional state of their founders (Fortune)   

And I was one of those founders… until I met my coach.  

I have since helped founders and their teams unlock untapped potential through mindset, performance and leadership coaching.   I also consult as an external people & culture partner, invest in startups through my family business & host a podcast."  

https://www.linkedin.com/company/theconsciousfounder/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-mind-field-podcast/

George Bell is a Linkedin top voice and works at Sanctus who are on a mission to give everyone a space where they can work on their mental health, well-being and personal and professional development confidentially with a highly qualified professional.

George came on to share his personal journey with mental health, depression & anxiety.

In today's episode, we cover:

- What it feels like to be depressed

- How therapy changed his life

- Ways George manages his anxiety

- Journalling & self awareness

- The gap between experiencing poor mental health & sharing it with his friends and loved ones

- The importance of speaking about sensitive topics online

- Finding it hard to stay present to the moment

- What is Sanctus and how does it help companies & employees be better

https://sanctus.io/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-bell-10317184/

Unbottled podcast host Mike Wells joins me to discuss his journey with mental health. 

 "After recovering from crippling anxiety earlier in my life, I started a podcast to help normalise our discussions about our minds.  I aim to give mental health professionals a platform to educate us all around how we can look after our mental health, and share inspiring stories from people worldwide who have conquered their own mental battles."  

Some of the topics we cover include:  

1. Men's mental health 

2. Panic Attack 

3. Anxiety Management  

4. Post Your Pill Campaign  

5. The book Dare by Barry McDonagh

 6. Social Anxiety  

7. Self-Control on Social Media   

8. Mental Health Education 

9. Therapeutic nature of music

Tj Power - Co-founder of Neurify | Neuroscientist | International Speaker  

In this episode we cover: 

-Neuroscience 

-OCD 

-Porn & phone addiction 

-21 hour screen time 

-Overthinking 

-Founding a company   

Timestamps: 

0:00 beginning  

1:28 When did you first understand what mental health was 

1:59 When was your first bad experience with mental health? OCD story 

4:50 How has studying neuroscience impacted your mental health 

5:30 What inspired you to be a neuroscientist? 

7:20 What topic were you most drawn to in Neuroscience 

9:00 What is Dopamine? 

12:50 Can Tik Tok drain your energy? 

15:40 21-hour screen time for kids. 

18:55 Do you think there will be lasting impacts from social media? 

22 Really good looking girls on social media

 22.30 Talking porn addiction 

29:00 Are we finally experiencing what women have for so long? 

34:00 What is DOSE? 35:15 What is Neurify? 

36:30 How do people stay accountable? 

39:30 Dopamine fasting 

40:00 What’s the end goal? 

42:00 Can overthinking drain your energy

Lachlan Stuart, a Lululemon 🏋️‍♀️ ambassador who was voted in the top 10 performance coaches in Australia 🇦🇺. Lachlan was once a man at rock bottom, using drugs 💊 and alcohol 🍻 to numb the pain and reality he was in.  

The former professional rugby player has gone on to create “The Man That Can Project” a global movement 🌎 to empower men so they can become the man they were meant to be by awakening who they truly are.  The ultimate vision is to help men overcome the mental and emotional challenges that hold them back.  

 https://themanthatcanproject.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/lachlanstuart/ 

TIMESTAMPS 00:00 

The start 1:00 

When did you first understand what mental health even was 1:27 

Lachlan's first experience with suicide 2:30 

Did you express your feelings with your friends during this time? 3:30 

People in my town just didn’t talk about mental health 3:50 

If your present moment is tortured, does life really go on? 

4:25 How do you wish you could of expressing yourself at the time 

5:30 How people experience trauma so differently 7:24 

What journey of development have you gone on? 7:55 

Rock bottom 8:44 Blaming everyone else but myself for where I was 9:33 

I realised I could improve everything in my life by educating myself & changing my environment 

11:40 How can people get past resistance to change 12:50 

So many blokes are craving to have conversations like this 15:00 

Having personal responsibility 15:30 

Why did you want to help others? 16:15 

I wasn’t happy in the trade business & I was pumped that I could change things in my life through education 17:15 

I love building communities 18:15 

What are some of the common threads you find with men in your group 22:04 

Did playing high-level sports play into the want for a community later in life? 24:00 

The environment around you is SO important 26:30 

Struggle with an identity outside of what we do for work 27:45 

The five truths of the dying Bronnie Ware 30:00 

What sacrifices have you had to make along the way to build this life around you 34:45 

What’s the value you give to relationships & how do you manage them? 37:00 

The next thing you’ll learn from management 38:45 

The one thing 43:00 

Find positive energy exchanges 44:38 

The decision to the podcast will shape your future

James Ski is the Founder of Sales Confidence. Elevating Sales as a profession and helping all salespeople at each stage of their career, with their growth mindset, well-being and constant never-ending performance improvement.

In this episode you can expect to learn what it was like for James losing a friend to suicide, being diagnosed with Bipolar & never giving up in the face of continued adversity.

It's so inspiring to see men talk so openly about their toughest moments, I hope that by continuing to share these stories we can start to create more spaces for men to be heard.  

James's Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesski/ 

Sales Confidence website: https://salesconfidence.co/home

I first met Byron after he started a fashion brand called Grey Matter that gave 25% of its profits to mental health charities.

It's so refreshing to hear Byron D. talk about how he shares his therapy sessions with his friends and how being vulnerable with people, albeit uncomfortable at times, can deepen relationships.  

The shift from seeing emotional honesty as a strength instead of a weakness can allow people to stop fighting these battles alone in their minds.  

We cover...  

breakups 

anxiety 

impact of social media 

holding space for tough conversations 

being judged for setting boundaries 

the stigma around mental health  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/byrondonovangm/

Episode 3: How I navigated my darkest moments: Sean Ruane Founder, Mind Data

In today's episode, I speak to Sean. Sean is the founder of Mind Data which is looking to reinvent therapy and coaching with client-driven insights.  

Sean is on a mission to improve the mental health of 1,000,000 people worldwide.

Some of the topics covered today are: 

- Dealing with tragic life events 

- Coping mechanisms 

- Suicidal depression 

- Therapy 

- Grief 

- Founding a business  

Where do I find out more about Sean?  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanruane/ 

https://minddata.io/

Will Middleton took on the challenge of building a sustainable fashion brand that combines fashion, community and expression to encourage conversations around mental health after the untimely death of his young brother to mental illness. 

Their products are made with 100% organic cotton and they provide funding to plant a tree for every item they sell.   10% of their profits go to the mental health charity YoungMinds  You can find them on Instagram and Tik Tok at H Clothing.  

This conversation spans a lot of important and emotional topics, I hope you enjoy hearing more about will’s story.  

Topics covered in this episode: 

- Mental Illness vs mental health 

- Dealing with grief 

- How to start vulnerable conversations 

- The stigma around mental health 

- How H Clothing came about  

Relevant links:

https://www.hclothing.com/ 

https://giveusashout.org/   - Mental health crisis line 

@HClothingco