She's Honestly Mental

Content note: This episode talks openly about suicidal ideation, a car accident, sexual assault, eating disorders, drugs and alcohol. If any of that is close to home right now, be gentle with yourself. You don't have to listen alone, and you don't have to listen today.

Lifeline 13 11 14Beyond Blue 1300 22 46361800RESPECT 1800 737 73213YARN 13 92 76 (First Nations crisis line)

Brooke McIntosh ran around Australia. 14,200 kilometres. She'd never run five kilometres before she started.

She didn't do it to prove she could. She did it because a marathon didn't scare her enough. She needed something that would light her up and terrify her at the same time. She needed a reason bigger than herself.

We recorded this sitting on a hill at the top of her construction site, her half-built home in front of us, a mess of beauty and chaos all around. It felt right.

Brooke's story is not linear. Eating disorders from age 13. Sexual assault. A relationship that fell apart. A scooter accident in Bali. And then, at 26, driving to a school to deliver a talk on confidence, she was hit by a triple semi-trailer. She stumbled out, checked on the truck driver, called the school to say she'd be 15 minutes late, and wouldn't have got in the ambulance if they hadn't forced her.

That moment on the hospital bed is where everything changed.

What she said that I keep coming back to: courage looks different on everyone. For some people, courage is getting out of bed. For some people, it's having one more conversation. For some people, it's running around Australia. None of it is more or less than the other.

We also talked about self-trust. Collaboration over competition. What it actually looks like to not be okay in a room full of people who need you to be okay. And the moment she stood up in a room of 80 construction workers on R U OK Day, two weeks after her accident, and said I'm not okay.

20 blokes came up to her afterwards.

In this episode:

• Why she chose to run 1,600km before she'd ever run 5km
• The car accident, the hospital bed, and the moment everything clicked
• What courage actually looks like when you strip away the highlight reel
• Collaboration over competition in the mental health space
• Her granddad sitting on the side of the highway on day 14 of the run
• Standing up in a room of 80 blokes and saying I'm not okay
• You can't outrun pain. 14,200 kilometres later, she knows.

Make sure you check out Brooke McIntosh:

• Instagram: @brookemcintosh__
• Website: brookemcintosh.com.au

You can find She's Honestly Mental everywhere you listen to podcasts. If this resonated, share it. That's how we normalise these conversations.

If you're doing it tough right now, please reach out:Lifeline 13 11 14Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Content note: This episode talks openly about mental health struggle, hospital admissions, thoughts of wanting to disappear or escape, childhood and sexual abuse, and drinking. If any of that is close to home right now, be gentle with yourself. You don't have to listen alone, and you don't have to listen today.

Lifeline 13 11 14Beyond Blue 1300 22 46361800RESPECT 1800 737 73213YARN 13 92 76 (First Nations crisis line)

Heidi Anderson is my first ever guest on She's Honestly Mental. She nearly didn't come. I nearly didn't have her. We both sat down already half-crying, both going "I might cry today," and then we just did the thing anyway.

Heidi spent years on breakfast radio being the confident, outgoing girl. She wrote a book called Drunk on Confidence. She walks through shopping centres in her bra and undies because she reckons it shouldn't be a brave act to be seen in your own body. From the outside, she's the woman who has it all sorted.

And here's the thing she said that I can't stop thinking about. You can write the book on confidence, live it, breathe it every single day, and still spend your whole life looking outside your own body for proof that you're doing okay. Her coach said it to her straight: you nailed the mindset, you wrote the book, but the internal confidence, it's not 100 percent there.

Same, Heidi. Same.

We got into all of it. The flexible mindset versus the victim mentality. Parental burnout, and the shame that turns up when your kid is struggling and some part of you decides that makes you the bad one. Why she stopped posting her son online, and the conversation with a former child detective that cracked it open. Self-trust, and how bloody hard it is to ask your husband what he thinks instead of reaching for another parenting book. The thoughts that show up in the dark, the ones where you wonder if everyone would be better off if you just disappeared for a bit. Tax bills and ASIC strike notices and perimenopause and grief. The lot.

No tidy ending. No five steps. Two women on a couch being honest about being shit scared and showing up anyway.

A few things Heidi said that stuck:

"I'll just show up and try and do all these things, but I'm fucking shit scared inside."

"It shouldn't be a brave act to be seen in your most vulnerable, in your everyday, in your body."

"I'm constantly looking for confirmation outside of my body that I'm doing a good job, that I'm doing it right."

She also shared the thing that's been holding her lately. Hoʻoponopono, the Hawaiian forgiveness practice. Standing in front of the mirror saying "I love you, I forgive you" for a few minutes each morning. She picked it up from Davey Rowe, a Perth coach leaning on it through his own diagnosis. Not as a fix. Just a way back into your own body when everything's loud.

About Heidi: Author of Drunk on Confidence. Former breakfast radio host (Heidi, Will & Woody). Publicist. The kind of human who'll walk through a shopping centre in her undies so the rest of us feel a bit more allowed.https://www.heidileeanderson.com/

https://www.instagram.com/_heidianderson/

Mentioned in this episode:Hoʻoponopono, the Hawaiian forgiveness practice (the "I love you, I forgive you" mirror one)Davey Rowe, Perth coachChristy McVee, former child detective, on kids and online safety (the "dinner table test")Drunk on Confidence by Heidi Anderson

I came off my medication and thought fitness and nutrition would pick up the slack.

Spoiler: it did not.

This week I'm recording from a little Airbnb in Scarborough, in the city for guest episodes, and somewhere between an ASIC strike on our company, nearly bailing on the whole trip, and two strangers stopping me in Woolies to say thank you, I had to sit with something I still don't know how to do.

Receive.

If you've ever deflected a compliment, shrunk when someone said something kind, or felt like a complete fraud when people told you you were doing well, this one's for you.

In this episode:

• Why I almost got back in the car and went home
• What actually happens when you try to raw-dog your ADHD
• The ASIC strike, the shit news in the car, and keeping going anyway
• Two strangers in Woolies who stopped me and why I still don't know what to do with that
• The self-doubt spiral underneath building something real
• Is the community actually going to work or am I just wasting time and money again

You can find She's Honestly Mental everywhere you listen to podcasts. If this resonated, share it. That's how we normalise these conversations.

If you're doing it tough right now, please reach out:Lifeline 13 11 14Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Exhausted. Pre-cycle. Jared barely home. Desk for three days straight. This is what heavy actually looks like.

And yet.

There are these tiny moments. A cuddle at 3am. A blanket my Nana made that's been with me through every hospital admission. A sunset. A rainbow. Moments so small you'd miss them if you weren't looking.

They're called glimmers. And they might be the most important thing nobody is talking about.

This week I'm sharing what glimmers are, why they matter for your nervous system, and how I've been collecting them for six years without even knowing there was a word for it.

If you're deep in the mess right now, this one is for you.

In this episode:

• What a glimmer actually is and why it's the opposite of a trigger
• Why our nervous systems are more familiar with danger than safety
• The blanket I've slept with since my first hospitalisation and why I don't care who knows it
• What coming off medication has done to my thoughts and how I'm navigating that
• Why the tiny moments are not small at all

The book that started this conversation:Glimmers by Nadia Narain and Katia Narain PhillipsISBN 9780241739426Highly recommend.

You can find She's Honestly Mental everywhere you listen to podcasts. If this resonated, share it. That's how we normalise these conversations.

If you're doing it tough right now, please reach out:Lifeline 13 11 14Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Six weeks off Lamotrigine. Antidepressant reduced. And suddenly the version of me I thought I'd dealt with is back in the kitchen losing it over the washing.

This isn't a breakdown. It's information.

This week I'm talking about what actually happens to your nervous system when the medication that was holding things together starts to change. The mum rage that comes with it. The overstimulation. The guilt of feeling like you've gone backwards when actually you're just doing it without the scaffolding for the first time.

And I end with a phone call that reminded me exactly why I show up every single week.

If you've ever felt like you were doing so well and then something shifted and you were back to a version of yourself you didn't recognise, this one's for you.

In this episode:

• Six weeks off a mood stabiliser and what it's actually felt like in my body
• Why mum rage isn't a character flaw, it's a capacity problem
• The mental load that was always there, just quieter with medication holding it
• What it looks like to start looking after yourself first, even when the family gets packet pasta
• The phone call that is my whole entire why

You can find She's Honestly Mental everywhere you listen to podcasts. If this resonated, share it. That's how we normalise these conversations.

If you're doing it tough right now, please reach out:Lifeline 13 11 14Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Triggered Or Victim. You Get To Choose.

What's actually the difference between being triggered and playing the victim? Because there is one. And it's everything.

This week I tried to record a podcast with Paw Patrol blaring, school holidays in full swing, and my nervous system absolutely not cooperating. And somewhere between the go-karts drama, a flip out on my best friend, and a ChatGPT therapy session at 10am, I figured out what I actually want to say about triggers.

They're not a personality flaw. They're not weakness. They're information. What you do with them is the choice.

If you're someone who's ever lost it somewhere you didn't want to, felt guilt about being overloaded, or wondered why the same situations keep setting you off, this one's for you.

In this episode:

• Why school holidays hit differently when you're already at capacity
• The moment I freaked out on my best friend and what it actually taught me
• Go-karts, complex PTSD, and why some environments just aren't safe for your nervous system
• The difference between victim mentality and genuine curiosity about your triggers
• What ChatGPT told me about my own patterns that I needed to hear

You can find She's Honestly Mental everywhere you listen to podcasts. If this resonated, share it. That's how we normalise these conversations.

If you're doing it tough right now, please reach out:Lifeline 13 11 14Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Six years ago I was being discharged from hospital for the second time. This week I did a gym session, meal prepped, and recorded this podcast. Same person. Completely different life.

This episode is a real one. I'm talking about where I'm at with medication, what's actually been going on with my body and my weight, the community we're building, and why I have never once looked at anyone in this space as a competitor.

Also my mic stopped recording 20 minutes in. We're rolling with it anyway.

You'll hear:

• Coming off my mood stabiliser and what a month out actually feels like
• 28 kilos, meal prepping, and why I said it out loud publicly
• How fuelling your body properly changes everything
• Three weeks waiting for psychiatric help — what is wrong with the system
• The She's Honestly Mental community opening 11 June
• Why some people won't like or comment even when they agree — and why that has to change

New episodes weekly. Follow so you never miss one.Crisis support (AU): Lifeline 13 11 14 | Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

What happens when the week tries to break you and you show up anyway?

This week Corrina’s Whoop band was in the red, a friend hit crisis point, and she was riding out medication withdrawals. She recorded anyway, because that’s what She’s Honestly Mental is.

This episode is for women who are holding it together on the outside while their body is quietly screaming stop. No polish. No performance. Just the real week, out loud.

You’ll hear:

• What supporting a friend through mental health crisis actually looks like

• Coming off a mood stabiliser and what withdrawal really feels like

• Why depression is your body asking for deep rest, not a character flaw

• Why passion keeps getting mistaken for “crazy”

New episodes weekly. Follow so you never miss one.
Crisis support (AU): Lifeline 13 11 14 | Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Your nervous system doesn't break from one big moment.

It breaks from a lifetime of smaller ones stacking up until one day, it just stops pretending. In this solo long-form episode, I go back to the week the world went into Covid and I went into a mental health ward for the second time.

Six years later, I'm recording from my living room, running businesses, raising two boys, and for the first time in my adult life I feel genuinely content. Not fixed. Not healed. Content.

We go into the real stuff: how childhood trauma, sexual assault, money stress and business pressure compounded into a complex PTSD diagnosis. How becoming a mum 20 months apart felt like an identity death nobody warned me about. How undiagnosed ADHD made everything louder. And why everyday things like going to Woolies once felt impossible.

This is not a surface-level "I'm fine" conversation. It's panic, suicidal ideation, hospital admissions, judgment, and the slow, imperfect process of building tools and self-trust. I also talk about why I'm turning my life into a Barbie dream house and what it looks like to love yourself as the "crazy one" people whisper about.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• The week I went back into a mental health ward while the world went into Covid
• How complex PTSD and childhood trauma collided with motherhood
• Going from "woman" to "mum" and the identity crisis nobody mentions
• Money, business pressure and mental health colliding
• Undiagnosed ADHD traits getting louder after kids
• The tools and mindset shifts that brought me to content
• Choosing myself when people call me the crazy one

Reflective, not therapeutic. Crisis support: Lifeline 13 11 14 (AU).

Website: sheshonestlymental.comInstagram: @sheshonestlymental

What happens when you stop doing it all for everyone else and finally choose you?

Season one is wrapping up and I’m letting you in on everything that led to this moment. From fireworks that flopped to a laser show that nearly broke the bank, go-kart crashes to school awards, business wins to personal spirals. This is the unfiltered, gloriously messy wrap of my year.

This episode is a chaotic ride through 2025: what worked, what didn’t, and how I finally stopped pretending I could do it all. You’ll hear the honest bits. The burnout, the brand-building, the breakdowns and breakthroughs. I’m proud of how I showed up. And if you’re someone who’s trying to do it all too, maybe this will give you permission to stop.

If you’ve ever felt like you were holding it all together with a threadbare smile, this one’s for you. I’m reflecting on what happens when you choose softness over sacrifice, ease over effort. Season two is coming soon, but until then, let’s celebrate the chaos we survived.

Come say hi over on Instagram @sheshonestlymental and tell me: What are you proud of from this past year?

In this episode we cover:

• Why the podcast is taking a short break
• The truth behind my wild New Year’s Eve events
• How Rotary shaped my community work and why I stepped away
• Family road trips, surf club chaos, and a broken collarbone
• Bookshop burnout and shifting business focus
• The moment I stopped choosing everyone else first
• Behind the scenes of building She's Honestly Mental
• Brand shoots, Bali, and the real reason I flew home early
• End-of-year reflections, school awards, and letting go of what's not mine to carry

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

• Armed for Life (Adam Peczulea)
• Biz Rebelution with Em Gee
• Success School
• Belle Verdiglione (Brand Photographer)
• Kim Kent

• Invictus Apothecary (discount code: SHMFAM)
• Connect with Corrina on Instagram at @sheshonestlymental
• sheshonestlymental.com.au
• The Messy Middle – free community for offloading
• The Chaos Letters – sign up for raw mental health reflections
• Instagram (co-working): @hausofcollab
• Lifeline: 13 11 14
• Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636