The Heavy Mental Podcast

In this week's episode, we chat with Jack Keogh, a mens style blogger from South Wales who, in the face of adversity, turned his life around with the help of human connection.

Jack has now been clean and sober for five years and we're positive that this episode will serve as a complete inspiration for anyone facing their darkest day with addiction.

In an honest and open account, Jack talks about how as a child living in fear and disconnect from himself and everyone else, he turned into a man with the same afflictions, but gained a battle with drugs and alcohol so intense, that it stripped his life bare of anything worth caring about.

Both of us have been really touched, educated and inspired by Jack's story, and we think you will be too. This is a first-hand account of what living as an addict is really like.

Leila + Rhys X

We have our very first guest this week on Heavy Mental — the first of many!

Damo Morgan (IG: @mynameisdamo) is a musician (and good friend o' mine) from South Wales, UK. He kindly took the time out of his Sunday to journey up to Cardiff and chat with us about his unique experience living with OCD.

Oh, also, if you happen to be looking for a stellar, professional and all-round spectacular wedding / function band (with exceptional cleanliness), look no further than The Beats (IG: @thebeatsuk)!

We hope you enjoy this one, because we sure enjoyed chatting to Damo. Another guest will be on next week's episode and we're already looking forward to it.

Take some time out of your day, unwind and get a little self care in. Don't suffer in silence.

Rhys X

So, what is "SAD", exactly?

Well, it stands for "seasonal affective disorder", and those who suffer with it (our Leila), tend to experience seasonal bouts of depression during the darker months of the year. This is thought to be due to a lack of direct exposure to sunlight.

(She's basically the opposite of a vampire.)

It would seem that along with our need for food, water, movement and rest, we human beings also need to ensure we prioritise getting some rays in from that big, burning orb in the sky.

We're exactly the same as plants then it would seem. Complicated, complex and emotionally unpredictable plants.

In this episode, Leila shares her own experience with SAD through the years, including how she recognised it, what steps she took to remedy it, and what life looks like for her now.

Enjoy pals.

Rhys X

Stress is like a silent assassin; one minute you're feeling a little overwhelmed — but generally able to cope — and the next you find you've ground your teeth down to dust and you're drowning in a pool of your own sweat.

In this episode, we take a closer look at what happens, not only to our minds, but also to our bodies, when our stress levels skyrocket.

For some, it's an eye-twitch or increased irritability, for others, it's full-blown heart palpitations and sleepless nights. Either way, however stress has a grip on you, one thing's for certain, it isn't doing us any favours — especially when it decides to stick around.

*RHYS' BRAIN*

Hmmm, that’s a weird rash?

Wonder what’s caused that...

I’ll just Google it...

OH MY GOD IT’S LEPROSY?! I’M DYING OF LEPROSY!

Ring any bells?

In this episode, Rhys speaks about his intricate relationship with "Health Anxiety", which is as true to form as it sounds. To suffer from this nasty mental malady, is to have an entirely unhealthy amount of worry about your personal health, to the point that it can (and probably will) make you physically ill.

As always, delivered with a humorous tone, it’s an honest account of how the mind can play cruel tricks on you — and as discussed during the episode — it resulted in Rhys willingly offering himself up (and paying) for numerous rectal examinations...if you want to get to the bottom of exactly what happened and understand what it feels like to suffer from Health Anxiety, press play now.

Leila X

This week, Leila tried to call off the wedding because I drank her squash, so we decided to explore the impact our mental health has on not only our relationship, but the various relationships we have with other folks in our lives — both past and present.

Encompassing friendships, romantic interests, family members and colleagues, we aimed to explore (and ramble on through) the broad variety of personal human relationships. So, there's no need to skip out on this one if you happen to be single, folks.

Are you dragged into the abyss by someone else feeling low, or are you able to keep afloat? Lei and I are a bit of both to be honest, and luckily, we both managed to survive the previous week with our heads above the waves.

Also, we found that this topic needed a fair bit of exploring, so this turned out to be our longest episode to date.

We hope you all enjoy.

(Luckily, the wedding is still on.)

Rhys X

Ever feel like you're just not firing on all cylinders but you can't work out why?

This one might be for you.

Join us as we delve into the murky depths of sleep in honour of "Sleep Awareness Week" (10th-16th March).

We look at how it affects us, why it affects us and what our personal links to poor mental health and bad sleep patterns are.

Rhys reveals his penchant for silk dressing gowns and lavender sprays, while Leila mocks him for being a "fussy ferret" when the lights go out.

Don't forget to let us know what you think and continue with liking, rating, subscribing and sharing!

If we've managed to put you to sleep with our ramblings, even better.

Rhys + Leila X

First things first, welcome back!

We're delighted that you've decided to give us another opportunity to shock you with our poor impressions and bad jokes, and believe me, there's plenty to be had in this episode.

This week, we've looked into the effects that alcohol has on our brains in the days following a boozy session. We can't speak for everyone, but those of you lovely lot that we did manage to chat with seemed to echo a lot of the same feelings we experience. On this basis, we thought it would be worth exploring a little further.

Expect to find a lot of laughing (even the occasional snort) and some helpful hints and tricks on managing your pesky thought patterns on a hangover.

Thank you for allowing us to be part of your day. It's not all doom and gloom (we promise).

Rhys + Leila X

Welcome. This is Heavy Mental.

We are Rhys and Leila, a couple from Cardiff exploring the multi-faceted (and often complex) topic of mental health via the medium of podcasting.

Fuelled by caffeine and a lust for Alan Partridge quotes, come join us on this explorative journey as we fumble around candidly with mental health.

Take this as a bit of a disclaimer: we're not medical professionals and neither of us are trained to offer advice. We are simply sharing our own personal experiences with mental health, in the hope that they might help somebody else somehow.

The primary aims of this podcast are to educate, inform and reduce the stigma that (unfortunately) still comes with discussing the various maladies of the mind, and if we can entertain you in the process of doing that, all the better.

In this first episode: we give you an introduction to Heavy Mental, what you can expect from future episodes, the origin of the name and a brief discussion about when is the right time for someone suffering to seek help.

It's not all doom and gloom (we promise). Expect to find personal stories, a lot of laughter and laid-back chatter.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate, share and subscribe. You know what to do you lovely people.

Expect a new episode every Monday!

Rhys + Leila X