Welcome to episode 216 with Adam Farrer, who is a writer, lecturer, mentor and editor.
Adam’s recent book Broken Biscuits and Other Male Failures is all about his struggles to live up to masculine expectations and in this episode, we chat about what it means to be a man and what it’s like to fall short of those ideals.
We chat about Adam’s route to becoming a writer, dealing with rejection along the way and following a creative path just for the love of it.
We chat about why he decided to write a book about his failures, the importance of healing emotional wounds, self-acceptance and the relief that comes from engaging with who you really are.
And we talk about Adams’ experiences with suicidal thoughts and how losing his brother to suicide forced him to get his own mental health in check and we chat about grief and feelings and loads of other things that men are often told they can’t talk about.
I absolutely loved Adam’s book. It’s funny and it’s emotional and I saw so many of my own regrets, failures and cringe worthy moments in his stories.
Vulnerability is something we talk about a lot in the mental health conversation and I think it’s in these everyday failures and mistakes and awkward moments where real vulnerability lies.
It’s these messy parts of being a human, that when shared, are where we can really connect and feel seen and ultimately make some sort of peace with, that allows us to move on and grow and do things differently.
That’s the sort of opening up and being vulnerable that really makes a difference and it was a joy to read the book and to chat to Adam about all of it.
More about Adam’s work here: www.adamfarrer.co.uk and @adamjfarrer
Broken Biscuits and Other Male Failures is available now Broken Biscuits: And other male failures by Adam Farrer – HarperCollins Publishers UK
You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.
You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at
www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental
Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.
If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk
Thanks for listening!
--------
59:49
--------
59:49
Class inequality and working class culture with Dr Lisa McKenzie
Welcome to episode 215 with Dr Lisa McKenzie, who is a working class academic and anarchistic author.
She is a researcher and educator whose work relates to class inequality, social justice, and British working class culture and a founding member of The Working Class Collective CIC.
Lisa grew up in Nottingham, in a mining community. After she left school, she went to work in a local factory with her Mum and her aunties and never considered going to university because it was never on the table. After her Mum passed away, she was inspired to take an access course at the age of 33, which led to a degree and then eventually becoming a lecturer.
Lisa’s work centres around class inequality because that’s what she’s experienced her whole life and, in this episode, she joins me to chat about the impact this can have on mental health.
We chat about the stigma that surrounds poverty and why no one wants to talk about class and we talk about the day-to-day challenge of just about scraping by, the myth of social mobility and how damaging it is to live with the unfairness of a system that is stacked against you.
We talk about the anger that comes from being ignored and let down, generational trauma and learned coping strategies and finding humour in misery as a way to cope.
And we also talk about some of the wonderful things that happen in working class communities, the unseen heroes of council estates, the community coming together and the important role of storytelling in the places.
You can’t talk about mental health without talking about class and it’s a part of the conversation that just isn’t happening.
This is an episode I have being trying to do for some time and it was incredible to get to chat to Lisa about her experiences and her work in this space.
It’s a big and complicated topic but we’re not scared by that here at Proper Mental and I’d love to hear what you take from it.
Follow Lisa on X @redrumlisa and Instagram @drlisa1968
Her own book is called Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain and she has also published Lockdown Diaries of the Working Class with The Working Class Collective and you can learn more at Work Class Collective
You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.
You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at
www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental
Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.
If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk
Thanks for listening!
--------
1:28:30
--------
1:28:30
Why we don't have a health problem, we have a village problem with Cormac Russell
Welcome to episode 214 with Cormac Russell, who is an author and social explorer.
He is the Founding Director of Nurture Development and a member of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute.
Cormac has spent more than 20 years working all over the world training communities and professional organisations in Asset-Based Community Development and other strengths-based approaches.
In this episode I chat to Cormac about his strengths based approach to community, the four modes of change and how these things impact and support good mental health.
We chat about what 'helping' someone really means, the downsides to the traditional approach to supporting people who are struggling and what we can do differently as communities when we take an asset based approach and focus on what's strong instead of what's wrong.
And we chat about the role of storytelling, how structural change happens at the speed of trust and why 'we don't have a health problem, we have a village problem'.
It was inspiring to chat to Cormac and this is a powerful conversation about what is possible when communities come together and how this approach can change how we think and feel about mental health and mental illness.
https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/
https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/we-dont-have-a-health-problem-we-have-a-village-problem8259.pdf
You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.
You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at
www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental
Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.
If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk
Thanks for listening!
--------
1:08:23
--------
1:08:23
Trauma Industrial Complex and the stories we tell ourselves about our wounds with Darren McGarvey
Welcome to episode 213 with Darren McGarvey, who is an author, musician, social commentator and journalist.
Darren grew up in Pollok on the south side of Glasgow, and has lived through extreme poverty, addiction and homelessness. He wrote about his life and experiences in his first book ‘Poverty Safari’ which received critical acclaim for its insights into poverty and inequality.
His upcoming book ’Trauma Industrial Complex’ is due out in August and this episode I chat to Darren about the modern phenomenon of lived experience and sharing trauma stories online.
We chat about Darren’s experience of talking publicly about his life and what happened to him after “Poverty Safari” was an instant bestseller and he suddenly become well known for the things that he had been through.
We talk about how social media has produced a culture of oversharing, why telling your story can get in the way of recovery and how this type of advocacy might just have fuelled other modern trends like misinformation and harmful mental health advice.
And we talk about why people might feel the need to share their trauma, why there is such a market for it, the hidden consequences of barring your soul and things like victim hood, avoidance and addiction.
I’m a big fan of Darren’s work, in all its forms, so it was great to chat to him about his new book. As someone who spends a lot of time, sharing stories and talking publicly about my own mental health, this was a fascinating conversation to be a part of!
You can listen now wherever you get your podcasts from and you can pre-order Trauma Industrial Complex: How Oversharing Becomes a Product in the Digital Age, wherever you get your books from!
Follow Darren on Instagram @darren_mcgarvey or X @lokiscottishrap
Learn more at www.darrenmcgarvey.com and preorder here Trauma Industrial Complex
You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.
You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at
www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental
Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.
If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk
Thanks for listening!
--------
1:01:09
--------
1:01:09
Exploring intimacy, identity and ocd on the stage with Tana Sirois
Welcome to episode 212 with Tana Sirois, who is an actor, theatre maker and coach who is currently touring a one woman show called UnTethered, an autobiographical comedy that follows a queer, demi sexual woman with obsessive compulsive disorder as she attempts to transcend her fears so that she may finally experience what it’s like to feel safe and loved.
Tana is originally from the States but it was while studying acting at university in Liverpool that she first started to experience problems with her mental health. Despite struggling for many years, she didn’t receive an official diagnosis of OCD until the age of 32.
In this episode I chat to Tana about her love of acting, her time here in Liverpool, what was going on in her life when she first started to experience mental illness and how OCD has impacted her throughout her life.
We chat about the selfishness of recovery, updating your language as you get better and how mental illness impacts all aspects of identity.
We also chat about Tana’s show UnTethered, the vulnerability of exploring mental illness, intimacy and sexual identity in front of an audience and why that’s important.
Tana is getting ready for some dates in London and Brighton before taking the show to Edinburgh and you can learn more about the show @untethered_the_play.
I’m a big fan of mental illness being portrayed on the stage. It’s a powerful way to bring the realities of this stuff to people’s attention and really connect and bring out the emotions and complexities of mental health so it was wonderful to explore all of that with Tana in this episode.
Her website is www.tanasirois.com
You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.
You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at
www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental
Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.
If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk
Thanks for listening!
Ireland