I set up Reach Out for Mental Health in 2016 after losing a colleague, Steve, to suicide, which turned my world upside down. After working in health and social care for over 10 years I’d supported adults struggling with suicidal thoughts and experienced the frustrations daily of trying to get someone support when they need it. The obvious output for my grief was to create a service which Steve needed and may have kept him alive.

The Reach Out for Mental Health podcast, co-hosted by myself and Stu Whiffen, is a place to get up close and personal with those who have experienced their own struggles with suicidal thoughts or have sadly lost someone to suicide. It’s a space for people to feel vulnerable and yet safe enough to share some of the darkest times of their lives, sharing with others the stories behind what led them to feel suicidal and most importantly – how they fought their way out. It’s a podcast full of courage, despair, pain… and hope.

#1 Mark Phillips

Mark is one of my oldest and dearest friends. Oddly enough, he was Stu’s friend before he was mine, back when they were both knee-high to a grasshopper. He moved to Australia over a decade ago and in 2021 Mark’s world fell apart. Mark tells a story of gambling addiction, debt and feeling so trapped he believed there was only one way out. I was so touched by his willingness to ‘go public’ about his situation, understandably something he has kept quite very private up until the podcast. Mark now has his own incredible podcast called Between the Bars talking all things music.

#11 Tom Davies- Proper Mental Podcast

The podcast with Tom will always remain close to my heart, mainly because of the number of parallels I could drew between his experiences of shitty mental health and my own. Yet, this is the magic of our podcast- being able to sit there, listen to someone else pour their heart out about something so devastating for them, all the while sitting there screaming at the laptop “Oh My God, I know exactly what you mean!!!” It’s beyond nourishing. It’s the start of recovery for some. Definitely was for me. Check out more of what Tom has to say in his podcast, Proper Mental Podcast.

#20 Bea Dux

Talking to Bea was like those weird yet delightfully unexpected situations you find yourself in at parties, networking events or other social functions; you’re chatting over a vol-au-vent, trying hard not to fling pastry in their eye and after 5 minutes you feel so comfortable and connected with this person you want to invite them to your wedding! Bea was unashamedly open and raw about her diagnosis, what impact it has on her daily life and those around her. It was a complete reset from all conversations I’ve had with others over the years who live with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder. She doesn’t sugar coat anything, she lays it on the line. No hiding in the loos on this podcast.

#21 Billy Lunn – The Subways

Having been a Subways fan for nearly 20 years you can imagine my delight at interviewing the man himself, Billy Lunn. We published the video for this interview on our socials and you can just see me beaming throughout the entire thing! As with everyone who comes on our podcasts, his vulnerability and candour was utterly refreshing, giving us an insight into the lifestyle of being a touring musician, the excitement and pitfalls of living in the world of rock and roll including alcoholism. Billy shares with us his struggles with suicidal thoughts, living with Borderline Personality Disorder and the relief and acceptance which accompanied his diagnosis.

#3 Darren Smith of Andy’s Man Club

A theme that all of our podcast episodes share is that of feeling hopeless, trapped and overwhelmed – followed by hope, strength and the reclamation of their life. This one with Darren Smith does just that and then some. The reasons for people feeling this way aren’t usually because of psychotic illness or some dramatic and devastating event in their lives. It’s usually down to everyday shit being thrown in their path, which just builds and builds and builds. Like debt, relationship breakdown, problems with getting access to their kids, gambling, drinking too much booze. The whole reason I wanted to start a podcast was to show listeners that although the struggle feels unsurmountable at times- you CAN GET THROUGH IT. I love hearing from people who have been in the depths of depression, feeling like there is no way out… and then out of nowhere a light appears, a thought pulls them from the edge and the recovery starts. Darren talks about his battle with suicidal thoughts, how an online men’s mental health group saved him and how he is paying it forward. Hope in abundance.

Listen to The Reach Out for Mental Health Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

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Content Warning: these podcasts talk about the real experiences of living with mental illnesses. Content includes addiction, post-partum psychosis, depression, hearing voices, bipolar disorder and living in a secure psychiatric hospital.  

I wanted to offer a long list of recommendations for podcasts about mental health. But as I began writing the article, I became a bit overwhelmed by how many there are! It’s fantastic to see that mental health and wellbeing podcasts are becoming more mainstream.

For general mental health conversations, I definitely encourage you to go and listen to amazing shows like Happy Place, Griefcast, Terrible, Thanks for Asking and of course Scroobius Pip’s mental health specials.

There are, however, far fewer podcasts focused on mental illness – which is slightly different to mental health. We all have mental health on a spectrum of ‘good’ to ‘bad’. But around 1 in 4 of us will also have a clinical mental illness at some point in our life. Conditions such depression, psychosis, bipolar disorder can still hold a lot of stigma, but podcasts are great way to learn more about the realities of such conditions.

So for this article, I want to highlight some podcasts about specific mental illness diagnoses, where we can listen to the people that live with them. I hope you find these episodes useful.

OLOGIES WITH ALIE WARD
Addictionology (ADDICTION) with Erin Parisi

In the Ologies podcast, science communicator Alie Ward talks to different scientists (or ‘ologists’) about their field of expertise. Whilst many episodes are whimsical (Pumpkins! Jellyfish!) others are more serious. I wasn’t expecting this episode about addiction, but it has been one of the most useful. It covers both substance and behavioural addiction in a non-judgemental way. Knowing someone with an addiction myself, it was a real insight into the behaviours and interventions. Listen on your podcast app >>

ON THE WARD
S1:Ep5 | On the Ward: Your questions answered

Created by St Andrew’s Healthcare, this podcast is hosted by staff nurse John-Barry Waldron, who has worked there for 15 years, ‘On the Ward’ challenges some of the myths and taboos around complex mental illness in the UK today, as it explores what really happens behind the walls of a secure psychiatric hospital. This episode is a good point of entry, as it answers some common listener questions – which cover everything from electric shock therapy, to the routine of the hospital. Listen on your podcast app >>

THE HILARIOUS WORLD OF DEPRESSION
Movies That Get Depression Right

“A show about clinical depression…with laughs?” Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses, and yet it is still often stigmatised by society. The Hilarious World of Depression tackles it with laughs. Hosted by comedian John Moe, he talks to other comedians who have lived with depression. Unsurprisingly, putting multiple comics on a podcast makes anything funny! This episode is the opposite of Mad Chat, and looks at the films that give an accurate portrayal of depression. Listen on your podcast app >>

ZOMBIEMUM
Catherine Cho | ‘I’d better act sane’

For illustrator and writer Laura Dockrill, becoming a mum was life-changing in a very unexpected way. After a traumatic delivery Laura was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis. It’s a serious mental illness that affects around 1 in 500 women, yet people rarely talk about it. In Zombiemum, Laura talks to other parents about aspects of motherhood that aren’t discussed enough. In this episode, she speaks to writer and literary agent Catherine Cho. They discuss their shared experience of postpartum psychosis, the cultural and familial pressures she faced when having a child, and the ways she explored this through writing her memoir ‘Inferno’. Listen on your podcast app >>

MENTALLY YOURS
Mental Illness in Literature

A weekly mental health podcast from Metro.co.uk, journalists Ellen Scott and Yvette Caster chat to people who have lived with mental illness. What adds to the authenticity of this podcast is the fact that Ellen has OCD, depression and anxiety, whilst Yvette has bipolar disorder and binge eating disorder. ‘Mental Illness in Literature’ is an interesting look at the way culture adds to stigma around conditions. Listen on your podcast app >>

MENTAL
Transition Plus Anxiety, labels and finding the real you with Miss Peppermint

Mental was created by Bobby Temps to break down mental health stigma and discrimination, and does not shy away from the true experiences of living with a diagnosis. In this episode Bobby speaks to singer, host and drag icon Peppermint to explore gender transition as a factor in mental health. But the talk also goes into alcoholism as a sickness, how it affects the family and much more. Listen on your podcast app >>

MINDCAST
Bryony’s story

MIND is one of the most prominent mental health charities in the UK and is a great resource for information, support and help. Their website has resources on a wide range of mental health problems… Their podcast is much harder to find! But it’s worth it to listen to the first-hand accounts of what it feels like to live with specific mental health problems. There are nine episodes in total, covering a range of topics such as OCD, crisis, bipolar, psychosis and more. I would recommend Bryony’s story where she talks about the challenges of being a full time carer and managing her bipolar disorder. Listen on the MIND website or  listen on your podcast app >>

MAD CHAT
Six Feet Under

Mad Chat is one of those genius podcasts that was sadly short-lived.  Host, Sandy Allen, invites a guest to discuss a piece of pop culture through the lens of their lived experience of mental illness. You quickly find out how wrong media’s portrayal of ‘madness’ is. The show discussed classics such as Dawson’s Creek, BoJack Horseman, Killing Eve and Donnie Darko. In this episode, they unpack the TV show Six Feet Under in context of Hearing Voices activism. The RSS feed for this show seems to be no more, but you can still listen on YouTube >>

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