Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health

Footy was everything to Tim growing up, giving him something to strive for and a place to belong. But there was plenty he never shared with his teammates...

Living with OCD compulsions since childhood, and diagnosed with depression and anxiety at 19, the chaos in Tim's mind ruled everything from game-day to daily life.

Enduring multiple knee reconstructions, a gambling problem and more mistakes than he can count, Tim's finall...

More men are asking for help — but they’re not getting what they need.44% of Australian men who start therapy drop out early, and a quarter never come back after the first session.(Movember, 2021)The most common reason for dropping out?A lack of connection with the therapist — over half of men who quit therapy said they couldn’t connect.Finding the right psychologist isn’t easy. A 2022 U.S. survey showed people see an average of th...

Nick Mayhugh has a dead spot on his brain, but you wouldn't know it from looking at him.

Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 14 after a seizure, Nick was told he'd never play sport again, but he didn't listen. Instead, he used as fuel to defy the odds, playing soccer through high school and college, then becoming a star for the US Para 7-a-side soccer team, before making the switch to track.

Nick burst onto the world stage at the Toky...

Strong relationships act as a protective buffer against mental health struggles. When you feel safe, supported and valued, your brain and body is better equipped to handle stress.

People with emotionally supportive partners recover from stressful life events faster and with fewer long-term psychological scars (Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2021).

A toxic relationship is worse for your health than no relationship.

The opposite of health...

Doing your best to show up every day and juggle everything you have to juggle, can feel like a lot.

And even if life’s on track, the urge to break free of routine and blow off steam can still hit.

In seeking freedom, we often choose things that keep us trapped.

Opting for the quickest, easiest dopamine hits can feel good in the moment, but they always over promise and under deliver.

It’s not the feeling you get from drinking, drugs, ga...

Alex Kalliris is a clinical psychotherapist and Program Director at Foundation House, a residential rehab service in New South Wales supporting men from the construction industry to take back control from alcohol, drugs and gambling.

He’s spent the past eight years working with men at rock bottom — helping them break destructive cycles, rebuild trust and rediscover meaning.

In this episode, we talk about mental health in construction...

I’ve stuck with this podcast for 301 weeks — 2,107 days and 230 episodes.

But outside of the interviews, I still hesitate to share my thoughts and feelings...

The show’s always been about the guests, and that’s the way it should be — but sometimes it feels like I fade into the background and hide behind the role of host.

I’m afraid of making it about me.

I’m so conscious of coming across as cringe and self-centred, that I avoid sharin...

Brayden Ainsworth grew up chasing the footy dream and he caught it. From small town W.A, to the big stage of the AFL, he made it, but behind the scenes, the pressure to perform, the need for validation and the obsession with being in peak condition, were quietly eating away at him.

When Brayden was delisted by the West Coast Eagles, after a short rollercoaster career, the identity he'd built his life around was suddenly gone, a...

Some moments are so impactful they can split your life in two — there's before it happens, and everything that comes after...

For skydivers Lucch and Ben, that moment came in mid-air over Byron Bay, when a routine jump went catastrophically wrong. A shocking collision in freefall obliterated Ben's leg, and knocked Lucch unconscious, sending him cartwheeling thousands of feet toward the ground and almost certain death...

Miraculou...

Teenage boys are growing up in a world where manhood is being put under the microscope and redefined in real time.

The mixed messages are everywhere — be strong, but vulnerable; speak up, but don’t say the wrong thing; just be yourself, but only if you fit the mould...

And while adult voices dominate the conversation on how young men should behave, very few are actually asking boys what they think and feel.

18-year-old Jesse has been ...

In Australia, around 1.5 million men report lifting weights regularly, with countless young guys in their teens, twenties and beyond structuring their lifestyle around building their body in the gym.

For many, the gym is a safe haven providing structure, growth and community providing huge physical and mental health benefits. But there is a dark side… with research showing one in ten gym-going men may experience muscle dysmorphia, a...

Research shows around 30% of male suicides are linked to separation, and men who are separated or divorced are up to 3 times more likely to die by suicide compared to those in stable relationships.

Scott knows this pain all too well. Enduring a brutal six-year divorce, he was dragged through the family court, given limited access to his children, and found himself stuck in a storm of depression and pressure that threatened to consum...

Before his chest was cracked open on the operating table, Nick Hudson was already battling something less visible — depression.

He refused to talk about it, pushed people away who tried to be there for him, and wouldn't admit the truth to himself...

Then came the life-saving open-heart surgery that forced everything to stop. Recovery was brutal. The silence got louder. And the darkness got darker before it got better.

Years earlier, N...

In his early twenties Brodie felt invincible, approaching life like the world revolved around him as he chased one high to the next.

It wasn’t long till Brodie had his first child unplanned, at a time he was far from ready to accept responsibility, refusing to change his party lifestyle.

His recklessness carried on, and before long he fathered a second child with another woman, and then a third.

Still, it wasn’t the wake up call he ...

He was labelled the best in the world at 12 years old — a tennis prodigy bound for greatness, striving alongside a father who was obsessed with his success. 

Todd describes his younger years as Groundhog Day, an endless 24 hour cycle hell bent on high performance, in which every tiny detail was put under constant scrutiny. 

After many years of knowing no other way to live, Todd hit a wall and had the realisation he was done with the ...

In Australia, 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage, 1 in 100 are ectopic, and thousands of babies are born still each year. 

Child loss during pregnancy is utterly devastating for the people who experience it—and despite being so common, the grief that follows often remains hidden. This is especially true for men, who can feel obligated to suppress their own distress in order to stay strong for their partner, unintentionally sideli...

Zach Green was going to be a dad, Three times...
Each time, he imagined life as a father and each time his hopes were shattered.
In just 18 months, he and his ex-partner lost three babies during pregnancy.

The world around him kept moving, but inside, he was stuck— grieving in silence, burying himself in work, and trying to pretend he was all good.

In reality, he was living in a cycle of manic depressive episodes he couldn't escape, ca...

Life has thrown everything at Adam—crippling financial hardship, devastating loss, and more than his fair share of personal demons; heartbreakingly losing both his mum AND his brother to suicide.

Adam's struggles began in childhood, living on the poverty line after his mum lost her house and never got it back, leading to her death. That tragedy was repeated by his brother years later when the stress of divorce overwhelmed him.

Throu...

Sammy wanted to be a comedian ever since he saw the greats on TV; but the journey so far hasn't been all laughs...

Born with facial palsy, he stood out for his crooked smile and had a hard time learning to love himself. 

Growing up around a drug addicted brother, Sammy learned early on how unpredictable life can be. And although he's never fallen prey to addiction himself, it's still loomed around him, with multiple friends and mento...