Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health

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...

Jasper spent years throwing punches in the cage, but his toughest fight has always been against himself.

Through a childhood marked by instability. Jasper was constantly moving and having to start over, causing frustration and anger that had nowhere to go until he found martial arts.

MMA gave him identity and purpose, so much so that he's struggled to define himself as more than a fighter.

Now, he’s building a life around his personal...

The suicide rate for people living with bipolar is between 10 and 30 times higher than the general population, accounting for up to a quarter of all suicides in Australia.

Research shows up to 60% of those with the condition will make at least one attempt on their life. Father of three, Chris Fraser is one of them.

He experienced multiple extended bi-polar episodes in his early and mid-thirties, when months of mania were followed b...

Mark suspected he was gay from the time he was a young boy and had it confirmed by the time he made it to high school.

Raised in a conservative, religious household, he was conditioned to believe that being gay was wrong and that belief, coupled with fear of his parents’ reaction kept him in the closet till he was 28.

When he did come out, those fears were realised. His parents weren’t supportive and the most difficult time in hi...

Imagine if your psychologist was that rough looking bloke you met down the pub who gave surprisingly solid advice - that's the kind of vibe you get from Simon Tyler.

Simo's a clinical psych and a mentally healthy workplace consultant, he also cuts his own hair and does an awful job of it... 

His therapy style's shaped by his early career in construction and a lifetime of his own mental health struggles.

He's straight up, pragmatic...

When we think of a typical drug addict, we think of someone who turned to drugs in an attempt to cope with trauma and often childhood abuse. That wasn't the case for Culley.

He describes having the perfect childhood, growing up with great parents who gave him all the love he could've asked for; but that didn't stop him getting on the ice and every other drug you can think of - choosing a life of chaos.

Dealing to feed his addiction...

Over the Christmas holiday period we're taking you back to some of our most memorable moments from our most popular episodes.

Kian Rafie is a junior lawyer who got what he thought was the dream start to the career he'd always wanted, when a mental health crisis threatened to derail it.

Scroll back in our podcast library for the full episode:

Legal Battle: A Junior Lawyer's Mental Health Recovery | Kian Rafie

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We’re grateful to ...

Over the Christmas holiday period we're taking you back to some of our most memorable moments from our most popular episodes. For many years, Nathan hated the man staring back at him in the mirror. Deeply sad and angry, with no clue what was at the core of his distress, it took doing the hardest thing he'd ever done to start making progress - asking for help.

Scroll back in our podcast library for the full episode: The Tornado W...

Over the Christmas holiday period we're taking you back to some of our most memorable moments from our most popular episodes. Addicted to drugs and gambling in his late teens and early twenties, Angus eventually came to a fork in the road that was life or death...

Scroll back in our podcast library for the full episode: The Trifecta: Quitting Drinking, Cocaine & the Punt | Angus Wood

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We’re grateful to be producing our la...

It’s an unstable time to be a young man right now…

The world is rapidly evolving around us, job markets are changing, traditional gender roles are shifting; polarising content served by our algorithms is pushing us ever deeper into echo chambers of opinion and the social discourse that men are the problem looms in the background. 

With me today to chat about various trending topics that intersect with men’s mental health are not on...

Raised by a mother with Borderline Personality Disorder, Brad was always walking on eggshells, living in fear of the next violent outburst and unable to count on anything except the future being unpredictable…

Growing up with all that instability and unmet need had a major impact on Brad’s emotional development: permeating his adult relationships and looming in the background of his own marriage breakdown. 

Just 28, Brad speaks lik...

The past few years have been a tumultuous time for masculinity… 

We’ve witnessed the furore whipped up by the manosphere, and the fear that we’re raising a generation of Andrew Tate clones…

We’ve had Primary prevention programs brought in to schools, spurred by the will to reduce Australia’s appalling rates of domestic violence. 

Men under 30 just played a major role voting Donald Trump back into power, influenced by his appearance...

Sometimes going through the worst pain you’ve ever experienced sets you on a path to becoming something greater than you ever imagined. 

A decade ago, Jed’s leg was crushed in a brutal workplace accident; and now he’s a 2024 Paralympic gold medalist… 

Now 38, Jed’s life experience extends far beyond being an elite athlete, he’s a family man, a leader and a dude who just keeps on learning.

This is Jed Altschwager…

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We’re gratefu...

Imagine if your world suddenly went dark and you had to learn to live without the ability to see; That’s what happened to Ian when he was shot at the age of 21… 

Having lived half his life without his eyesight, Ian’s had to adapt in every way and has dedicated himself to becoming a mentor to young men through his youth work role at Top Blokes Foundation. 

This is Ian Clements…

----- We’re grateful to have produced this episode i...

Grief can take you to a dark place you never imagined, especially when it's wrapped in guilt. Drew spent a long time believing if he'd done more, his brother Mat might still be alive...As a teenager and an adult, Mat was often teetering on the edge, dealing with his inner turmoil by shutting down and keeping everyone out.

For more than a decade Drew knew something wasn't right with his brother, but couldn't penetrate the walls he ...