In Part 2 of my conversation with Chris Young, he shares his powerful journey through mental health, stigma, and activism. From living with a personality disorder to influencing national policy, launching podcasts like PD Squared and The Penis Dialogues, and championing peer-led change—Chris reflects on trauma, identity, and the urgent need for equity in mental health care. Raw, reflective, and full of hope.

If you haven’t listened to the previous episode, please do that first as this episode is a direct continuation from that.

I hope you enjoy the rest of this conversation as much as I did. I absolutely loved talking to Chris would love to collaborate with him in the future.

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Would anyone who identifies as male who listens to the show be interested in being one of my guests for the later episodes of this series. Did you have a story to tell about your mental health journey or did you want to discuss a subject that is very personal to you. It could be something that helps with your wellbeing, or an experience that you had. If you were interested you can DM me at @mindisamansbestfriendpodcast on Instagram.

In today’s episode, I sit down with mental health activist and fellow podcaster Chris Young. Chris shares his incredible journey—how childhood trauma and a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) led him to walk around the UK, write a book about his experiences (Walk a Mile: Tales of a Wandering Loon), and launch several powerful, male-focused mental health podcasts.

He’s now a passionate advocate for breaking the stigma around BPD, and his story is as moving as it is inspiring.

Chris is a brilliant storyteller, and this conversation felt incredibly cathartic—not just for him, but for me as well. I’m truly honoured he spoke so openly on the show. Our chat was so rich and honest that I’ve split it into two parts—so stay tuned for part two coming soon!

Trigger warning: This episode includes discussions of suicide, trauma, and sexual assault.

Lastly, a quick shoutout: if you identify as male and would like to share your own mental health journey or discuss a topic close to your heart, I’d love to hear from you. Whether it’s something that supports your wellbeing or a personal experience you want to explore, feel free to DM me on Instagram at @mindisamansbestfriendpodcast.

Thanks for listening—I hope you find this conversation as powerful as I did.

In this special episode of Mind Is A Man’s Best Friend, I sit down with my friend Dylan, who I met through walking our dogs after moving to the area. Dylan reached out wanting to share his mental health journey, and what followed was a powerful and honest conversation—rooted in our shared love of music. Unlike our usual episodes, this one is built around the songs that helped Dylan through some of his darkest moments.

As we explore these tracks, we open up about depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and sexuality. It’s a raw, meaningful discussion that I truly loved recording. Dylan has also curated a Spotify playlist featuring all the songs we talk about (plus a few extras).

You can listen to the playlist via the shortcut below.

In this episode , I’m joined by my friend and fellow peer support facilitator Pardeep. We met during our training to become volunteer facilitators and later co-led the men’s group together.

Pardeep shares his powerful and inspiring journey through volunteering—how giving his time to help others has not only made a difference in their lives but also in his own. We dive into what volunteering means to him, how it’s supported his mental health, and the sense of purpose it’s brought him. I'm hoping his story can help inspire others to want to start volunteering themselves!

If you’re curious about getting involved in mental health volunteering, check out the resources below:

Nationwide:

Reach Volunteering: https://reachvolunteering.org.uk/

NVCO: https://www.ncvo.org.uk

Get Volunteering: https://getvolunteering.co.uk/

Bristol:

Voscur: https://voscur.org/

Instagram: @mindisamansbestfriendpodcast

In today’s episode I will be talking with my fellow colleague and Head of Services at Changes Bristol - Liam Cooper-King. Liam was a very keen sportsman from young age - even playing international rugby for Barbados in his early 20’s. However a bad injury completely changed the trajectory of his life.

After struggling with his mental health due to a seeming lack of purpose and direction after his rehabilitation he was eventually able to make a huge difference in his life thanks to running! Liam talks about his road to recovery and how exercise can really help maintain our mental health as well as provide the routine and structure we need to improve our wellbeing.

Our discussion also covers subjects such as discovering how to bring joy to people through our work, the current state of social politics and the difficulties of being a man of colour in the fitness world.

You can follow Liam on instagram @liamrunningforwellbeing

You can find more information about Black Trail Runners here: https://www.blacktrailrunners.run/

*Trigger Warning* We do discuss the subject of suicide in this episode.In this episode of Mind Is A Man’s Best Friend, I sit down with Ben Akers, CEO and founder of Talk Club - a nationwide men’s mental health charity, to discuss his mission to break the stigma surrounding men's mental well-being. We explore the challenges men face in opening up, the impact of societal expectations, and the vital work his organization is doing to support mental health across the country as well as the amazing story of Talk Clubs founding. Join us for an inspiring conversation about awareness, action, the power of talking and we ask ourselves the all important question - "How are you? Out of 10?"

Talk Club is a behaviour-changing movement aimed at getting men to talk more openly about their thoughts, feelings, worries and day-to-day gripes (and all the positive stuff too!).

Talk Club run male support groups all over the country, as well exercise groups and more recently have started offer group therapy sessions and they are all completely free to attend!

You can find more information about Talk Club here: https://talkclub.org/

You can also watch the film that Ben made about his friend 'Steve' here: http://stevedocumentary.com/

Other organisations that can help:

Samaritans

A confidential helpline which is open 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

116 123

⁠https://www.samaritans.org⁠

Sane Mental Illness Helpline

Out-of-hours telephone helpline offering emotional support and information. 4pm – 10pm every day.

T: 0300 304 7000

⁠www.sane.org.uk/what_we_do/support/helpline

MIND
Mind are a mental health charity that offers a range of support to people Nationwide through talking therapies and counselling, crisis helplines and befriending services. Mind has local offices all across the UK that offer more adapted to suit the needs of the local community.

Please follow the link to find out more: www.mind.org.uk

Follow the podcast on Instagram for updates - ⁠https://www.instagram.com/mindisamansbestfriendpodcast/

Mind is a Man's Best Friend is back for Series 2!

In this episode I am speaking to one of my good friends James. I met James when I started my first job after I moved to Bristol and we have been close friends ever since. He’s always been a strong supporter of the show and I am delighted to have him on to discuss his own mental health journey.

We talk about a whole variety of subjects such as our experiences in the workplace, our childhoods, going to therapy and how Covid changed the way we think about ourselves.

POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide is discussed in this episode, if you need support please find more information below.

SUPPORT:

Samaritans
A confidential helpline which is open 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
116 123
https://www.samaritans.org

Sane Mental Illness Helpline
Out-of-hours telephone helpline offering emotional support and information. 4pm – 10pm every day.
T: 0300 304 7000
www.sane.org.uk/what_we_do/support/helpline

Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)
Call 0800 58 58 58 – 5pm to midnight every day
Visit the webchat page

Papyrus – prevention of young suicide HOPELINE247
Call 0800 068 41 41
Text 07860 039967
Email pat@papyrus-uk.org

In this episode of "Mind Is A Man's Best Friend," I speak with Nick Fogarty, the creator of "Compassionate Creative Community" in Bristol. Nick shares his experience running workshops for charities and organizations, focusing on teaching self-compassion, applying it in daily life, and fostering self-discovery. Join us as we explore the transformative power of self-compassion and how it can enhance personal and communal well-being.

This was a fun episode to record and I am looking forward to hearing about what you take from it!

Follow the podcast on Instagram for updates - ⁠Instagram link