"I don't the podcast will get the credit it deserves, for what we've done." For the final time we are Straight Talking Mental Health. The OG hosts return for the final episode - Allan & Peter. We catch up on how Peter is getting on his Morning Show on Midlands 103, we reflect back on all the guests we have had over the last 3 years, the impact the show has had on our listeners and our regrets about the podcast. Peter is smiling after getting away on a trip with his dad to find the graves of uncles killed in World War 1 and Allan is riled after throwing money away to Ryanair after forgettin ..read more

"If somebody gaslights you over and over and over again, it does a number on your brain!" This week we're straight talking having a Narcissistic Husband with Erin Riley. Erin grew up in Mad Men era Manhattan with a model "narcissistic" mother and actor father, before she ran away to California as a teen. Erin tells us her rock n roll stories from being in the rock scene for 40 years, including one about Lou Reed. She discusses the cycle of abuse with narcissists, her husband being a covert narcissist, the love bombing, the gaslighting and the impact it had on her. She also shares the earl ..read more

"I've clients that are being diagnosed and medicated at the age of 4!" This week we're straight talking Parenting ADHD Children with Avigail Gimpel - an educator and very proud Jewish mom to SIX children with ADHD (and a husband). Avigail tells us about her experience of getting her older children diagnosed and why she stopped getting diagnoses, to diagnose or not, the reliance in Israel on medicating children as young as 2, the importance of having more faith in our children as well some excellent parenting and relationship advice. Avigail is smiling thanks to some great family news (we ..read more

"I didn't want to die but if that was going to be the best alternative, I was ok with it" This week we're straight talking Losing A Partner with Will Craig. Will tells us about the mental health struggles he had and the suicidal thoughts he experienced even before the death of his girlfriend who was only in her 20's. He also opens up about what it was like to suspect something was wrong on the day she died when he hadn't heard from her, the grief and trauma around her death, his experience of therapy, the hydrocephalus which requires multiple surgeries and we discuss the resilience he has deve ..read more

"I was so anxious and very, very suicidal... I'd always struggled with depression and that just amplified it completely " This week we're straight talking Bullying with "Mollie". Mollie tells us about her experience of being bullied in school, the cyberbullying she endured - from group chats being set up about her, anonymous comments online of how to kill herself and the toll it took on her physical and mental health. Mollie also describes the severe anxiety she had as a 6 year old which lead to being homeschooled and the emetophobia she experiences. Allan is smiling having got back into build ..read more

"I was so anxious and very, very suicidal... I'd always struggled with depression and that just amplified it completely " This week we're straight talking Bullying with young filmmaker Mollie Leivars. Mollie tells us about her experience of being bullied in school, the cyberbullying she endured - from group chats being set up about her, anonymous comments online of how to kill herself and the toll it took on her physical and mental health. Mollie also describes the severe anxiety she had as a 6 year old which lead to being homeschooled, the emetophobia she experiences and how the film industry ..read more

"I didn't fight cancer, I embraced cancer!" This week we're straight talking Cancer with Angelica Alen. Angelica was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer after an admission to the emergency room. She tells us about the emergency surgery to remove the tumor, how chemotherapy treatment was like being blasted "with an atomic bomb", the impact her cancer had on her husband and children and she stresses the importance of taking an active part in your health recovery. Angelica is smiling about taking a 3 month cross country drive around Australia with her husband and children, but the stresses that c ..read more

"I had a baby 7 years ago and I hated it, I felt no connection." This week we're straight talking Postpartum Depression with Suzanne Yatim Aslam. Suzanne is a former Ms. Arab USA with no history of mental health difficulties, after the birth of her first son she hated being a mother, felt no connection to her son and it wasn't for two more years she found out she was suffering with postpartum depression and anxiety. Suzanne tells us about her book "Post Pardon Me", her anger at being depressed, she has advice for women who may be going through what she went through and Allan discusses his expe ..read more

"In my 30s I had my own nervous breakdown and was diagnosed with schizophrenia." This week we're straight talking Schizophrenia with Bee Baumann. Bee grew up in a strict Christian Baptist home only to find out at 12 she had been fostered and then taken back to live with her birth mother and 7 siblings. Bee tells us about becoming an emancipated child at 15, being hospitalised after a nervous breakdown and being diagnosed with schizophrenia in her 30s and her experience of being an African American woman in small town Germany. Bee is smiling at the littlest thing like seeing a rainbow but burea ..read more

"Darkness consumed me, I believed there was no way out." Fresh for 2023, we're straight talking Male Depression with Neil Kelders. Neil shares his experience of depression that has been there since childhood after his father left at age 10, the abandonment fears that affected his relationships in later life, the constant suicidal thoughts that consumed him daily and how finally opening up about his mental health struggles helped. You can find Neil's book "The Other Side" on Amazon. Neil's smiling after finally getting to hand his mother a copy of his book but his own mental health struggles st ..read more