The Straight Talking Dr Podcast

Ben West is a mental health activist and author who has been on a mission to change the course of the mental health crisis for 5 years.His new book, ‘This book could save your life - breaking the silence around the mental health emergency' is an impactful and eye-opening take on the current mental health crisis we face. Ben was thrown into the world of mental health at an early age and has channelled his experience to create a huge amount of positive change. He has started 2 incredibly popular government campaigns and become an influential figure in the space.During this episode we discuss:Ben's story of losing his brother to suicide (trigger warning)His journey to mental health activismWhat needs to happen to improve the mental health crisisThe fragility of mental healthHow to 'bubble-wrap' your mental health

Dan Murray-Serter is a prominent figure in the world of mental health and entrepreneurship. He is not short of achievements which include starring on Steven Bartlett's 'The Diary of a CEO' podcast, winning The Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, starting multiple successful businesses and hosting several podcasts including the highly successful 'Secret Leaders' podcast. During this conversation we discuss:Dan’s own journey and battles with mental health, of which there are a a few to unpickWhy Dan believes that resilience is our most important attributeHow to balance high performance and our wellbeingDan's top tips for investing in our own self-care and long term health

Amandip Sidhu is a pharmaceutical industry professional with a passion for making a difference to the lives of healthcare workers. Following the tragic loss of his brother in 2018, Amandip set about starting a charity to do something to protect the mental health of healthcare workers.'Doctors in Distress' is dedicated to providing mental wellbeing support to healthcare workers and aims to stop healthcare worker suicide. They do this through hosting support groups and running dedicated projects to improve the mental health of healthcare workers. Today we discuss some hard-hitting topics including:suicide and how to spot the early warning signsdealing with griefthe challenges that the NHS is facing and how we can support this as individuals how to deal with burnoutCOVID's effect on wellbeing at workthe role of 'Doctors in Distress'

Jeffrey Boadi is a plant-based influencer with an encyclopaedic knowledge of nutrition. He is someone who I have admired for a long time on social media as he effortlessly creates wonderful content to empower people to eat plant based foods. However, it was only when I met Jeffrey for the first time recently and learnt a little more about his life did I truly start to understand what this guy was all about. Today Jeffrey opens up about the challenges he has been through over the last year. I praise him for his vulnerability and I know his story will have a hugely positive impact on anyone that listens. Today we discuss:Jeffrey’s story of losing his wifeJeffrey's mindset and the steps he has taken to help him grow in the last yearHis journey into plant based nutritionThe role of eating more plants for our mental healthPlenty of practical tips to help us improve our diets

My guest this week is Andrew Salter, a Forbes 30 under 30 entrepreneur with a huge vision to bring medicinal mushrooms to the mainstream to help change the way we approach our health and wellbeing.During this episode we discuss:Andrew and his brand (Dirtea World's) vision to get every person in the world drinking mushrooms everydayWhy entrepreneurs often suffer with poor mental healthHow busy people can best avoid this trapWhat functional mushrooms actually areHow mushrooms can potentially support our healthThe best way to get involved if you want to give them a try.

Today's episode is recorded in the beautiful settings at 'Nushama' in New York. My guest today, Jay Godfrey, started his career as an investment banker on Wall Street and then went on to found his own fashion brand synonymous with his name (Jay Godfrey Apparel). Following his own personal journey with mental health, Jay spent many years engaging in traditional talking therapy. Despite consistency he failed to acheive the improvements he desired. It was only when Jay discovered psychedelics did he find the shift in mental health and this led him to founding 'Nushama' - a psychedelic wellness centre based in New York - specialising in Ketamine-assisted therapy to treat a wide range of mental health conditions. Today we delve into:the history of psychedelic medicinethe stigma associated with the industryhow and why ketamine and psychedelics may actually work to improve mental healthwhat the future may hold for these treatments in the world of mental healthhttps://nushama.com/https://www.instagram.com/jaygodfreynyc/?hl=en

Faye Bate is a medical student and youtuber who has racked up a huge following for her down to earth and humorous content about her life as a junior doctor. I was keen to hear more about Faye's experiences with mental health; something she has been incredibly honest online about online. More specificially I wanted to find out about Faye's battle with today image.Today we discuss:Faye’s story of battling with her body imageHow problems with body image typically manifestWhat steps Faye has taken to overcome her issues with body imageHow we can identify and help any of our friends or family who may be struggling too Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq8EwIdN0pmgs-EymfaiO5gInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayebate/?hl=en

Iain Liam Ward (AKA TheKingofChemo) is a fitness trainer, Youtuber and genuinely the most inspirational person I have ever had the chance of meeting.After signing up to a medical trial in 2020, Iain underwent an MRI scan and was given a shock diagnosis of Stage 3 brain cancer. He was given a prognosis of 5 years. Instead of letting this consume him, he set off on a mission to break as many fundraising records as he possibly can. In today's episode:Iain takes us through what a diagnosis can teach you about how to approach lifeHow to channel a potential negative into something positive His plans for the future with his fundraising and ever-growing social media followingThe importance of humour for dealing with adversityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekingofchemo/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thekingofchemo?_t=8WbTPNXPmsA&_r=1GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/Ultra-Marathon-World-Tour/share?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer

George Taktak is our guest this week. He is the Founder & CEO of the Mental Health organisation, 'How Mental'. Their mission is to make Mental Health & Wellbeing THE Global Priority. George entered the world of mental health in a unique way by developing a technology that helped him communicate with his grandad who was suffering with Alzheimer’s disease. His organisation 'How Mental' exploded in size during the pandemic and now provides much needed mental health resources and guidance to a whopping 800,000 followers online. On this episode we discuss:George's incredibly journey into the world of mental health,whether there is a better way to measure success as a society,George’s plans to build the extinction rebellion of mental health,the concept of purpose, its importance for mental health and what ours are on this planet.Instagram link: https://www.instagram.com/howmental/