Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health is the award-winning volunteer podcast dedicated to young men's mental health. This life-changing archive of lived experience exists to share authentic stories of hardship, resilience and recovery, told by men under 40 and their loved ones from all walks of life; proving that no matter what you're going through, you're not alone! Jump in and let host, Cal MacPherson guide you on a journey that goes right to the heart of being human, with relatable guests who ...
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Humans Aren't Robots is a series of conversations about what makes work—and life—more human. We chat with leaders, creators, and curious minds about how creativity and the creative process help shape modern business. No edits, just real talk about the ideas and practices that bring people and workplaces to life.
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What Teenage Boys Actually Think | Jesse Rothgrew
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1:00:29Teenage 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,…
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Bodybuilding for a Better Life | Oli Wright & Rayan Abou-Hamdan
1:20:43
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1:20:43In 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 si…
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Surviving Divorce and the Family Court | Scott Matthews
1:24:43
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1:24:43Research 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, a…
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The Man Behind the Push-Up Challenge | Nick Hudson
1:04:08
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1:04:08Before 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. Th…
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Running from the Responsibilities of Young Fatherhood | Brodie Toomey
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55:20In 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 se…
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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 knowin…
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How to Process Pregnancy Loss as a Man | Julie Borninkhof
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47:43In 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…
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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.…
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Living For My Brother, My Mother and Me | Adam Gaunt
1:05:58
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1:05:58Life 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…
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If You Don't Laugh, You'll Cry | Sammy Petersen
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1:01:19Sammy 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 pr…
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There's More to Life Than Winning | Jasper Buck
42:55
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42:55Jasper 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…
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David Simmons - 40 Under 40 & The Art of Telling Your Story
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52:09This episode is a deep dive into the 40 Under 40 program—what it means, why it matters, and why more young South Australians should back themselves and apply. Sam and journalist David Simmons (Solstice Media) break down what they look for as judges, from compelling storytelling to impact beyond revenue. They tackle the struggle many South Aussies h…
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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 …
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Being Gay Doesn't Define Me | Mark Cawdron-White
1:02:33
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1:02:33Mark 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 fe…
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Not Your Average Psychologist | Dr Simon Tyler
1:04:50
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1:04:50Imagine 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 construc…
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Life Before and After Prison | James Culley
1:04:43
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1:04:43When 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 …
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If I Don't Take A Break, I'm Not Going to Survive | Memorable Moments
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13:12Over 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 …
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I Couldn't Understand Why I Was Like That | Memorable Moments
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13:25Over 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…
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It Was Either Get Help, or I'm Going to Lose My Life | Memorable Moments
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15:17Over 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 Drinkin…
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Is Men's Mental Health Getting Better or Worse? | Dr Ian Zajac & Dr Michael Billows
1:21:00
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1:21:00It’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 c…
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How Growing Up on Shaky Ground Made Me | Brad Ordway
1:04:47
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1:04:47Raised 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 a…
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Young Men at a Crossroads | Dr Zac Seidler
1:03:11
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1:03:11The 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 pl…
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Getting to the Gold | Jed Altschwager
1:06:19
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1:06:19Sometimes 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…
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Making the Most of Life Without Sight | Ian Clements
38:57
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38:57Imagine 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 Founda…
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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 Dre…
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The Cost of Being What Other People Want You to Be | Niko Diamond
1:00:25
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1:00:25No matter how hard he tried, Nik never felt good enough in any area of his life. Always craving respect and approval from his father that wasn’t forthcoming, he grew up believing any love he was to receive was conditional on what he could deliver. Nik manufactured a version of himself based on his idea of what the people around him wanted him to be…
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Carving Out Connection | Benjamin Roberts
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47:43The quality of our mental health is intertwined with our sense of connection to each other and the world around us. Humans are social creatures; we need community wherever we can find it, and being lonely makes us more likely to be mentally ill. Ben is a musician on a mission to create connection his own way. Since April, he's been taking his guita…
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Thanks for Not Looking Away | Shannon Molloy
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46:52You might be shocked to hear a third of child sexual abuse is perpetrated by another child... It's not the stereotype that comes to mind when this topic gets brought up, but it's what happened to Shannon Molloy from the age of five... An accomplished journalist and author, Shannon investigated male child sexual abuse for his book 'You Made Me This …
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Leaving Law for Mental Health | Brian Njuguna
58:23
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58:23Grinding out a successful career as a young lawyer, Brian thought he knew the path laid out before him, until one particularly confronting case changed everything… Back then Brian had no idea embarking on his mental health journey would ultimately lead him to create a unique mental health support service called BCognitive. Brian’s got a great story…
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Accepting I'm on the Spectrum | Callum Reid
48:56
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48:56Most of us have had times in our lives when we’ve felt like we don’t fit in, but what if you always felt out of place no matter where you are? That’s the reality for many people on the Autism Spectrum, who are known as 'neurodivergent' a name given to those whose brain processes information in a way that’s different to the majority. At 28, Callum R…
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is often misunderstood. We commonly think of OCD as a need to keep things in order or being a germaphobe, but the reality can be far more life altering. Matt’s experience of OCD was coloured by a constant barrage of intrusive thoughts so intense that it drove him to make an attempt on his life. It was the peak of the c…
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Countless young Aussies grow up playing sport, dreaming of life as a professional athlete. Making a career out of playing the game you love sounds perfect; but as Tom Jonas will tell you, there’s more to it than meets the eye. The former Port Adelaide captain's 13 season AFL career came to an end in 2023 after a rollercoaster year of inner turmoil.…
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Finding Courage Against Cancer | Kish Modi
52:17
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52:17Many of us go through life believing we’re the ones in control; that nothing is going to go terribly wrong if we do the right thing and look after ourselves. But sometimes, when we least expect it, life can be cruel and wildly unfair, reminding us of the fragility of our existence. Everything was ticking along nicely for Kish, enjoying a night out …
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Get a Grip on Porn & Sex Addiction | Dr Paula Hall
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1:03:35How much porn are you watching? And how much sex are you having?... They're questions that'll get your guard up like nothing else; and although sex and porn are experienced by most people on Earth, when it comes to taking a frank look at our own sexual behaviour, many of us feel the pressure to minimise, exaggerate or avoid it altogether. In this e…
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The Ripple Effect: Rising from a Tragic Chain of Events | Maddie Mortimer
1:06:35
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1:06:35Raising two daughters with his wife in a happy home, Warren Gunns never could’ve predicted the devastating chain of events that would befall his family. His eldest, Maddie was 13 years old when she was sexually assaulted on a holiday, a trauma that led to a life-threatening eating disorder, which put pressure on her parents relationship. Maddie had…
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Conversation with A Couples Counsellor | Nicholas Purcell
56:31
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56:31Love, it's something we all want and need; something most of us are either trying to find or trying to hold on to...We feel love as an emotion, we love others as an action... we can be in love and fall out of love; it's life's most powerful mystery and we can't solve it alone! Today's guest is Nicholas Purcell, a psychotherapist specialising in cou…
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Out of Darkness into the Light | Luke Wilson
1:41:51
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1:41:51Surrounded by violence and despair from the moment he was born, Luke’s childhood memories are riddled with pain and darkness…Sexually abused at the age of 5, and again at 14, confusion and fear became primary emotions as his life quickly spiraled in the fight for survival.Despite having his mother's enduring loved, Luke seemeddestined for incarcera…
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The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living | Dr Matthew Iasiello
1:11:17
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1:11:17We all want to be happy... it's the ultimate goal most of us would say we're always shooting for; but what actually is happiness? And is it even attainable?My guest today is Dr Matthew Iasiello, he's a researcher dedicated to better understanding all the elements of wellbeing and how to build it.In his spare time, Matt hosts his own podcast, 'Resea…
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For the past five years, this podcast has shared the stories of young men whose lives have been altered by mental health challenges and suicide. According to Lifeline, the ripple effect of each suicide death can be felt by up to 135 people connected to that person. Of those people, direct family members are the most significantly impacted. Today's …
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Rebuilding From Rock Bottom | Dave Menner
1:02:43
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1:02:43Sitting alone in a half built dream house after his marriage breakdown, trying to keep his business as a builder afloat during Covid, while managing co-parenting - Dave was thinking to himself, how had it all come to this? A middle child with a chip on his shoulder, Dave was always trying to prove people wrong and do it all. That mentality led him …
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The Surprising Truth About Sleep | Professor Michael Gradisar
1:13:12
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1:13:12Quality sleep is the top of the waterfall from which all of our health flows. Better sleep equals better everything else, and whether you've got waking woes, or you're happy with how you're laying your head, there's simple things we can all do to make tonight's sleep the best yet. My New Years resolution for 2024 was to improve my sleep performance…
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Stopping the Victim Mentality | Adam Blum
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52:41An overweight red-head with ADHD, learning difficulties and no self confidence, Adam Blum was always an easy target... Ridiculed by the bullies who called him, 'Blum', Adam was tormented and belittled from the moment he started school, all the way into his twenties. The way Adam used to see life, he was a victim, desperately yearning for a differen…
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Stuff You Should Know About Suicide | Professor Nicholas Procter
1:06:05
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1:06:05You hear about mental illness and suicide a lot more these days, especially if you follow this podcast; but are things actually getting better or worse? We live in a time with more awareness and acceptance of mental health issues than ever, yet it's not obvious all the attention is moving the needle in the right direction. Young Blood exists to sha…
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Forgiving My Parents Made Me a Better Father | Jason Wisniewski
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51:36All children deserve to feel safe, loved and cared for, but for far too many, that's not the reality. The effects of enduring childhood abuse and neglect are profound, shaping the adults that kids turn into and often perpetuating the cycle. My guest today is a first generation Australian, raised in a broken home, caught in the crossfire of his moth…
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How to Be the Man You'd Rather Be | Psychologist, Dr Ian Zajac
1:21:48
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1:21:48Have you ever been to a psychologist? I'm seeing one at the moment, and by last count, around 2 million Aussies have seen a health professional for their mental health in the past 12 months. As a society we're becoming much more open talking about mental health and going to therapy, but what actually happens when you go for your first appointment a…
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Over the next six months we’ll be releasing the first 'Young Blood - Experts Series', 10 episodes of interviews with researchers, psychologists, psychiatrists and authors who can give us the facts and insight we’ve never had before. If you listen to Young Blood for the stories of every-day blokes, don’t worry! We’ll still be bringing you a new one …
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It’s a strange thing to lose someone close to you to suicide and to have that tragedy put you on a path to finding purpose. It’s what happened to me, and it’s also what happened to Varad, whose life has been shaped by the suicide of his friend Michael in university; something he still feels guilty about. Varad’s a youth mentor who facilitates menta…
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In the aftermath of suicide, there’s questions that will never be answered and things that don’t make sense. Those left behind often blame themselves for something that ultimately wasn’t in their control, a feeling that can endure for years after.
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Imagine one minute you're sitting down chatting to your mates, and the next you're knocked unconscious by someone you've never met... That's what happened to Blake on a night out in 2012, and it's had a life-changing impact on the now 32 year old. Blake's ordeal put him through the ringer physically and mentally, and recently becoming a father hims…
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Making Art of Bipolar Disorder | Sam Kissajukian
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58:27A comedian, turned artist, turned comedic artist; this guy's story is truly out of the box… He quit stand-up comedy after a decade on the local circuit and unsure what to do with himself, made the unusual decision to hire out a warehouse and start painting… Living on three hours sleep for 6 months, letting his imagination run wild and trying to mak…
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