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© 2025 Mid-life Men: the mental health podcast
Description
Have you ever felt like you’ve become lost in your own life?
Many men struggle to talk about their problems and mental health and grew up believing that to do can be perceived as a sign of weakness or failure. There is also a lack of open discussion in society around men’s mental health, especially aimed at mid-life men. As a result, at times many men can feel alone and lost in their own lives.
In this podcast series, I talk to mid-life men about their stories; the challenges, the turning points, and the support received to help them find their way so that others who may be suffering in silence or don’t know what to do next, realise that they are not alone and there is help available.
Stories will cover a whole range of challenges faced by mid-life men mainly relating to the causes of mental health issues including feelings of isolation, depression, job dissatisfaction, addiction, PTSD, and long-term illness.
The podcast is NOT a replacement for professional support and we signpost to organisations and their contact details by episode.
If you have a story you would like to share or any feedback on the podcasts, please email me: midlifemen01@gmail.com.
76 Episodes
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What happens when the work stops, the job title is no longer relevant, and the role that defined you disappears? In this episode, Nick Shelton tells the story so many midlife men silently live: achieving everything you thought you wanted… only to find yourself fading, drifting, or feeling strangely empty once the structure and purpose of working life falls away. Nick retired young, thinking it would feel like freedom. Instead, it felt like slowly disappearing, like waking up one day and reali...
What if midlife wasn’t the beginning of decline, but a second chance to feel alive again? In this episode, my guest is Louis Bezich, men’s health advocate, and author of Saving Men from Themselves. After years of juggling leadership, divorce, and single parenthood, Louis discovered that taking care of himself wasn’t selfish - it was survival. Louis shares how purpose, relationships, and everyday rituals can transform men’s health, longevity, and happiness. He speaks honestly about the lies we...
In this episode, Merlin Matthews, founder of Man Academy, explores how men can move from isolation to connection, from being “lone warriors” who suppress emotions to connected men who grow through community and accountability. From childhood trauma and dissociation to running a global charity and now creating a movement to halve the male suicide rate, Merlin’s story is as complex as it is hopeful. He shares what he’s learned about breaking free from conditioning, such as the pressure to...
In this powerful conversation, transformational coach Anthony Cudjoe shares a no-excuses roadmap for men who are tired of living small, disconnected lives. With the passion of a preacher and the precision of a scientist, he explains how to reclaim your physical, emotional, and spiritual power by aligning with the natural laws that govern human performance. Coach Cudjoe doesn’t sugarcoat a thing. His message is simple but radical: It’s his job to tell the truth. It’s your job to decide. ...
In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Gary Jader, a lifelong advocate for men’s mental health, talks about growing up in a house full of conflict, the long shadow of a verbally abusive father, and how that early pain became fuel for a life spent helping others heal. Gary’s story is not one of overnight transformation. It’s about persistence, learning to “dance with our imperfections,” as he puts it, and finding the courage to speak the truth about what’s really going on inside. Tog...
TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains references to suicide, which you may find distressing, so please listen with care. So many men grow up hearing the same messages: figure it out yourself, don’t cry, just get on with it. The result? A lot of us go through life carrying heavy stuff on our own, even when it’s slowly crushing us. In this conversation, I talk to Tom Karrell about what happens when you stop pretending and actually start connecting. Tom shares openly about losing three close fr...
What happens when a successful career suddenly disappears overnight? In this frank conversation, we explore the hidden reality of job loss in today's brutal employment market and its devastating impact on mental health, identity, and self-worth. Joe built a thriving career as a copywriter for major brands before being made redundant alongside thousands of others in the tech industry bloodbath. What followed was an eye-opening journey through the modern job market that would challenge everythi...
TRIGGER WARNING This episode contains a reference to suicidal thoughts, which you may find distressing, so please listen with care. In this powerful episode, we hear the remarkable story of a man who turned years of bullying into fuel for resilience and achievement. Ben shares how relentless bullying at school - much of it focused on the way he ran - left him feeling isolated, stripped of confidence, and battling despair. What started as taunts from a friend escalated into years of cruelty th...
In this episode of the Mid-Life Men Podcast, I sit down with career strategist Mike Dwyer to tackle one of the biggest midlife challenges: how to stay relevant, employable, and fulfilled in a world of shifting technology, corporate upheaval, and age bias. Mike brings decades of experience helping men navigate uncertainty, and he shares practical strategies for fighting back against the forces that can leave midlife professionals feeling sidelined. We explore: Why so many sea...
TRIGGER WARNING : This episode contains a raw and honest account of a suicide attempt. Some of what you will hear may be distressing, so please listen with care. What happens when life strips you of everything - family, security, even the will to live? Jack Muldoon knows. From losing both parents as a child to battling addiction, homelessness, and a suicide attempt, Jack’s story is raw, brutal, and ultimately inspiring. In this conversation, Jack opens up about how he rebuilt hims...
What happens when fame fades, money runs out, and identity slips away? In 2005, Anthony Hutton became an overnight celebrity after winning Big Brother. aged just 23. Within days, he had agents, photo shoots, and hundreds of thousands of pounds in the bank. But when the cameras switched off, eventually life unravelled into drink, drugs, and even passive thoughts of suicide. Today, his story looks very different. As a barber, keynote speaker, and founder of the Never Throw In ...
What happens when the life you’ve built no longer feels like the life you’re meant to live? At 54, Erik walked away from a long marriage, left the country he’d called home for 25 years, rebuilt in Spain, survived a stroke, and is now creating a new business in AI. His story isn’t one of reckless reinvention, but of deliberate choices, awareness, and courage to face change head-on. In this conversation, Erik and I talk about: Letting go with respect - how to end a marriage wi...
What if the root of many problems faced by middle-aged men - burnout, broken relationships, anxiety, aggression - stemmed from something hiding in plain sight: entitlement and narcissism? In this fascinating conversation, psychologist and Dean of the University of Wollengong in Australia, Simon Moss explains why our culture's emphasis on status, dominance, and self-importance might be making us miserable, and what we can do about it. Drawing on decades of research, Simon introduce...
Tik Maynard is an internationally respected horseman, author, and dad who hit midlife before realising that life is less about striving and external validation and more about understanding who you truly are and how to live from that place with honesty and purpose. Through his journey training wild horses for a high-stakes competition, Tik uncovered something deeper: how presence, vulnerability, and authenticity are not just essential in horsemanship - they’re essential in life. This is ...
What happens when the big job ends and no one’s lining up to offer another? For Andrew Middleton, that moment sparked an identity crisis, financial panic, and ultimately, a radical reinvention. In this honest and hopeful episode, Andrew shares how it felt to be “airlifted out of relevance” in his 50s, facing ageism, self-doubt, and the loss of structure that once defined his life. But he didn’t stop there. Instead, he built something new: a portfolio career based on curiosity, joy, and ...
In this powerful and quietly revealing episode, Mike Flynn talks about a mid-life experience that will sound painfully familiar to many men: ticking all the boxes, doing everything “right”, yet feeling completely disconnected inside. Mike describes how success masked an emotional emptiness he didn’t fully understand until it almost broke him. He speaks candidly about the subtle slide into burnout, the role of people-pleasing and control, and the cost of never stopping long enough to fee...
In this extraordinary episode, Kenny Mammarella-D’Cruz - known as The Man Whisperer - opens up about a life that began in chaos and fear: fleeing Idi Amin’s Uganda, growing up in a refugee camp, and becoming the emotional crutch for his family at just seven years old. He shares how these early traumas buried his identity and left him riddled with compulsions, anxiety, and isolation. It’s not just survival. It’s the slow, deliberate undoing of a life built on fear. Kenny take...
What happens when the body that carried you through life starts to break? For Waldemar, an architect and explorer from Mexico City, who built his identity around physical endurance, the answer wasn’t to stop moving but to start moving differently. In this powerful conversation, Waldemar shares how knee surgeries shattered not just his meniscus, but his sense of self. What followed was a deep personal reinvention from adrenaline-fuelled guide to founder of the Wildflow Method, a movement...
In this episode, we're joined by Josh Fineman. Josh had the career, the young family, the success but behind it all was exhaustion, self-doubt, and a relentless voice asking, “Is this it?” In this honest and revealing conversation, Josh shares how growing up as the ‘good boy’ in a high-achieving North London household shaped his adult identity. He talks about the unspoken grief that filled the family home, the hidden cost of seeking approval, and the endless comparisons that wore him do...
Trigger warning: This episode includes honest discussions about suicide attempts, mental illness, domestic violence, and trauma. Adam Smith’s story is unlike anything you’ve heard - and exactly what so many men need to hear. Sectioned at 11. In prison by 21. Found unresponsive in a car after trying to end his life. This could’ve been the end - but it wasn’t. Instead, Adam’s journey is one of remarkable survival and a relentless mission to make his pain count for something. I...
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