Mid-life Men: the mental health podcast

For most of our lives, we're known by what we do. Our work shapes our identity, gives us purpose and often becomes the measure of our self-worth. But what happens when that chapter ends? When the career finishes, the business is sold or retirement finally arrives, many men are left asking a question they never expected: Who am I now? 

George Jerjian has spent years helping people answer that question. But his own journey began after being told he had what doctors believed was a terminal bone tumour - a life-changing moment that f...

In this episode, we talk to Paul Drugan, who carried the emotional scars of growing up with a father who, behind closed doors, was controlling, violent and emotionally abusive. From the outside, his family looked successful and respectable. Inside the home, he was living in fear, convinced that somehow he deserved what was happening. 

Like many men, Paul never spoke about it. 

Instead, he buried the pain beneath achievement, alcohol, drugs and a lifetime of believing he wasn't good enough. It wasn't until adulthood that he began asking the question that changed everything: What if th...

Many men spend decades chasing the next thing. The next promotion. The next pay rise. The next business success. The next milestone. The belief is simple: once I get there, I'll finally be happy.

But what happens when you get there and something still feels missing?

In this episode of Mid-Life Men, I talk to former CEO and executive coach Bill Williams about a question that many successful men quietly wrestle with: Why don't I feel happier?

Bill shares the story of a life spent striving. From the death of his...

In this episode, I'm joined by Ryan McGuigan, whose life, from the outside, looked like a success. He had built a thriving business from scratch, was engaged to be married, enjoyed financial stability, and seemed to be living the life many men aspire to. But beneath the surface, something felt wrong.

As the physical demands of his work took their toll and cracks began to appear in his relationship, Ryan found himself facing a reality he hadn't expected. Within a short space of time, his engagement ended, he moved into a shared house just months before turning 40...

In this episode, we hear from Brad Hill. For most of his life, from the outside, it looked like he was coping, functioning, working, getting on with life. But underneath, he was carrying things he had never really dealt with: a father who wasn't there, childhood sexual abuse, feelings of inadequacy and a growing dependence on alcohol that became his longest relationship. 

In this honest and powerful conversation, Brad shares how decades of buried pain, self-criticism and addiction eventually caught up with him and why getting sober was only the beginning of the real work. 

We...

Tom Jenkins looked functional from the outside. He held down jobs, travelled the world and kept life moving forward. But underneath, he was trapped in a cycle of binge drinking, gambling, shame, self-destruction and trying to outrun himself. 

In this brutally honest conversation, Tom talks openly about: 

But thi...

When Samuel Shepherd was diagnosed with a rare terminal blood cancer, doctors told him there was no treatment, no cure, and possibly very little time left. For many people, that would have been the end of the story. For Samuel, it became the beginning of an obsession. 

A physicist, engineer and inventor with decades of experience across biochemistry, environmental science and high-level government projects, Samuel turned all of his knowledge towards one goal: staying alive. What followed was years of relentless research, experimentation and a refusal to accept inevitability. 

This conversation is different from most ep...

At 47, Jack Clifford was told he had a 100% blocked LAD “widowmaker” artery and needed emergency triple bypass surgery. 

Instead, he walked out of the hospital. 

Partly because he didn’t feel like the kind of man this was supposed to happen to. Partly because he’d watched his mother suffer cognitive decline after heart surgery and was terrified of losing himself in the process. 

What followed was a five-year journey that completely changed how he thought about health, ageing, and survival. 

In this episode, Jack explains why he chose not to follow the p...

This episode contains an open and honest conversation about suicidal thoughts. We've chosen not to shy away from the reality of what that experience feels like because we believe that hearing it spoken about directly can help people feel less alone. If you're affected by what you hear, we'll share contact information at the end of the show notes of organisations you can reach out to right now. 

For a long time, Graham Noble looked like a man handling life. Career. Family. Five children. Constantly working. From the outside thriving. But whenever pressure built, another t...

Seejai was a Division I basketball player with a professional future in his sights.

Then, without warning, his body started telling a different story.

What he thought were manageable breathing issues became a serious heart condition, the end of the sporting path he had spent years working towards, and eventually two heart transplants.

In this conversation, Seejai talks openly about the shock of watching life veer away from the plan you had in your head and the mental toll that comes with trying to process that while still pretending you’re coping.

...

Most men know something is wrong before anything goes seriously wrong. The sleep getting worse. The energy is not quite there. The body that used to be forgiving and now isn't. The sense that somewhere along the way, you stopped being a priority even to yourself. 

Dr. Ken Ro has spent decades in emergency medicine watching men arrive at crisis points that, in nearly every case, had been building for years. Not because they were careless or ignorant, but because the way men are wired - to provide, to absorb, to keep going - makes it almost i...

Most men are good at one thing: Keeping going. 

Through stress.
Through pain.
Through things not quite working. 

Until eventually, it all starts catching up. 

In this episode, I’m joined by Cam Cordin, who at 44 found himself physically broken, in constant pain, his marriage collapsing, his work unstable, and at a point where he didn’t want help. 

Instead, he made a private contract with himself: 911 days to rebuild his body and his life, or he was out. 

What followed wasn’t a...

What if nothing is wrong in your life… but you don’t feel anything anymore? 

Some men don’t break down. They just go numb.

They keep working, providing, showing up… but inside something has quietly switched off. 

In this episode I speak with Kenyada Meadows, a former Wall Street executive who calls this “hollow man syndrome” - when you look successful on the outside but feel empty inside. 

Kenyada talks openly about the slow realization that success doesn’t always equal fulfillment, the pressure many men feel to stay stro...

Some men don’t just go through one difficult relationship. 

They find themselves asking a harder question: Why do I keep ending up in the same situation with different people? 

In this episode, Simon Verhage talks honestly about growing up feeling unheard, carrying that need for connection into adult life, and how that led him into relationships he hoped would finally give him the stability he was looking for. 

What makes this conversation different is how openly he talks about the pattern, not just one breakdown but several, and the d...

In this episode I talk with Dr James Rouse, author of "No Days Off", about what that moment looked like for him. Growing up around alcohol, instability, and pressure to just get on with things, he followed a path a lot of men fall into: drinking too much, pushing himself hard physically, and trying to outrun how he felt rather than face it. 

Some men don’t crash. They just reach a point where they quietly think: “I can’t keep living like this.” 

What makes this conversation different is how honest he...

Most men deal with stress the same way: push through, stay in control, and keep going.

But what if the body already has its own built-in way to release stress, and we’ve simply been taught to suppress it?

In this episode I speak with Richmond Heath, a physiotherapist and one of the pioneers of Trauma Release Exercises (TRE) in Australia. Richmond’s interest in this work began with his own experience of chronic pain and high-functioning anxiety, which traditional treatments never fully resolved.

His turning point came during a meditation retr...

This is a difficult and honest conversation.

 For years, Jacob played the tough guy. 

Violence, intimidation, and control became a shield against something he could not face in himself. The price was prison, addiction, fractured relationships and a life built on concealing his true identity. 

Adopted as a baby and raised in a loving, privileged home in North London, Jacob grew up with a persistent sense of not belonging. Alongside that was the realisation, from a young age, that he was gay. Instead of acknowledging it, he suppressed it.

What followed was...

What happens when you grow up feeling like you don’t quite fit, and you spend decades assuming the problem is you?

In this episode, I speak with Gary Hawkins, a long-serving NHS clinician who was diagnosed as autistic later in life. Gary’s story is not neat or linear. It includes childhood chaos, being labelled “unteachable,” boarding school, the traumatic loss of his father in the Falklands, years of masking in professional environments, severe burnout, misdiagnosis, medication that didn’t help, and eventually, a diagnosis that brought clarity rather than cure.

This is not a c...

You won’t hear many life stories like this.

Jerzy Gregorek’s life spans teenage alcoholism and suicidal thoughts, elite Olympic-level weightlifting, political exile from communist Poland, serious injury and paralysis, underground resistance work, and the long, unglamorous process of starting again in a new country. More than once.

What makes this episode different is that Jerzy doesn’t romanticise any of it. He speaks plainly about the cost of bad choices, the patience required to rebuild, and the quiet discipline that slowly turns chaos into stability.

Out of that lived experience comes a prin...

What happens when you grow up in chaos and just learn to get on with it?

In this episode, I talk with filmmaker and speaker Lee Greenhough about growing up around loss, addiction, and instability and how those early years quietly shape the choices men make later in life. Lee shares what it’s like to carry things you never dealt with, how that weight can surface through drinking, anger, or restlessness, and why change rarely comes from big moments or sudden insight.

Instead, this conversation is about responsibility, momentum, and the small decisions that sl...

A lot of men don’t think they have a problem with intimacy. They just feel a bit distant. A bit shut down. Less connected than they used to be to their partner, to sex, or to themselves. This episode goes right into that space.

I’m joined by Dr. Dan Sneider. Dan is a therapist; however, this isn’t a lecture or a list of techniques. It’s a conversation grounded in his own lived experience and how he learned early on to shut parts of himself down, how that showed up in his relationships, and what it...

In this episode, I’m joined by Michael Rice, a bioarchitect and the founder of Mentorus. Michael approaches men’s lives the same way he approaches buildings: by looking at foundations, structure, and whether what’s been built is actually fit for purpose. After years designing physical spaces, his work now focuses on helping men understand why a life that looks solid on the outside can quietly stop working from within, and how to rebuild it with intention, clarity, and honesty.

We talk about what happens when the life you’ve construc...

In this episode, we talk to Mordy Gottlieb, a men’s therapist whose work - and life - has been shaped by one quiet, corrosive belief: “Whatever I do, it’s never enough.”

Mordy shares how perfection became his survival strategy as a child and how striving without self-compassion led to years of numbing, self-criticism, and chasing relief through behaviours that slowly escalated rather than resolved the pain.

What makes this conversation different is its honesty about how these patterns actually form, starting with food, moving into pornography and other forms of escap...

What happens to a man when he loses his father and no one shows him how to grieve?

In this honest, darkly funny, and deeply human conversation, we hear from John Colbert, a writer and former advertising creative who turned the loss of his father to prostate cancer into Damaged Goods, a memoir made up of short, sharply observed stories about grief, masculinity, mental health, and what happens long after the funeral ends.

John was just 20 when his father died after a six-year illness. What followed was a period of profound depression, emotional...

What do you do when you look in the mirror and no longer recognise the man staring back? When the weight you’re carrying - physically and mentally - feels impossible to shift?

In this powerful and frank conversation, we speak with Jonathan Boulware, a man who went from years of obesity, shame, and hopelessness to completely transforming his life, but not through fad diets or quick fixes, but by rebuilding his mindset, his habits, and his sense of self.

Jonathan shares the story of losing his mother to obesity, the moment he re...

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Brian Livesay, a trauma therapist and Director of Clinical Research at Arise Alliance, and we explore how men can heal from unspoken trauma, not by suppressing or avoiding it, but by facing it differently.

Drawing from his personal story of loss, military service, and years working with veterans and first responders, Brian introduces a groundbreaking approach to healing called Critical Memory Integration (CMI). It’s a way of helping people re-engage with their most painful memories from a place of safety, strength, and agency, transforming how...

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 realising the man you were has nowhere to go and nothing to do...

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 tell ourselves (“I’m fine”), the habits that hold us back, and the simple...

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 “man up,” hide emotions, and go it alone. 

You’ll...