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  • S3E24 - I thought I was talking to aliens, with Will

    S3E24 - I thought I was talking to aliens, with Will
    2026/10/02
    On the Lively Minds UK mental health podcast, Will and Ellie discuss a teenage episode of Will’s OCD from the mid-1990s, before he knew what OCD was.

    After an infatuation, Will developed intrusive harm fears about the person being hurt, followed by a dread that aliens were listening to his thoughts and might treat them as instructions; his compulsions included mentally sending “no/don’t” messages, then symbols, and finally looking at drawings by his bed.

    The distress was intense for about a year and lasted roughly two years, mainly internally and worse when alone, while he remained outwardly “high functioning.”

    They explain OCD as intrusive thoughts plus compulsions, ego-dystonia, doubt, and maintained insight.

    Will sought help but was not diagnosed, only recognizing it as OCD about 20 years later; the alien theme later returned briefly and he dismissed it, and he notes guilt and black-and-white moral thinking as key drivers.

    They mention OCD Action and OCD UK as support resources.

    Our content does not constitute medical advice and should not be considered a replacement for seeking professional support. Signposting to resources can be found on our website livelymindspod.com

    Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts by searching Lively Minds in your favourite podcast app.

    Please consider leaving us a rating or review, it really helps others to find the show!
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    32 分
  • S3E21 - The mental health of Green and Blue Spaces, with Ellie

    S3E21 - The mental health of Green and Blue Spaces, with Ellie
    2026/08/07
    It's easy to assume that proximity to greenery or stretches of water (rivers, lakes, the sea) is good for your mental health.... Not so fast... Ellie dismantles some of Will's assumptions in this episode!

    They discuss Ellie's new PhD at the University of Cumbria, funded through an NIHR-supported Mental Health Leaders Award focused on mental health inequalities in Cumbria.

    Ellie’s research explores how disabled young people living rurally or coastally in Cumbria perceive green and blue spaces (parks, woodlands, gardens, seas, rivers, lakes) and other “third spaces” outside home and work/school as affecting their mental health and wellbeing.

    She critiques romanticised assumptions and lab-based or map-proximity studies that ignore access and infrastructure barriers, sharing personal experiences of feeling excluded from nature and reframing the issue as accessibility.

    00:00 Welcome Back Update
    00:49 Podcast Return Intro
    01:25 Ellie PhD Overview
    02:30 Defining Green Blue
    03:19 Why Disabled Youth
    05:07 Nature Access Epiphany
    07:23 Research Questions Approach
    08:21 Critiquing Nature Studies
    12:55 Access Versus Proximity
    17:48 Romanticizing Landscapes
    20:45 Colonial Rurality Debate
    22:44 What The PhD Hopes
    24:15 Subscribe And Goodbye
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    Our content does not constitute medical advice and should not be considered a replacement for seeking professional support. Signposting to resources can be found on our website livelymindspod.com

    Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts by searching Lively Minds in your favourite podcast app.

    Please consider leaving us a rating or review, it really helps others to find the show!
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    24 分
  • S3E22 – Speaking publicly about your mental health, with Kema Sikazwe (Rerun)

    S3E22 – Speaking publicly about your mental health, with Kema Sikazwe (Rerun)
    2026/06/26
    We are pleased to announce that we plan to start new episodes of Lively Minds again from next month!

    In the meantime, here is a re-run of another of our favourite episodes - this time from August 2023.

    Kema Sikawe recently appeared in a BBC 3 documentary: Therapy: Tough Talking in which he gives viewers a front-row seat at a series of therapy sessions where he opens up and discusses his mental health challenges.

    Kema, who is also known as Kema Kay, is a musician, actor and broadcaster based in Newcastle.

    In this episode we talk with Kema about the pros and cons of talking publicly about your mental health, and what safeguards need to be in place to make it a positive experience. T

    herapy: Tough Talking can be found on BBC iPlayer here. Y
    ou can find out more about Will and Kema’s work with Radio Film and the BBC World Service here.

    Find out more about Lively Minds at livelymindspod.com


    Our content does not constitute medical advice and should not be considered a replacement for seeking professional support. Signposting to resources can be found on our website livelymindspod.com

    Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts by searching Lively Minds in your favourite podcast app.

    Please consider leaving us a rating or review, it really helps others to find the show!
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    33 分
  • S3E21 - Learning Disability and Mental Health, with Paul Wilshaw (Re-Run)

    S3E21 - Learning Disability and Mental Health, with Paul Wilshaw (Re-Run)
    2026/06/05
    Hello everyone, it’s Will here. We are still in the process of resuming normal service, but we’re aware that today is the first Friday of the month so we’d ordinarily be releasing a new episode.

    We are really pleased we managed to get out 2 new episodes over the past couple of months; this month we are taking another dive into our archives and re-playing a conversation that Ellie and I had with Paul Wilshaw to talk about learning disability and mental health.

    Paul is a learning disabled artist, producer and advocate who works for Mind the Gap Theatre Company and we found our discussion, which covered the confusion between learning disability and mental health, and how the two interact really fascinating.

    Hope you enjoy the programme.

    Why is mental health and learning disability so often confused? How do they interact? Why are learning disabled people more likely to experience mental health problems than the general population?

    In this episode, we will be talking to Paul Wilshaw, who is Associate Producer at Mind the Gap Theatre Company. As well as being an advocate for Mind the Gap, Paul uses his own lived experience to be an advocate for learning disabled people.

    Paul is also presenter of Mind the Gap and Disability Arts Online’s podcast, Disability And…

    Again, we make quite a few references to websites and research in this show. Here are the links!


    • The connections between mental health and learning disability according to Mencap and Mind.
    • Some research suggests that learning disabled people are more than twice as likely to experience a mental health problem than the population at large: see results on Consensus.app
    • Disabled people are more at risk of loneliness than non-learning disabled people: ses results on Consensus.app
    Follow @livelymindspod on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and more at https://www.bio.link/livelyminds

    Please note that this show does not constitute medical advice and is not a replacement for seeking professional help. You can find our more about the show and get signposting to support on our website anyamedia.net/livelyminds

    Our content does not constitute medical advice and should not be considered a replacement for seeking professional support. Signposting to resources can be found on our website livelymindspod.com

    Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts by searching Lively Minds in your favourite podcast app.

    Please consider leaving us a rating or review, it really helps others to find the show!
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    25 分
  • S3E20 - Will discusses how he is processing his sudden cancer diagnosis

    S3E20 - Will discusses how he is processing his sudden cancer diagnosis
    2026/05/24
    In late November 2025, Will was told that what was thought to be a lingering infection was in fact advanced testicular cancer.

    Within about 36 hours of being rediagnosed he had been admitted to hospital and was starting an intensive 12-week BEP chemotherapy regimen.

    Will describes shock, dream-like dissociation, fear of death, and the balance between trying to feel positive, hopeful and grateful for the support he was receiving on the one hand, with space to feel gloom, hopelessness and fear on the other.

    Will and Ellie discuss uncertainty, loss of agency in healthcare, the pros and cons of researching your condition and treatment, upcoming RPLND open surgery, lack of in-house NHS mental health support, communication problems with appointments, and how returning to everyday life can feel disorientating.

    Lively Minds is still following an irregular schedule but we hope to get back to our monthly show soon.

    UK cancer charities mentioned in this conversation include:
    Maggies - https://www.maggies.org/
    MacMillian - https://www.macmillan.org.uk/

    Please note that this show does not constitute medical advice and is not a replacement for seeking professional help. You can find out more about the show and get signposting to support on our website livelymindspod.com

    Follow @livelymindspod on social media, or see our links at https://www.bio.link/livelyminds

    00:00 Welcome Back Intro
    00:52 Cancer Diagnosis Shock
    05:45 Dreamlike Hospital Week
    06:47 Facing Mortality Numbers
    08:58 Coping Mindsets Shift
    13:15 Agency And Research
    19:09 Information Staging Debate
    22:36 NHS Pride And Problems
    26:56 Mental Health Support Gap
    31:40 Communication Breakdown
    35:00 Surgery Fears And Trauma
    40:01 Returning Temporarily To Normal Life
    42:22 Closing And Resources


    Our content does not constitute medical advice and should not be considered a replacement for seeking professional support. Signposting to resources can be found on our website livelymindspod.com

    Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts by searching Lively Minds in your favourite podcast app.

    Please consider leaving us a rating or review, it really helps others to find the show!
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    44 分
  • S3E19 - Random Acts of Crochet Kindness, with Olivia Dieterich

    S3E19 - Random Acts of Crochet Kindness, with Olivia Dieterich
    2026/04/03
    Hosts Will and Ellie interview therapist and crocheter Olivia Dieterich about her book Random Acts of Crochet Kindness and the global movement she founded.

    After losing a friend, Natalie, to suicide, Olivia used crochet to cope with grief and set a 100-day challenge to crochet a flower each day and leave it for strangers with a note inviting them to take it home, sparking the hashtag.

    During lockdown, a found item was shared on a local Facebook group, leading to BBC coverage and the creation of a UK-based Facebook community now exceeding 350,000 members worldwide.

    Olivia discusses crochet’s grounding benefits, building self-esteem and purpose, supporting urges like self-harm, and creating “glimmers” of joy for others.

    The book offers beginner-friendly patterns, tags, guidance, and stories, and Olivia hopes to create a children’s version and more in-person meetups.

    Please note that this show does not constitute medical advice and is not a replacement for seeking professional help. You can find out more about the show and get signposting to support on our website livelymindspod.com

    Follow @livelymindspod on social media, or see our links at https://www.bio.link/livelyminds

    00:00 Welcome to Lively Minds
    01:07 How Crochet Kindness Began
    02:23 Crochet as Therapy
    05:09 Why Giving Helps You
    06:28 Going Viral in Lockdown
    08:10 A Global Kindness Community
    09:59 Small Joys and Glimmers
    0:53 Inside the New Book
    13:23 Mental Health Lessons
    15:14 Community and Connection
    16:39 Letting Go of Projects
    18:24 Whats Next and Wrap Up

    Our content does not constitute medical advice and should not be considered a replacement for seeking professional support. Signposting to resources can be found on our website livelymindspod.com

    Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts by searching Lively Minds in your favourite podcast app.

    Please consider leaving us a rating or review, it really helps others to find the show!
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    21 分
  • S3E18 - Update + Illustrating Bipolar, with Matt Ottley (Re-Run)

    S3E18 - Update + Illustrating Bipolar, with Matt Ottley (Re-Run)
    2026/03/11
    Hello everyone, it’s Will here.

    As you know, Ellie and I have had to take a break from the podcast due to some ongoing health issues. We are still hoping to bring you new episodes in late Spring or Summer 2026 but in the meantime, we thought we’d go back through our archives and bring you some of our favourite episodes from the 3 years we’ve been doing the show.

    And so, here is an episode from May 2024. Matt Ottley is a multi-award winning graphic novelist and composer, who was Australia’s nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen award. Matt joined us for a conversation about how he interprets his experiences of bipolar and psychosis through art, words and music. We focus on his book: The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness which had just been released at the time and you can find links to more information about, in the show notes.

    Just a heads up that there is a brief reference to a suicide attempt in the episode, but we don’t go into any detail.

    I hope you enjoy the show, and please do remember it would really help us out if you could rate or review us via your podcast app.

    You can find out more about The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness by following these links
    Matt Ottley’s website
    Publisher: One Tentacle’s website

    Please note that this show does not constitute medical advice and is not a replacement for seeking professional help. You can find our more about the show and get signposting to support on our website livelymindspod.com






    Our content does not constitute medical advice and should not be considered a replacement for seeking professional support. Signposting to resources can be found on our website livelymindspod.com

    Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts by searching Lively Minds in your favourite podcast app.

    Please consider leaving us a rating or review, it really helps others to find the show!
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    31 分
  • See you in 2026!

    See you in 2026!
    2025/12/14
    Hello everyone, it’s Ellie here.
    Thank you so much to all of you for following our podcast over the last few years. It has meant the world to us, and we’ve loved every part of the podcasting process so far.
    Unfortunately, due to various health issues, we are going to take a slightly-longer-than-planned break from recording new Lively Minds episodes. We hope to return to your ears for a new season sometime in 2026.
    Thank you again to everyone who has listened, subscribed, downloaded and donated to us so far - we are looking forward to picking things up again with you when we can.
    In the meantime, Will and I both wish you all a safe and warm winter, and we look forward to reconnecting with you when we are able to.
    Bye for now!

    Our content does not constitute medical advice and should not be considered a replacement for seeking professional support. Signposting to resources can be found on our website livelymindspod.com

    Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts by searching Lively Minds in your favourite podcast app.

    Please consider leaving us a rating or review, it really helps others to find the show!
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    1 分