Straight Talking Mental Health

119: Postpartum Depression (Suzanne Yatim Aslam)

"I had a baby 7 years ago and I hated it, I felt no connection."
This week we're straight talking Postpartum Depression with Suzanne Yatim Aslam. Suzanne is a former Ms. Arab USA with no history of mental health difficulties, after the birth of her first son she hated being a mother, felt no connection to her son and it wasn't for two more years she found out she was suffering with postpartum depression and anxiety. Suzanne tells us about her book "Post Pardon Me", her anger at being depressed, she has advice for women who may be going through what she went through and Allan discusses his experience of male postpartum depression.
Suzanne is smiling after a beautiful moment with her son but someone who remains nameless in her house leaving the water running has her riled. Allan is smiling after seeing clients make some real progress but the cold weather has him riled again!
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Feel free to email us hello@stmhpodcast with any of your feedback on the show or if you would like to come on and tell your story as a guest. Check us out on www.stmhpodcast.com

118: Schizophrenia (Bee Baumann)

"In my 30s I had my own nervous breakdown and was diagnosed with schizophrenia."
This week we're straight talking Schizophrenia with Bee Baumann. Bee grew up in a strict Christian Baptist home only to find out at 12 she had been fostered and then taken back to live with her birth mother and 7 siblings. Bee tells us about becoming an emancipated child at 15, being hospitalised after a nervous breakdown and being diagnosed with schizophrenia in her 30s and her experience of being an African American woman in small town Germany.
Bee is smiling at the littlest thing like seeing a rainbow but bureaucracy has her riled... well, she is in Germany! Allan is smiling as he gets back to playing golf and he is riled because... he's back playing golf! 
Follow Straight Talking Mental Health on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. You can also now check out our episodes as videos on YouTube.
Feel free to email us hello@stmhpodcast with any of your feedback on the show or if you would like to come on and tell your story as a guest. Check us out on www.stmhpodcast.com

117: Male Depression (Neil Kelders)

"Darkness consumed me, I believed there was no way out."
Fresh for 2023, we're straight talking Male Depression with Neil Kelders. Neil shares his experience of depression that has been there since childhood after his father left at age 10, the abandonment fears that affected his relationships in later life, the constant suicidal thoughts that consumed him daily and how finally opening up about his mental health struggles helped. You can find Neil's book "The Other Side" on Amazon.
Neil's smiling after finally getting to hand his mother a copy of his book but his own mental health struggles still affecting him have him riled. Allan's riled by man's inhumanity to man after watching documentaries on war photographer James Nachtwey and Emmett Till but meeting up with some old school friends have him smiling.
Follow Straight Talking Mental Health on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. You can also now check out our episodes as videos on YouTube.
Feel free to email us hello@stmhpodcast with any of your feedback on the show or if you would like to come on and tell your story as a guest. Check us out on www.stmhpodcast.com

116: Dyslexia (Rachel)

"People say 'you should have done better at school' but I tried my hardest."
This week we're straight talking Dyslexia with Rachel. Rachel is a long time listener to the podcast who works in social care for people with mental health difficulties - she shares what that experience is like, working with people who can at times self harm or be violent. She also discusses living with dyslexia, from being screened in school, the cost and requirement of an official diagnosis, difficulties in adult life with numbers and managing money and even down to reading and messaging on online dating apps.
Rachel is riling about the cold weather but a week off from work has her smiling. Allan is smiling with the Brassic TV show but a new client who grew up in a mother and baby home has him riled.
Follow Straight Talking Mental Health on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. You can also now check out our episodes as videos on YouTube.
Feel free to email us hello@stmhpodcast with any of your feedback on the show or if you would like to come on and tell your story as a guest. Check us out on www.stmhpodcast.com

115: Dissociation (Erik DaRosa)

"I thought I was fucked, I thought I was broken, I thought I was different."
This week we're straight talking Dissociation with Erik DaRosa. Erik, a former Wall Street trader, tells us about his experience of intrusive thoughts about harming other people related to the OCD & anxiety he experienced since a child, the imposter syndrome he felt working on Wall St and the stress that lead to his first experience of dissociation. Allan (in therapist mode) discusses attachment, helps Erik track a pattern around the time of year he dissociated and we discuss Kanye's mental health.
Erik is smiling after seeing a friend for the first time in years but returning to the cold weather of Colorado from Hawaii has him riled. Allan is smiling whilst catching up on The Crown but the attitudes towards men's mental health have him riled.
Follow Straight Talking Mental Health on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. You can also now check out our episodes as videos on YouTube.
Feel free to email us hello@stmhpodcast with any of your feedback on the show or if you would like to come on and tell your story as a guest. Check us out on www.stmhpodcast.com

114: ADHD (Eric Allan)

"It was clear I wasn't going to make it through college without a formal diagnosis."
This week we're straight talking ADHD with Eric Allan. Eric tells about his OCD as a child, how a fever as a child may have contributed, how ADHD was a difficulty for him throughout life and why he doesn't know if would have wanted to be diagnosed as child. We also discuss the different manifestations of ADHD (inattentive/ hyperactive/ combined) and the diagnostic criteria for children and adults.
Ordinarily this would be our check in episode, however they will be no more, as Allan explains how him and Aisling have parted ways on podcast and life.
Follow Straight Talking Mental Health on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. You can also now check out our episodes as videos on YouTube.
Feel free to email us hello@stmhpodcast with any of your feedback on the show or if you would like to come on and tell your story as a guest. Check us out on www.stmhpodcast.com

113: Being An Escort/ Sex Worker (”Hannah”)

"I learned a lot about myself and my sexuality through sex work"
This week we're straight talking Being An Escort/ Sex Worker with "Hannah". Hannah tells us about why she chose to be an escort, being "outed" to her mother, her experience from working in a brothel to being "independent" and paying tax on a profession that is legal where she lives. Hannah also opens up about her previous mental health experiences, getting officially diagnosed with ADHD, being "stealthed" by a client and how much she has learned about herself from her work.
Unfortunately due to technical issues we have no check in before Hannah's interview this week.
Follow Straight Talking Mental Health on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. You can also now check out our episodes as videos on YouTube.
Feel free to email us hello@stmhpodcast with any of your feedback on the show or if you would like to come on and tell your story as a guest. Check us out on www.stmhpodcast.com

112: Parental Alienation & Loving Your Kids (Check In)

"Your desire to hurt your ex is greater than your love for your kids."
This week, at the request of a listener, we're straight talking Parental Alienation & Loving Your Kids. We discuss the 5 factors involved in parental alienation, not just stopping the children seeing their parent but also bad mouthing them in front of the children, the impact it has on children when they become adults and the common issues with the alienating parent. Allan shares his own experience of having had to go to court as a single father and Aisling shares her experience of everything she went through to ensure the kids weren't affected after her break up.
Aisling is smiling after getting some family time with her children but Allan interrupting her to do the podcast has her riled. Allan is riled when Aisling doesn't want the anniversary gift he thought was on to a winner with and he's smiling after watching The Banshees of Inisherin.
Follow Straight Talking Mental Health on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. You can also now check out our episodes as videos on YouTube.
Feel free to email us hello@stmhpodcast with any of your feedback on the show or if you would like to come on and tell your story as a guest. Check us out on www.stmhpodcast.com

111: Sex (Lyndsey Murray)

"One partner has the higher libido, or the other partner doesn't want to have sex as much, there can be frustration, feelings of resentment."
This week we're straight talking Sex with sex therapist Lyndsey Murray CST. Allan & Lyndsey share their clinical experience and discuss desire discrepancy (when one partner has a higher sex drive), religious beliefs and how they change our view of sex, what's the "normal" amount of times to have sex a week, masturbation, pornography and if sex addiction is real or not.
The constant rain is getting to Allan & Aisling this week. Aisling is smiling watching Helena Bonham Carter in The Cleaner but Allan isn't impressed with her breath after her latest obsession with garlic prawns and both of us are smiling after checking out the new O'Dooles restaurant in Kildare Town.
Follow Straight Talking Mental Health on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. You can also now check out our episodes as videos on YouTube.
Feel free to email us hello@stmhpodcast with any of your feedback on the show or if you would like to come on and tell your story as a guest. Check us out on www.stmhpodcast.com

110: Night Terrors & Male Body Image

"No matter how much someone tells you you're not fat... if you don't believe it yourself, no amount of anyone else saying it to you is going to convince you."
It's our check in episode! We're straight talking night terrors, as Aisling tells us about her experience of suffering night terrors, a year of screaming in her sleep and jumping out of bed. After Allan's self consciousness filming last week's YouTube episode he opens up about male body image and Aisling tells us how she was affected by... a meme!
Aisling has no smiles this week after another week of being sick and trying to manage a crazy toddler. Allan's smiling when our former co-host Kamron, graduates from college with a first class distinction but he's riled after their stay in Rossharbour turns into a sleepless night (for the wrong reasons).
Follow Straight Talking Mental Health on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. You can also now check out our episodes as videos on YouTube.
Feel free to email us hello@stmhpodcast with any of your feedback on the show or if you would like to come on and tell your story as a guest. Check us out on www.stmhpodcast.com