Mitch Wallis speaks to Nick Ward who talks about his struggles with fitting in and we discuss how we both manage intense thoughts and intense emotions particularly as a young person with a brain that feels different to other people, whilst trying to navigate the pressures and realities of school and being a teenager. A great listen if you're going through anything similar or are a parent to a teenager and wanting to better understand the complexities.

This episode covers:

• what being a man means to him, and how we wear a mask to fit in.
• exploring how rewarding yet challenging it is to sit with uncomfortable emotions.
• being the youngest Tropfest finalist in history (the world’s largest short film festival), at the age of just 16. His project was a thought provoking, emotional drama about teenage mental health called 'Boys Don't Cry'.
• tackling the alarming epidemic of depression, anxiety and suicide among young Australians through creative film writing.
• his goal to rewrite the toxic side of the masculine narrative that still permeates young boys today.

Mitch Wallis speaks to Thorald Koren, a singer-song writer who takes us through some his experiences with the bizarre and intrusive world of OCD, and how a shooting star of all things was something that changed the trajectory of his life forever.

This episode covers:

• Mitch sharing a story about how he helped him eat a drawing of the devil to overcome his fear of being possessed, which out of context, couldn’t be weirder.
• Touring with Coldplay, Bon Jovi, Pink and Rod Stewart, roaming international stages and performing in front of sold out stadiums.
• Living a rockstar life with insidious anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder that plagued his life, driving him into chapters of psychosis and suicidal ideation.
• Helping people with their mental health through music. Together with his talented brother Isaac, they established “The Songwriters Journey” to reconnect people with their lost selves and provide a safe yet creative place to heal their life’s trauma.

Mitch Wallis speaks to Ruby Wax OBE, a very well-known comedian. In the 1980’s, Ruby starred in the sitcom Girls on Top, and came to prominence as a comic interviewer in shows including The Full Wax and Ruby Wax Meets, as well as writing for the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous otherwise known as Ab Fab! This is a more light hearted interview so enjoy listening to our sh*t and inappropriate jokes. What better way to not feel so crazy than to listen to someone who totally and unapologetically owns it.

This episode covers:

• her impressive comedy career and equally esteemed academic career
• navigating depression in an era where "mental health" wasn't a thing
• experiencing feeling "crazy" and spending time in a psychiatric unit
• why our own illnesses can often lead us to help others who suffer
• how to be unapologetically yourself, even in the face of challenge

Mitch Wallis speaks to Francesca Hung, also known as Miss Universe Australia 2018. From the outside she has the perfect life... a beautiful model, from an affluent family, studying at university, living a life of privilege. What does she have to be sad about? A question that's plagued her for a lifetime...

This episode covers:

• the guilt of “having it all” yet feeling so low
• battling with self esteem issues and body image insecurities
• her struggle to fit in and embracing her ethnicity as a Chinese-Australian
• resenting herself and the reality of life behind an online smoke screen
• comparative suffering and the dark places that took her

This episode covers:

• exploring his mental health journey in the public eye
• managing multiple mental ill-health conditions at once
• the reality of OCD, obsessive thought patterns and anxiety
• his experience with medication and treating his conditions
• the dark battle with alcohol addiction and coming back from the brink of psychosis