Black Dog White Swan: Recent Episodes
Blackdogwhiteswan
The Black Dog, White Swan podcast offers a relaxed format featuring guests discussing the concept of being high functioning while dealing with mental health issues. We aim to help educate and inspire listeners and create a movement of support and understanding.
This is the last episode in the first series of Black Dog White Swan. This episode was completely impromptu and was recorded after we'd been in the studio recording an interview with a guest. Both of us were feeling emotional and slightly rattled that day, so we thought that - rather than only ever discussing mental health when we're feeling ok and taking things from a 'theoretical' standpoint - it would be hugely important to capture how we were feeling by being completely vulnerable and discussing how we coped with those feelings right there, in situ!
In this episode we discuss men's mental health with Dr. Hilary Jones with particular reference to the 'Heads up Heads together' campaign, which saw the charity join forces with the Football Association, with the aim of encouraging men to talk and change the conversation around mental health.
In this episode we talk to Scott Shillum - Managing Director of Vismedia and Co-founder of The Photography Movement - about living with clinical depression, suicide, coping mechanisms and cathartic creative pursuits.
In this episode we talk to Paul Devoy, the CEO of Investors in People, about stress in the workplace. Our conversation explores the dynamic between an individuals' mental health and their workplace, discussing what needs to be done to create more supportive work environments where people feel supported, valued and able to bring their true self to work.
In this episode we chat to podcaster, writer and mental health ambassador Joe Creak. The conversation is a very raw and honest exploration of key issues relating to depression, anxiety and the true nature of self care.
This episode of the podcast discusses Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) with ex Liverpool and England footballer, Chris Kirkland. We explore what SAD is exactly and hear how Chris dealt with it. He speaks candidly about his low energy, low mood and suicidal thoughts, then discusses the steps he took to improve things for his mental health and overall wellbeing.
In this episode we talk to Chris O'Sullivan, the business manager from the Mental Health Foundation, who are the UK's leading organisation promoting positive change surrounding mental health in the workplace.
In this episode, we talk to Kelly Swain and Natasha Ralph from Now Is The Time To Change about their personal experiences dealing with chronic illness and mental health conditions, specifically exploring the world of alternative and complimentary therapies to achieve holistic wellbeing and balance. It is common for people to underestimate the power of these forms of treatment but for Kelly, they were truly life changing. As parents, they think it is vital that the younger generation are given the tools to manage their own wellbeing and develop an understanding of how to have a resilient mindset at an early age. They are on a mission to teach children and teens the tools and techniques to cope with stress and anxiety, particularly through transitional periods of school and future life's challenges. Given the current uncertainty in the world, the techniques discussed in this session could be of huge benefit to anyone.
This, the second of our episodes, is where we introduce the format for the whole series of our Black Dog White Swan podcast. Each episode features a relaxed discussion with a different guest, where we focus on a specific aspect of mental health for high-functioning individuals. In this episode we talk to ex Capital and current Virgin Radio presenter, Chris Brooks, about this lifelong battles with anxiety.
Episode 1 just gives you a bit of background to us - Abbie and Sadie - and tells you why we’re so passionate about bringing the issue of high-functioning mental health issues to the fore.
Please note, Episode 1 does, unfortunately, have some audio issues (the occasional robotic sound!), simply because it was recored during lockdown from a venue with struggling internet! Hence there’s not a lot we could do about it. All the other episodes, however, were recorded in a studio, so are fine and dandy! ;-)