Surrounded by violence and despair from the moment he was born, Luke’s childhood memories are riddled with pain and darkness… Sexually abused at the age of 5, and again at 14, confusion and fear became primary emotions as his life quickly spiraled in the fight for survival. Despite having his mother's enduring loved, Luke seemed destined for incarceration or early death; when everything changed… Becoming a Christian at the age of 18, Luke’s path took a miraculous turn, as he found purpose through religion and social work. Today, he’s the founder of Paylos Adventures, a mentoring business taking young people who’ve suffered hardship on life-changing adventures. This is Luke Wilson’s story…

For the past five years, this podcast has shared the stories of young men whose lives have been altered by mental health challenges and suicide. According to Lifeline, the ripple effect of each suicide death can be felt by up to 135 people connected to that person. Of those people, direct family members are the most significantly impacted. Today's guest brings us a sister's perspective on the tragedy of suicide. Natasha lost her brother Kristopher last year, leaving her and her family's lives forever changed. She's sharing her story to represent the voice of women left devastated by the suicide of men they love, and speak to those struggling to help someone close to them. This is Natasha Rofe story...

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Young Blood - Men's Mental Health is a volunteer community service. If you enjoyed this podcast, the BEST thing you can do to support the show and help me keep it going, is to rate/review on Apple Podcasts: Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health | Podcast on Spotify

And if you haven't already, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE here and on YouTube! Cheers! - Cal

Sitting alone in a half built dream house after his marriage breakdown, trying to keep his business as a builder afloat during Covid, while managing co-parenting - Dave was thinking to himself, how had it all come to this?

A middle child with a chip on his shoulder, Dave was always trying to prove people wrong and do it all.

That mentality led him to overcommit and under deliver, crushing his identity in the process.

This is the story of a bloke who had it all planned out at 30, and yet is living a very different reality at 40…after a lot of self reflection, he’s admitted his mistakes, learned some hard lessons, and ultimately changed for the better.

This is Dave Menner’s story...

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Young Blood - Men's Mental Health is a volunteer community service. If you enjoyed this podcast, the BEST thing you can do to support the show and help me keep it going, is to rate/review on Apple Podcasts: ⁠Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health on Apple Podcasts⁠ and Spotify: ⁠Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health | Podcast on Spotify⁠

And if you haven't already, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE here and on YouTube! Cheers! - Cal

Quality sleep is the top of the waterfall from which all of our health flows. Better sleep equals better everything else, and whether you've got waking woes, or you're happy with how you're laying your head, there's simple things we can all do to make tonight's sleep the best yet.

My New Years resolution for 2024 was to improve my sleep performance. I use wearable a sleep tracker, a consistent early bed time, blue light blocking glasses, ear plugs, the works and I still have a hard time getting a true eight hours.

Fortunately for me and you, today's guest on the Young Blood Experts Series is internationally renowned sleep expert, Professor Michael Gradisar.

Michael worked for twenty years as a clinical psychologist, directing Adelaide's Child and Adolescent Sleep. These days he helps people treat insomnia and adjust their circadian rhythms online and is the Head of Sleep Science at 'Sleep Cycle'; a one-stop solution sleep tracker with 50 million users worldwide.

This episode features good news for gamers, why playing Call of Duty before bed isn’t as bad for sleep as you might’ve thought... Find out how much shut eye you really need, the difference it makes if you’re not getting enough, is mouth tape all hype? and are you a good judge of your own sleep quality? Listen all the way through this one to find out all that and more with our sleep guru, Professor Michael Gradisar.

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Young Blood - Men's Mental Health is a volunteer community service. If you enjoyed this podcast, the BEST thing you can do to support the show and help me keep it going, is to rate/review on Apple Podcasts: ⁠Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health on Apple Podcasts⁠ and Spotify: ⁠Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health | Podcast on Spotify⁠

And if you haven't already, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE here and on YouTube! Cheers! - Cal

An overweight red-head with ADHD, learning difficulties and no self confidence, Adam Blum was always an easy target...

Ridiculed by the bullies who called him, 'Blum', Adam was tormented and belittled from the moment he started school, all the way into his twenties.
The way Adam used to see life, he was a victim, desperately yearning for a different life, while convincing himself he was powerless to create it.
For decades, Adam believed all the nasty voices telling him he was useless, including his own, and it almost killed him..

But Adam chose to change the narrative; and although he's tried and failed many times on the journey to becoming Adam 2.0, he's never given up.
I've just read his book, you can find that and the link to his podcast, True Blue Conversations, below.

This is Adam Blum's story...

Easy Target - Taming the Black Dog:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/easy-target-adam-blum/book/9781923004825.html

True Blue Conversations podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0YS0ZqW624g6guM03JKwEI

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Young Blood - Men's Mental Health is a volunteer community service. If you enjoyed this podcast, the BEST thing you can do to support the show and help me keep it going, is to rate/review on Apple Podcasts: ⁠Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health on Apple Podcasts⁠ and Spotify: ⁠Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health | Podcast on Spotify⁠

And if you haven't already, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE here and on YouTube! Cheers! - Cal

You hear about mental illness and suicide a lot more these days, especially if you follow this podcast; but are things actually getting better or worse?

We live in a time with more awareness and acceptance of mental health issues than ever, yet it's not obvious all the attention is moving the needle in the right direction.
Young Blood exists to share the stories of everyday men, and that won't change; but my guest today brings us the facts and a unique perspective you won't find anywhere else.

Professor Nicholas Procter is Australia's representative to the International Association for Suicide Prevention Council, he literally wrote the textbook for mental health education in this country, and has dedicated his long career to mental health research.In other words, he is the man when it comes to suicide prevention...

In this conversation, you'll learn what's at the core of so many men taking their lives, and the progress our society is actually making in this area. We'll cover what does and doesn't work for men in managing our mental health; the impact of suicide bereavement on those left behind, and is the truly system broken? Find out on the Young Blood Expert's Series.

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Young Blood - Men's Mental Health is a volunteer community service. If you enjoyed this podcast, the BEST thing you can do to support the show and help me keep it going, is to rate/review on Apple Podcasts: ⁠Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health on Apple Podcasts⁠ and Spotify: ⁠Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health | Podcast on Spotify⁠

And if you haven't already, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE here and on YouTube! Cheers! - Cal

All children deserve to feel safe, loved and cared for, but for far too many, that's not the reality.
The effects of enduring childhood abuse and neglect are profound, shaping the adults that kids turn into and often perpetuating the cycle.

My guest today is a first generation Australian, raised in a broken home, caught in the crossfire of his mother and father fighting each other and battling their own demons.

Bereft of support when he needed it most, Jason has grown up to build his life around caring for others.
He's the Co-owner of the industry disrupting disability support provider, Vana Care; a husband, and a father of three, who's had the guts to pursue his dreams; and the humility to forgive.

This is Jason Wisniewski's story...

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Young Blood - Men's Mental Health is a volunteer community service. If you enjoyed this podcast, the BEST thing you can do to support the show and help me keep it going, is to rate/review on Apple Podcasts: ⁠Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health on Apple Podcasts⁠ and Spotify: ⁠Young Blood - Men’s Mental Health | Podcast on Spotify⁠

And if you haven't already, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE here and on YouTube! Cheers! - Cal