Man vs Mind

His knees were weak, palms sweaty, and before you think Tim's rapping along to Lose Yourself, he's actually describing two of the four billion bloody symptoms he had while changing meds. Apparently serotonin withdrawl is a real thing and f*ck me it's savage. So once he got his head clear, him and J went through it all blow by bizarre blow, before digging into J's head as he prepares to become a da...

Tim's psychiatrist says he's exhibiting strong obsessive and neurotic tendancies... So Tim's spiralling, obvs. He's also mid-medication change (hello Prozac my old friend) – his head is all over the friggin place this week, and makes no attempt to hide it. They go over how smart gadgets and health-tracking tech actually feed obsessive behaviours, and Tim's experience ditching his scales and Apple...

With the World Cup 2026 kicking off, Tim and J tackle the question no man really wants answered: why does watching 22 strangers kick a ball reduce functional adults to tears? It's about sport, finding a sense of belonging, tribalism, and the awkward fact that football is one of the only socially-accepted places men are allowed to cry. They get into the teams you're born into versus the ones you pi...

Tim and J return to happiness, four months after part one (you can blame a certain someone across the pond...). Tim arrives fresh from therapy, where he and his therapist exchanged a foot five (wtf?). He's ditched the scales, he's lifting heavier weights in the gym... and shaved his own hair off... so yeah he seems pretty stable. J snapped at a colleague for the first time in his life, spent an ho...

Tim and J return to body image – a year after their first three episodes on the subject, which apparently achieved very little for Tim personally. Despite quitting smoking, cutting back on the booze, and actually going to the gym again, his relationship with his own reflection has somehow got worse. They get into that, in detail, and J sets Tim a challenge. J, meanwhile, has lost a tonne of weight...

We extend our thanks to Anxiety for its role in today's talking points. And J specifically wants to thank Anxiety for his day-long wait in the car park after dropping his little girl off at nursery. Tim & J are properly back in the swing of things now and looking to get some closure on the last three months. How can you take care of your mental health when your whole world and routine go out t...

And boom, brand-new Man vs Mind drop out of nowhere, like we've never been away. After three months away (and approximately 47 WhatsApp voice notes saying “we really need to record”), we’re finally back in the same room together. This episode is one big catch-up on everything that’s happened while we’ve been gone – the beautiful, the painful, the surreal, and the very, very stupid. J shares the jo...

Yeah we totally owe you an explanation. Blame geopolitics. And some other stuff. But we PROMISE we're back soon...ish. Soonish. It's still a promise. Jus7aJj66XrpcT0tFzvl

Shaving your legs indirectly benefits your mental health... ... isn't something many podcasts will claim, but somehow Tim indirectly links shaving his leg(s) – for real – with maintaining his mental health. Make of that what you will. This week, still working remotely for safety reasons, Tim & J catch up on how they've been coping with the ongoing regional conflict. Expect talk about working o...

Tim and J check in after a turbulent (and scary) week across the region. Instead of diving into geopolitics, they talk about the human side: anxiety, family life, sleepless nights, coping (or not coping), and the strange challenge of trying to stay normal while the world around you feels anything but. If you're feeling unsettled, anxious or scared and don't know who to talk to – please get in touc...

Happiness is... ... blimey, screwed if we know. That's a massive question, and we probably bit off more than we could chew when we asked that. Today we start a bit of a deep dive into happiness. What's the difference between being in a good mood, and finding existential contentment? Told you we got deep. Plus, find out what our audience think happiness is (those that could bother to respond to our...

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes… but not the “moving house / new job” kind. This week, Tim and J talk about an unnerving kind of change: the mental shift from running on autopilot to actually feeling like the main character in your own life. J opens up about getting help after months of anxiety "stealing" his time – the work spirals, the constant “what if I panic?” loop, and what’s changed since meds and star...

Okay this week Tim & J turned into proper hypochondriacs, and maybe conspiracy theorists – it's hard to tell these days. They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but what about when you're freaking out about every ache, pain, wheeze, whistle, localised numbness or random bit of bleeding? That might call for more than your run of the mill Grannie Smith. So the guys huddle up and try to un...

This one is a bit ad-hoc. Because life gets in the way sometimes. As The Four Tops famously sang: Reach out, I'll be there, you can always depend on me. And those lyrics couldn't be more appropriate for Man vs Mind this week – when J's had a proper, proper , week of it. We go into why reaching out to a friend, a therapist, whoever, is the single best way of helping to manage your problems. (Oh, an...

This week, Tim quit the tastiest coping mechanism you'll find on the streets today – vaping. Having been an on-off smoker for most of his adult life, it reached the point where it didn't feel like a choice anymore, and something needed to change. But for the sake of search/discoverability let's call it a New Year's Resolution... Quitting absolutely wrecked his head – and it still does. So in this...

Woohoo it's a brand-new year, a brand-new season and the guys are audibly PUMPED to be back in the studio. Back with a fresh new sound for 2026, the guys take a bit of time to look back on how their mental health changed over the course of 2025. J speaks publicly for the first time on how ADHD treatment recently changed his life, Tim reveals the moment he realised he'll NEVER stop managing his men...

Since it's the end of the year and, y'know, life has got a bit nuts for Tim & J, we thought we'd say a quick thank you for everything this year, and sorry we've not been around since the Xmas special. To everyone, have a wonderful and hopefully restful holiday season with loved ones. We'll be back with new episodes in January once we're done with festivities, viruses and entertaining the kids!...

Christmas time, mistletoe and… panic attacks. In this festive episode of Man vs Mind , Tim and J get properly honest about Christmas – not just the cosy fairy lights version, but the pressure, money stress and forced fun that come with it. They talk about trying to keep the magic alive for their kids (and the emotional gymnastics of the whole Father Christmas lie), the logistics of in-laws and lon...

Can we ever be 100% unapologetically authentic all of the time? In this ep, Tim and J look back at the different versions of themselves they’ve tried on, and ask how much of it was real… and how much was playing along or trying to fit in? We all like to think we’re totally authentic throughout our lives. But were there moments where the mask slipped? Times we performed a bit, adapted a bit, acted...

School. That smell of anxious teenage fear, disinfectant, plastic chairs and wooden floors. For many it invokes stress, more fear, anxiety, deep-seeded trauma. For others it was the time of their lives. Today, Tim & J introduce a new game to go through the highs and lows of school life, and how it shaped our adult selves: Formative or Traumative? From rogue teachers who really needed sacking,...

We all get angry. In context, controlled anger is normal, and a healthy expression of having a balanced state of mental health. But what about when that anger is disproportionate? What do you do if your day is ruined by stubbing your toe, or stepping in a puddle, or if someone cuts you up on your drive to work? Today, Tim & J go into the trials and tribulations of the Red Emotion. From outburs...

Become a Friend of the Show on Patreon to listen to Man vs Mind Uncut (!) every single week... and without the annoying ads, all for just $5 a month! Click here to sign up today Well, it was smooth sailing for Tim this week, riding the crest of a wave as a monumental life event nears... ... until one thing sent him spiralling while sitting on the toilet. Today, Tim & J go through the inevitabi...

Become a Friend of the Show on Patreon to listen to Man vs Mind Uncut (!) every single week... and without the annoying ads, all for just $5 a month! Click here to sign up today I'm in the mooooood for [insert appropriate activity here]. Today we're exploring why a good mood can feel suspicious to an anxious brain and how our state shifts across an ordinary day: from the joy of the school run to t...

Sometimes you don’t need to take a flight. You just need five days where no one emails you. This week, Tim’s on annual leave – the holy grail of rest and recovery – except it’s somehow turned into a DIY bootcamp that's causing him and his wife too much anxiety. We’re talking all about what it really means to take a an actual break from at least one major responsibility. We go over the guilt, the n...

In the words of the great Catatonia: you give me road rage. Who they sang about is anyone's guess. But as far as Tim's concerned, it's basically every other road user. Today, Tim & J give wildly contrasting opinions about attitudes towards their fellow drivers and what pure, unrelenting anger says about the broader state of their mental health. Does driving angry equal living angry? When (if e...