Lively Minds, the UK Mental Health Podcast

S3E21 - Learning Disability and Mental Health, with Paul Wilshaw (Re-Run)

Hello everyone, it’s Will here. We are still in the process of resuming normal service, but we’re aware that today is the first Friday of the month so we’d ordinarily be releasing a new episode. We are really pleased we managed to get out 2 new episodes over the past couple of months; this month we are taking another dive into our archives and re-playing a conversation that Ellie and I had with Paul Wilshaw to talk about learning disability and mental health. Paul is a learning disabled artist, producer and advocate who works for Mind the Gap Theatre Company and we found our discussion, which covered the confusion between learning disability and mental health, and how the two interact really fascinating. Hope you enjoy the programme. Why is mental health and learning disability so often confused? How do they interact? Why are learning disabled people more likely to experience mental health problems than the general population? In this episode, we will be talking to Paul Wilshaw, who is Associate Producer at Mind the Gap Theatre Company [https://www.mind-the-gap.org.uk/]. As well as being an advocate for Mind the Gap, Paul uses his own lived experience to be an advocate for learning disabled people. Paul is also presenter of Mind the Gap and Disability Arts Online’s podcast, Disability And… [https://disabilityarts.online/projects/the-disability-and-podcast/] Again, we make quite a few references to websites and research in this show. Here are the links! * The connections between mental health and learning disability according to Mencap [https://www.mencap.org.uk/learning-disability-explained/research-and-statistics/health/mental-health] and Mind [https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/learning-disability-support/]. * Some research suggests that learning disabled people are more than twice as likely to experience a mental health problem than the population at large: see results on Consensus.app [https://consensus.app/results/?q=Are%20learning%20disabled%20people%20more%20likely%20to%20have%20mental%20health%20problems%20than%20non-learning%20disabled%20people?&synthesize=on] * Disabled people are more at risk of loneliness than non-learning disabled people: ses results on Consensus.app [https://consensus.app/results/?q=Are%20disabled%20people%20at%20higher%20risk%20of%20loneliness%20than%20non-disabled%20people%3F&synthesize=on] Follow @livelymindspod on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and more at https://www.bio.link/livelyminds [https://www.bio.link/livelyminds] Please note that this show does not constitute medical advice and is not a replacement for seeking professional help. You can find our more about the show and get signposting to support on our website anyamedia.net/livelyminds [https://www.anyamedia.net/livelyminds]

S3E20 - Will discusses how he is processing his sudden cancer diagnosis

In late November 2025, Will was told that what was thought to be a lingering infection was in fact advanced testicular cancer. Within about 36 hours of being rediagnosed he had been admitted to hospital and was starting an intensive 12-week BEP chemotherapy regimen. Will describes shock, dream-like dissociation, fear of death, and the balance between trying to feel positive, hopeful and grateful for the support he was receiving on the one hand, with space to feel gloom, hopelessness and fear on the other. Will and Ellie discuss uncertainty, loss of agency in healthcare, the pros and cons of researching your condition and treatment, upcoming RPLND open surgery, lack of in-house NHS mental health support, communication problems with appointments, and how returning to everyday life can feel disorientating. Lively Minds is still following an irregular schedule but we hope to get back to our monthly show soon. UK cancer charities mentioned in this conversation include: Maggies - https://www.maggies.org/ [https://www.maggies.org/] MacMillian - https://www.macmillan.org.uk/ [https://www.macmillan.org.uk/] Please note that this show does not constitute medical advice and is not a replacement for seeking professional help. You can find out more about the show and get signposting to support on our website livelymindspod.com [http://livelymindspod.com/] Follow @livelymindspod on social media, or see our links at  https://www.bio.link/livelyminds [https://www.bio.link/livelyminds]  00:00 Welcome Back Intro 00:52 Cancer Diagnosis Shock 05:45 Dreamlike Hospital Week 06:47 Facing Mortality Numbers 08:58 Coping Mindsets Shift 13:15 Agency And Research 19:09 Information Staging Debate 22:36 NHS Pride And Problems 26:56 Mental Health Support Gap 31:40 Communication Breakdown 35:00 Surgery Fears And Trauma 40:01 Returning Temporarily To Normal Life 42:22 Closing And Resources

S3E19 - Random Acts of Crochet Kindness, with Olivia Dieterich

Hosts Will and Ellie interview therapist and crocheter Olivia Dieterich about her book Random Acts of Crochet Kindness and the global movement she founded. After losing a friend, Natalie, to suicide, Olivia used crochet to cope with grief and set a 100-day challenge to crochet a flower each day and leave it for strangers with a note inviting them to take it home, sparking the hashtag. During lockdown, a found item was shared on a local Facebook group, leading to BBC coverage and the creation of a UK-based Facebook community now exceeding 350,000 members worldwide. Olivia discusses crochet’s grounding benefits, building self-esteem and purpose, supporting urges like self-harm, and creating “glimmers” of joy for others. The book offers beginner-friendly patterns, tags, guidance, and stories, and Olivia hopes to create a children’s version and more in-person meetups. Please note that this show does not constitute medical advice and is not a replacement for seeking professional help. You can find out more about the show and get signposting to support on our website livelymindspod.com [http://livelymindspod.com] Follow @livelymindspod on social media, or see our links at  https://www.bio.link/livelyminds [https://www.bio.link/livelyminds]  00:00 Welcome to Lively Minds 01:07 How Crochet Kindness Began 02:23 Crochet as Therapy 05:09 Why Giving Helps You 06:28 Going Viral in Lockdown 08:10 A Global Kindness Community 09:59 Small Joys and Glimmers 0:53 Inside the New Book 13:23 Mental Health Lessons 15:14 Community and Connection 16:39 Letting Go of Projects 18:24 Whats Next and Wrap Up

S3E18 - Update + Illustrating Bipolar, with Matt Ottley (Re-Run)

Hello everyone, it’s Will here. As you know, Ellie and I have had to take a break from the podcast due to some ongoing health issues. We are still hoping to bring you new episodes in late Spring or Summer 2026 but in the meantime, we thought we’d go back through our archives and bring you some of our favourite episodes from the 3 years we’ve been doing the show. And so, here is an episode from May 2024. Matt Ottley is a multi-award winning graphic novelist and composer, who was Australia’s nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen award. Matt joined us for a conversation about how he interprets his experiences of bipolar and psychosis through art, words and music. We focus on his book: The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness which had just been released at the time and you can find links to more information about, in the show notes. Just a heads up that there is a brief reference to a suicide attempt in the episode, but we don’t go into any detail. I hope you enjoy the show, and please do remember it would really help us out if you could rate or review us via your podcast app. You can find out more about The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness by following these links Matt Ottley’s website [https://mattottley.com/the-tree-of-ecstasy/] Publisher: One Tentacle’s website [https://onetentaclepublishing.com/the-tree-of-ecstasy-and-unbearable-sadness/] Please note that this show does not constitute medical advice and is not a replacement for seeking professional help. You can find our more about the show and get signposting to support on our website livelymindspod.com [https://livelymindspod.com]

See you in 2026!

Hello everyone, it’s Ellie here. Thank you so much to all of you for following our podcast over the last few years. It has meant the world to us, and we’ve loved every part of the podcasting process so far. Unfortunately, due to various health issues, we are going to take a slightly-longer-than-planned break from recording new Lively Minds episodes. We hope to return to your ears for a new season sometime in 2026. Thank you again to everyone who has listened, subscribed, downloaded and donated to us so far - we are looking forward to picking things up again with you when we can.  In the meantime, Will and I both wish you all a safe and warm winter, and we look forward to reconnecting with you when we are able to.  Bye for now!