Men were often reluctant to speak up or seek help on mental health issues, and Dublin’s Keith Russell was no exception.
But after fighting body dysmorphic disorder, depression, and anxiety for over 20 years, he decided it was time to stop suffering in silence.
He started with a personal blog and others shared both named and anonymous experiences. This led Russell to come up with the idea of launching a podcast named The Endless Spiral last year.
His guests come from people of all disciplines and talk about fighting a variety of issues.
Russell, 41, has come a long way. After finding to share his own story, he is determined to help others and reduce the stigma of talking about mental health issues.
He tells breakingnews.ie that the main message he wants to normalize is that anyone can suffer from mental health problems, no matter what the background, situation, or external behavior suggests. ..
“It’s not necessarily my story, it’s about various topics about mental health. I’m not trying to promote myself. If people want to tell my story well, mental health awareness I want to improve, but it doesn’t matter. I try to keep the topic in general because age, gender, and everyone can have mental health problems. “
Keith Russell decided that it was time to stop suffering in silence after fighting body dysmorphic disorder, depression and anxiety for over 20 years.
Body dysmorphic disorder involves focusing on one or more perceived defects or imperfections in the physical appearance that are invisible to others or appear to be minimal. It consists of prejudices that cause significant distress that disrupts social and professional functions.
Like other eating disorders, people often think it doesn’t affect men.
Russell feels this is a major social problem. Remarks are a major factor in his decision, and his core message is that anyone can suffer from mental health problems.
“One of the main points I’m trying to convey is the stereotyped image of eating disorders. Women can be very frail or very thin. People are men, especially not necessarily themselves. I’m not thinking of men who don’t always look like eating disorders.
“That was a big deal for me. It didn’t look like there was a problem, so I wasn’t asked anything, so it was easy to wipe everything under the rug. It’s important to say that it doesn’t always look like that. Body dysmorphic disorder made me bing it and then wanted to wipe it all out, and the cycle would continue. It’s a male consciousness. It was important to me to enhance.
“I don’t know what’s going on in someone’s head, so I’ve obscured it for a long time. When I first shared my story, I received from people and even friends.” God Keith, I didn’t know the amount of messages.
“I didn’t seem to have a problem, so it was very easy to hide it. I blamed myself.” You’re 40, people have a problem. You would say it doesn’t look like you are, why aren’t you dealing with this? “
“All of them came to my mind, but when I opened and started talking about myself, the support I got was incredible. I thought,” If I opened earlier. ” .. “
He added: “I’ve been silent for 20 years, but when I aloud and realized that I had help, everything changed. I’m still learning. Make improvements and move in the right direction. That’s all I’m looking for right now. “
Russell started his second mental health podcast with a friend called Chris Sharrock.
Sherlock also talks about mental health issues after horrific bullying at school has had a lasting impact on his life.
The Galway native, who previously shared his story with breakingnews.ie, has recorded the second most serious of Waffle Box with Mr. Russell.
“We are of different ages and different backgrounds. He was an anti-bullying activist, and that was where the mental health problem began.
“We are trying to show people that everyone can suffer from mental health, regardless of your background or situation. We take a more casual approach to having a conversation. I will take it. “
Russell explained that part of his journey is learning coping mechanisms to deal with when he feels overwhelmed.
He said this was the reason he recently took a break from podcasting, but he’s doing better now and looking forward to welcoming more guests in an endless spiral.
His recent interview was with Kenkir Bride, Chief Executive Officer of ADHD Ireland.
When asked for the first episode to recommend to a new listener, he chose this and the writer and Stephanie Pricener episode.
She talked about her recent diagnosis of autism.
“Stephanie Presnier was talking about diagnosing autism … it was amazing. She’s very clear and a way to explain things.
“The number of undiagnosed people is staggering. Assessments are very expensive and difficult because there is no official route for adults to be assessed.
“These two episodes were very worrisome, but also fascinating.”
This leads to another reason he feels it is important for people to talk about mental health, which is the lack of services available in Ireland.
Keith Russell addresses a variety of mental health issues with the podcast “Endless Spiral”
Things are constantly improving with people’s understanding and compassion for mental health issues, but he believes that Irish mental health services “all need major improvements.”
“The Irish eating disorder system is an absolute shame. Most services are in Dublin and there are only two or three beds. What do you do?
“Mary Butler [Minister for Mental Health] I was talking about trying to improve all of this, but as she said, it’s just a lack of funding.
“I need to improve all my mental health services in Ireland. I applied for CBT therapy. I was told that the waiting period was 9 months and I applied for a dietitian. It was said that it could be 18 months. But what do you do in the meantime? “
Russell does a podcast with a full-time job while he is the father of three young children.
They are too young to understand, but he feels that addressing mental health challenges helped him as a parent.
“I didn’t fully understand it myself, so I tried to separate it at first, but it’s 6, 8, 10. I don’t explain what I’m doing, but I know what to do. I also hope that by understanding certain things when I am overwhelmed or anxious, I will be a better parent.
“I’m more sympathetic now. I used to be anxious, but now I’m out of my mind and better understand their needs.”
He feels that his mental health awareness has increased at school, but one of the areas he wants to include more is social media awareness.
“For fairness, children are now learning mindfulness at many elementary schools, including my children’s school.
“I think schools should be trained in social media. YouTube and TikTok, I know that trying to stop kids doesn’t work. Social media awareness is important for kids too. Pitfalls, realizations I think many problems are exacerbated by social media taking a step towards doing so.
“It’s great for someone to come and teach the kids about it.”
Since his journey, Russell has appeared in Morning Ireland, performing live episodes of podcasts on stage at UCD, and attending various events at the mental health charity A Lust For Life.
𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪🎥🎥🎥
If you want to see my interview @IrelandAMVMTV Chatting with me yesterday @TheEndSpiral I divided the video into the following two-minute segments. 😊 #mental health pic.twitter.com/WovsuNHOpb
— Keith Russell (@Keith_Russell) September 9, 2021
He said this would all have been out of his comfort zone a year ago, but he’s just “one of the thousands waiting to be told” about his story. Insist.
“It’s good for as many people as possible to talk about mental health, even for ordinary people like me. I think it’s becoming more and more important for ordinary people to talk because they resonate with others.
“Most topics aren’t personal to me, but the point is that they help people listen. I’m happy if one person listens and gets something from the podcast.
“Now there are quite a few listeners, but that’s not that important to me. It’s just sending a message. Podcasts are meant to get people to share their stories. Also, mental health. Ask an expert to share the information.
“I learned to take a step back when I’m feeling sick. I just don’t want to go and knock out some episodes. I want to focus on every episode, so if I feel tired I take a break To do.
“When I’m more engaged in the episode, it comes across better, it’s the labor of love.”
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the Samaritans Association 24 hours a day for confidential support. 116123 Or email jo@samaritans.org..
Alternatively, you can get contact information for various mental health support at the following URL: mentalhealthireland.ie/get-support..
In case of an emergency, or if you or anyone you know is at risk of suicide or self-harm, dial 999/112.
