The Sanctus Podcast on Mental Health

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Latest Episodes:

#43: Startup Culture Feb 21, 2019

Show notes

James Routledge and George Bettany, founders of the mental health startup Sanctus, have been on a mission for the last two years to try and change the perceptions of mental health - with the intention of one day putting the first mental health gym on the high street.

Their experiences with mental health from before Sanctus and through their work with businesses around the UK to create impartial, safe spaces for employees to work on their mental health have made them realise just how much the perceptions need to change and how we need to get people talking about their mental health in day to day conversation.

Ever since the famous Zuckerberg startup story, the glamorous perception of startups has been a journey many people have decided to partake in. But startup culture is not all it is cracked up to be.

James & George’s first experiences of poor mental health centered around the failure of their startup ‘Matchchat’ - which led to the creation of Sanctus which values itself around going against the grain of startup culture. But this isn’t to say the world of startups isn’t for everyone.

So the guys sit down with Venture Capitalist, co-founder of The Bakery, Investor in Citymapper, Ometria, Verve, Farewill (to name a few) - Alex Dundson - to chat both the dangers and positives of startup culture on your mental health.

Music Credits:

"Loopster, ZigZag, Dreamer, Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

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#42: Division, Uncertainty & Brexit Feb 14, 2019

Show notes

Brexit is undeniably one of the most talked about and avoided topics in the country (and even the world). It's caused immense divisions, mass uncertainty and so we thought it was about time we explore the impact it's having on the nations mental health.

George hosts this week as he welcomes back on Ben Graham (Sanctus Head Coach) and Scott Piggott (The Podcast Producer) for the first time as he shares his personal experience with how Brexit has impacted his family dynamic and his mental health.

The three chat the direct effects Brexit is going to cause to certain people's mental health (6:52), the cause of division and the change in family dynamics through Scott's story (9:45), Brexit as a break-up (17:26), having a conversation with people who hold different views (28:51) and much more.

Music Credits:

"Loopster, Jarvic 8, Light Thought Var 2, Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#41: A Brief (& Heartfelt) Announcement Feb 07, 2019

Show notes

Get in contact with us at ->

scott@sanctus.io

george@sanctus.io

james@sanctus.io

Let’s open up a conversation to talk about the podcast and also, if you want to get involved with our special announcement coming up for our fiftieth episode!

#40: How to create a company culture that supports mental health Jan 31, 2019

Show notes

What is the end goal of mental health in your business? Where are you aiming to get when you start off the journey to get people talking about mental health in your business?

With some of the best company cultures in the UK spearheaded by our guests, they each explore their journeys when they first entered their respective workplaces and what they set out to achieve when trying to change the perceptions of mental health.

They explore the answers to what it means to have a ‘company culture that supports mental health’ and what success in doing so means, with or without a budget behind you.

Music Credits:

"Loopster, ZigZag, Dreamer, Perspectives, Dubakupado" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#39: The Importance of Language Surrounding Mental Health Jan 24, 2019

Show notes

Why could there be a problem in the way we talk about mental health?

James and guest, Ben Graham, talk about the difficult concept that at times - we may not be talking about mental health in the right way - on both a personal and societal basis.

With mental illness a widely accepted concept now, there are problems with people offer referring to mental health when they mean mental ill health - which leaves out the rest of the spectrum and brings a whole heap of problems with it. So could this make people, who don't find themselves at the bottom end of the spectrum, less likely to talk about their mental health on a day to day basis?

James and Ben go into what it could mean societally and more importantly, what it could do for an individual to see mental health differently and take more ownership in their language around mental health.

Music Credits:

"Loopster, Perspectives, Longing, Dubakupado" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Daybreak by Electric Mantis https://soundcloud.com/electricmantis

Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0

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Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1cgXZLQieRk

#38: Career Change Jan 17, 2019

Show notes

Whether you're in a job from hell or just feeling like your life isn't quite right, career change often finds itself as a major mental health challenge for a huge amount of people - whether they're aware of it right now or not. Sophie Miller (Sanctus Head of Coaching) went through a long process of feeling 'fine' about her work before resulting in a career change into ... helping others with career change. Working with over 200 people, Sophie has found a very specific passion and expertise for career change.

One of those people Sophie assisted was Farah Ramadan.

After growing up in a country recovering from civil war, Lebanon, Farah graduated from her studies and came to London where she had a clear purpose set in life to achieve a passport over the next eight years. But upon finally ticking the boxes she set out for herself, she found her mental health in question for one of the first times in her life. Going along British values of 'not complaining', Farah only found herself realising the effect her experience had on her mental health after a surprising trip to the doctors.

This episode explores one of the most universally relatable topics out there - career change - and how a lot of people go for years before they even realise that something isn't right, how it relates to our purpose and what you can actually do to explore whether you're in the right profession or not.

Music Credits:

"Loopster, ZigZag, Bicycle, Dreamer" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A.L.O.N.E. by Mike Leite https://soundcloud.com/mikeleite

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

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Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/hoTdJShnvVE

#37: Getting business leaders to buy into mental health Jan 10, 2019

Show notes

Whilst on the mission to change the perceptions of mental health, one of the crucial first steps is getting business to realise that they have a duty to create a mentally healthy culture at work. But sometimes, it's not as easy as that. Getting leaders to understand mental health as more than just a 'perk' or even as something they should be acknowledging can be a really big task.

Jess Hayes, who has a vast experience on people teams big and small, now works as Head of Talent for McCann and has undergone the task many times to build a case for leaders to see the drawbacks of ignoring, and benefits of incorporating mental health into their workplace culture. Harry & Penny, working with Sanctus currently at Onfido, both brought into the idea quickly but needed to work to get mental health universally accepted.

James & George chat about their experience of what happens if we don't get leadership buy-in, chat to the guests about what you can do and the impact it will have if they do.

Music Credits:

"Loopster, Jarvic 8, ZigZag, Perspectives, Dreamer" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#36: Finding the Calm in The Chaos Jan 03, 2019

Show notes

Is it possible to find the calm in the chaos of each of our lives?

We all have our own level of chaos that impacts our mental health. So we invited on a couple of people who have had their fair share of dealing with chaos to see how they dealt with it and see if a solution can be found.

Before going into paramedic training, Nic Dunn underwent a surgery that left him with chronic pain and struggles with anxiety as a result. Throughout his studies, his difficulties eventually led him to finding mindfulness as a technique to deal with both the physical and emotional difficulties of being a paramedic - from helping a pensioner after a fall to resuscitating somebody in the street on a day to day basis.

After realising he wanted to be a teacher, Ed Watson never fully appreciated the workload required to be a teacher. Working in schools that really needed help with a diverse range of students, Ed's desire for success led him to winning a teaching award despite the unbelievable stress of the job. Despite being shuttled into a bus on the first day after a suspected attack from a rival school and being punched in class, the chaos that really got to Ed was the constant disruptions that formed years of chaos.

Music Credits:

"Loopster, Bicycle, Odyssey, Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#33: Setting New Year's Resolutions Dec 27, 2018

Show notes

Setting New Year's Resolutions can be a great thing to inspire positive change for the year to come and have a hugely positive impact on your mental health. But the problem is, so many people end up feeling worse when they don't manage to fulfil their plan.

So how do you set resolutions that will positively impact your mental health for the year to come?

James & George reflect on their year and the best ways to support your own mental health whilst setting the best type of resolutions.

Music Credit:
Spring by Ikson https://soundcloud.com/ikson
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/5WPnrvEMIdo

"Perspectives, Loopster, ZigZag, Dreamer" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#32: Mental Health during the Holidays Dec 20, 2018

Show notes

After our episode with Lou last week, we realised that the holidays aren't necessarily a healthy time for more than just your physical health. So we invited our coaches Sophie Miller and Ben Graham to talk about their personal experiences and professional thoughts on the matter of mental health in the holidays.

Music Credits:

Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

"Perspectives, The Builder, Jingle Bells Calm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/