Milton Keynes man sets up podcast to highlight the importance of good mental health

A man from Milton Keynes has launched a podcast to help highlight the importance of looking after yourself, both physically and mentally.

Luke Clark set up the mental health awareness podcast ’The Stress Sessions’, a weekly podcast, and Instagram page (@StressSessions), to help people keep a positive mind, heart and soul.

The 32-year-old has four podcasts, with each ‘session’ tackling different mental health stigmas like anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts, three things that he has personally had to deal with in recent years.

He said: "I initially launched ‘The Stress Sessions’ as a way to tell my own, personal mental health story, as I’ve been a sufferer of anxiety for a number of years.

"I’d kept my mental health struggles a secret for years from everyone, and finally plucked up the courage to get help a few years ago, so thought the idea of a podcast might be a big help to people in a similar situation.”

Since recording and releasing his Pilot episode ’The One With the Unexpected Wee’ with his wife, Tara - who was last year diagnosed with depression - friends and family of the married couple have opened up about their own mental health problems.

Luke added: "When I sat down and began to plan out what I wanted to say on each episode after the Pilot, and asked my friends and family what they thought of the idea as a whole, it was obvious that loads of people from all walks of life have been affected by mental health problems - especially those closest to me.

“So, I’ve decided to branch out from talking about my own stories, to learn more about factors and topics of mental health as a whole - like postnatal depression, generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to name a few.”

The aim of ‘The Stress Sessions’ is to get people talking about their own mental health if they are struggling in silence.

Luke’s podcast already has almost 1,000 downloads, and over 2,000 followers in Instagram.

A new episode of ‘The Stress Sessions’ is published every Monday, it can be downloaded or streamed on all podcast providers.