Okehampton friends set up mental health podcast
A group of friends from Okehampton have set up their own podcast and online community as a way of tackling their mental health struggles – and they hope it will inspire others to reach out and not suffer in silence.
Jed Shilling, Tyler Harlow, brothers Jordan Hookway and Josh Hookway and Brad Bishop formed community page Sadboy Squad after they each had a tough year with depression.
After a chat on Facebook, they found that by expressing how they were feeling out loud really helped and made them feel heard.
‘It made sense from here,’ said Jed, ‘to take a leap and spread that further to see if it would help other people in crisis or depression. We want everyone who feels alone, crazy, different or scared of how they’re feeling, to be a part of the squad – it’s open for everyone and anyone. No prejudices or judgment.’
Talking is important
Running the podcast from a unit at Okehampton Music Studio, the hosts talk about anything and everything surrounding mental health – as well as other topics - and try to have as much fun on the podcast as possible.
‘We tend to “go with the flow”. We’ll meet up about half an hour before recording, have a little chat and catch up and just see what stems from there. People tend to reach out to us on Instagram with ideas and probably once or twice a week we will put a story up, asking our followers for topics they want us to discuss on the next episode.’
The friends all live in Okehampton. Jed and Tyler lived in London as children before moving to the town as teenagers and Jordan, Josh and Brad have lived in Okehampton and Folly Gate the majority of their lives. Their professions range from insurance advisor, co-owner of Idle at 3 West Street, head chef of newly formed restaurant ‘Brothers’ and night shift operators at Waitrose.
The most important thing for the group is being open and honest about their struggles and have said that the podcast has helped them ‘massively’.
Jed added: ‘Myself and Jordan have had, shall we say, meltdowns since the podcast began. But knowing we could then share the experience, talk about it, rationalise it, made us feel liberated. Talking out loud seems so simple but it’s so effective. By throwing our experiences out for people to see, we hope it will make people more comfortable to go get help or talk about their emotions.’
Since their podcast was launched they have been amazed at the reviews.
‘We are still such a small group but we’ve had amazing feedback.
‘We have people message us most days on social media and it’s the best thing ever for people to feel strong enough to talk to strangers about their own issues – it’s so brave and exactly how we want to help, to show that it is okay to feel the way you do but know it’s not the end, there are answers and solutions out there.’
Listen now
‘Our latest episode of the podcast is out now on most streaming platforms. Please note, there is explicit content and swearing in these podcasts – we try to be as true and real as we are in “real life”. Have a listen, let us know what you think and come have a chat, if you ever feel like it. We’d love to hear from you,’ said Jed.
To listen, visit www.buzzsprout.com/1857901