Unbelievably, it has been 1 year since Dysfunctional began so I take a look back over the highs and lows Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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28:07
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28:07
What Makes Someone a Toxic Person?
In this episode Josh talks about:Why the phrase “toxic person” makes some people more uncomfortable than abuse itselfThe difference between “people doing toxic things” and people who are mostly harmfulHow spiritual bypassing and “it’s all trauma” language can erase accountabilityWhy victims get to choose the language for what happened to themEmpathy with no boundaries and why it’s self-destructiveHealthy shame vs toxic shameWhy it’s okay to walk away and even hate someone who hurt you#toxicpeople Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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38:39
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38:39
Acceptance Without Forgiveness: Suicide, Trauma, and Taking Your Life Back with Maike Mullenders
Maike is the author of The Confession: A Journey to Acceptance, her memoir of growing up with a father with undiagnosed mental health issues who went on to take his own life. She is a lived experience speaker and volunteer for Survivors of Bereavement by suicide When Maike Mullenders was eleven years old, her dad sat her down and told her he was going to end his life — and made her say goodbye.He survived that night. But ten years later, he died by suicide and left behind a confession to the police saying he’d “been inappropriate” with her — something Maike had no memory of.In this conversation, we talk about what happens when your childhood forces you into the role of caretaker, and how that shapes everything that follows. We explore dissociation, survival, and what it means to grow up reading every tone of voice in a room just to stay safe.Maike shares how decades of therapy, yoga, and community work helped her reclaim her body, her boundaries, and her right to take up space — even without ever knowing the full truth about her past.We talk about:Surviving a parent’s suicide attempts and living with the aftermathThe lifelong impact of emotional enmeshment and hypervigilanceParenting after trauma and breaking generational patternsAcceptance versus forgiveness — and why you don’t need bothLearning to feel safe in your body through movement and presenceThe healing power of community and self-compassionThis episode is about what real healing looks like — messy, nuanced, and deeply human.It’s about learning to live with not knowing, and finding peace anyway.Please take care of yourself while listening.Find Maike here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/maike-mullenders-3021232b7/ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091853840552#suicideawareness #mentalhealth Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1:15:48
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1:15:48
The System Is Sick: Time to Let Humans Feel with Auroara Leigh
We call it “mental health,” but what if the real diagnosis is a sick system? Wellness anthropologist Aurora Leigh joins Josh to argue that disconnection — not individual defect — sits under our crises of addiction, anxiety, and depression. We dig into stoicism as emotional shutdown, the trap of pathologizing pain, and how somatic, community-based healing outperforms label-and-medicate approaches.Expect Rat Park, the Roseto effect, sexual trauma as an ignored root cause, and Aurora’s “Somatic Regeneration” blueprint for moving the nervous system from survival to open, curious, connected. We finish with practical tools listeners can use today — and a challenge to rebuild policy, schools, and healthcare around safety, love, and belonging.Find out more about Auroara here - https://www.skool.com/simply-sacred-wauroara-leigh-2570/about?ref=9e5561a6facc4f2586229fc89b4fbee6www.simplysacred.ca https://youtube.com/@auroaraleigh?si=Xl7bT3OHHHEyy3s-#mentalhealth Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1:13:29
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1:13:29
Is the Mental Health Conversation Making Us Sicker?
This episode includes candid references to suicide, depression and self-harm.It’s just been World Mental Health Day. I’m asking a hard question with no easy answers. Is the mental health conversation helping… or are there places it’s making us worse?I talk about the tension between compassion and consequence. The risk of romanticising suffering when public figures die. How awareness can accidentally normalise behaviours. Princess Diana speaking about bulimia and what followed. The pathologisation of being human. My own swings, labels I once clung to, and what it takes to pull myself out of a spiral without shaming the struggle.This isn’t anti-awareness. It’s a call to evolve it. Less performance. More truth. Fewer labels as identity. More community and responsibility. Let’s bring the pendulum back to the middle.In this episodeThe double-edged sword of public compassion after tragedyWhen “normalising” crosses into normalising the thing itselfLabels, identity loops and the algorithm effectAppropriate pain vs “mental health” languageFinding the line between care and a loving push to moveIf you’re strugglingPlease reach out to someone you trust. You can also contact crisis support in your country (e.g. Samaritans in the UK, CALM, or your local emergency services). You don’t have to carry it alone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
I am shaking up the wellness industry and addressing the things that people usually avoid. With relentless curiosity and refusal to sweep things under the rug, this podcast is for those who crave truth over comfort and honesty over surface level BS. So, get yourself in the lotus position because I have no plan, no pretence and definitely no bypassing….. I’m Josh Connolly and this will probably be dysfunctional Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
UK