The Richard Nicholls Mental Health Podcast

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The rules of toxic masculinity suggest that to be a real man you should never lose, have no needs, suffer in silence, show no emotions except bravado and anger, be independent, show no weakness.
It’s an impossible code to live by and it hurts everyone.
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This week I'm talking about something so many of you have mentioned in emails and messages, that Sunday evening anxiety that seems to arrive like clockwork.
Why does the body react to a calendar change as if it’s a threat?
Why can Sunday feel tense even after a lovely weekend?
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This week I’m exploring something quietly powerful about the social brain. From old school photos to bonobos recognising family decades later, it turns out we don’t just remember faces… we remember feelings. I also look at how curiosity shapes identity, especially in children, and what that means for us as adults. 
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If you’ve ever wondered “What if…?” about your health, this one’s for you.
I'm digging into the often misunderstood world of health anxiety today, what many still call hypochondria. Which is not about drama or attention-seeking. Hypochondria is about fear. Real, convincing fear that something’s wrong, even when every check-up says otherwise.
I’ll be exploring where that fear comes from, how it shows up in our day-to-day lives, and what we can do to break the cycle. From panic spirals and over-Googling to learning how to sit with uncertainty and trust our bodies again, this one’s for anyone who’s ever felt stuck in that loop.
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In this episode, I’m talking about something called zoochosis. A term used to describe distress in captive animals, and how something very similar might be happening to us as humans in the modern world.
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