PANDEMIC TO PODCAST

JAMES ROYCROFT DAVIS MURRAY 2007-2012

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a brutal yet fascinating experience for me and continues to throw up its intense but rewarding experiences. In 2019, my life was going well. I was running and raising money for two of my companies, though not without its challenges. I was playing rugby for OMRFC regularly and we were vying for promotion. I was also enjoying spending time with my friends and probably enjoying alcohol a bit too much.

However, late 2019, my entire life changed and it changed dramatically; this was a direct result of a decline in my mental health. Both my companies weren’t heading in the direction I had hoped, I dislocated my knee playing rugby at Headstone Lane and as a result, found out through CT scans that I had a problem with my liver. The liver problems meant I had to cease drinking alcohol immediately for at least six months. My happy life pretty much felt like it had been dismantled as I knew it within a period of six weeks.

By the end of January I slipped into a very dark place. Getting out of bed became a physical struggle and I noticed that I had little or no control over the incredibly obtrusive thoughts which occupied my head. I was living with full-scale depression and anxiety; by February I was suicidal. This is something I don’t say lightly.

Then Covid-19 happened, the world slowed down to an unrecognisable place and everything changed again. I began to speak to my male friends who’d suffered with their own mental health. The response was not what I was expecting. I realised there was a distinct common theme running between all of us, we didn’t know how to open up about our feelings.

Men rarely talk about their mental state and emotions, instead of talking we think we are seen to be stronger by learning to ‘man up’. During my period of intense depression, I found myself scouring available podcast apps which presented the difficult but relatable stories surrounding men’s mental health. I couldn’t find any that truly resonated.

I needed a new focus and a career change. It felt like it was now or never. Lockdown was happening and male mental health issues were being flagged at an all-time high. The male suicide statistics are nothing short of shocking.

I started my own podcast called ‘The Rut’. My aim was simple; to get men from all walks of life to talk openly, candidly and often brutally about what life was like being in a metal health ‘rut’ and how they were able to eventually get out of it.

I wanted to show men that it’s a sign of strength and NOT weakness to talk about how you feel when the going gets tough; I wanted me to know they were not alone. One in four men will suffer from mental health issue in their lifetime and I want to do everything I can to help change that statistic.

During lockdown I began interviewing professional sportsmen, entrepreneurs, businessmen, psychologists and more to discuss their stories and to shed more light on the murky world of men’s mental health.

I was completely shocked by the incredible reaction I got from people who tuned in week in week out during lockdown to the stories of the 17 men featured in season one of The Rut, and we rapidly reached the Top 10 Podcast list on Apple Podcasts for Health and Fitness.

Amazingly, after season one, we have had 10,000 people listen across 31 countries and the impact the podcast has had on people listening has been extremely heart-warming. Several

OMs who have reached out after listening have told me they’ve been struggling for varying lengths of time with their mental health and the podcast has provided a them a comfort zone to know they’re not alone in their struggles.

Season two has launched with guests including Alastair Campbell, Premier League Footballer Joe Bryan, Reality TV star David Birtwhistle and other exciting names. I am now building a mental health content company from the podcast through sponsorship and speaking opportunities. I am also writing a book about male mental health.

Covid-19 has been very difficult for so many people. It has challenged me in many ways I didn’t expect. The pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the mental health of hundreds of thousands of people across the world. My own journey is only just beginning and I hope the podcast will continue to provide comfort to many more people in the future.

If you or your company would like to sponsor the podcast, please reach out to therutpod@gmail.com!

#GetMenTalking www.therutpodcast.com