Before You Kill Yourself: a suicide prevention podcast.

Leo Flowers
  • 4.8 (198)
  • Mental Health
  • Weekly

When the pain feels unbearable and we feel alone in our suffering this podcast will sit with you. Let's rediscover our purpose, reduce our pain and regain our sense of belonging. Join comedian Leo Flowers M.A. as he shares his own journey through suicidality, interviews guests with lived experiences and discusses with experts on how to escape the flames and create a life worth living.

  1. Oct 23

    Belonging Without Disclosure: What Halloween Might Teach Us About Suicide Prevention

    What if connection doesn't always require disclosure? In this episode of Before You Kill Yourself Podcast, Leo Flowers explores what Halloween, masks, and shared experiences might teach us about loneliness and suicide prevention. From concerts and comedy shows to walking groups and low-pressure dinners, we consider how people can belong without having to explain what they're going through. In this episode: Why you might want company without wanting to talk about your problemsHow masks and shared rituals can create a sense of belongingThe difference between participating in life and pretending you're okayHow to create low-pressure opportunities for connection throughout the yearWhy belonging shouldn't require you to perform happinessWhat social connection can contribute to suicide prevention — and what the research doesn't yet establish If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help: In the US:  Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling.  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988 The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 Outside the US: International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them. Gambling Addiction: 1-800-GAMBLER

  2. Oct 19

    Finding harmony for suicide prevention

    We spend so much time trying to get ourselves "in tune" through therapy, meditation, sobriety, exercise, and self-improvement. But what if feeling better isn't just about tuning ourselves? Inspired by a scene from a movie about piano tuning, this episode explores the difference between being in tune and being in harmony. Sometimes the problem isn't that we're broken or out of tune—it's that we're disconnected from the people, places, communities, and purposes that help us feel like we belong. In this episode, we discuss: • Why being healthy and feeling connected are not always the same thing • The difference between self-improvement and meaningful connection • How loneliness can persist even when you're doing all the "right" things • The ancient idea of harmony and what it can teach us about mental health • Why purpose, relationships, and community are essential to suicide prevention • Questions to help you discover what—or who—you want to be in harmony with Thrive With Leo Coaching:  If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help: In the US:  Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling.  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988 The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 Outside the US: International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them. Gambling Addiction: 1-800-GAMBLER

  3. Oct 12

    NIGHTMARES: How to cope with nightmares to reduce suicidality

    Nightmares can leave us feeling anxious, exhausted, and alone—but they may also be our mind's attempt to process fear, grief, uncertainty, and unresolved emotions. In this episode, we explore how nightmares affect our mental health, why they matter for suicide prevention, and practical tools for reducing their power. In this episode, you'll learn: Why nightmares are linked to emotional distress and suicide riskHow sleep deprivation impacts mood, hope, and resilienceThe surprising history of dream-sharing across culturesHow keeping a dream journal can help process difficult emotionsWhy talking about nightmares with others can reduce their intensityHow Imagery Rehearsal Therapy can help rewrite recurring nightmaresSimple bedtime practices to influence healthier dream experiences Thrive With Leo Coaching:  If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help: In the US:  Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling.  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988 The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 Outside the US: International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them. Gambling Addiction: 1-800-GAMBLER

  4. Oct 5

    Why mattering matters in suicide prevention

    A simple sentence may be one of the most powerful ways to make someone feel seen: "If it weren't for you..." Drawing from Jennifer Wallace's The Science of Mattering, this episode explores our deep need to know that we matter, why gratitude isn't always enough, and how sharing the impact someone has had on your life can transform both of you. Topics include: The difference between gratitude and matteringWhy humans need significance more than happinessThe "Five People" exerciseWhy we avoid telling people they changed our livesHow moments of mattering suspend timeThe people who may never know the impact they've had on us Thrive With Leo Coaching:  If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help: In the US:  Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling.  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988 The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 Outside the US: International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them. Gambling Addiction: 1-800-GAMBLER

  5. Sep 28

    Why Can’t We Just Enjoy Being Alive?

    In this episode, we explore one of the most haunting lines from Kurt Cobain’s suicide note: “Why don’t you just enjoy it?” and the devastating response: “I don’t know.” We unpack why human beings struggle to feel joy through the lenses of neuroscience, psychology, evolution, trauma, addiction, overstimulation, and modern culture. From dopamine and cortisol to loneliness, achievement addiction, and the pressure to perform happiness, this episode examines why so many people feel disconnected from their own lives — and what history, philosophy, pop culture, and human connection reveal about truly feeling alive. Topics include: Why the brain adapts to pleasure and noveltyThe difference between stimulation and fulfillmentTrauma, stress, and the nervous system’s impact on joyEvolutionary reasons humans struggle with contentmentWhy modern life can make us spectators instead of participantsThe role of relationships, meaning, awe, and shared strugglePop culture references from Nirvana to Black Mirror to Ted LassoHow to reconnect with ordinary moments and meaningful experiencesWhat we might say to someone who can’t “just enjoy it” Thrive With Leo Coaching:  If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help: In the US:  Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling.  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988 The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 Outside the US: International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them. Gambling Addiction: 1-800-GAMBLER

  6. Sep 7

    Therapy, Philosophy, Poetry, and the Search for Meaning

    In this episode, we explore the idea that meaning often comes after action. Inspired by a lyric from Robyn’s new album Sexistential, we unpack the difference between therapy, philosophy, poetry, and relationships — and why artists, rappers, writers, and improvisers often don’t fully understand what they’re creating until after it’s made. We discuss why overthinking can block transformation, how freestyle rap reveals unconscious truth, and why some of life’s deepest insights can only be discovered through participation rather than analysis. Topics include: Therapy vs existential sufferingWhy philosophy answers different questions than psychologyFreestyling, flow states, and unconscious creativityCarl Jung, Sartre, Kierkegaard, and existentialismWhy meaning is often retrospectiveThe danger of waiting for certainty before taking actionRelationships as the ultimate test of self-awareness“You live your way into new thoughts” Thrive With Leo Coaching:  If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help: In the US:  Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling.  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988 The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 Outside the US: International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them. Gambling Addiction: 1-800-GAMBLER

  7. Aug 31

    Mystery: How Not Knowing Keeps Us Going

    In this episode, we explore why mystery isn’t something to eliminate from life — it may be the very thing that keeps us moving, connecting, hoping, and growing. Beginning with a two-year mystery involving peanut shells appearing outside a house, the conversation expands into relationships, neuroscience, detective stories, fear, curiosity, and the courage to enter the unknown. Topics include: Why humans are drawn to mysteries, whodunits, crosswords, and haunted housesThe psychology of curiosity and how uncertainty activates the brainWhy new relationships feel electric and emotionally aliveThe difference between healthy mystery and painful uncertaintyHow “let’s find out” can become a philosophy for livingWhy certainty can sometimes lead to boredom, paralysis, or emotional deadnessReflections on rejection, risk-taking, creativity, science, and wonderThe idea that hope only exists when the future remains unwritten Mysteries (Listen) Mistletoe Murders: https://shorturl.at/qftcN (Read) Fresh Water For Flowers: https://shorturl.at/mcjtL (Watch) Chestnut Man: https://shorturl.at/R5qxK Thrive With Leo Coaching:  If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help: In the US:  Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling.  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988 The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 Outside the US: International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them.

  8. Aug 24

    Struck by lightning: What we can learn about pain management from lightning strike survivors

    How do we cope with the mental, emotional and physical pain? Survivors of lightning strikes and electrical shocks have lessons for us. Key coping mechanisms: salt packetssaunamassagegroup therapymindset shift Thrive With Leo Coaching:  If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help: In the US:  Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling.  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988 The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 Outside the US: International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them. Gambling Addiction: 1-800-GAMBLER

See All (772)

4.8
out of 5
198 Ratings

About

When the pain feels unbearable and we feel alone in our suffering this podcast will sit with you. Let's rediscover our purpose, reduce our pain and regain our sense of belonging. Join comedian Leo Flowers M.A. as he shares his own journey through suicidality, interviews guests with lived experiences and discusses with experts on how to escape the flames and create a life worth living.

Information

You Might Also Like