Headstraight: Mental Health Support for Teens

Mark Taylor | Mental Health Nurse

Headstraight is a teen mental health podcast hosted by Mark Taylor, a mental health nurse with over 35 years of experience working with young people. Each episode tackles real questions about mental health, relationships, confidence and growing up. No therapy-speak. No lectures. Just honest conversations, practical ideas and straightforward guidance to help you make sense of what's going on in your life. Visit: http://www.headstraight.co.uk

  1. Sep 23

    Why Do I Always Need People To Like Me?

    Do you ever feel like you’re slightly different depending on who you’re with? Maybe you’re louder with one group, quieter with another, funnier with some people, more careful with others. That’s normal. We all adapt. But what happens when you start changing yourself because you’re scared people won’t like you if you don’t? In this episode, we look at the exhausting habit of constantly checking how you’re coming across, trying to read everyone else’s reactions, and quietly wondering whether you’ve said or done the wrong thing. Because there’s a strange trap in needing people to like you: the harder you work to make sure they do, the harder it can become to believe that they actually know you. This isn’t about learning not to care what anyone thinks. It’s about noticing the difference between fitting in naturally and feeling like you have to keep editing yourself just to belong. Want to get involved?I’d love to hear from you: Send me a message → headstraight.co.uk/contactLeave me a voice note → headstraight.co.uk/voicemailShare your feedback by leaving a review (it helps more young people find the podcast) → headstraight.co.uk/reviews/newExplore more from Headstraight: Read the blog version of every episode, packed with extra insights on self-sabotage, motivation, resilience, and mental health → headstraight.co.uk/blogFind out more about me, the host, and why I started this podcast → headstraight.co.uk/aboutNeed support right now?If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or in crisis, visit our Resources page - https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/for helplines, mental health services, and support options available in the UK and across the world.

  2. Sep 16

    People Only Care Because They Have To

    What if people do care about you, but you still can’t quite believe it? Someone checks in. They stay. They tell you they care. And yet your mind is already looking underneath it, trying to work out why. Was it guilt? Responsibility? Habit? Did they really mean it? In this episode, I look at what happens when care starts to feel like something you have to investigate. When watching turns into testing, and even the response you hoped for still doesn’t quite settle the doubt. Trust rarely comes with absolute proof. Sometimes the harder part is allowing yourself to believe that what someone keeps showing you might actually mean something. Want to get involved?I’d love to hear from you: Send me a message → headstraight.co.uk/contactLeave me a voice note → headstraight.co.uk/voicemailShare your feedback by leaving a review (it helps more young people find the podcast) → headstraight.co.uk/reviews/newExplore more from Headstraight: Read the blog version of every episode, packed with extra insights on self-sabotage, motivation, resilience, and mental health → headstraight.co.uk/blogFind out more about me, the host, and why I started this podcast → headstraight.co.uk/aboutNeed support right now?If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or in crisis, visit our Resources page - https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/for helplines, mental health services, and support options available in the UK and across the world.

  3. Sep 9

    Will I Always Feel Like This?

    What if “I’ll always feel like this” only feels true because right now it's so loud? When you’ve been low, anxious or overwhelmed for a while, the future can start looking like more of the same. You might know you’ve felt differently before, but somehow that version of you can feel miles away. In this episode, I look at why the present can become so convincing that it starts shaping what you believe about the future. We explore why old struggles look different once we know how they ended, why “forever” can creep into the picture, and how easy it is to confuse “I can’t see things changing” with “things won’t change.” And perhaps that’s the bit worth holding onto - just because you can’t picture a different future from where you are now, it doesn’t mean you already know what that future looks like. Want to get involved?I’d love to hear from you: Send me a message → headstraight.co.uk/contactLeave me a voice note → headstraight.co.uk/voicemailShare your feedback by leaving a review (it helps more young people find the podcast) → headstraight.co.uk/reviews/newExplore more from Headstraight: Read the blog version of every episode, packed with extra insights on self-sabotage, motivation, resilience, and mental health → headstraight.co.uk/blogFind out more about me, the host, and why I started this podcast → headstraight.co.uk/aboutNeed support right now?If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or in crisis, visit our Resources page - https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/for helplines, mental health services, and support options available in the UK and across the world.

  4. Aug 26

    I Can Tell What Mood You're In Before You Even Speak

    Some people can tell that someone’s mood has changed before a word’s even been said. A different look, a change in tone, a shorter message, a slightly different atmosphere, and immediately there’s a feeling of, I know what’s going on here. And sometimes you’re absolutely right. But noticing that something has changed isn’t quite the same as knowing what that change means. In this episode, I look at what happens when being good at reading people starts to feel like certainty, how past experiences can influence the way we interpret new situations, and why trusting yourself doesn’t have to mean having all the answers. Maybe the most useful place to get to is simply: Something feels different. I’m just not sure why yet. Want to get involved?I’d love to hear from you: Send me a message → headstraight.co.uk/contactLeave me a voice note → headstraight.co.uk/voicemailShare your feedback by leaving a review (it helps more young people find the podcast) → headstraight.co.uk/reviews/newExplore more from Headstraight: Read the blog version of every episode, packed with extra insights on self-sabotage, motivation, resilience, and mental health → headstraight.co.uk/blogFind out more about me, the host, and why I started this podcast → headstraight.co.uk/aboutNeed support right now?If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or in crisis, visit our Resources page - https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/for helplines, mental health services, and support options available in the UK and across the world.

  5. Aug 19

    Maybe I’m Not Just Being Difficult

    Sometimes the hardest part isn’t what you’re doing. It’s trying to understand what’s going on underneath it. Maybe you’ve lost your temper, walked away, shut down, refused something, or ended up in another argument. Everyone else can see the behaviour, but that doesn’t mean they understand what’s behind it. And sometimes, if you’re being honest, you might not completely understand it either. So what if you’re not just being difficult? In this episode, I explore what can happen when behaviour starts saying something before you’ve found the words yourself. Why people can notice everything you’re doing and still miss what you’re trying to communicate. Why the message can get lost. And what happens when even you don’t really know what you’re trying to say yet. This isn’t about making excuses for behaviour or pretending that what we do doesn’t affect other people. It’s about looking at things with a bit more curiosity. Because maybe the question isn’t simply, “Why do I keep doing this?” Maybe it’s... “What’s going on here that I haven’t worked out how to explain yet?” Want to get involved?I’d love to hear from you: Send me a message → headstraight.co.uk/contactLeave me a voice note → headstraight.co.uk/voicemailShare your feedback by leaving a review (it helps more young people find the podcast) → headstraight.co.uk/reviews/newExplore more from Headstraight: Read the blog version of every episode, packed with extra insights on self-sabotage, motivation, resilience, and mental health → headstraight.co.uk/blogFind out more about me, the host, and why I started this podcast → headstraight.co.uk/aboutNeed support right now?If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or in crisis, visit our Resources page - https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/for helplines, mental health services, and support options available in the UK and across the world.

  6. Aug 12

    I Don't Want To Be Ill, I Just Don't Want To Be Invisible

    What happens when getting better starts to feel like you might lose something too? For some young people, being unwell can become the point where people finally notice. Family check in more. Friends stay closer. School takes things more seriously. People make time, ask questions and seem to care in a way that perhaps they did not before. So when things begin to improve, there can be another feeling sitting underneath the relief. If I'm no longer the person everyone is worried about, will they still notice me? Will they still make time for me? Will I still matter in the same way? In this episode of Headstraight, I explore why wanting care and attention doesn't mean somebody’s distress is fake, how being unwell can become tangled up with identity and relationships, and why recovery can sometimes feel more complicated than simply wanting the symptoms to go away. Because getting better shouldn't mean becoming invisible. Want to get involved?I’d love to hear from you: Send me a message → headstraight.co.uk/contactLeave me a voice note → headstraight.co.uk/voicemailShare your feedback by leaving a review (it helps more young people find the podcast) → headstraight.co.uk/reviews/newExplore more from Headstraight: Read the blog version of every episode, packed with extra insights on self-sabotage, motivation, resilience, and mental health → headstraight.co.uk/blogFind out more about me, the host, and why I started this podcast → headstraight.co.uk/aboutNeed support right now?If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or in crisis, visit our Resources page - https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/for helplines, mental health services, and support options available in the UK and across the world.

  7. Aug 5

    Everyone Comes To Me With Their Problems

    Everyone seems to come to you when something’s gone wrong. You listen, you stay calm, you try to help, and before long you’ve somehow become the person everybody relies on. At first, that can feel like a good thing. It means people trust you, they feel safe with you, and they believe you’ll know what to say. But after a while, it can start to feel heavy, especially when their problem stays in your head long after they’ve moved on. In this episode, I want to look at how that role develops, why it can become so difficult to step away from, and what being needed might be giving you as well as taking from you. Because sometimes the hardest part isn’t only that people keep bringing you their problems. It’s wondering who you are to them when you’re not the one fixing things. You can care deeply about other people without carrying everything they bring you, and you can still matter when there’s nothing for you to solve. Want to get involved?I’d love to hear from you: Send me a message → headstraight.co.uk/contactLeave me a voice note → headstraight.co.uk/voicemailShare your feedback by leaving a review (it helps more young people find the podcast) → headstraight.co.uk/reviews/newExplore more from Headstraight: Read the blog version of every episode, packed with extra insights on self-sabotage, motivation, resilience, and mental health → headstraight.co.uk/blogFind out more about me, the host, and why I started this podcast → headstraight.co.uk/aboutNeed support right now?If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or in crisis, visit our Resources page - https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/for helplines, mental health services, and support options available in the UK and across the world.

Trailer

About

Headstraight is a teen mental health podcast hosted by Mark Taylor, a mental health nurse with over 35 years of experience working with young people. Each episode tackles real questions about mental health, relationships, confidence and growing up. No therapy-speak. No lectures. Just honest conversations, practical ideas and straightforward guidance to help you make sense of what's going on in your life. Visit: http://www.headstraight.co.uk

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