Headstraight: Mental Health Support for Teens

Mark Taylor | Mental Health Nurse
  • 4.0 (1)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

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, self-doubt, anxiety, motivation, identity 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. Whether you're struggling with overthinking, people pleasing, confidence, difficult relationships, big decisions or simply trying to work out who you're becoming, Headstraight offers real answers to real challenges faced by teens and young adults. Visit: http://www.headstraight.co.uk

  1. 1d ago

    An apology for this week...

    Life has thrown me a curve ball this week and my planned episode isn't ready to publish.. Why not take this as an opportunity to take a look at the back episodes..? Normal service will resume next week..! 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,8 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. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. Jul 29

    Can You Love Someone And Still Be Scared Of Them?

    Can you love someone and still be scared of them? It feels like a question that should have a simple answer. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that real life rarely fits into simple categories. In this episode, we're not talking about labels or trying to decide whether somebody is a good person or a bad one. We're talking about something much more familiar than that. What happens when someone can make you feel loved and unsettled at the very same time? When your heart seems to be telling one story, but something deeper inside keeps whispering another. We'll explore why confusing relationships can be so difficult to make sense of, why our minds spend so much time trying to solve contradictions, and why the most important questions often aren't about the other person at all. If you've ever found yourself wondering whether your own feelings can be trusted, or why you've slowly become a different version of yourself around someone you care about, this conversation is for you. Sometimes the biggest breakthrough isn't finding the answer. Sometimes it's finally finding the words for the question. 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. Jul 22

    Am I Being Left Behind?

    I've been thinking about friendships quite a bit while putting this episode together, and the more I thought about it, the more I realised this isn't really an episode about friendships at all. It's about what happens when they start to change. Most of us have experienced that moment when someone we were once really close to slowly becomes a smaller part of our lives. Sometimes there's an argument, but often there isn't. Life just moves on, and we're left trying to work out what happened. The problem is, our minds are really good at filling in the gaps, and we usually end up blaming ourselves. In this episode, I want to explore why changing friendships can feel so personal, why we often mistake change for rejection, and why perhaps we've been measuring friendships in the wrong way all along. If you've ever wondered whether you've been left behind, whether you've done something wrong, or why friendships seem so much more complicated than they used to, I hope this conversation gives you a different way of looking at it. Because maybe the value of a friendship isn't measured by how long it lasts... but by how it changes us.. 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.

  8. Jul 15

    I Wish Somebody Would Notice Without Me Having To Say Anything

    Have you ever found yourself wishing that somebody would just notice that you're not okay... without you having to say anything? Not because you want attention. Not because you want everyone fussing over you. But because saying the words out loud somehow feels even harder. That's what we're talking about this week. We're going to look at why so many of us wait for someone else to ask the first question, what we're really hoping for when we wish someone would notice, and why staying quiet often makes far more sense than people realise. As always, this isn't about telling you what you should do. It's about understanding why we think, feel and behave the way we do. Because sometimes, understanding ourselves is the first step towards changing anything. If you've ever sat there hoping someone would just see through the smile and ask, "Are you really okay?" then I think this episode is for you. 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.

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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, self-doubt, anxiety, motivation, identity 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. Whether you're struggling with overthinking, people pleasing, confidence, difficult relationships, big decisions or simply trying to work out who you're becoming, Headstraight offers real answers to real challenges faced by teens and young adults. Visit: http://www.headstraight.co.uk

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