This episode includes candid references to suicide, depression and self-harm.

It’s just been World Mental Health Day. I’m asking a hard question with no easy answers. Is the mental health conversation helping… or are there places it’s making us worse?

I talk about the tension between compassion and consequence. The risk of romanticising suffering when public figures die. How awareness can accidentally normalise behaviours. Princess Diana speaking about bulimia and what followed. The pathologisation of being human. My own swings, labels I once clung to, and what it takes to pull myself out of a spiral without shaming the struggle.

This isn’t anti-awareness. It’s a call to evolve it. Less performance. More truth. Fewer labels as identity. More community and responsibility. Let’s bring the pendulum back to the middle.

In this episode

• The double-edged sword of public compassion after tragedy
• When “normalising” crosses into normalising the thing itself
• Labels, identity loops and the algorithm effect
• Appropriate pain vs “mental health” language
• Finding the line between care and a loving push to move

If you’re struggling

Please reach out to someone you trust. You can also contact crisis support in your country (e.g. Samaritans in the UK, CALM, or your local emergency services). You don’t have to carry it alone.

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In this solo episode of Dysfunctional, Josh asks a raw question:

Is the world actually worse, or are we just being fed constant content that keeps us triggered?

As a highly sensitive person, Josh reflects on how algorithms exploit empathy, why stress has become a hidden addiction, and how our compassion is being stretched to breaking point. He dives into the danger of compassion fatigue, the blurred line between activism and doomscrolling, and why protecting your nervous system matters more than ever.

This is a conversation for anyone who feels overwhelmed by the state of the world — and who needs reminding that caring doesn’t mean carrying everything.

#highlysensitiveperson

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Old friends. Real talk. A mini 115 Miles reunion.

Hasan Khair joins me to unpack why work feels like a moving target and what to do when the ladder you were climbing gets ripped from the wall. We get into how school trained us for compliance, how hyper capitalism rewards harm, and why AI is speeding up a reckoning in every industry.

This is not doom. It is a plan. We get practical about midlife pivots, redundancy, belief, and the tiny actions that rebuild confidence. If you feel stuck, dehumanised by job boards, or scared to start again, this one will help.

In this episode

The real shift in work since 2008 and why restructures never stop

AI and automation. Why senior roles are getting cut first

School as a factory model. How it kills agency and creativity

Confidence and class. The advantage of environment

Hasan’s story. Failing A-levels, Blockbuster, Virgin, executive roles, redundancy, reinvention

Panic vs purpose. How to pause and design a different path

Ikigai without the fluff. What you love. What you’re good at. What the world needs

Nano steps. Not grand gestures

Why community multiplies belief

Hasan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasankhair/

Tyllr - https://tyllr.co

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.