92: Natural Health & Sobriety with Janey Lee Grace and guest Sam Delaney92: Natural Health & Sobriety with Janey Lee Grace and guest Sam Delaney
UK Health Radio Podcast
Sam Delaney talks with Janey Lee Grace about growing up in lad culture, falling into secret alcohol and drug addiction, and finding sobriety through therapy. Their conversation focuses on men’s mental health, childhood instability, and how life and identity can change for the better without alcohol.
44:02•25 Jun 2026
Mental Health Without the Bollocks: Sam Delaney on Sobriety and Being a Bloke
Episode Overview
- Feeling loved as a child doesn’t cancel out the impact of chaos, instability and constant emotional tension.
- Comparing drinking to heavier drinkers can delay recognising a serious problem with alcohol and drugs.
- A clear, all-or-nothing decision to stop drinking, backed by structured support, can be easier than trying to "cut down".
- Sobriety often means reshaping identity and friendships, while keeping the fun parts of personality and losing the self-destruction.
- People have a right to seek help for their pain even without "big" trauma, and connection and honesty are more sustainable than white-knuckling it alone.
“"Every day, my biggest dream was to stop drinking and taking drugs. And yet every day I broke the promise to myself."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation on the Natural Health & Sobriety Show brings together host Janey Lee Grace and journalist, author and broadcaster Sam Delaney for a very honest chat about men's mental health, addiction and life after alcohol. Sam talks frankly about growing up as the youngest of four in a "rough and tumble" household, being shaped by lad culture, and how a Jack-the-lad persona stopped him looking inward.
He describes years of comparing his drinking to heavier drinkers, convincing himself he didn’t have a problem, while secretly drinking and using drugs alone in the day and holding down a responsible job. As he puts it, "Every day, my biggest dream was to stop drinking and taking drugs.
And yet every day I broke the promise to myself." He shares the turning point: a sleepless night, a desperate 3am search for help, and a free assessment at The Priory with a counsellor who told him plainly they could help him quit for good, but not just "cut down". That clear, all-or-nothing offer clicked, and Sam hasn’t had a drink since.
You’ll hear how sobriety pushed him to rethink identity, friendships and the old belief that showing emotion is a "failure". Sam and Janey talk about the "ants not elephants" idea – how countless small hurts and instability can leave someone anxious and on high alert, even if they felt loved as a child. They also highlight the missed chances in healthcare, like being given antidepressants without anyone seriously asking about alcohol.
Sam’s book "Sort Your Head Out: Mental Health Without All the Bollocks" and his Reset project aim to talk to blokes in their own language: you can ditch booze and still be funny, social and yourself – just without the chaos. If you’ve ever wondered whether life might feel lighter without alcohol, what would it be like to give yourself permission to find out?
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