Men's mental health month - author Sam Delaney

Men's mental health month - author Sam Delaney

How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between Janey Lee Grace and author/broadcaster Sam Delaney gives a very down-to-earth take on that question, framed around men's mental health month. Sam talks frankly about growing up as the youngest of four in a "rough and tumble" home, soaking up laddish drinking culture and becoming the joker who never took anything seriously.

On the surface he was a happy Jack the lad; underneath, life pressures, anxiety and shame were quietly piling up. He explains how he ended up self-medicating with alcohol and drugs, often in secret, while holding down a responsible job and family life.

A key moment comes when Sam describes lying awake at 3am, desperate to stop but unable to: "If your biggest desire is to stop drinking and yet you continuously drink anyway and then feel shit about it afterwards, that to me... was a severe problem." That late-night Google search for the Priory led to therapy, ongoing support and, eventually, more than seven years of sobriety.

The chat digs into the subtle harms of "ordinary" childhood chaos and cultural expectations on boys to be relentlessly upbeat. Sam shares a line from group therapy that hit home: "It's not the elephants that kill you, it's the ants." Janey and Sam stress that you don't need huge, headline trauma to justify getting help; being human is hard enough.

You’ll hear why connection and honest conversation matter more than white-knuckling it alone, how boundaries and saying no can be genuine self-care, and why quitting booze can make you a more present parent and a kinder person to yourself. If you're a man quietly struggling, or someone who loves one, this is a grounded, funny and very real reminder that asking for help is anything but weak. Who else might need to hear that today?