Friendship & Mental Illness | The Power Of Peer Support w/ Ryan Manning Artwork

Beat The Mental Health Out Of It! | A Mental Health Podcast On Lived Experiences & Dark Humor

If you live with mental illness—or love someone who does—and you’re tired of sugar-coated wellness talk, this show is for you.

Beat The Mental Health Out Of It! blends dark humor with real recovery so you feel seen, steadied, and a little lighter. We tell it like it is, so you don't have to.

You’ll get:

Lived-experience truth from “The DEFECTIVE Schizoaffective” (host) + grounded insight from "IndyPocket" (co-host and music therapist).
Edgy, stigma-smashing and often, controversial conversations about life with mental illness mixed with social commentary, relationships and messy real-world coping as it relates to mental health.
Some challenging takeaways you can ponder after each episode—along with laughs that punch up, down, left, right... EVERYWHERE.

Perfect for: people juggling therapy, meds, and everyday chaos who want honest talk, gallows humor, zero judgment and acceptance for who they are.

Guests include survivors, clinicians and everything in between... Any human being who is willing to share their story with our listeners.

Content notes are provided when necessary.

We (the hosts) are NOT providing professional mental health services. We are simply sharing our lived experiences and our perspectives on these topics while offering support to this community.

If you are in the U.S. and you need help, call or text 988 (24/7) and seek professional psychiatric care immediately.

All Episodes

Beat The Mental Health Out Of It! | A Mental Health Podcast On Lived Experiences & Dark Humor

Friendship & Mental Illness | The Power Of Peer Support w/ Ryan Manning

March 03, 2025 • Nicholas Wichman - Mental Health Advocate • Season 1 • Episode 8

How friendship and peer support keep people alive when mental illness won’t back off—Schizoaffective storms, awkward misses, and showing up without “fixing.”

A candid mental health episode on empathy, accountability, and practical support moves that actually help.

Content note: explicit language; frank mental health discussion.

If you’re struggling (U.S.): Call/Text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, 24/7).

Episode focus: the quiet ways long-term friendship sustains recovery—presence over problem-solving, humor as glue, and simple habits that make support real.

We cover:

How friendship survives secrecy and symptoms
Presence vs. problem-solving—what showing up really looks like
Humor as glue when things get heavy
Practical support moves that actually help (and what to avoid)

Hosts/Guest: The DEFECTIVE Schizoaffective (Nick) • Guest: Ryan Manning (show artwork designer)

Guest links:

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rylemann

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rylemann

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanmgolfs

Post one support move you’ll try this week on our Discord "The Struggle Bus"—we’ll help you refine it so it actually lands. (link below)

NEW EPISODES DROP EVERY OTHER MONDAY (BI-WEEKLY) AT 6AM (EDT)

FOLLOW, SHARE AND COMMENT!

Drop suggestions, topic and content ideas, potential guests… we want to know what you want from “BTMHOOI!”

Send us an email at beatthementalhealthoutofit@gmail.com

We’re a candid mental health podcast with lived experience—schizoaffective disorder, trauma recovery, coping skills, and dark humor that fights stigma!

Join Our Discord — “The Struggle Bus” - https://discord.gg/emFXKuWKNA

HOST / SOCIALS

The DEFECTIVE Schizoaffective (Nick)