Author, spoken word artist, and podcaster aims to shed light on the stigma that surrounds men’s mental health struggles with the launch of a new podcast, “Conversations With the Boys”
Mikey Tableman has always loved the power of storytelling. As a poet, author, podcaster, and mental health advocate, he believes that there aren’t any rules when it comes to creation. This is most prominent when having honest conversations about overcoming challenges such as mental health.
As he prepares to launch his new book, My Manic Maze, alongside the My Manic Maze spoken word EP, while bringing his latest podcast, Conversations with the Boys, to life, Mikey Tableman aims to bring light to the stigma that often surrounds mental health, all by sharing the stories of people who have faced these issues firsthand.
Changing the Relationship With Struggle
Mikey Tableman understands that mental health challenges such as addiction and depression can often lead to self-destruction. As someone who has struggled with these feelings, he had to learn how to change his relationship with those struggles by focusing on their causes.
“I didn’t wake up one day and become someone else,” Tableman shares. “What’s changed is my relationship with those struggles.”
Healthier tools, stronger support systems, and self-awareness are only a part of the process of learning to live with anxiety and other mental health challenges; ultimately leading him to launch his mental health organization 501c3, A Mind’s Pursuit. For Tableman, healing isn’t a process that has a finish line, but a continuous, ongoing practice of choosing healthier responses when challenges arrive.
Mikey Tableman has always loved the power of storytelling. As a poet, author, podcaster, and mental health advocate, he believes that there aren’t any rules when it comes to creation. This is most prominent when having honest conversations about overcoming challenges such as mental health.
As he prepares to launch his new book, My Manic Maze, alongside the My Manic Maze spoken word EP, while bringing his latest podcast, Conversations with the Boys, to life, Mikey Tableman aims to bring light to the stigma that often surrounds mental health, all by sharing the stories of people who have faced these issues firsthand.
Changing the Relationship With Struggle
Mikey Tableman understands that mental health challenges such as addiction and depression can often lead to self-destruction. As someone who has struggled with these feelings, he had to learn how to change his relationship with those struggles by focusing on their causes.
“I didn’t wake up one day and become someone else,” Tableman shares. “What’s changed is my relationship with those struggles.” Healthier tools, stronger support systems, and self-awareness are only a part of the process of learning to live with anxiety and other mental health challenges; ultimately leading him to launch his mental health organization 501c3, A Mind’s Pursuit. For Tableman, healing isn’t a process that has a finish line, but a continuous, ongoing practice of choosing healthier responses when challenges arrive.
Creating Conversation on “Chaos Controlled”
Mikey Tableman’s podcast, Chaos Controlled, is what he describes as the first pillar of his platform, A Mind’s Pursuit. What started as a way for people to dig deeper into their struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic quickly expanded into creating deeper conversations with others.
“While everyone’s story was different, there were a lot of common themes,” Tableman notes. “We heard people talk about imposter syndrome, burnout, identity, feeling stuck, and not knowing what came next.”
The newest show that Tableman is producing, “Conversations with the Boys,” explores similar topics, but through a different lens. As a mental health roundtable featuring himself, music industry executive Big Billy Clark, cinematographer Ben Meredith, and artist JP Betancur, the goal is to create honest conversations about men’s relationships with masculinity, purpose, and the pressures they face. It also aims to showcase the staggering statistics around men’s mental health, which show that nearly 1 in 10 men experience depression and anxiety, but less than half seek out and receive treatment.
“Men have been taught to suppress emotions, carry everything themselves, and view vulnerability as weakness,” Tableman says. “We’re challenging that idea.”
Conversations With the Boys was released on podcast streaming platforms on June 24th, with Tableman’s upcoming book, My Manic Maze, with the accompanying creative musical EP, fully launching on July 10th, inviting audiences to experience the story through spoken word, memoir-style storytelling, music, and visual art. Readers can follow his story and mental health content on his social media @mikeytableman and @amind’spursuit
Article written in collaboration with Matthew Kayser
