Mandy Gibbons Podcast Show...  GUEST: Maurice "Mo" Sauzier, General Manager Strategic Partnerships, Marketing and Business Development Oqea

"Mo" brings his incredible insights and techniques that he's used for himself recovering from the brink of suicide... And his personal awe-inspiring story, his passion, with over 40 years experience in the mental health space.

...And how a sliding door moment - lead him to be involved in the promotion of mental health and suicide prevention.

Mo got me sharing my story of what led to my brain trauma, which I hadn't shared publicly... Thankyou, Mo.

JUST SOME OF THE GOLD IN THIS EPISODE:

Mo shares how even when he was in secondary school, he found that people came to him for support, to talk about him about the issues they were experiencing.

...Which inspired Mo to study for 3 years as an undergrad in Psychology... learning about the complexities of the mind.

9 years ago Mo was head hunted for a director role... it was extremely challenging over a number of dimensions... 8 months into the role and being dedicated to wanting to succeed and make a difference... Mo found himself burnt out.

Mo explains how quickly things started to change for him experiencing overwhelm and anxiety and espisodial depression. And realised that his own personal values clashed with corporate values.

Left wondering at 50 years old, what his next steps were. Mo's episodial depression became manic and Mo then started to consider suicide. Leading to him writing a suicide note and having a plan to execute ending his life.

Mo and I discuss, even though you can have the most loving family, and people around you that love you, who care about you and want to support you...

And how you disassociate with others, isolate yourself, the darkness and the despair that's experienced... that other's don't understand. Making it difficult to opening yourself up to help.

Mo shares how grateful he is that he didn't take his own life... and for taking the significant steps he took to get to where he is now. And it's helped him relate to others and be relatable to others, going through mental health challenges.

Mo and I discuss how fatigued you become during mental health challenges... With Mo sharing one of his own experiences on this.

Mo shares his awesome "mantra" about the small steps to take when recovering. And how important baby steps are. And we talk about how going through this raises our own awareness of how we're feeling, so when you're going through challenging times, you're able to pick up on that, to ensure you take care of your mental health.

How moving beyond that, Mo has been able to impact so many amazing people with this passion, his story... and spending time sharing and conversing with others about mental health and suicide prevention. And coaching and mentoring.

Mo's simple model of A B C, keeping a thumb on the pulse of what's happening around you.

We talk about perfectionism... and the response you can have to it. How it can be debilitating...and can affect your mental health and quality of life.

The awesome mental health check-in tool that Mo's been involved with... so you can see where you're at with your own mental health, self help tool... that's designed to positively impact globally 1 million lives. It can be used to take to your doctor, coach, counsellor... and they use the results as a screening tool. It's Anonymous. An amazing pre-emptive tool.

And the campaign to help support the construction industry, with 10,000 mental health check-ins. The construction industry is losing a person to suicide every 2 days.

We talk about what we can ask when we're concerned about someone and their mental health... and being supportive.

How scary it can be if you're afraid of what will happen when you open up the can of worms, especially for men, of sharing what you've been bottling up. And the awesome relief of getting help, having a conversation and not having to hang onto it any more... when you find the help that you're able to connect with and feel safe enough to do that.

Mo shares how important compassion is when it comes to mental health... and life in general.
And how doing acts of compassion every day, showing kindness, the ripple effect of that.

We talk about rest, recovery, taking care and making friends with your heart. Bringing yourself back to "neutral" to give yourself peace...and self-compassion.

You can reach out to Mo here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurice-mo-sauzier-81129016/
And refer to the podcast.

And the mental health check in tool Mo spoke about...
https://www.oml.world/

Mandy Gibbons
Resilience Coach for Men