Day in the Life - Niall 'Bressie' Breslin

Niall 'Bressie' Breslin is one of Ireland’s most formidable and inspiring mental health advocates.

Niall is a lifelong learner with a MSc in mindfulness-based intervention, a bachelor’s degrees in economic and sociology and is an honorary fellow of both the Royal College of Surgeons and the IADT, and is currently doing his Phd in Trinity . He is also a bestselling author, musician, philanthropist, and former professional athlete.

Bressie & his upcoming special guest Edward Hayden

This November, Niall will bring his live podcast "Where is my mind?” to Kilkenny’s Set Theatre. This promises to be an incredible live show laced with creativity and fascinating conversations.

Niall engages in generative in-depth explorations with exciting guests to reveal the unvarnished truth of, and hope for the human condition. His chosen guest on November 1 is one of Kilkenny’s best-known faces, celebrity chef, lecturer, actor, and radio presenter Edward Hayden.

Here is a glimpse into Bressie’s mind…

Niall, you’ve had a very interesting life so far, from rugby player to musician and now an academic. What is next?

It’s something I have been thinking about and my mother also asked me about it recently. I have a real problem of being put into a box and I don’t do it to other people. I don’t like labelling people and limiting them by saying this is who you are.

The reason I don’t like it is because I’ve never done it to myself. I think we do it a lot because it makes us feel safe when we can label someone. I find people’s preconceived notions of people limiting. That’s my excuse for why I do so many different careers.

I do what I like, and I commit to it. I do things that scare me too! Even with something like academia, to decide in your early forties that you are going to take five years out of your life to focus on research is a scary thing to do.

What was the motivation to delve into the mind?

My own story was the big motivational driver behind it. For as far as I can remember through the 80’s and noughties I lived with a tortuous mind that I never fully understood.

I had chronic panic attacks as a teenager, and I carried that into adulthood. I don’t remember never being anxious and I genuinely don’t remember ever being calm. I struggled with things, like insomnia because my mind was so chaotic, and it just kept going all the time.

I never understood why my mind did this all the time. Like everything, if you ignore it or pretend it doesn’t exist, but it gets progressively worse. I had a panic attack on a live tv show and that was the catalyst for me.

That was 12 years ago, and I publicly spoke about it 11 years ago. Ultimately when I went on this journey, which was made up of difficult therapy and psychology with amazing people, I became really interested in what was influencing not just me, but other people too. That led me into doing a degree and then a masters.

What do you think is the big issue with mental health in Ireland? 

One big issue about mental health in Ireland is that we keep telling the individual that they are not quite strong enough or able to deal with the stress of the world. 

The reality is that none of us are looking at the chaos around. The world is chaotic. We’ve had a pandemic, wars, and cost of living crisis. There’s been a permanent crisis.

If we all feel anxious right now that’s probably a healthy response. That’s what I am trying to study – the culture and social forces that make us feel overwhelmed sometimes.

But it is hard to answer without context. Mental health is complex and layered.

Are you hoping to change attitudes with your research? 

I don’t like fighting with politicians or about the state of things. It's not where I want to be. Our current mental health system is failing, especially for children and adolescence.

With a population of five million, I believe that we can become world leaders in how we support young people when it comes to their mental health. My belief is early prevention and intervention – that’s the key to my work, study, and research. All I want to do is contribute to it.

You reflected on your podcast recently about the media and the treatment of Ryan Tubridy. You called it the hunger games and said that news has become very little about moral accountability and more about entertainment.

In both social and traditional media, we have created a landscape where you can’t possibly care about two different things at the same time. You’ve got to pick your side and start shouting. That’s the hunger games - someone gets thrown under the bus and we all sit back with a packet of popcorn to watch it.

You can look at the RTE debacle and say that it is total chaos and accountability must be held. Ryan Tubridy made very poor judgments, as did his agent. And you can care that we spent billions for a children’s hospital where politicians haven’t been held to accountable.

I saw a post the other day where people were giving out that Ryan Tubridy was going to the UK for a job. Who do people think they are, telling somebody else that they can’t go and make a living because they made a mistake? Everyone can make mistakes and we need to make more space for redemption within society. 

You are also a big believer in ‘vitamin playfulness’.  

I had this amazing psychologist, and he calls it vitamin P for playfulness. He said we need to do something bold, something that doesn’t have a point, that you are just doing because you want to do it and once it's legal!

The world has gone too serious. Everything we do needs to have an outcome, rather than just doing stuff. Everybody knows what it's like to laugh until they can’t stand up. Everybody knows the power of that and not being afraid of fun.

The pandemic brought us into ourselves but it's okay to have fun. If I can give you any massive piece of advice for your mental health, it's to sneak out that playfulness.

You are bringing your podcast to the Set Theatre. What can we expect on the night?

I am very much looking forward to bringing the live ‘Where is my mind’ podcast to Kilkenny for the first time in the wonderful Set Theatre on November 1.

What not to expect is me on stage giving a lecture on wellness. I’m not into fridge magnet philosophy with inspirational quotes.

The show is irreverent, funny, vulnerable, and hopefully a heartwarming look into our heads and the absolute state of them sometimes. It gives people inspiration to make them feel more connected to those around them. It will have music, spoken word, monologues and guests.

There are three things I try to do with my live podcast. Firstly, I want it to be relatable. I really want the audience to see themselves in what I am saying.

The second is vulnerability. I think when you are vulnerable it releases people from the head into the heart and that’s when you really get engagement. Thirdly, it's functional, I give people things they can do in a funny way.

The most important part of the live podcast is your guest and I’ve got to bring all three of the above out in my guest.

Bressie recently co-hosted Edward Hayden's popular radio show on KCLR

You choose Edward Hayden as your special guest for the Kilkenny show. What are you hoping to find in his mind?

When I was living in the UK, I used to watch Edward on Ireland AM in the mornings. He comes across as a guy who isn’t getting the chance to say what he wants to say. He has that vitamin playfulness, and I was always thinking, just give the guy his own show.

He interviewed me before and I don’t think I’ve ever had an interview like it. It was a 45-minute interview that was so in depth and impactful, with no bells and whistles. I massively enjoyed the interview.

I thought I’d love to reverse this interview on him. I could feel it off him that he was interviewing me about himself.

Edward is emotionally intelligent; he is funny and warm. It's exactly what you want from a guest. I’m looking forward to chatting about his head and how he takes care of it in the head-melty chaos of the modern world.  

Tickets for 'Where is my mind?' are available from set.ie/where-is-my-mind