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Sort Your Head Out: Mental Health Without All the Bollocks
Sam Delaney was Jack the Lad. He was confident, loud and funny; an absolute legend, to be honest. Or at least that was what he pretended to be.
But when he reached his thirties, work, relationships and fatherhood started to take their toll. Like so many blokes who seemed to be totally fine, he often felt like a complete failure whose life was out of control; anxiety and depression had secretly plagued him for years. Turning to drink and drugs only made things worse. Sam knew he needed help - the problem was that he thought self-help was for hippies, sobriety was for weirdos and therapy was for neurotics.
Keeping it all inside was what nearly dragged Sam under. Then he began to open up and share his story with others. Soon his life started to get better and better. Now, he's written this book to help you do the same.
Covering his complex upbringing, fast paced career, struggles with addiction and recovery, and detailing lessons he's learnt along the way, Sort Your Head Out is Sam's startlingly raw, compassionate and hilarious account of why opening up is the first step to sorting your head out.
But when he reached his thirties, work, relationships and fatherhood started to take their toll. Like so many blokes who seemed to be totally fine, he often felt like a complete failure whose life was out of control; anxiety and depression had secretly plagued him for years. Turning to drink and drugs only made things worse. Sam knew he needed help - the problem was that he thought self-help was for hippies, sobriety was for weirdos and therapy was for neurotics.
Keeping it all inside was what nearly dragged Sam under. Then he began to open up and share his story with others. Soon his life started to get better and better. Now, he's written this book to help you do the same.
Covering his complex upbringing, fast paced career, struggles with addiction and recovery, and detailing lessons he's learnt along the way, Sort Your Head Out is Sam's startlingly raw, compassionate and hilarious account of why opening up is the first step to sorting your head out.
- GenresSelf HelpMental Health
Audible Audio
Published February 9, 2023
19 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 19, 2023
Really nice book, helps you to reflect on what matters in life, as well as how to let go of what went before. Chapters read a bit like a blog at points but generally speaking the message is positive, it's written really well, Sam Delaney seems like a genuinely good bloke and I'd recommend it to anyone. Read it in a couple of days.
February 23, 2023
Sam has been an inspiration to me and pivotal in my decision to quit alcohol. The title is a slight misnomer in that they book focuses more on recovery than mental health. Whilst the two are linked, I am aware that many people who want to ‘sort their head out’ don’t have drunk or drug problems. Regardless, it’s a great book just to help you reflect on this crazy journey we call life.
March 4, 2023
I was expecting this book to be about mental health from the perspective of a blokey bloke. And it sort of is but it's better than that makes it sound. Firstly, it's much more of a memoir than a self-help book but Sam Delaney uses telling stories from his life as a way to frame discussions about mental health in a way that is easily accessible and relatable. What I really like is that he does it without using any of the touchy-feely language or semi-religious jargon mental health professionals use. So anyone, but particularly men, that is skeptical about engaging in a book about their mental wellbeing wouldn't find this book difficult because it's actually more like reading a series of anecdotes from Sam's life. But there are insights slotted in alongside the stories, so there is a self-help side alongside the biographical bits. It's quite a clever way to frame a book aimed at demystifying mental health and making it accessible to people that might not otherwise engage in that sort of thing.
June 21, 2024
3 🌟 for self-help part of the book
4 🌟 for the memoir element
More a memoir than a self-help book, which
was the main reason for picking this book up. I used to enjoy Sam when he reviewed the papers on Sky news. He had an edge to him, and whilst I didn't always agree with his opinions, I was prepared to listen to his views. Thought he had his sh*t together, and because I can't remember the time frame of him being at Sky and the start of his sobriety, he may well have been coming out the other side. Wishing him continued sobriety, he comes over as a decent guy.
4 🌟 for the memoir element
More a memoir than a self-help book, which
was the main reason for picking this book up. I used to enjoy Sam when he reviewed the papers on Sky news. He had an edge to him, and whilst I didn't always agree with his opinions, I was prepared to listen to his views. Thought he had his sh*t together, and because I can't remember the time frame of him being at Sky and the start of his sobriety, he may well have been coming out the other side. Wishing him continued sobriety, he comes over as a decent guy.
April 12, 2023
Love this book - an inspiring and smart mix of personal memoir and treatise to sort you own head out. As suggested by the sub title “mental health without all the bollocks”, this is a book which will suit those alienated by the language of well-being and mindfulness.
Sam details his struggles with alcohol and drugs and looks at the root causes - but that doesn’t sound half as enjoyable and life-affirming a read this is. It’s funny, self-deprecating and wise; packed with anecdotes and life lessons, it’s also deeply enlightening and encouraging.
Men in particular struggle to talk about their mental and emotional struggles: this book reaches out to them without any of the psychobabble that might scare them away.
As Shaun Ryder says, every bloke should read it. Or as the author puts it: “Come on, lads, it’s 2022 for fuck’s sake. You don’t have to pretend to be Clint Eastwood anymore.”
Sam details his struggles with alcohol and drugs and looks at the root causes - but that doesn’t sound half as enjoyable and life-affirming a read this is. It’s funny, self-deprecating and wise; packed with anecdotes and life lessons, it’s also deeply enlightening and encouraging.
Men in particular struggle to talk about their mental and emotional struggles: this book reaches out to them without any of the psychobabble that might scare them away.
As Shaun Ryder says, every bloke should read it. Or as the author puts it: “Come on, lads, it’s 2022 for fuck’s sake. You don’t have to pretend to be Clint Eastwood anymore.”
May 2, 2023
Liked the look of this one and Sam Delaney (Journalist, podcaster, editor) looks like someone to investigate more.
I'm not quite sure the book hit the mark as advertised. Mental Health without all the bollocks makes is sound like a self help book. There are elements of this but mainly and especially in the first half, it reads as a memoir.
Its starts, as many of its ilk, with the author hitting the low point. However, being pissed at the darts and holding up a sign that asks his wife to marry him does not particularly sound like a real nadir. It was - like a lot of the book - quite amusing though. We are then introduced to traumas large and small in his life. Its interesting. Raised by a single parent in relative poverty, whilst the other parent swanned around in a Bentley. There's quite a lot of this duality at play in the book. It is possible to be a blokey bloke, but be educated. Rich and down to earth etc.
The book is very episodic and comes across slightly repetitive. I imagine a lot of the text may have started off life as a blog. It has a very bloggy feel about it. Chapter 18 is typical starting;
"it might have looked as if I was doing all right. I had a career and a family. I seemed to be successful and happy.... I didnt turn into a pisshead because I was constantly miserable". By Page 175 we know that he is a pisshead/cokehead. We know he had a great job and a loving family.
The sweary blokiness of the writing gets a little tiresome too. C Bomb dropped with aplomb.
The core message is accurate and a lot resonates. Some practical advice. A yet another good book to put on the shelf marked "Shirk, Rest and Play".
Plenty of interest and (yet) another podcast to add to the list.
I'm not quite sure the book hit the mark as advertised. Mental Health without all the bollocks makes is sound like a self help book. There are elements of this but mainly and especially in the first half, it reads as a memoir.
Its starts, as many of its ilk, with the author hitting the low point. However, being pissed at the darts and holding up a sign that asks his wife to marry him does not particularly sound like a real nadir. It was - like a lot of the book - quite amusing though. We are then introduced to traumas large and small in his life. Its interesting. Raised by a single parent in relative poverty, whilst the other parent swanned around in a Bentley. There's quite a lot of this duality at play in the book. It is possible to be a blokey bloke, but be educated. Rich and down to earth etc.
The book is very episodic and comes across slightly repetitive. I imagine a lot of the text may have started off life as a blog. It has a very bloggy feel about it. Chapter 18 is typical starting;
"it might have looked as if I was doing all right. I had a career and a family. I seemed to be successful and happy.... I didnt turn into a pisshead because I was constantly miserable". By Page 175 we know that he is a pisshead/cokehead. We know he had a great job and a loving family.
The sweary blokiness of the writing gets a little tiresome too. C Bomb dropped with aplomb.
The core message is accurate and a lot resonates. Some practical advice. A yet another good book to put on the shelf marked "Shirk, Rest and Play".
Plenty of interest and (yet) another podcast to add to the list.
March 11, 2023
“Sort Your Head Out” is Sam Delaney’s attempt to draft a no-nonsense guide to men’s mental health. He does so less through recourse to medical or academic research, but largely by drawing on his own experience of crushing anxiety, alcoholism, and drug addiction. In doing so, Delaney has written a self-help guide free of earnest psychobabble that seeks to connect with a group often overlooked in the discourse on mental health: working class men.
It might appear from “Sort Your Head Out” that Delaney’s wisdom amounts to not much more than ‘lay off the booze and the chisel, put down your phone occasionally, and try talking to your mates’. But he says this message straightforwardly and with a verve and elan far likely to connect with his intended audience (what might be termed as ‘Lads who are sad’) than any amount of moralising or finger-wagging. Delaney sometimes overdoes his Jack-the-Lad /Diamond Geezer persona in these pages, but even this flaw comes from his commendable desire to speak about mental health to working class men in their own language and on their own terms.
It might appear from “Sort Your Head Out” that Delaney’s wisdom amounts to not much more than ‘lay off the booze and the chisel, put down your phone occasionally, and try talking to your mates’. But he says this message straightforwardly and with a verve and elan far likely to connect with his intended audience (what might be termed as ‘Lads who are sad’) than any amount of moralising or finger-wagging. Delaney sometimes overdoes his Jack-the-Lad /Diamond Geezer persona in these pages, but even this flaw comes from his commendable desire to speak about mental health to working class men in their own language and on their own terms.
May 7, 2023
Though slightly unrelatable to my own circumstances (heavily British lifestyle and language) I found this book comforting in its candor. Perhaps it gave me a renewed perspective to my own relationship with coping and also to better understand the struggles that many of my loved ones faced. I was a bit put off by the incessant mentions of the author calling out his own privilege and telling us he didn't want to be preachy after which he proceeded to do exactly that. However, the heart was in the right place with this book and it was a charming deep dive into a very realistic depiction of addiction recovery.
July 9, 2023
Addiction and mental health
This really spoke to me about addiction, fatherhood, and the amount of unnecessary pressure we put ourselves under trying to become someone else's version of male success rather than our authentic self.
Though it's an autobiography of an addict with lessons to be learnt rather than a book on mental health
This really spoke to me about addiction, fatherhood, and the amount of unnecessary pressure we put ourselves under trying to become someone else's version of male success rather than our authentic self.
Though it's an autobiography of an addict with lessons to be learnt rather than a book on mental health
May 4, 2024
I listened to the audiobook of this having never heard of the author before. Despite that I found it to be a great listen.
Unlike some memoirs you don’t have to know the backstory of the author as he describes it well without it getting too tedious.
It’s definitely worth a listen or read.
Unlike some memoirs you don’t have to know the backstory of the author as he describes it well without it getting too tedious.
It’s definitely worth a listen or read.
November 13, 2024
An outstanding book that every man should read. A thoroughly enjoyable, relatable, sad and funny book, with lots of brilliant advice! A great read for every person, but especially for men, due to the experience of the writer!
April 4, 2023
Basically the author makes a journal about his life for his own contemplation. What a waste of time, nothing to learn here.
June 30, 2023
Maybe a 2.5.
There is some stuff in there to learn from, but as the book wore on it became a bit tiresome. Nothing groundbreaking and it all ends up a bit self indulgent... but at least he's aware of it, right?
There is some stuff in there to learn from, but as the book wore on it became a bit tiresome. Nothing groundbreaking and it all ends up a bit self indulgent... but at least he's aware of it, right?
August 25, 2023
Well worth reading for any man. Funny and motivational. Wise advice without the preaching and self congratulatory stories.
January 28, 2024
Really good book. Definitely recommend.
January 31, 2024
Lively and insightful.
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October 20, 2024
A very honest account - more of a life story than a how to book, but works well in that regard. A lot of people will relate to some of the things in here and perhaps open up some discussions.
December 16, 2024
Important book with a great message, but I feel that a lot of the stuff said here was just a teeny teensy weenie bit too basic for the book as a whole to be excellent
January 2, 2025
Superb
A brilliant insight into how most men are feeling but not able to talk about. Funny, acerbic, and genuine. Brilliant stuff, Sam.
A brilliant insight into how most men are feeling but not able to talk about. Funny, acerbic, and genuine. Brilliant stuff, Sam.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews