Why Nobody On A Building Site Says They’re Struggling | Harrison Brickey on The Tom's Talks Podcast

The Tom's Talks Podcast is a place where we speak to a vast array of people from different walks of life and find out what makes them them. We will speak about their unique journey and delve into the highs and the lows which ultimately define them. 

⚠️ This episode discusses suicide in detail, as well as addiction and grief. If you’re struggling, Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123.

“I’ve got four children. And that’s never going to change.”

Tomorrow marks eleven years since Tom lost his brother Liam to suicide. Tom has spent seven years telling his side of that story. In this episode, he sits down with the people who lived it alongside him: his mum, his sister and his brother.

This episode discusses suicide, grief and mental health. If you’re struggling, Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123.

“I carried his coffin. It’s the only time in my life I felt like I wasn’t able to do something.”

Most people know Harrison from his trade skits, the bricklayer whose videos get building sites laughing at themselves. This conversation is the other side of that. He grew up in Plymouth in an old school world of construction and rugby, where if you cried you did it in private, and he carried that into his twenties.

When rugby ended he lost his structure and his identity almost overnight, and for a long time it felt like he was just existing. His marriage fell apart, he moved back into his parents’ house, and he numbed it with drink and nights out. Then in 2022 his uncle took his own life, and that is what changed what he wanted his platform to be for.

What we get into:

Growing up in Plymouth, and an all-boys school where nobody talked about how they felt

Why mental health on a building site is a money problem as much as a stigma problem - if you’re self-employed and you don’t turn up, you don’t get paid

Finishing rugby, losing his routine and identity, and feeling like he was just existing

The walk where he finally broke down and said out loud that he was struggling, and the relief that came with it

His marriage ending, the betrayal he found out about later, and what it taught him about being open in a relationship

Going to therapy this year after years of putting it off, and why he wishes he had gone sooner

Comparison, social media, and never stopping long enough to appreciate what he has achieved

How trade skits took him from the building site to around 860,000 followers, and the four years of posting most people never saw

Losing his uncle to suicide, carrying the coffin, and the only video where he has ever cried on camera

Why he believes prevention means breaking the chain earlier, long before anyone reaches crisis

What he would say to himself at 30, and whether laying bricks or making content is harder

Tom lost his brother Liam, and there is a lot in Harrison’s story that will be familiar to anyone who has lost someone: the questions that never get answered, and what it does to the people left behind. If you have been through something similar, this one will stay with you.

An honest conversation about grief, mental health in the trades, divorce, therapy and what it takes to rebuild.

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