Severe mental health disorders can complicate relationships. That goes double for families, when genetic predispositions and generational trauma can come into play. And it’s even more complicated when a loved one’s mental illness disconnects them from reality. In this episode, we’re talking about delusions with author and pharmacist Ruth Madievsky. Her book ALL-NIGHT PHARMACY explores how the mental health of parents — and their attitudes toward health and healthcare — can shape the experiences and wellbeing of their children. Mayo Clinic expert Dr. Robert Bright draws upon his psychiatry expertise to help tease out these often-complex dynamics. 

We talked with:

Ruth Madievsky, Pharm.D., is the author of national bestselling novel, All-Night Pharmacy. Her fiction, nonfiction, and poetry appear in The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, Harper's Bazaar, and elsewhere. She is a founding member of the Cheburashka Collective, a community of women and nonbinary writers whose identity has been shaped by immigration from the Soviet Union to the United States. She has recently completed a second poetry collection and is at work on a second novel. Originally from Moldova, she lives in Los Angeles, where she works as an HIV and primary care clinical pharmacist.

Robert Bright, M.D., is the chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. He is also assistant dean of Student Advising in the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and an assistant professor of psychiatry. He is the 2018 recipient of the Mayo Clinic Arizona Distinguished Educator of the Year award. He attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill for his undergraduate studies and medical school. 

Can’t get enough?

Purchase “All-Night Pharmacy.”

• From Bookshop.org. 
• From Amazon.  
• From Barnes & Noble.  

Got feedback?

• If you've got ideas or book suggestions, email us at [email protected]. 
• We invite you to complete the following survey as part of a research study at Mayo Clinic. Your responses are anonymous. Your participation in this survey as well as its completion are voluntary.
• Connect with others talking about the podcast in the Read. Talk. Grow. group on Mayo Clinic Connect, an online community moderated by Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic Connect is free, trusted, moderated, welcoming, safe and easy-to-use.

The podcast is for informational purposes only and is not designed to replace the physician’s medical assessment and judgment. Information presented is not intended as medical advice. Please contact a healthcare professional medical assistance with specific questions pertaining to your own health if needed.