Depressed and Sh*t

We have arrived at a temporary end.
Ready for some fuzz aka fuzzy f**cking feelings? Actually, no, let's call it GROWTH. Lea checks back in with various Depressed Guests from throughout the season.
CLICK: Connect on Instagram at @depressedanshit
Got a story to share? Interested in coming on the show? Email us any time at [email protected] 

When losing a job CAN ACTUALLY BE A GOOD THING?
Meet George (he/him). George has anxiety.  Deep, intense anxiety.  For many reasons.  Sprinting from gig to gig as an orchestral violinist, with no clear job security (classic!).  Constantly hustling to secure the next opportunity. Balancing this identity as a gay man in a heteronormative country and heteronormative industry. Here's a story on how the pandemic helped someone find clarity.
Connect on Instagram at @depressedanshit
Got a story to share? Interested in coming on the show? Email us any time at [email protected] 

Approximately 17% of all people will self harm in their lifetime (based on analysis across forty countries) -- and only HALF of those folks seek help of any kind.  Considering those numbers, this topic is worth talking about, yes??? Meet Destiny Jones (she/her), fresh out of high school, college right around the corner, carrying with her a story on cutting, moving through emotional pain, and how and why she asked for help.
Learn more about Destiny and her brand spanking new A Thousand Wishes here!
CLICK: Connect on Instagram at @depressedanshit
Got a story to share? Interested in coming on the show? Email us any time at [email protected] 

So. Listen. There's a form of OCD that shows NO external, physical signs of OCD. None. Nada. Ya know -- the way that most of us typically think of OCD. And many folks go DECADES of their life without receiving a diagnosis or having any name for their struggle. Meet Connor Kelly-Eiding (she/her), whose daily experience includes Pure-O.  As she moves through grad school towards therapist licensure. Largely thanks to ERP - Exposure and Response Prevention therapy.
CLICK: Connect on Instagram at @depressedanshit
Got a story to share? Interested in coming on the show? Email us any time at [email protected] 

Gender + grief + saying bye to a therapist.
Joseph Baca (he/she/they) identifies as a queer, non-binary, demiboy.  Unsure of any of those terms?  Joseph is more than thrilled to explain.  Was this thrill + level of comfort with their queerness always the case? Not exactly. Not in recent political climates of yore... After losing a close friend to suicide and reluctantly parting ties with his therapist, Joseph is looking at the world from a new lens. One that isn't down with the oppression of the gender binary... or any binary for that matter.
TW: death by suicide
Connect on Instagram at @depressedanshit
Got a story to share? Interested in coming on the show? Email us any time at [email protected] 

On generalized anxiety + cognitive behavioral therapy.  So like... how would you describe your relationship to your therapist (or mentor or coach)?  BFF-ish?  Best-friend-adjacent? That's how Natalie Rodriguez (she/her) would describe hers.  9 years.  The length of time Natalie has managed sleep-destroying generalized anxiety.  Also the length of time Natalie has spent building a trusting and supportive relationship with her therapist - using the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) methodology.  Ready to relate to this episode like you wouldn't goddamn believe?
Learn more about Natalie and HOWARD ORIGINAL/her films/books/advocacy HERE.
Connect on Instagram at @depressedanshit
Got a story to share? Interested in coming on the show? Email us any time at [email protected] 

A mother, a daughter, and a fiancé.  When it comes to fluctuating family units, first generation Peruvian-American Ariana Vergara-Johnson (she/her/ella) has been through it.  Months before her scheduled wedding to partner Natalie, Ariana receives two extreme tidbits of news: A) coronavirus and B) her mother's sudden shift and subsequent disapproval of Ariana's orientation and pending nuptials.  Oh hell no, to say the least.
Connect on Instagram at @depressedanshit
Got a story to share? Interested in coming on the show? Email us any time at [email protected] 

Has the pandemic wreaked absolute havoc on your career? On your possibly already hazy path in life? 
Purpose - and having a clear internal sense of it - is a critical factor in happiness and in climbing out of a depressive episode. And yet here we are, tail-end of the pandemic, with many folks still underemployed or in a new field- grieving a life lost.  Meet Sid Al-Thumali (he/him) - a young theater maker on the brink of leaving his small town for bigger opportunities. Well... at least that was the deal in 2019. Then everything changed.

Connect with the show on Instagram at @depressedanshit
Got a story to share? Interested in coming on the show? Email us any time at [email protected] 

Depression treatment CAN take many forms far beyond the Western medicine/Big Pharma milieu ...
Curious about Ayahuasca - the traditional healing medicine containing psychoactive hallucinogenic properties? Meet Spencer (he/him) who dishes on the good, the bad, and the ugly (puking - a lot of puking) of his multiyear shaman-guided Ayahuasca trips -- and whether or not these jaunts yielded longterm & lasting relief from his chronic depression.

INSIDE SCOOP: Curious why Lea's voice sounds wrecked? She spoke with Spencer 24 hours following her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine! Yolo!

Connect with the show on Instagram at @depressedanshit
Got a story to share? Interested in coming on the show? Email us any time at [email protected] 

Putting the pain into the music.
Ever thought what would happen if you just told people straight up that you're not doing good? That you're battling depression? That you hate yourself some days?
For DEVMO, that social experiment was quite the goddamn rollercoaster.
Today, Lea sits down with performer DEVMO (she/her) to discuss her recent EP drop TEARS - and how the mental health-heavy messages of the songs were an authentic and heavy reality both for herself and for her listeners.

Listen to Tears - click here.

Connect with the show on Instagram at @depressedanshit
Got a story to share? Interested in coming on the show? Email us any time at [email protected]