Doctor's Note

OCD is a disorder that is often not viewed as a disorder at all, or viewed as a personality quirk where somebody is neat or organized. However, this is not the truth at all. In this episode I do a deep-dive into OCD, the obsessions and compulsions that come with it, and the stigma that the people who have it face.

Sources:
International OCD Foundation: https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/#obsessions
What Causes OCD? (Cleveland Clinic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQXx_2rFPzQ
The "Invisible" Disorder (ADAA): https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/professional/invisible-disorder-ocd-stigma-how-we-move

Further Exploration:
Debunking the myths of OCD (TED-Ed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhlRgwdDc-E

Resources for Help: 
International OCD Foundation Resources: https://iocdf.org/ocd-finding-help/living-with-ocd/
National 24/7 Suicide Prevention Hotline: 988
National 24/7 Emergency Response: 911 

Schizophrenia is a widely known complex mental health disorder that affects how a person behaves, thinks, and views the world around them. Because of how complex and well-known it is, it's also often misunderstood and misrepresented. In this episode, I talk about schizophrenia with Dr. Sam Reznik, an assistant professor at the University of Washington and the Director of the Psychosis Program at Seattle Children's Hospital, so we can get the full picture of what schizophrenia actually is. 

Sources for Further Exploration:
The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness by Elyn R. Saks - A memoir about what it's like to actually live with schizophrenia, and how she overcame the obstacles it imposed to become the person she is now.
RETHINK PSYCHOSIS, a website where people gather to give first-person accounts and narratives on psychosis and various things regarding it: https://rethinkpsychosis.weebly.com/

Resources for Help:
New Journeys Program: https://www.hca.wa.gov/billers-providers-partners/program-information-providers/new-journeys-and-first-episode-psychosis
24/7 National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 988
24/7 National Emergency Helpline: 911

What is schizophrenia? Many of us have heard about it, either through mentions in books and movies or through other people. Sadly, these descriptions are often inaccurate, and lead to things like self-stigma in people who have schizophrenia, and to institutional bias. In this episode I discuss what schizophrenia is, its symptoms, and the stigma that the people who have it face.

Sources for Research:
Brut America Interview with Christopher Grant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbPt2m1eYoQ
Schizophrenia - Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizophrenia/symptoms-causes/syc-20354443
Schizophrenia - World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/schizophrenia
Schizophrenia Symptoms - WebMD: https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-symptoms
7 Types of Delusions in Schizophrenia - Healthline: https://www.healthline.com/health/schizophrenia/types-of-delusions-in-schizophrenia#delusions-overview
Hallucinations - Healthline: https://www.healthline.com/health/schizophrenia-hallucinations
Causes of Schizophrenia - NHS UK: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/schizophrenia/causes/
Stigmatization of Schizophrenia - NIH: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9577666/
Stigma Around Schizophrenia - WebMD: https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-stigma

Resources for Help:
New Journeys Program Info: https://www.hca.wa.gov/billers-providers-partners/program-information-providers/new-journeys-and-first-episode-psychosis
24/7 National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 988
24/7 National Emergency Help Hotline: 911

In this episode I discuss DID, which stands for Dissociative Identity Disorder, with Dr. Brand, a world-renowned clinical psychologist, the principal investigator of the TOP DD study series, and one of the authors for the revolutionary treatment Finding Solid Ground. We discuss what DID is, why it's so misdiagnosed, and its many faulty depictions in media.

Sources for Further Exploration about DID: 
Free NYT article - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/magazine/dissociative-identity-disorder-mental-health.html?unlocked_article_code=1.I1A.TYMZ.BHLikS8SZOsc&smid=url-share
DIDR (Dissociative Identity Disorder Research) - https://did-research.org/

Resources for Help:
Bethany Brand, Ph.D. - https://www.bethanybrand.com/
ISSTD (International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation) - https://www.isst-d.org/
Finding Solid Ground - https://www.findingsolidground.info
988 - 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Hotline
911 - 24/7 National Hotline for Help

What is DID? Most of us have heard of this mental condition, the many myths and rumors about it. The thing is, that's what most of them are: just myths. In this episode we talk about what DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) is actually about and its history. 

Sources Used: 
Cleveland Clinic: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9792-dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder
DIDR: https://did-research.org/
National Library of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK568768/
USA Today Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWhICGCXnUE

Resources for Help:
911 - National Emergency Hotline
988 - National Suicide Prevention Hotline
ISSTD - International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation