Mental Illness Happy Hour

Bonus Ep - Maternal Incest - Daniel M

After hearing mens' stories about experiencing incest (overtly or covertly) by their mothers, Daniel reached out to Paul with his story and has come to share it (with his girlfriend for support as well.) This episode is sponsored by StitchFix online personal styling service.  Get 25% off when you keep all 5 items in your box.  Go to www.StitchFix.com/mental This episode is sponsored by Himalaya podcasting app.  You can download it at the App store or Google Play store.

Facing Her Fears - Courtenay Hameister

The writer/performer opens up about her anxiety, panic attacks, OCD, shame and body issues. She also reads excerpts from Okay Fine Whatever: The Year I Went From Being Afraid Of Everything to Being Afraid Of Most Things, her hilarious new book about taking risks and challenging her fears, especially social phobias. More About Our Guest For more on Courtenay go to www.CourtenayHameister.com  Follow her on Twitter @Wisenheimer

Struggles With Moderation, Identify & Survivor's Guilt - Akshay Nanavati

Born in India, raised in Texas, 33 year-old Iraq War veteran, ultra-runner and global philanthropist talks about his lifelong struggles with moderation, getting his identify from his accomplishments or dangerous/crazy/extreme behavior, feeling unworthy and battling survivors guilt after losing a fellow soldier.  He also talks about spirituality especially finding purpose through sacrifice and service. Akshay is the author of the book Fearvana (with a forward by the Dalai Fucking Lama!)

Back in My Parents' F-ing Basement - Live in MN w/Kjell Bjorgen

Recorded live in Minneapolis at Sisyphus Brewing, Paul and Kjell reunite and share stories of bombing onstage, panic attacks, depression, meds, feeling lazy, future tripping, anger at partners, living in parents' basements, self-doubt, dead-end jobs and self-sabotage. Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod  hear guests like Tiffany Haddish and Maria Bamford.

LeeAnn Kreischer - Rural Southern Generational Trauma

The former screenwriter, mother and podcaster shares about her relationship with her "party-animal" husband Bert Kreischer and her tumultuous childhood split between a mentally-ill narcissistic mother, a lovesick broken father, and a grandfather with severe combat PTSD from being the one of the first soldiers to enter Nagasaki after the atomic bomb detonated. She describes how she faced her pain, changed her life and is trying to grow into the person and mother she never had.

Chris Mancini - A Buffet of Anxiety

The filmmaker (Earbuds) podcaster (Comedy Film Nerds and Conversations From the Abyss) writer (Pacified: A Handbook For the New Freaked-Out Dad) and comedian sits down to talk about anxiety, depression, parental stress/anxiety and feeling career disappointment/frustration/doubt.  He also talks about the Earbuds documentary and the importance of human connection not only in dealing with mental struggles but between podcasts and listeners. Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Prem

Lazy, Dumb, Hyper, Scattered - Jessica McCabe & ADHD labels

"Bored", "lazy", "scattered" "hyper"; Are these fair or accurate labels? Is there anything we can do to help our brains or motivation? Jessica shares about her past struggles with these labels and how we can find what our brain likes so we don't label and fight it, rather understand it and work with it. Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod

Adam Cayton-Holland: OCD, Social Conscience and Loss

The standup, actor and author shares about familial loss, his lifelong OCD rituals, and growing up in a home where the harsh and often brutal realities of the world were discussed with the kids, helping them empathize but also took an emotional toll. Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod   Hear guests like: Tiffany Haddish, Marc Maron, Maria Bamford and more

Dealing with Hopelessness - AFSP Psychiatrist Dr Christine Moutier

The psychiatrist and chief medical officer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention shares insights into dealing with hopelessness both personally and with loved ones. The Suicide Hotline number is 1-800-273-TALK Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month. Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod Hear guests like: Tiffany Haddish, Marc Maron, Maria Bamford, NHL Legend Theo Fleury, & more

Paul in Ireland V - Ex IRA Prisoner Jake MacSiacais - Sponsored by BetterHelp

The former IRA member shares his people's history, his years of imprisonment & torture by Protestants and the British govt, the responsibility he feels for civilian lives that were taken by his organization, watching fellow prisoner Bobby Sands die by hunger strike, finding ways to survive mentally and how the emotions surfaced unexpectedly years later.  Older episodes can be found ad-free at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Use offer code MENTAL  www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod

Paul in Ireland III - Sponsored by BetterHelp - Caitlin

The 29 year-old Dubliner opens up about her struggles with psychosis, cutting/self-harm, alcohol, anger, learning disability (seeing letters mirrored) & spatial/motor control; also her suicide attempt and it finally expressing her pain despite feeling numb. Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod

Paul in Ireland I - Sponsored by BetterHelp

21 year-old M emigrated to Dublin from China at 8. With a history of abuse and neglect, she learned to stuff her sadness or unleash it thru anger. She battles Bipolar I, BPD, Complex PTSD & co-dependence but is developing tools & support.  She talks about growing up with conditional love and physical violence where emotions like sadness weren't allowed.  M also shares about the dramatic episodes of mania that landed her in trouble with the law and in hospital. Her girlfriend A sits in as well

Fetish Shame, Meds & Martial Arts - Dylan Brody

The writer/storyteller discusses the lifelong struggle to make peace with his amputation fetish, his ups and downs with taking meds, inheriting his dad's pomposity, suicidal ideation and the benefits of martial arts in dealing with depression and anxiety. Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod

#393 How to Deal With Addicts - Dr Cali Estes

Cali's specialty is speaking the truth to high-profile or wealthy people trying to get sober, especially when they're being enabled by family, hangers-on or the people they make money for. Topics are : codependency, low self-esteem & boundaries Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod

#392 Michael Duffy - Vietnam Vet - Art & War

He was just a kid who wanted to get into art school but when he was rejected, he instead got sent to Vietnam. Later he would use painting to process the traumas he experienced. Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod

#391 Meredith Erin - Trolls, SJWs & Angry People

Paul and Meredith share their stories and thoughts about encountering internet trolls, Social Justice Warriors gone awry and self-righteous bullies. Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod

#391 Meredith Erin - Trolls, SJWs & Angry People

Paul and Meredith share their stories and thoughts about encountering internet trolls, Social Justice Warriors gone awry and self-righteous bullies. Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod

#390 Brian Huskey - Codependency vs Love

The improvisor/actor (Comedy Bang Bang, UCB, Adult Swim - Mr. Neighbor's House) shares about dealing with his co-dependency, urge to fix other people, play the resentful victim and how support groups help him. Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod

Female Domestic Violence Against Men - Daniel A

Daniel looks back at his relationship with his soon-to-be-ex-wife; turning from the woman of his dreams to a dangerously violent and unpredictable stranger. He talks about the myths around female on male DV and his experiences before leaving her   Older episodes can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.  Get one month free with offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod

Jessa Reed - Trailer Park Survivor & PTSD

Few guests have revealed as much of themselves as Jessa, a comic and podcaster (Mormon and the Meth-Head)  We touch on being molested, fear of intimacy, addiction, sobriety, anger, psych wards, rejection, sexual fantasies most people would never share publicly (rape, being cheated on), psychosis, binge eating and the lengths we will go to get attention. Older episodes ad-free exclusively at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod for $4.99/month.  One month free with offer code MENTAL

Unspeakable Trauma to Meth Psychosis - Todd G

Paul's friend shares about the co-dependent relationship with his longtime lover that ended in tragedy & Todd's PTSD, porn & meth binges tailspinning into a showdown on his roof vs a SWAT team, before finally having a moment of clarity and getting his life together piece by piece. Episodes older than one year can be found ad-free exclusively at Stitcher Premium for $4.99/month.   Get one month free by using offer code MENTAL at signup at www.StitcherPremium.com/mentalpod.

Best Of: Tiffany Haddish

One of our best episodes - recorded in 2015 before she was famous (Girl's Trip, Saturday Night Live) - Tiffany opens up about her horrific family life, being shuttled around the foster care system and finally finding her voice doing comedy.   The full archive of MIHH shows one year and older can be found exclusively on Stitcher Premium. For a free month of listening, go to stitcherpremium.com/mentalpod and use promo code 'MENTAL'.

Melissa Broder aka @SoSadToday Returns

The hilarious author and uber-popular Tweeter @SoSadToday delves into subjects covered in her latest book, The Pisces (and reads from it). She and Paul talk about romantic obsession, sexual compulsion that leads to shame and regret; the overall search to fill the nothingness in a futile attempt to know the unknowable and the animal part of the brain that overrides logic. Follow Melissa on Twitter @SoSadToday Buy her new book The Pisces

Nora McInerny - Live in Minneapolis

The host of the Terrible Thanks For Asking podcast and author of It's Okay To Laugh (Crying is Cool Too) sits down with Paul before a live audience to talk about how she processed (and still is) the grief of losing family members and dealing with her depression and anxiety. A funny and touching conversation. For more on Nora go to www.NoraBorealis.com Follow her on twitter @NoraBorealis Follow her on Instagram @NoraBorealis

Judging Our Feelings - TED Talk Speaker Dr. Susan David

The Harvard Medical School research psychologist's recent TED Talk "The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage" went viral a month or so ago and here she sits down with Paul to talk about the human habit of judging ourselves for our feelings, how it affects us, the science behind it and how we can move away from toxic self-judgement. She also shares some of her personal life; being born and raised in South Africa during Apartheid and losing a parent when she was a child. www.SusanDavid.com