Mequell and Adam are joined by Ann Loonam who generously shares her personal experience with psychosis. It's a rare and fascinating inside look into one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized areas of mental illness. Ann shares ways she was helped during her psychosis and things that made it harder. She gives great takeaways on how we can be better cheerleaders for our warriors who experience this.

https://www.instagram.com/littlebirdbyann/

Mequell and Adam are joined by the one and only Dan Scobie, hubby to Paris (Live Well Bipolar). The biggest question we are always asked is 'how do you make your relationship work?' Turns out Dan and Paris are frequently asked the same thing. Dan shares insights and tips from things he's learned over the past six years with Paris. It's valuable stuff (plus he's a little bit charming).

You can hear more from Dan and Paris together on the Live Well Bipolar podcast

Mequell and Adam talk about a common and damaging misconception that people with mental illness are violent. Adam shares statistics from The National Library of Medicine that violence stems from substance abuse. If someone with a mental illness is self-medicating with substances, that is what increases violence. Those who are being properly treated by medical professionals are no more violent than anybody else. In fact, they are more likely to be victims of violence rather than perpetrators.

So not only does this idea perpetuate stigma, it's flat out wrong. And even though Mequell has a constant running list of people to fight (calm down, it's imaginary) doesn't make her violent. Touche'

Psychiatric Illness and Criminality

In honor of Mother's Day, Mequell and Adam have a discussion around whether or not you can be a good parent while living with a significant mental illness. (Hint: the answer is a resounding YES) According to an article in Psychology Today, good parents provide: 1 - unconditional love, 2 - emotional security, 3 - good conversations, 4 - validate their feelings and 5 - meaningful responsibilities.

Parenting with mental illness will no doubt need to look different however different doesn't mean bad or wrong no matter what messages society may be sending. Listen in for some insights on how you can be a fabulous parent no matter where you are in your mental illness management.

Special shout-out to @birdies.bipolar.brain for motivating the discussion

Psychology Today Article

Mequell and Adam give a brief update and great news: Leonora gets a new swimmy which every puppy needs.

But the main discussion revolves around a recent lunch date Mequell had with a few ladies where some wildly inaccurate beliefs about mental illness were shared. Despite the fact that we spend so much time in this space educating and fighting stigma, it is still surprising when I hear the lack of education and incorrect beliefs that still perpetuate so many about the causes (and cures??) for mental illness. PS Exorcism is NOT the answer ...

Mequell and Adam talk about his most recent business book read The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch and how it applies to the mental illness world. Surprisingly, it is fairly congruent with Chapter 5 of Mequells book Thriving With Mental Illness. The bottom line of both being: work smarter in the areas that make the most difference. Simplify. Say no to things that don't produce results whether that's with money and business or stability and mental illness management.

mentalillnesswarrior.com

Mequell and Adam discuss the previous week (when Mequell was decidedly UN-lovely) to pinpoint the difference when a generic medication was swapped out by the new pharmacist for a different manufacturer. According to Jeremy A. Green, MD, PhD of John Hopkins University, generic medications are not fully identical and that is why they don't always work exactly same. Or in Mequells case, why they don't work at all no matter what New Slice pharmacist says.

Mequell and Adam are joined by Andrew Ramirez, a school counselor living with Bipolar Disorder type 1, PTSD and OCD. Andrew is the face behind @bipolar_realtalk, an account Mequell follows because of his fabulous motivational (but realistic) posts about WINNING every single day. He lives by the acronym R.A.G. which stands for Routine, Awareness and Gratitude.

Guys, Andrew is beyond cool, beyond insightful and extremely generous sharing his background and not only how he got to where he is today, but what he's learned from it as well. If I was a high school kid, I might have a bit of hero worship for Mr. Ramirez. Ok, let's be honest, I'm a grown up and I still have a bit of hero worship for him.

Mequell and Adam are joined by the incredibly lovely actor Alexia Fast to talk about her experience living with a bipolar diagnosis. She shares why she has recently chosen to be public with her story and what it has looked like for her in the movie industry. She is charming and gracious and after listening to her episode, you will fall in love with her too, just like we did.

Follow her at @purealexiafast on Instagram

Alexia is an ambassador for the Stigma Free Society

Mequell and Adam are joined by Dr. Kim Buck, PhD, LPC, CCS, CSAT Yes, that's a lot of acronyms but she's a whole lotta awesome so that checks out. She talks about the new direction of counseling with a prodependent focus instead of a codependent one. She discusses what healthy boundaries look like and how to support someone in crisis. Go listen! You are going to realize quickly that "a whole lotta awesome" is a massive understatement.

https://familystrategies.org/kim-buck/

https://www.amazon.com/Practicing-Prodependence-Alternative-Codependency-Treatment-ebook/dp/B09YWPDSG6