Not Crazy

Is your family bad for your mental health? If so, how do you handle the holidays? In today’s show Gabe and Lisa reminisce about their family holidays together -- the good and the horrible -- and discuss how they currently curb controversial topics at the table.

Join us for a walk down memory lane which leads to a whole lot of bickering and laughter.

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Podcast: Families and Holiday Survival.

Find More Episodes of Not Crazy online at psychcentral.com/notcrazy

About The Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Gabe also hosts The Psych Central Podcast available on your favorite podcast player or by visiting psychcentral.com/show.   

Lisa is the producer of the Psych Central podcast, Not Crazy. She is the recipient of The National Alliance on Mental Illness's “Above and Beyond” award, has worked extensively with the Ohio Peer Supporter Certification program, and is a workplace suicide prevention trainer. Lisa has battled depression her entire life and has worked alongside Gabe in mental health advocacy for over a decade. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband; enjoys international travel; and orders 12 pairs of shoes online, picks the best one, and sends the other 11 back.  

Have you seen the Netflix series Ratched? In today’s Not Crazy podcast, we discuss whether the show gives an accurate portrayal of 1940's mental illness treatments. And to help us out, we welcome Rachel Star Withers, the podcast host of Inside Schizophrenia and a person who lives with schizophrenia, to discuss her views of the show. 

Are the lobotomies and hydrotherapy treatments portrayed in the show realistic? Did doctors really do lobotomies on children? Join us as we take a deeper look into this popular miniseries.

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Podcast: Reviewing Netflix's Ratched.

Find us online at:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/notcrazy/

Guest Information for 'Rachel Star Withers- Reviewing Ratched' Podcast Episode

Rachel Star Withers is an entertainer, speaker, video producer, and schizophrenic. She has appeared on TV shows including MTV’s “Ridiculousness,” “TruTV,” “America’s Got Talent” and is the host of “Insanity with Rachel Star” on Amazon Prime. She grew up seeing monsters, hearing people in the walls, and intense urges to hurt herself.

Rachel creates videos documenting her schizophrenia, ways to manage and let others like her know they are not alone and can still live an amazing life. She has written Lil Broken Star: Understanding Schizophrenia for Kids and a tool for schizophrenics, To See in the Dark: Hallucination and Delusion Journal.

Fun Fact: She has wrestled alligators.

About The Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Gabe also hosts The Psych Central Podcast available on your favorite podcast player or by visiting psychcentral.com/show.

Lisa is the producer of the Psych Central podcast, Not Crazy. She is the recipient of The National Alliance on Mental Illness's “Above and Beyond” award, has worked extensively with the Ohio Peer Supporter Certification program, and is a workplace suicide prevention trainer. Lisa has battled depression her entire life and has worked alongside Gabe in mental health advocacy for over a decade. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband; enjoys international travel; and orders 12 pairs of shoes online, picks the best one, and sends the other 11 back.  

Openly sharing our personal mental health stories can help others know they’re not alone, especially when it’s a rarely-discussed or taboo subject. In today’s Not Crazy podcast, our guest Rachel Steinman, a podcaster, writer and mental health advocate, discusses what it’s like to host a podcast where she shares her family’s mental health secrets. 

By talking openly about her family’s four suicides, mental illness, substance abuse, family affairs, and more, Rachel is changing the narrative and replacing it with love, compassion, and understanding. 

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Podcast: Value of Personal Mental Illness Stories.

Find us online at:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/notcrazy/

Guest Information for 'Rachel Steinman- Value Mental Illness Stories' Podcast Episode

Rachel Steinman is a Los Angeles native who received her Masters in Education and has taught every elementary school grade, K-6. She’s even been the school librarian, a job she adored. Rachel never set out to become a writer, a podcaster, or a mental health advocate but that is exactly what she proudly calls herself after discovering her beloved grandfather’s unfinished memoir 24 years after he jumped from his high rise. Rachel is sharing her family’s story to rid the shame and stigma that come with family secrets and generations of mental illness. By talking openly about her family’s stories of four suicides, bipolar, depression, substance abuse, family affairs, and more, she’s changing the narrative and replacing it with love, compassion, and understanding. She’s also cutting generational trauma so she doesn’t pass it onto her precious daughters and to inspire others to share their stories openly.

Rachel is a lead presenter for NAMI speaking about ending the silence to discuss mental health warning signs and offer resources and hope to middle and high schoolers as well as their parents. Rachel hosts and produces the Dear Family, Podcast celebrating our complicated families and overcoming obstacles to find mental wellness. She lives in Studio City with her husband of 20 years, two beautiful, bright, and musical teenage daughters, and her adorable rescue puppy.   

About The Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Gabe also hosts The Psych Central Podcast available on your favorite podcast player or by visiting psychcentral.com/show.

Lisa is the producer of the Psych Central podcast, Not Crazy. She is the recipient of The National Alliance on Mental Illness's “Above and Beyond” award, has worked extensively with the Ohio Peer Supporter Certification program, and is a workplace suicide prevention trainer. Lisa has battled depression her entire life and has worked alongside Gabe in mental health advocacy for over a decade. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband; enjoys international travel; and orders 12 pairs of shoes online, picks the best one, and sends the other 11 back.  

A third of all people will be a caregiver at some point in their lives. Caregiving for people with schizophrenia presents challenges that many people are ill-prepared for. 

Host Rachel Star and Gabe Howard break down the principles of caregiving and creative ways to navigate schizophrenia. 

Dr. Sarah Kopelovich joins to share schizophrenia caregiver specific training. 

In today’s show, Gabe discusses what he could have done differently as a newly diagnosed bipolar patient that may have made his life a little easier. He and Lisa also discuss some common pitfalls a new patient may run into.

For example, what’s the problem when patients are told they need to be med-compliant at all costs? Should you be open at work about your illness? Join us to hear Gabe's experiences and learn from his rookie mistakes (which actually ended up working out in the end anyway).

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Podcast: Dear Newly Diagnosed- What We Wish We Knew.

Find More Episodes of Not Crazy online at psychcentral.com/notcrazy

About The Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Gabe also hosts The Psych Central Podcast available on your favorite podcast player or by visiting psychcentral.com/show.   

Lisa is the producer of the Psych Central podcast, Not Crazy. She is the recipient of The National Alliance on Mental Illness's “Above and Beyond” award, has worked extensively with the Ohio Peer Supporter Certification program, and is a workplace suicide prevention trainer. Lisa has battled depression her entire life and has worked alongside Gabe in mental health advocacy for over a decade. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband; enjoys international travel; and orders 12 pairs of shoes online, picks the best one, and sends the other 11 back.  

Let’s discuss the nuances of dysfunctional parenting. In today’s Not Crazy podcast, Gabe recalls the relationship he had with his parents when he was young. As a teen, he thought his parents were being overly harsh, but now he sees they were trying to punish symptoms of his undiagnosed bipolar disorder -- and were doing the best they could.

Join us for a great discussion on how the parent-child dynamic can go wrong when undiagnosed mental illness is involved.

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Podcast: Understanding a Dysfunctional Childhood.

Find More Episodes of Not Crazy online at psychcentral.com/notcrazy

About The Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Gabe also hosts The Psych Central Podcast available on your favorite podcast player or by visiting psychcentral.com/show.   

Lisa is the producer of the Psych Central podcast, Not Crazy. She is the recipient of The National Alliance on Mental Illness's “Above and Beyond” award, has worked extensively with the Ohio Peer Supporter Certification program, and is a workplace suicide prevention trainer. Lisa has battled depression her entire life and has worked alongside Gabe in mental health advocacy for over a decade. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband; enjoys international travel; and orders 12 pairs of shoes online, picks the best one, and sends the other 11 back.  

Are you sad? Just be happy! Does this irritate you? In today’s show, Gabe and Lisa ponder whether happiness really is a choice -- especially for people who struggle with mental illness. How do we measure happiness? And what is happiness inflation?

Join us for an in-depth conversation on whether or not people can actually choose happiness.

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Podcast: Is Happiness a Choice?

Find More Episodes of Not Crazy online at psychcentral.com/notcrazy

About The Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Gabe also hosts The Psych Central Podcast available on your favorite podcast player or by visiting psychcentral.com/show.   

Lisa is the producer of the Psych Central podcast, Not Crazy. She is the recipient of The National Alliance on Mental Illness's “Above and Beyond” award, has worked extensively with the Ohio Peer Supporter Certification program, and is a workplace suicide prevention trainer. Lisa has battled depression her entire life and has worked alongside Gabe in mental health advocacy for over a decade. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband; enjoys international travel; and orders 12 pairs of shoes online, picks the best one, and sends the other 11 back.  

Who do you think understands more about bipolar disorder: a psychiatrist or a patient with the illness? In this Not Crazy podcast, we discuss whether a patient can be considered a mental health expert without all the credentials after their name. Today we invite writer and bipolar advocate Natasha Tracy -- who also has bipolar disorder -- to the show to give her opinion.

Would you seek advice from a patient? Join us for an in-depth discussion on mental health patients as experts.

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Can Mental Patients Also Be Experts?

Find us online at:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/notcrazy/

Guest Information for 'Natasha Tracy- Patients as Experts' Podcast Episode

Natasha Tracy is an award-winning writer, speaker and social media consultant from the Pacific Northwest. She works to bring high-quality, insightful and trusted information on bipolar disorder and related illnesses to the public while engaging with the mental health community.

Natasha has written, literally, thousands of pages on mental health-related matters. She currently writes two award-winning blogs: Breaking Bipolar and Bipolar Burble,  which has been named a top 10 health blog by Healthista, Health.com, Healthline, Medical News Today and others.  Natasha has also been featured on the Huffington Post, BPHope, Healthline, PsychCentral, Sharecare and many others.

About The Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Gabe also hosts The Psych Central Podcast available on your favorite podcast player or by visiting psychcentral.com/show.

Lisa is the producer of the Psych Central podcast, Not Crazy. She is the recipient of The National Alliance on Mental Illness's “Above and Beyond” award, has worked extensively with the Ohio Peer Supporter Certification program, and is a workplace suicide prevention trainer. Lisa has battled depression her entire life and has worked alongside Gabe in mental health advocacy for over a decade. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband; enjoys international travel; and orders 12 pairs of shoes online, picks the best one, and sends the other 11 back.  

Do you have a constant feeling of self doubt or fraudulence despite evidence to the contrary? You may have a very common condition: Imposter syndrome. In today’s Not Crazy podcast, we discuss what this syndrome is and why so many people feel like they are swindling others with their personal success.

What is the difference between imposter syndrome and negative self-talk? And how can we start thinking more positively about ourselves? Join us for a great discussion on imposter syndrome.

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Do You Have Imposter Syndrome?

Find More Episodes of Not Crazy online at psychcentral.com/notcrazy

About The Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Gabe also hosts The Psych Central Podcast available on your favorite podcast player or by visiting psychcentral.com/show.   

Lisa is the producer of the Psych Central podcast, Not Crazy. She is the recipient of The National Alliance on Mental Illness's “Above and Beyond” award, has worked extensively with the Ohio Peer Supporter Certification program, and is a workplace suicide prevention trainer. Lisa has battled depression her entire life and has worked alongside Gabe in mental health advocacy for over a decade. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband; enjoys international travel; and orders 12 pairs of shoes online, picks the best one, and sends the other 11 back.  

Does the thought of surgery throw you into a panic attack? Let’s discuss how to mentally prepare yourself for invasive medical procedures, especially if you already struggle with anxiety on a daily basis. Today’s show was recorded a day after our host Gabe’s surgery, so the anxiety and experience was still fresh in his mind.

Gabe and Lisa also reminisce about Gabe’s decades-old surgery -- and his extreme anxiety around it -- before he knew he had bipolar disorder.  

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Medical Procedures and Anxiety Disorders.

Find More Episodes of Not Crazy online at psychcentral.com/notcrazy

About The Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Gabe also hosts The Psych Central Podcast available on your favorite podcast player or by visiting psychcentral.com/show.   

Lisa is the producer of the Psych Central podcast, Not Crazy. She is the recipient of The National Alliance on Mental Illness's “Above and Beyond” award, has worked extensively with the Ohio Peer Supporter Certification program, and is a workplace suicide prevention trainer. Lisa has battled depression her entire life and has worked alongside Gabe in mental health advocacy for over a decade. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband; enjoys international travel; and orders 12 pairs of shoes online, picks the best one, and sends the other 11 back.