Not Crazy

Can people with schizophrenia love? Can they date or get married? 

Host Rachel Star Withers, a diagnosed schizophrenic, and co-host Gabe Howard review their own past experiences. 

Andrew and Stephanie Downing, authors of “Marriage and Schizophrenia: Eyes on the Prize” join and share their incredible journey and love.

Bonus Content: Inside Schizophrenia Podcast 

Our host Gabe may have signed up to be a spokesperson for mental illness, but do you sometimes feel like an involuntary spokesperson simply for having mental illness? It’s kind of like being the only person of a certain ethnicity or sexual orientation in your social group -- you often become a representative, whether you want to or not. So what happens when your symptoms act up when you represent “everyone” with your illness?

In today’s podcast, Gabe and Lisa discuss how it feels to be a representative of your illness -- voluntary or not -- and the pressures that come with it.

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Involuntary Spokesperson for Mental Illness.

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.  

Self care is vital for people with mental illness. But what exactly is self care? Many of us think of a long bubble bath with a glass of wine. But how about maxing out your credit cards in the name of “retail therapy?” It feels good, right? How does self care differ from self-detriment?

In today’s show, Gabe and Lisa dig deep into the concept of self care, what it means, and how we can take it too far. Is it still self care if it feels good in the moment but is bad in the long term (like eating 20 cookies)? Or is it self care if it feels bad in the moment but is good long term (like exercise)? 

Find us online at:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/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.  

A mentally ill man is standing in your yard yelling at the mailbox. What do you do? You call the police, right? Not so fast, according to today’s guest, mental health advocate Gabriel Nathan. There is a better way to do things. Gabriel believes that rather than training police officers to de-escalate people in mental health crises, the police shouldn’t be called at all in these situations.

Our host Gabe has a different take on things, as he is an advocate for training police officers in crisis intervention practices. Join us for an enlightening and nuanced discussion regarding the role of the police when it comes to mental health crises.

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Is Police (CIT) Crises Training Needed?

Find us online at:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/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.  

From lobotomies to pharmaceutical advertising to forced treatment, let’s discuss some of the more taboo topics in the history of psychiatry. While some of these approaches are obviously terrible (especially in hindsight) others are in the gray area. Should pharmaceutical companies be able to advertise directly to the patient? Is it OK to force psychiatric treatment in certain cases?

What do you think? Tune in to today’s Not Crazy episode for a great discussion on the more controversial topics in the field of psychiatry.

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Podcast: Medical Model Errors and Omissions in Treating Mental Illness.

Find us online at:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/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.  

“You’re so stupid. That was the dumbest thing anyone has ever done.” You probably wouldn’t ever say this to a loved one -- but would you say it to yourself? What’s your self-talk like?  And why does it matter?

In today’s Not Crazy podcast, Gabe and Lisa break down their own experiences with negative self-talk and why they do it. And while Gabe believes in reframing his thoughts to be more positive, Lisa thinks there may be some benefits to not always looking for the silver lining. What do you think?

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Podcast: Negative Self-Talk and Pessimism.

Find us online at:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/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.  

What does psychosis feel like? What’s the difference between a delusion that demons exist and a religious belief of the same? In today’s show, Gabe and Lisa recall Gabe’s real-life psychotic episodes and discuss all the pain and stress surrounding psychosis.

Join us as Gabe shares how it felt when there were demons under his bed and when the window washers were watching his every move. 

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Podcast: My Husband Has Psychosis.

Find us online at:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/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.  

Take the bull by the horns! Pick yourself up by your bootstraps! Are these cliches condescending for people with mental illness? Or is there a grain of truth to them? Today, Gabe and Lisa debate the pros and cons of the all too common “taking your life back” advice we all get from well-meaning people. Gabe shares his personal story of gaining back control of his life a day at a time while healing from depression.

When you struggle with mental illness, how much of your behavior, thoughts and emotions do you actually have control over? Is it helpful to feel in control of your life, even when it screws you over? 

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Podcast: Self-Help Cliches Have a Peculiar Value.

Find us online at:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/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.  

At one point, Gabe weighed more than 550 pounds. Today, he and Lisa remember and discuss the extreme pain and slow healing process of living with binge-eating disorder. Gabe shares his shame in being so overweight, his intense relationship with food, the story of his gastric bypass and the difficult process of learning new coping mechanisms.

How did Gabe’s bipolar and panic attacks tie in with his binge eating? And, importantly, how is he managing the illness now? Join us for an open and honest discussion on living with an eating disorder.

For More Information and a complete transcript, visit Podcast: Life With Binge Eating Disorder.

Find us online at:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/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.  

Rates of psychosis are more strongly influenced by ethnicity and socioeconomic status than any other mental health condition. In this episode of Inside Schizophrenia host Rachel Star Withers, a diagnosed schizophrenic, and co-host Gabe Howard discuss the impact of schizophrenia in minority communities. Guest Sakinah “The Muslim Hippie” joins to share her experiences in mental health care.