Schizophrenia: Three Moms in the Trenches

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

Thanks to the Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance for choosing us to be the first to share this important event.

On May 24th, 2023, The Angry Moms joined the Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance and other advocacy groups for A Day of Action at the U.S. Capitol, in recognition of World Schizophrenia Awareness Day.

In a briefing dedicated to discussing barriers to clozapine treatment, two courageous survivors of psychosis disorders spoke about their experience with the FDA’s restrictions against clozapine treatment. Hear what they had to say in this moving and important episode.

Links:

Angry moms testimonials:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1px4dkTi_ncNM7hxCj6ODJDDo1CZW1nlm

 Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance: https://sczaction.org

https://www.facebook.com/sczaction/?locale=ms_MY

https://www.theangrymoms.com/post/in-their-own-words-analisa-and-michael

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://benbehindhisvoices.com/

Miriam (Mimi) and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Hosts:

 Randye Kaye - was a morning Radio Personality bringing humor to CT families when her own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now she is still a Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (Ben Behind his Voices, Happier Made Simple)

Miriam Feldman -  is an artist, writer, and the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia. Her book, He Came in With It chronicles her family's story and was released to rave reviews on July 21st, 2020.

Mindy Greiling - Mindy Greiling was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. She helped found the nation's first state mental health caucus, which successfully lobbied for a significant increase in Minnesota's mental health funding Her acclaimed memoir is Fix What You Can.

Support the show

Please share and support the podcast so we can reach more people who need the info and support.

Want to know more?
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Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

First, updates:

Dr. Jeff Lieberman book event, Malady of the Mind  ( episode 68 June 13)(and can we talk about teeth?)

Mindy: NAMI convention- update, , Joel Corcoran, CEO of Clubhouse International. 

Mimi: Angry Moms, and introduce GUEST Sue Maida!

Links:

https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/features/schizophrenia-fda-hindering-clozapine?fbclid=IwAR2__DmXdnmuHqOqgc-myG4szJOfMfMyZt62uxeRHXyHKkmygQakkggw2X8

Team Daniel (facebook):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/www.teamdanielrunningforrecover.org?locale=ms_MY

Angry moms testimonials:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1px4dkTi_ncNM7hxCj6ODJDDo1CZW1nlm

 Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance: https://sczaction.org

https://www.facebook.com/sczaction/?locale=ms_MY

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://benbehindhisvoices.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Hosts:

 Randye Kaye - was a morning Radio Personality bringing humor to CT families when her own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now she is still a Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (Ben Behind his Voices, Happier Made Simple)

Miriam Feldman -  is an artist, writer, and the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia. Her book, He Came in With It chronicles her family's story and was released to rave reviews on July 21st, 2020.

Mindy Greiling - Mindy Greiling was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. She helped found the nation's first state mental health caucus, which successfully lobbied for a significant increase in Minnesota's mental health funding Her acclaimed memoir is Fix What You Can.

Support the show

Please share and support the podcast so we can reach more people who need the info and support.

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page 
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

We interview the author of Safe, Wanted and Loved - (Patrick Dylan)

Winner of seven awards, including a National Indie Excellence Award and Best Indie Book Award.

"Anyone out there struggling to navigate mental illness should read this thoughtful book."

—Former U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, founder of the Kennedy Forum

 "Pat, we need to kill the dog." A chill ran down Patrick Dylan's spine as his wife spoke—psychosis had found their family again.

When a sudden mental illness struck his wife, Patrick Dylan found himself living with an eerie stranger. Scared and unprepared, he began a desperate battle to protect her from a mysterious disease, shelter their children from her bizarre behavior, and recover the woman he loved.

Patrick Dylan joins the voices calling for an end to the stigma surrounding mental illness. He and his wife, Mia, live in Florida and have two college-age children. They hope that sharing their family's story will spread awareness of the realities of mental illness and offer support to others who are either experiencing a mental health crisis or providing care to an affected loved one.

We Ask:

1. Before you share your story, can you tell us what you most hope people learn from hearing it?
2. So - tell us about Mia and your family, “before” during, and “after”? 
3. How has her illness affected your kids?
4. We know SMI from a parental POV - what would you most like our listeners to know about what’s the same, and different, when it’s your spouse that becomes ill?
5. You used pen names for yourself and for Mia, yet were amazed at how many were inspired to share their own stories. - What is your dream in fighting stigma? -
6. What do you most worry about?
7. What are Mia’s strengths?
8. What do you wish you had known earlier?
9. What else do you want us to know?

Links:

https://www.safewantedloved.com/

Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/Safe-Wanted-and-Loved-Audiobook/B0B7VLPJFY?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp

Amazon:

https://a.co/d/9uIxFta

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://benbehindhisvoices.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Hosts:

 Randye Kaye - was a morning Radio Personality bringing humor to CT families when her own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now she is still a Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (Ben Behind his Voices, Happier Made Simple)

Miriam Feldman -  is an artist, writer, and the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia. Her book, He Came in With It chronicles her family's story and was released to rave reviews on July 21st, 2020.

Mindy Greiling - Mindy Greiling was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. She helped found the nation's first state mental health caucus, which successfully lobbied for a significant increase in Minnesota's mental health funding Her acclaimed memoir is Fix What You Can.

Support the show

Please share and support the podcast so we can reach more people who need the info and support.

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page 
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

Social worker by heart, therapist by trade, Kat Thompson earned her MSW in 2022. She’s a mental health professional specializing in helping those in crisis. She also is a founder of Cascadia Cares ,”:building a world where it’s normal to help others.” 

1. Tell us what a case manager's scope of work and responsibilities are.

2. What made you want to pursue this line of work?

3. What do you believe are the most challenging aspects of dealing with people who have SMI?

4. What changes would you most like to see in the system?

5. What is the hardest thing about your work?

6. How do you find the job as crisis line counselor as compared to case manager?

7. Tell us what else you are doing (ie. your non-profit and political work) and how it fits in to the big  picture.

8. If there was one message you'd like to get across about mental health/illness and the system, what would it be?

9. what kind of training you received before each of your positions?

Links:

https://cascadiacares.org/

Hope for Troubled Minds: https://delightindisorder.org/hftm-call-for-submissions/

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://benbehindhisvoices.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Hosts:

 Randye Kaye - was a morning Radio Personality bringing humor to CT families when her own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now she is still a Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (Ben Behind his Voices, Happier Made Simple)

Miriam Feldman -  is an artist, writer, and the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia. Her book, He Came in With It chronicles her family's story and was released to rave reviews on July 21st, 2020.

Mindy Greiling - Mindy Greiling was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. She helped found the nation's first state mental health caucus, which successfully lobbied for a significant increase in Minnesota's mental health funding Her acclaimed memoir is Fix What You Can.

Support the show

Please share and support the podcast so we can reach more people who need the info and support.

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page 
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

Psychosis is a huge part of many serious mental illnesses, including schizophrenia. 

Jennifer Gerlach, LCSW, is a clinician with a mission: to spread a message of hope and recovery to encourage young adults living with serious mental illness. 

She says, “Your Story Matters AND You Are More Than Your Story”

Her story will inspire you as well.

 Recently, she completed a workbook geared toward young adults living with psychosis. The Psychosis and Mental Health Recovery Workbook: Activities for Young Adults from Act, Dbt, and Recovery-oriented Cbt. The release date is May 18.

In the book, she asks:

How can I use my voice to reduce the other voices I hear?

Who should I tell about my experiences with psychosis?

What steps should I take after a mental health crisis?

We ask:

• How do you encourage young adults experiencing psychosis as a therapist?
• What do you wish more therapists understood about the beginnings of serious mental illness?
• How can intervention in early psychosis affect the trajectory of these illnesses?
• How does anosognosia show up in early psychosis and how can families navigate this?
• What did you find helpful or encouraging from those around you when you were a young person?
• How does early psychosis tend to present and change as someone develops a Schizophrenia spectrum condition?
• What things have you found to help and hinder young people's mental health recovery and engagement in treatment?
• Tell us what you would most like people to know from hearing your story?

Links:

Jennifer’s website:

 https://truestorycounseling.com/

Jennifer’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Psychosis-Mental-Health-Recovery-Workbook/dp/1839977329/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3L2UJOGW5ZYU4&keywords=psychosis+young+adults&qid=1676920229&sprefix=psychosis+young+adults%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-5

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://benbehindhisvoices.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Hosts:

 Randye Kaye - was a morning Radio Personality bringing humor to CT families when her own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now she is still a Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (Ben Behind his Voices, Happier Made Simple)

Miriam Feldman -  is an artist, writer, and the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia. Her book, He Came in With It chronicles her family's story and was released to rave reviews on July 21st, 2020.

Mindy Greiling - Mindy Greiling was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. She helped found the nation's first state mental health caucus, which successfully lobbied for a significant increase in Minnesota's mental health funding Her acclaimed memoir is Fix What You Can.

Support the show

Please share and support the podcast so we can reach more people who need the info and support.

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page 
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

Leah Brennan. a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Certified Alcohol and Other Drug Counselor, joined us with her own questions in Episode 55 so as to improve therapist-family communication. 

Her Episode  had such a great response that listeners asked for more - so here it is!

Leah got connected to 3 Moms In the Trenches through her clients. Over the past five years, she has had four different parents on her caseload who were all confronting the reality that their sons met the criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Leah realized that despite her excellent training, she was not adequately equipped to help these parents navigate the challenges they were facing. 

Today Leah asks the questions she didn't get to include in the last episode that all center around the theme: "What Do Parents/Families Wish Their Therapist Knew About Schizophrenia?"

The discussion includes:

• Marijuana and Schizophrenia - what do we now know? What do families need to know.
• Can needs to be done about HIPAA?
• How can we better approach families with a possible early diagnosis, and why?
• What about recent moves to legislate involuntary intervention?
• Who should therapists alert and educate in the larger communities BEFORE kids reach the age when symptoms of SMI typically start to manifest?

Links:
Leah Brennan:

https://www.leahbrennantherapy.com/

mentioned in show:
Hope for Troubled Minds Project.
WHO: Those with brain illnesses or other mental health conditions and their loved ones.

WHAT: Submit a 1,000 word or less letter expressing gratitude for your loved one or the one you care for in spite of the circumstances.

WHY: Letters can promote a healing journey and also serve for advocacy as we humanize the issue of brain illness.

WHERE: Email it, along with a photo or image and an (optional) brief bio to me at: [email protected] .

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://benbehindhisvoices.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Hosts:

Who:

Randye Kaye - was a morning Radio Personality bringing humor to CT families when her own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now she is still a Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (Ben Behind his Voices, Happier Made Simple)

Miriam Feldman -  is an artist, writer, and the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia. Her book, He Came in With It chronicles her family's story and was released to rave reviews on July 21st, 2020.

Mindy Greiling - Mindy Greiling was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. She helped found the nation's first state mental health caucus, which successfully lobbied for a significant increase in Minnesota's mental health funding Her acclaimed memoir is Fix What You Can.

Support the show

Please share and support the podcast so we can reach more people who need the info and support.

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page 
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

Hakeem Al-Zayyidi is an Islamic motivational and inspirational speaker. Hakeem is a graduate of Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC.

It took Hakeem ten years to obtain his four-year undergraduate degree in Business and Sustainability.

His heroes and those who have motivated him to succeed include Malcolm X, LeBron James, Mohammed Ali, and Elyn Saks.

Hakeem has been dealing with schizophrenia since his early 20s.

The path he has chosen is to highlight the plight, stigma, and stories of himself and others who have mental illness.

His fascination with all that is basketball mirrors his quest to take shot after shot in his mission to speak to the uniqueness of mental illness in this world.

Questions:

• Before you share your story, can you tell us what you most want our listeners to learn from you today?
• What is your mission?
• Tell us your story - about 10 minutes (we may ask questions as you go)
• What are your 5 basketballs?
• Does your Islamic faith help with your inspiration?
• What do you most want to inspire people to do?

Links:

https://hakeeminspires.com
facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/kareem.alzayyidi.96
Instagram/twitter - Hakeem Inspires!

Hakeem interactive speech

https://youtu.be/Lbw8NrlBKRU

Make A Change Canada Success story

https://youtu.be/YQLsZIp9oe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sd4xm-gudM

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://randyekaye.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Hosts:

Who:

Randye Kaye - was a morning Radio Personality bringing humor to CT families when her own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now she is still a Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (Ben Behind his Voices, Happier Made Simple)

Miriam Feldman -  is an artist, writer, and the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia. Her book, He Came in With It chronicles her family's story and was released to rave reviews on July 21st, 2020.

Mindy Greiling - Mindy Greiling was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. She helped found the nation's first state mental health caucus, which successfully lobbied for a significant increase in Minnesota's mental health funding Her acclaimed memoir is Fix What You Can.

Support the show

Please share and support the podcast so we can reach more people who need the info and support.

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page 
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

Guest:  Brian Stettin,  senior advisor to NYC Mayor Eric Adams administration on severe mental illness.

Brian  drafted the legislation that became Kendra's Law when he was an assistant attorney general in 1999, after a young journalist, Kendra Webdale, was shoved into an oncoming train by a young man from Queens with a long history of mental illness.

The  Adams administration's new push is to have more severely mentally ill people brought to hospitals for psychiatric evaluation with or without their consent, and to change the state laws about the length of the stays.

This law is designed to apply to those who can't recognize their mental condition or take care of themselves, not just those who present an immediate threat to themselves or others.

Questions:

• Can you explain the plan in brief, and why it’s different from what has been happening in the past?
• What has been in support of this?
• What has been the opposition to this?
• Is there a plan in place to address the lack of hospital beds, supportive housing options, or other forms of long term care available for those people in need of help?

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-11-29/mayor-eric-adams-says-nyc-will-treat-mentally-ill-even-if-they-refuse

“These New Yorkers and hundreds of others like them are in urgent need of treatment, yet often refuse it when offered,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference, noting that the pervasive problem of mental illness has long been out in the open. “No more walking by or looking away,” the mayor said, calling it “a moral obligation to act.”

more on Clubhouses:
https://www.startribune.com/mental-health-system-must-be-able-to-help-those-who-dont-know-they-need-it/600256700/
Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://benbehindhisvoices.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Hosts:

Who:

Randye Kaye - was a morning Radio Personality bringing humor to CT families when her own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now she is still a Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (Ben Behind his Voices, Happier Made Simple)

Miriam Feldman -  is an artist, writer, and the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia. Her book, He Came in With It chronicles her family's story and was released to rave reviews on July 21st, 2020.

Mindy Greiling - Mindy Greiling was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. She helped found the nation's first state mental health caucus, which successfully lobbied for a significant increase in Minnesota's mental health funding Her acclaimed memoir is Fix What You Can.

Support the show

Please share and support the podcast so we can reach more people who need the info and support.

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page 
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

Guest: Kyleigh Leddy, author of “The Perfect Other: A Memoir of my Sister”

“I wish my sister gets better” - that became part of our guest's yearly birthday wishes, and more often too.

Our daughters have probably made that same wish - or at least they used to.

In 2019, Kyleigh won the New York Times Modern Love college essay contest for an essay she wrote about grieving her sister, Kait - and now it’s a book.

All Kait Leddy had ever wanted was a little sister. When Kyleigh was born, they were inseparable; Kait would protect her, include her, cuddle and comfort her, and, to Kyleigh, her big sister was her whole world.

As they grew, however, and as Kait entered adolescence, things began to shatter, and Kyleigh could only watch in horror as her perfect sibling’s world collapsed around her. Kait was institutionalized with what would eventually be diagnosed as schizophrenia, leaving Kyleigh and their mother to handle the burden, shame, and guilt alone.

Then, in January 2014, Kait disappeared. 

Her sister tells us about the loss, their bond, the story, the stigma - in her latest book.

Questions:

1- what do you most want people to know from your story, your family story?

2 - tell us what Kait was like before SZ, and as it developed.

Did kait’s concussions cause her SMI? 

3 - you and your parents - how are you now?

4 - does Kait leave a  legacy ?

5 -is the sibling experience often ignored in SMI? What is unique to sibs? 

6 - your writing process etc. and links 

Links:

https://kyleighleddy.com/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/style/modern-love-sister-vanished.html

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0358469341?tag=harpercollinsus-20

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://benbehindhisvoices.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Hosts:

Who:

Randye Kaye - was a morning Radio Personality bringing humor to CT families when her own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now she is still a Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (Ben Behind his Voices, Happier Made Simple)

Miriam Feldman -  is an artist, writer, and the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia. Her book, He Came in With It chronicles her family's story and was released to rave reviews on July 21st, 2020.

Mindy Greiling - Mindy Greiling was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. She helped found the nation's first state mental health caucus, which successfully lobbied for a significant increase in Minnesota's mental health funding Her acclaimed memoir is Fix What You Can.

Support the show

Please share and support the podcast so we can reach more people who need the info and support.

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page 
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

Guest: Michelle Hammer 

Michelle Hammer is a Schizophrenia Activist and spends her time passionately fighting stigma.

Michelle was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 22 after a misdiagnosis of bipolar at age 18. 

At 27, Michelle decided to use her artistic talents and fearless personality to do something that could benefit the mental health community. 

She founded Schizophrenic.NYC -  a clothing brand with the mission of reducing stigma by starting conversations about mental health. 

We Ask

What did Schizophrenia feel like for you? What is your story?

How are you now, and what treatment works for you?

NYC Mayor Adam’s homeless initiative - thoughts?

What are your thoughts about involuntary hospitalization?

How important is coordinating discharge planning once a person is in the hospital?

Do you think it is wise to have cops make determinations of mental fitness?

The connection between homelessness and mental illness.

Links:

https://www.schizophrenic.nyc/

https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/video/video-living-with-schizophrenia

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-bipolar-a-schizophrenic-and-a-podcast/id1594381452

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/01/eric-adams-mentally-ill-homeless-nyc-hospitals.html

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-11-29/mayor-eric-adams-says-nyc-will-treat-mentally-ill-even-if-they-refuse

“These New Yorkers and hundreds of others like them are in urgent need of treatment, yet often refuse it when offered,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference, noting that the pervasive problem of mental illness has long been out in the open. “No more walking by or looking away,” the mayor said, calling it “a moral obligation to act.”

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://benbehindhisvoices.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Hosts:

Who:

Randye Kaye - was a morning Radio Personality bringing humor to CT families when her own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now she is still a Broadcaster, Actress, Voice Talent, Speaker, and Author (Ben Behind his Voices, Happier Made Simple)

Miriam Feldman -  is an artist, writer, and the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia. Her book, He Came in With It chronicles her family's story and was released to rave reviews on July 21st, 2020.

Mindy Greiling - Mindy Greiling was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for twenty years. She helped found the nation's first state mental health caucus, which successfully lobbied for a significant increase in Minnesota's mental health funding Her acclaimed memoir is Fix What You Can.

Support the show

Please share and support the podcast so we can reach more people who need the info and support.

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page 
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman