In this episode, we welcome special guest Jamie Rickel, Doug’s older brother and de-facto family liaison. Jamie has come to understand Doug’s plight and that his disease is not something he can control.
The discussion gives us a look at Doug’s early childhood from Jamie’s point of view. Jamie also talks about when he noticed Doug having mental health issues, his drug use, the family intervention, and how their parents handled everything.
Join us in this emotional episode as we discover more about their family dynamic.

Unhinged Episode #015: Brothers in Arms

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This week we have Doug’s uncle Murray back on the show to discuss how he lives a stress-free life and how that affects every aspect of his being. Even after being diagnosed with small cell lung cancer, among other serious diseases, he continues to live happily with few, if any negative symptoms. Murray’s “Power of Your Belief System” methodology, coupled with his Simple Facts on stress, has kept him alive, making him a medical enigma to his doctors.
We discuss Murray’s history of magic, hypnosis, and stress-free living, and how he has applied his beliefs to better his life, and those around him. Be sure to check out Murray’s documents below, which we refer to on the show. Remember, there is no try.
Show resources:

* Stress – The Simple Facts (PDF – 468K)
* The Stress Scale (PDF – 210K) 
* One Liners (PDF – 317K)
* I Understand (PDF – 494K)


Unhinged Episode #060: More With Murray

On our last show, we discussed how one of Doug’s family members is seriously ill, and that was one of his triggers for his mood dropping. On today’s show, we announce that the family member in question is Doug’s uncle Murray, who was our guest on Episode #10. The thing about Murray, however, is that his entire way of thinking is about changing your beliefs to change your results. His doctors call him an enigma since he’s still alive. Murray attributes this to living a stress-free life.
Murray provided for us his entire philosophy on stress, and we walk through it in this episode. Look below if you want to download some PDFs explaining his whole program. This is what he uses to live a stress-free life, and it might be helpful for those who experience a lot of anxiety and stress in their lives.
This is part one of a series. In two weeks, we will have Murray on the show to answer your questions. If you have any questions you want us to read on the show, please comment below, or reach us at https://www.facebook.com/unhingedpodcast or Twitter at @unhingedpc.
Show resources:

* Stress – The Simple Facts (PDF – 468K)
* The Stress Scale (PDF – 210K) 
* One Liners (PDF – 317K)
* I Understand (PDF – 494K)


Unhinged Episode #059: Stress – The Simple Facts

Doug’s personal life has been challenging lately, and this has, in part, been a cause for a mood drop in the last few days. Our plan for this show was to start by playing some music, maybe work on a new intro, and record the show. Instead, Doug told me to just start recording as soon as we got online because he wanted to explain his current mood and some of the triggers behind it.
Being a person with a mental illness is a challenge on any normal day, but when some serious real life issues arise, it can be downright devastating. A close family member of Doug’s is critically ill, and this news has affected him greatly. On top of that, future plans for Doug’s career as a certified peer support counselor are now a bit foggy.
The good news is that during our conversation, it was obvious to me that he was much farther from the ledge than he has been with other recent mood drops. He was not being a complete defeatist, and he was clearly outlining what he knows he should do and not do to get better. In other words, he’s come a long way to being able to manage these drops more successfully. Talking about it with his support system also helps, so he will be reaching out to his siblings.
The bottom line is that he now knows to deal with each issue one at a time, move on to the next, and just chillax.

Unhinged Episode #058: Chillax

Today’s show is mostly an announcement of our new plan to do a show every other week, rather than weekly. We discuss a few reasons why we decided to test out this new schedule. It should actually be good for both the quality of the show as well as our personal lives. 
With Doug feeling mostly better for nearly 4 and a half months now, he’s starting to think beyond the day-to-day challenges and looking more toward his future. We will still meet every week like we normally did to record the show, but now one week will be more about hanging as friends, playing music, and working on future goals. This will also give us the opportunity to potentially improve the show quality by having more time to lineup guests, flesh out facts, or get a little deeper on some subjects.
Toward the end of the show, we included a clip of our pre-show conversation where we discussed some interesting things about anxiety, public speaking, and stagefright. Nothing too detailed, but we figured it was interesting enough to add to this episode and maybe plant a seed for a future, more in depth discussion.

Unhinged Episode #057: New Show Schedule

This week we welcome special guest Avery, a friend of the show’s, and to us. Avery and Doug share a connection through both being somewhere on the spectrum. Technically, Avery is toward the Asperger’s side. We discuss when and how each of them were first diagnosed, and how they have managed to overcome some of their challenges. 
We also chat about the “gifts” that many people on the spectrum have and how it can sometimes be more of a curse. We’ve talked about Doug’s hyperfocusing abilities, and Avery has an eidetic memory and can recall facts with extreme accuracy. We did put Avery to the test trying to recall what year certain songs came out, and he was impressive!
Ultimately, people on the spectrum learn differently, so early and accurate diagnosis can help put them on the right path. Awareness is key!

Show resources:

* Autism Spectrum Disorder (NIH)
* ASD Mental Health Blog


Unhinged Episode #015: Brothers in Arms

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