By We're All Mad Here
The history of mental illness is insane.
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According to modern day psychologists, when16 year old Florence Nightingale said that God had told her that she needed to be a nurse, she wasn’t speaking metaphorically; it was her first experience with auditory hallucinations. Using Florence’s private writing and...
NOTE: In this episode, you’ll hear my volume going up and down slightly. This isn’t my mic or my editing; it’s my actual voice due to currently having COVID and being unable to support my voice for a full sentence....
Just outside Detroit, Michigan, a poorhouse was built in the early 1800s. In addition to treating the mentally ill, Eloise Hospital had many other uses, pioneered treatments, and was once pronounced the most expensive psychiatric facility in the world. www.patreon.com/allmadpodcast...
Princess Deok-hye, the last princess of Korea, started life as a happy child. But when she was 8, her father died and a series of unfortunate events quickly followed. Forced to move to Japan due to annexation, where her mental...
Have you ever been a fan of someone famous and just KNOW that the two of you would be friends if you met? That’s known as a parasocial relationship. But are parasocial relationships normal? Are they safe? What does the...
We all know Judy Garland as one of the most successful actors of the classic Hollywood days. But behind the scenes of her famous movies, Judy- with some help from MGM Studios- was struggling with mental health and drug addiction....
This week I interviewed Emilie Leyes, who is a performer and a specialist in neuroplasticity and brain training. Currently working on her Master’s and PhD in Mind and Body Medicine, Emilie works with actors and non-actors alike to keep their...
Why does it seem like so many artists are mentally ill? Are mentally ill people more likely to go into the arts, or do the arts create mentally ill people? Hello everyone, I’m back! I sorely needed the break, but...
CW: Child abuse, suicidal ideation, sexual assault JT Leroy became famous almost overnight for his novel SARAH, a fictionalized version of his upbringing with his sex worker mother who later forced him into sex work. But as he published more...
Despite not having any qualifications in psychology, Bruno Bettelheim managed to do irreparable damage to the autistic community in his 40 years of practice. He promoted the theory that neglectful parenting, or “refrigerator mothers” caused autism and psychopathy, and while...
“Autism” first got its name in the early 1900s, when a doctor believed that certain children were so obsessed with themselves (the Greek word “auto” meaning “self”) that they chose to block out everything and everyone outside of their own...
Princess Alice, the mother of recently deceased Prince Philip, is described as a princess who “refused to fit the royal mold.” Alice was born different, with congenital deafness. But starting as a toddler, she learned to speak and lip read...
With two well-publicized mass shootings happening last month, America yet again set to blaming the criminals’ violence on mental illness. Former presidents have also claimed over the decades that mental illness is the cause for all shocking violent acts. But...
Mary and Charles Lamb were a brother and sister team who spent decades both in and out of private psych hospitals AND making their mark on the 19th century British literary scene. www.patreon.com/allmadpodcast
When Colleen Adams disappeared on November 22, 1973, her husband Geoffrey told authorities that her violent post partum depression had inspired her to desert her husband and daughters. While Colleen’s family never believed this was true, her mental instability was...
When America was born, founding father Patrick Henry was newly married to his much younger new wife. But what happened to his first wife, Sarah Shelton? Why did she spend the last four years of her life locked in the...
Quite a few accomplished chess players ended up becoming mentally ill later in their careers- but is chess itself responsible for its players’ problems? www.patreon.com/allmadpod SOURCES https://members.tripod.com/HSK_Chess/steinitz.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/five-myths/five-myths-about-chess/2020/11/20/529fb63a-2a79-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Steinitz https://www.chess.com/article/view/can-anyone-be-an-im-or-gm Chess and Mental Illness: 12 Chess Player Who Suffered From...
It’s the first episode of Rachel’s new podcast HOOKED! On May 15 2001, one of the most beloved bloggers of the early internet died from a brain aneurysm after battling leukemia. On May 19, 2001, the internet learned that Kaycee...
Why do we want to squeeze or nibble on things we find overwhelmingly adorable? It’s called “cute aggression!” www.patreon.com/allmadpodcast “Tears of Joy” May Help Us Maintain Emotional Balance https://www.brainfacts.org/thinking-sensing-and-behaving/emotions-stress-and-anxiety/2019/cute-aggression-why-you-want-to-squeeze-adorable-creatures–091019 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271503312_Dimorphous_Expressions_of_Positive_Emotion_Displays_of_Both_Care_and_Aggression_in_Response_to_Cute_Stimuli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cute_aggression https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/12/31/679832549/when-too-cute-is-too-much-the-brain-can-get-aggressive https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181204143857.htm
Did you know that in addition to creating a cereal empire, John Harvey Kellogg was a doctor AND ran a sanitarium for most of his life? Obsessed with purity of mind and body, Kellogg created a home-away-from-home resort where people...
Happy holidays and a merry New Year!
James Taylor is one of the most successful American musicians alive today. Coming from a musical family, James wrote his first song on guitar at 14. By the time he was 22, he was being called “the new voice of...
It’s been awhile since I gave voice to a piece of writing: this week, I read Virginia Woolf’s ON BEING ILL. www.patreon.com/allmadpodcast
CW/TW: Suicide/ suicidal ideation, childhood sexual abuse Virginia Woolf is as famous for her suicide as she is for her writing. Born into a family with a history of mental health and being a victim of sexual abuse, Virginia never...
Many true crime podcasts have covered the death of Elisa Lam, a Canadian college student. But few have covered what was considered a large factor in her death: her bipolar disorder. This is a different look into the mysterious Elisa...
TW: Eating disorders, suicide Happily retired from her running career, Suzy Favor Hamilton was looking forward to leading a more normal life. But soon, Suzy found quiet life in Wisconsin unbearable; she needed something exciting to fill the space running...
TW: Eating disorders, suicide, adult language Suzy Favor Hamilton went to the Olympics three times. She was one of the fastest runners in the world. But her undiagnosed bipolar disorder gave her performance anxiety that showed itself in panic attacks...
We’re talking about bipolar disorder this week! www.patreon.com/allmadpodcast
Philadelphia, one of the oldest cities in the United States, prides itself on preserving and remembering its history. So why is it that the story of Mary Lum Girard, business assistant and wife to one of the richest men in...
CW: This episode contains discussion of suicide Mark Drybrough and Nadia Kajouji both completed suicide after being sent instructions on how by a friend on the internet. But who was this friend really, and why did they encourage dozens of...
A “catfish” is a person who hides behind a fake identity to hook someone into a relationship, usually in a way that benefits the catfish. While the term only came to be in 2010 and is usually applied to online...
Everyone knows Charlie Chaplin, but few people know about his mother Hannah. The daughter of a mentally ill mother, and who developed syphilis-related psychosis, Hannah still managed to impart her performing skills to her son Charlie. While Hannah never reached...
Dr. Teleka Patrick suspected she was schizophrenic. But she was worried that if she got an official diagnosis, she’d lose her psychiatry license, so she kept her suspicions quiet and tried to get on with her life. But her mental...
What happened in the months and days leading up to the murder-suicide of the Hart family? What was the trigger? Mental illness? Marital problems? Or just the Hart mothers being unable to see a future for their kids? www.patreon.com/allmadpod
On March 25, 2018, Jennifer Hart killed her family of 8 in a shocking murder-suicide. No one who knew the Harts could believe that this perfect, happy blended family met such a tragic end. Jennifer had kept everyone at arm’s...
Clennon King Jr. was the first black man to run for president. But before blazing that trail, the professor at an all-black college tried to enroll in the University of Mississippi to earn his doctorate. The school, also known as...
Empress Sissi of Austria is often compared to Princess Diana for her charitable work, her mental health issues, and her untimely end. This is the story of a reluctant empress. www.patreon.com/allmadpod
Jimmy Stewart is one of the most famous actors in Hollywood history. He was also a pilot during World War 2. Returning with hearing loss, a hair-trigger temper, and PTSD, Jimmy wasn’t sure if it was worth it to return...
When Christine Collins’ nine year old son Walter went missing in 1928, she insisted the LAPD find him. When they introduced her to a boy who claimed he was Walter, Christine knew he wasn’t her son. Considering her too much...
Winston Churchill is one of history’s most famous depressives. But as one of the most noted Churchill biographer was working on his own book about the man, he realized that there was almost no evidence to support the claim that...
If Mary Wollstonecraft was the first feminist, her daughter, Mary Shelley, was the first “goth girl.” The author of Frankenstein, Mary battled with depression for most of her life. She doubted her writing talent, her husband had a wandering eye,...
Mary Wollstonecraft is considered by some to be the first feminist. Brave though she was, she still suffered from depression, attempting suicide several times. In her short life, she had an impressive amount of adventures and produced an amazing amount...
Why are we furiously washing our hands to try and prevent getting the Corona Virus? Because of this week’s subject! www.patreon.com/allmadpodcast
Francesca Woodman, with her dark, Gothic photographs and a life ended in suicide, was the quintessential “depressed artist.” Or was she? patreon.com/allmadpodcast
Rachel talks about depression, something she is very familiar with. Artwork by Suhana patreon.com/allmadpodcast
16 year old Ethan Couch took a drunken joyride in 2013 that led to 4 deaths and 9 injuries- yet was only sentenced to rehabilitation. Why? Because a psychologist testified that Ethan suffered from affluenza- meaning, he was too rich...
Dorothea Dix suffered an abusive childhood, but escaped through school and, eventually teaching. After a nervous breakdown, Dorothea went abroad for a vacation, but ended up falling in with a group of healthcare reformers. She adopted their method of investigating...
ADULT LANGUAGE is featured in this episode! This week’s episode was a collaboration with Kate from Ignorance Was Bliss. We talk about Narcissistic Personality Disorder, how it affects relationships, and what someone has to display to be diagnosed with it....
A teenager makes a splash in the Civil War scene with her incredible speeches. Backed by anti-slavery sponsors like Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony, Anna Elizabeth Dickinson took the world by storm. www.patreon.com/allmadpodcast
What, a facility that didnt torture its patients?! That’s right, we’re taking it easy this holiday week and talking about the State Hospital for the Insane at Danville! www.patreon.com/allmadpodcast