“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 mind. Over the next hundred-plus years, doctors and researchers, as well as celebrities, would throw […]

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 German, English, French, and Greek. Once married to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, she […]

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 research shows that actually, the mentally ill make up only 4% of ALL gun violence. […]

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 backed up by a past boyfriend as well. Did Colleen choose to leave, or 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 family cellar? www.patreon.com/allmadpodcast SOURCES: Sarah Shelton Henry: The Wife Patrick Henry Kept in the Cellar […]

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 Severe Mental Problems http://tartajubow.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-tragic-story-of-brilliant-alvis.html https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2020000300169 https://bleeckerstreetmedia.com/editorial/the-most-dangerous-game#:~:text=After%20he%20lost%20his%20championship,inmate%20up%20for%20a%20game.

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 Nicole Swenson had not, in fact, died. She had never existed.   www.patreon.com/hookedthepod SOURCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaycee_Nicole  […]

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 with all kinds of illness could relax, eat his food inventions, and get all the […]