Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories

Step inside Dr. H's office to eavesdrop on a therapy session with his patient Jasmine (from the Delta Flight Attendant episode in season 1). This session explores an extremely painful but ultimately transformative relationship that Jasmine had with a much older man just prior to starting therapy. Relationships are human growth machines, and Dr. H and Jasmine unpack what she learned about idealization, her defaulting to black/white thinking, setting boundaries, what it means to be a "friend", and assigning guilt and blame/shame.
Dr. H/ Back from the Abyss
https://www.craigheacockmd.com

What's the special sauce of psychological and psychiatric treatment? How do we change, particularly in relationship with others?  Here Dr. Hillary McBride, a psychotherapist, researcher, author, and podcast host (Other People's Problems) opens up about the details of her years of psychiatric treatment, what worked (often surprising!), what did not, and how she had to leave home to find a home in herself.

Dr. Hillary McBride
https://hillarylmcbride.com

Hillary's new book-- The Wisdom of Your Body
https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Your-Body-Wholeness-Connection/dp/1587435527/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=hillary+mcbride&qid=1617029987&sr=8-2

BFTA
https://www.craigheacockmd.com

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Here Dr. H sits down with Lisa, a pediatric nurse practitioner, to witness her story of developmental trauma, concomitant chronic depression, and eventually her path of healing and rebuilding trust and connection, largely through psychotherapy. During her years of intermittently crippling and suicidal depression, she was put on various psych meds, which might have helped at the time, but later became shockingly difficult to try to taper and stop. This is a story of overcoming shame, a story that looks at the question of whether people need meds for life....and it turns out, surprise surprise, that what’s causing or driving depression actually really matters....and when that’s a Mom wound, most psych meds are really just acting as flimsy bandages.

"I Love You, I Hate You, Are You My Mom?" An intensive experiential workshop exploring transference with Dr. H and Dr. Hillary McBride, May 28-30 in Victoria BC
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/i-love-you-i-hate-you-are-you-my-mom-tickets-1112117516429?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/
BFTA/ Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

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BFTA takes a wild ride with Colorado based artist, writer, and video producer Ian Jaydid as he tells his double abyss story of lucid dreaming, out of body experiences, REM deprivation and transient psychosis....which then led to the blissful but ultimately destructive salve of opioids and a life changing encounter with the African psychedelic Iboga (ibogaine).
Ian Jaydid
https://ianjaydid.com
Ian's novel Tripping the Field
https://www.amazon.com/Tripping-Field-Existential-Ungodly-Proportions/dp/0991193199
Ian's first lucid dreaming experience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-WaA3SGl9M&t=26s
Dr. H/ BFTA
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

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Expectation, set, setting, dosage, and route of administration provide the context and scaffolding for psychoactive drugs. An IV morphine drip can make unbearable pain completely manageable, while IV heroin, which is immediately converted to morphine once it crosses the blood brain barrier, destroys tens of thousands of lives a year. A benzodiazepine such as lorazepam, when taken orally at sensible doses, can stop a panic attack in its tracks, yet snorting or injecting benzodiazepines, or mixing them with alcohol, can lead to complete blackout and terrible consequences. Taking psilocybin mushrooms with friends out in nature vs at night alone in the darkened streets of an unfamiliar city vs with a trained trauma therapist in a healing setting—- the resulting risks, benefits, and experiences are mind-blowingly different.

In today’s story we hear Graham’s long and winding road with various drugs and alcohol in the context of childhood trauma and bipolar disorder, with a particular emphasis on his complicated relationship with ketamine. For years, he used and abused massive quantities of ketamine, yet now he has transitioned to using ketamine in a therapeutic context with Dr. H, and the experience of ketamine, the consequences, and the end results are just shockingly different....all because of expectation, set, setting, dosage, and manner of administration.
Audio note: Graham's emotional support dog makes some intermittent appearances on his microphone
BFTA on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/
BFTA/ Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/