Not Crazy (Archive)

What is schizophrenia? What are the symptoms? What’s it like to experience it? How is it managed? The answers depend on who you ask. Pop culture has one view. Doctors have another. And Rachel Star Withers has a first-person experienced view. In this first episode of Inside Schizophrenia, Dr. Ali Mattu joins Rachel and co-host Gabe Howard to explore this often misrepresented illness and how social media is changing the way it’s viewed.

Everyone complains about work. Having to go to work every day, working too much, not getting paid enough- working can be challenging for so many reasons. Today's episode of Inside Schizophrenia focuses on working while having schizophrenia.

Host Rachel Star Withers, a diagnosed schizophrenic, and co-host Gabe Howard share antidotes from their own work lives and speak with fellow schizophrenic Michelle Hammer. Michelle, an award-winning graphic designer and entrepreneur, discusses her struggles working full time and transitioning to working for herself. Cheryl Wallace the Vice President of Programs at Rose Hill Center, a psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation center, also joins this episode and speaks about how Rose Hill facilitates programs to help people with schizophrenia rejoin the workforce after a psychotic episode.

What exactly is psychosis? What happens in the brain of a person with schizophrenia who is hallucinating?

Schizophrenic Rachel Star Withers shares her personal hallucinations and delusions and Dr. Joseph Goldberg, who specializes in researching what goes on in the brain when someone is experiencing psychosis, joins to break down how the brain functions during psychotic episodes.

Host Rachel Star Withers, a diagnosed schizophrenic, and co-host Gabe Howard delve into these intense subjects in this episode of Inside Schizophrenia.

Do you struggle with abandonment fears? Do you worry your partner will suddenly ditch you even though there’s no real reason to feel this way? In today’s Not Crazy podcast, Gabe opens up about his own deep-rooted fear that his wife will decide she doesn’t want him anymore. After all, he concludes, what does he have to offer her? I mean, surely she can do better. And even though he knows these fears are unfounded and irrational, he feels helpless in stopping them.

How can Gabe get these thoughts under control? Tune in to hear Jackie give some great advice to her dear friend, and for anyone dealing with abandonment issues.

Find us online at:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/notcrazy/

About The Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations , available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Gabe also hosts The Psych Central Podcast available on your favorite podcast player or by visiting psychcentral.com/show.

Jackie Zimmerman has been in the patient advocacy game for over a decade and has established herself as an authority on chronic illness, patient-centric healthcare, and patient community building. She lives with multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, and depression.

You can find her online at JackieZimmerman.co, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

In this episode, our hosts discuss how the amount of money and resources a person has influences their mental health care. Listen now to hear how Gabe and Michelle tackle this difficult social discussion -- and have a couple laughs along the way.

[1:00] How does money impact people with mental illness?

[3:00] Michelle’s epiphany on the subway.

[5:30] The difference between mental health and physical health.

[9:30] Insurance and the price of psychiatric medications.

[15:00] Michelle’s past job failures.

[18:30] Disability: does it help people?

[22:00] How can you recover from mental illness when you can’t afford healthcare?

[27:30] Michelle and other people living with schizophrenia in NYC.