It's All In Your Head

S2 EP #7: Claire Eastham is a Manchester-based author, award-winning mental health blogger, campaigner and keynote speaker who was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder after suffering excruciating physical symptoms that forced her to leave a business meeting. Claire's first book detailing her personal experience living with an anxiety disorder titled  We’re All Mad Here: The No-Nonsense Guide to Living with Social Anxiety sold out its entire first print run in just five days and was selected for Reading Well Books on Prescription in 2018. Claire is an ambassador for the mental health research charity, MQ, and has regularly appeared on TV and radio, including appearances on This Morning, BBC Breakfast, and across BBC Radio. Her latest book about her experience is titled  F**k, I think I’m Dying: How I Learned to Live with Panic.

S2 EP #6: Timothy Denevi grew up with ADHD and was among the first generation of boys prescribed medication for this disorder in the 1980s.  Upon having an adverse reaction to the medication he was prescribed for ADHD, as a child he began the  journey to finding the right treatment. As an adult, Tim wrote a book about his experience titled “Hyper: A Personal History of ADHD”, which is a remarkable book both for its sensitive portrait of a child’s experience, as well as for its thorough exploration of a remarkably complex and controversial mental condition and its treatment. In this conversation, Timothy shares how his life has been impacted by ADHD  and how he eventually found healing through individualized treatment and painstaking research.

S2 EP #5: Amanda Stern grew up with an undiagnosed panic disorder and was plagued with fear that her friends and family would be taken from her or die. In this conversation, Amanda shares how her life has been impacted by panic disorder  and how she eventually found healing through therapy. She went on to write a memoir, Little Panic: Dispatches from an Anxious Life.

S2 EP #4: Stephanie Foo was diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,, also known as  CPTSD, after she began struggling with panic attacks at work every morning. Throughout childhood, she was  both  physically and  verbally abused,  neglected and even abandoned as a teenager. In this conversation, Stephanie shares how her life has been impacted by this CPTSD  and how she eventually found healing through education,  different forms of therapy and meeting others who also suffered from CPTSD. She went on to write a New York Times bestseller titled What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma.

S2 EP #3: Allison Britz developed Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, also known as OCD,  upon having a nightmare that she was diagnosed with brain cancer. She began to do everything she could to stop the cancer in her dream from becoming a reality by avoiding certain objects, food and clothing. It got to the point where she had barely any “safe” clothes to wear and weighed 90 pounds. In this conversation, Allison shares what it was like to live with OCD and the different therapies she tried to better understand how these obsessions developed and how to better control the compulsions.

S2 EP #2: MedCircle host, Kyle Kittleson, was diagnosed with Depression at nine years old and was immediately entered into treatment. Not long after Kyle sought treatment for his Depression, he realized that he was a gay man and tried to cover it up for over a decade. In this conversation, Kyle shares how he felt living with Depression at a much younger age than normally diagnosed, owning his sexuality and how he maintains his mental health today.

S2 EP #1: It’s All In Your Head podcast host, Jackie Colbeth, first received treatment for Depression as an adolescent at the same time she began struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. She was eventually diagnosed with  BiPolar II Depression in 2004 after a decade of being misdiagnosed, addicted and yanked on and off different medications. In this conversation, Jackie also shares what it was like to seek treatment for her Alcoholism and accept her BiPolar II Depression.

S1 EP #7: Jessica Harris accidentally discovered porn when she was just a teenager when a graphic image popped up while she was online. By the time she was in high school, it began to dominate her life. She found herself lying to her parents, sleeping just a few hours each night and watched her grades suffer, as well. Wanting so badly to get help, but not knowing where to turn, Jessica finally found a safe place to open up and she has been walking in freedom ever since. Today Jessica travels all over the world sharing her story to help other women struggling with pornography addiction.

S1 EP #6: Charlie Bracke grew up living as an online gaming addict who at one point was spending an average of 14 hours per day gaming as an adult. As his use escalated he dropped out of college, lost a long-term relationship and lost his job. Knowing something had to change he found the courage to seek professional treatment at reSTART Life, a residential treatment program that focuses on addressing different online addictions and mental health conditions.  Charlie now enjoys speaking about his struggles with technology and gaming in order to raise awareness and help others struggling with similar issues.

S1 EP #5: Dr. Hilarie Cash has been working on treating internet addiction since the 90’s. In 2009, she co-founded reSTART Life which is the nation’s first and foremost treatment program for different online addictions and underlying mental health conditions.  Currently, Dr. Cash serves as the Chief Clinical Officer at reSTART Life and she’ll share more about why she finds this field so important and how digital addiction impacts millions of people today.

S1 EP #4: Austin Hamilton discovered porn as a child and was secretly addicted until he was faced with a painful truth later in life: porn was a way for him to fill the hole in his heart from his mom dying in a plane crash when he was just five years old. He saw how much his behavior negatively impacted his marriage and decided to tell his wife. From there, his healing journey began. Through the love and support of his family, Austin has experienced freedom from porn addiction and today he helps other men to get rid of this unwanted pattern.

S1 EP #3: Sandy Storm was a trafficking victim for over 20 years, and it began during her childhood. Initially, she did not realize she was a survivor or how traumatic the experience was until she started volunteering in the justice movement. Sandy has since written three books about her painful childhood, how she was trafficked, as well as her healing journey. She has also become an abolitionist and works with the organization, DeliverFund, to help set other trafficking victims free - both physically and emotionally.

S1 EP #2: After several attempts to end her life, Sara Rosenberg was eventually diagnosed with borderline personality disorder at 25. After she was told she’d live with BPD the rest of her life, Sara felt like she’d never get better and was unsure how to live with her diagnosis. With the incredible support from her family, therapist and others who live with or have been impacted by BPD, Sara has found a way to defy those original beliefs. She loves her life today and she believes that it will only keep getting better.

S2 EP #1: Paula Tusiani-Eng’s sister was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder after multiple hospitalizations, plus months of self-harm symptoms and suicidal thoughts. Although her treatment plan helped to stabilize her behaviors, one of the medications caused her to suffer a rare stroke and she died in 2001. Paula has since dedicated her life to supporting, educating and advocating for people impacted by borderline personality disorder through her organization, Emotions Matter.