Mequell Buck: Thriving with Mental Illness

Mequell and Adam are joined by Ann Loonam who generously shares her personal experience with psychosis. It's a rare and fascinating inside look into one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized areas of mental illness. Ann shares ways she was helped during her psychosis and things that made it harder. She gives great takeaways on how we can be better cheerleaders for our warriors who experience t...

Mequell and Adam are joined by the one and only Dan Scobie, hubby to Paris (Live Well Bipolar). The biggest question we are always asked is 'how do you make your relationship work?' Turns out Dan and Paris are frequently asked the same thing. Dan shares insights and tips from things he's learned over the past six years with Paris. It's valuable stuff (plus he's a little bit cha...

Mequell and Adam talk about a common and damaging misconception that people with mental illness are violent. Adam shares statistics from The National Library of Medicine that violence stems from substance abuse. If someone with a mental illness is self-medicating with substances, that is what increases violence. Those who are being properly treated by medical professionals are no more violent than...

In honor of Mother's Day, Mequell and Adam have a discussion around whether or not you can be a good parent while living with a significant mental illness. (Hint: the answer is a resounding YES) According to an article in Psychology Today, good parents provide: 1 - unconditional love, 2 - emotional security, 3 - good conversations, 4 - validate their feelings and 5 - meaningful responsibilitie...

Mequell and Adam talk about his most recent business book read The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch and how it applies to the mental illness world. Surprisingly, it is fairly congruent with Chapter 5 of Mequells book Thriving With Mental Illness. The bottom line of both being: work smarter in the areas that make the most difference. Simplify. Say no to things that don't produce results whether...

Mequell and Adam discuss the previous week (when Mequell was decidedly UN-lovely) to pinpoint the difference when a generic medication was swapped out by the new pharmacist for a different manufacturer. According to Jeremy A. Green, MD, PhD of John Hopkins University, generic medications are not fully identical and that is why they don't always work exactly same. Or in Mequells case, why they...

Mequell and Adam are joined by Andrew Ramirez, a school counselor living with Bipolar Disorder type 1, PTSD and OCD. Andrew is the face behind @bipolar_realtalk, an account Mequell follows because of his fabulous motivational (but realistic) posts about WINNING every single day. He lives by the acronym R.A.G. which stands for Routine, Awareness and Gratitude. Guys, Andrew is beyond cool, beyond in...

Mequell and Adam are joined by the incredibly lovely actor Alexia Fast to talk about her experience living with a bipolar diagnosis. She shares why she has recently chosen to be public with her story and what it has looked like for her in the movie industry. She is charming and gracious and after listening to her episode, you will fall in love with her too, just like we did. Follow her at @pureale...

Mequell and Adam are joined by Dr. Kim Buck, PhD, LPC, CCS, CSAT Yes, that's a lot of acronyms but she's a whole lotta awesome so that checks out. She talks about the new direction of counseling with a prodependent focus instead of a codependent one. She discusses what healthy boundaries look like and how to support someone in crisis. Go listen! You are going to realize quickly that "...

Mequell and Adam are joined by Kevin & Margaret Hines for their first ever "couples double date" on the podcast. It did a not disappoint. We hit the jackpot convincing Margaret to join us on the podcast along with Kevin and we absolutely love her humor and pragmatism. She offers some extremely insightful advice on how to thrive as a couple and truly become teammates battling against...

Mequell and Adam spend the episode talking about things they've been grateful for this year. Hint: the AMAZING listeners are top on the list. Thank you to all of you! Much Love xoxo Mequell and Adam mentalillnesswarrior.com

Mequell and Adam go through the whole discussion of why they landed on meds. (For a revisit of all the other avenues they tried refer to Ep. 5: Sifting through Treatment Options). Even though they are solidly in the camp that medication is required for her management, there are people who are able to maintain stability and manage using different treatment options. The key is to WORK WITH PROFESSIO...

Mequell and Adam are joined for a few precious minutes by the amazing Jen Hilderbrand as she prepares for the 3rd Annual Hope Gives Gala. Kevin Hines, Golden Gate Bridge suicide survivor and filmmaker, will be the featured speaker for this years event. In 2016, Mental Health America awarded Kevin their highest honor, The Clifford W. Beers Award for his efforts to improve the lives of and attitudes...

Mequell and Adam talk about the benefits of letting people in and site the 988 Suicide Hotline for examples of what you can say to ask for help. It takes way too much energy trying to hide how we're really doing and also takes away others ability to truly help us. Asking may not be as hard as you think. https://988lifeline.org/help-yourself/ mentalillnesswarrior.com

Mequell and Adam site a study (gotta get the deets from Adam but he's out of town lol) and discuss the concept of self-stigma (the shame and embarassment we put on ourselves) when living with mental illness. It can cause very low self-esteem and prevent us from focusing on the things we can control thus preventing us to live well with mental illness. We can fight the self-stigma by: 1) educati...

Mequell and Adam share from the Advocacy for Change Project things that suicide attempt survivors wish their families knew. Some of them might surprise you! Tune in to hear ways that we can show love after a suicide attempt and ways that society sometimes shames those reaching out for help. https://mentalillnesswarrior.com/

Mequell and Adam share tips from an article (and ok, from personal experience as well) about what to say to help when someone is suicidal. You are not required to know how to deal with it, you're just required to facilitate getting them help. And the red flags to let you know when it's urgent might be much smaller than you're thinking even though they're there. Tune in for the disc...

Mequell and Adam address a frequently asked question about what role do life coaches play in the mental illness world? There is no substitute for qualified, licensed and experienced professionals when dealing with something as serious and nuanced as mental illness and the stakes are too high to be wrong.

Mequell and Adam are joined by Paris Scobie, host of the Live Well Bipolar Podcast and author of Crooked Illness, for an incredible discussion. Paris shares her own story of her bipolar diagnosis and the work that she put in to become stable and happy. She's a rockstar y'all!!! https://www.instagram.com/livewellbipolar/ https://mentalillnesswarrior.com/

Mequell and Adam share the presentation Mequell was invited to give to a group of teens ... but unfortunately bad weather caused her to miss the plane (so so sorry!) ... nevertheless vital information for ourselves or our teens to help have a successful school year, manage their mental health and act preventatively to prevent unnecessary crashes. (Hint -- it's about pacing yourself) And if you...

Mequell and Adam review a study about teens and their willingness to open up about depression and other mental health related topics. Surprisingly (or not) they ARE willing to talk to us IF we will listen. Tune in (for the first "try" video episode) to learn how to avoid stepping in it and also tips on how to keep your face quiet. https://mentalillnesswarrior.com/

Mequell and Adam have a much needed discussion about the top signs of good mental health for men and the reasons why it's sometimes an extra challenge for them to get what they need. Adam is the star of the show sharing times when he's struggled and things that helped him since he's a man and Mequell isn't. There's also some pretty great information about why you should never b...

Mequell and Adam have a discussion that's a hot topic and that can be slightly triggering in the mental illness world. Everyone loves to discuss mental wellness but there is a misunderstanding that many have where they believe mental wellness and mental illness are on the opposite of the same continuum. They are not. You can have high mental wellness while living with severe mental illness, th...

Mequell and Adam are joined by Laurel Kelsey: Functional Nutrition Counselor and Exercise Physiologist for a fascinating and very educational discussion on the relationship between gut health and brain health. Laurel has years of both professional research and personal experience on this topic. Did you know that 90% of serotonin in our bodies is made in the gut? Yeah, we didn't either. Laurel...

Mequell and Adam respond (slightly aggressively on Mequell's part) to a repeat question posed many times over the years of "Wow! How do you even stay married?!" This is a very legitimate question if your warrior isn't stable because the weight on a relationship is huge. However your warrior is the same wonderful person you chose to marry even if they're not feeling it at the...