Giving Voice to Depression

What do you get when a singer/songwriter/guitarist decides to share openly and honestly about his struggles with depression and anxiety? In this case, you get a hit song. Matt Weedon of the Tors Band in the UK joins us for a 2-episode conversation about his mental health struggles and how putting them to music is helping not just him, but listeners across the world as well.

A Philadelphia trauma surgeon whose depression required hospitalization learns what it's like to be a patient. He shares his story in the hopes that others will learn from his frightening experience and believe him when he says recovery is possible, no matter how deeply depressed you are. Article link: medschool.ucsd.edu/som/hear/resour…Perspective.pdf YouTube video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qBobG...

"Physician heal thyself." But what happens when depression convinces you you're not worthy of healing? Doctors and other healthcare professionals face uniquely-stressful situations during their education, training and careers. Sleep deprivation, myths and routinely witnessing human suffering can contribute to or trigger depression. In this episode, Dr. Michael Weinstein, a trauma surgeon, candidly...

A triggering trauma. A deep depression. A helpful therapist. A new hobby and mission. That's part of Kathleen's story and the genesis of The Little Heart Project. This episode is a 22-minute Valentine's Day reminder of the power of kindness.

"About a third of all people experiencing mental illnesses and about half of people living with severe mental illnesses also experience substance abuse. These statistics are mirrored in the substance abuse community, where about a third of all alcohol abusers and more than half of all drug abusers report experiencing a mental illness," according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. That sta...

Depression is an illness that convinces us it is not one and that we should keep our symptoms secret. This week's guest, Sandeep Saib, shares about her mental health journey that includes bullying, anger, isolation, eating disorders and OCD, all of which contributed to a suicide attempt. Since then, her family has committed to keeping the lines of communication open and has even devoted regularly...

We don't need to tell anyone listening to this podcast that it can be difficult to care for ourselves when we're mentally ill. Now add in the responsibilities and challenges of parenting. In this 16-minute episode, Michelle, the adult daughter of a mother with bipolar disorder, shares about the unpredictability and pains of that relationship. We've named this "When a Parent Struggles with Mental I...

Depression is a thief. It takes away our ability to experience joy, leads us to isolate, robs us of opportunities of many kinds, and can take away our sense of value as a human being and even our will to live. This week's guest, Gina Capobianco wrote a memoir about her mental health journey. Just as the time to release and promote it finally arrived, so did debilitating depression. It came on so s...

This episode started with a social media post: "The snippets of happiness you begin to feel again after a dark period become more and more euphoric each time... the raw happiness that I feel after darkness reminds me why I hold on each and every time." We wanted to hear more. In an intimate and candid conversation, Cara McErlain shares some of her mental-health journey. She ends the episode with a...

In the second of two episodes, the Giving Voice to Depression podcast hosts (past and present) look back on 2022 and each selects an episode they learned from and want to bring back to attention. It's a new twist on a year-end review, and we hope you enjoy it. If you remember or were helped by a particular episode last year, we'd love to hear about it. We'll pass along your feedback to the episode...

When we say we learn from our EVERY weekly guest, we mean that from the bottom of our hearts. From the 52 podcast episodes we posted this past year, each of the Giving Voice to Depression co-hosts chose one that stood out for us. In a first-ever triple-hosted episode (Bridget, our retired co-host joined us for the look back) we talk about what we learned from some of our favorite/most-impactful in...

You are not required to be "joyful" or "merry" because of the date on the calendar. This is a special Christmas edition of our podcast, written and produced especially for YOU, who are struggling right now. It's only 8-minutes long, and we believe it will resonate with and comfort you as it does us. You are not alone. You do matter. People DO care. It WILL pass. Come hang out on the GIving Voice t...

This is a story of hope. But it's not a pretty story. (TW: selfharm and suicidal ideation) A 23-year-old woman stops during a magical holiday moment to share huge truths with her 14-year-old suicidal self: The fight IS worth it. Things can and do change. You will not always feel the (terrible)way you do right now. And you are NOT alone. It's a holiday message of hope and recovery that we hope you'...

Whether it's the holidays stressing you out, or life in general, these three research-based, time-tested practices will help you manage yourself and your mental health. They are a gift of sorts, from Dr. Barbara Moser, a trained mindful self-compassion teacher. This episode features a 3-minute STOP exercise, which emphasizes the power of a pause, a 6-minue Calm Practice, and an 8-minute Mindful Se...

End-of-year holidays can be a celebratory time. Or a stressful time. Or both. Whichever is true for you, it can be a good time to add or tune-up some of the tools in your mental-health toolkit. This episode focuses on mindfulness and self-compassion -- two readily accessible tools that can help us regulate and cope with difficult emotions. And when the holidays pass, these valuable gifts to oursel...

Giving Voice to Depression on the SelfWork Podcast by Giving Voice to Depression

It's one of the best descriptions we've ever heard for depression: It is a parasite. Depression saps your energy, so you feel more lethargic, which makes you not do things, which makes you feel more guilty, which makes you feel more depressed. Rinse and repeat. Ad nauseam. Today's guest, Dr. Robert Duff uses that metaphor to begin today's episode. He, is a psychologist and author, whose specialty...

Depression is, to put it mildly, an unwanted guest in our minds and bodies. Yet, for those who experience it regularly, it can help to look for some value, some take-away, some "terrible gift" in the experience. Kristin "owns her shadow," and uses depression's voice to express herself in poetry. Hers is a gentle, allowing and unique perspective on an illness many of us simply despise. To learn mor...

Whether you love or loathe the holidays, they are demanding. At the very least, they demand changes to our schedules. We're expected to engage socially. Or we may feel the weight of disengagement and loneliness. We are bombarded with a lot of "shoulds" from gift-buying to travel down to how we are supposed feel- happy, merry, and festive. And if the holidays come during depression or after a tough...

Depression convinces us we will always live in its darkness. For some, who experience depression chronically, that is a reality. Some days are better/lighter than others. But there's not a day when you wake and realize it was "an episode" and it has passed. This episode's guest, Didi Hairston, The Diva of Depression (on social media) lives in that dark place. She describes it as "hell." But she wa...

The thoughts we have and the words we chose not only define depression, but predict it. In this episode, we speak with a researcher who anaylyzes online mental health forums and other writing samples. Using computers to analyze the words, he finds a direct connection between "absolutist" words and depression, anxiety and suicide. It's good to know the words so we can recognize them in ourselves an...

There are people who, after having survived a difficult situation, will share their hard-earned knowledge with others in an effort to help. And there's JJ Singleton. He is still very much "in the thick of it," having just completed his 123rd round of chemo for "terminal, incurable" colorectal cancer. And from that place, he reached out to share a message of hope for other people with cancer and de...

In one of the most-practical episodes we've produced, we get into the weeds and look at how to keep yourself nourished, and your body and environment clean (enough)when you "just can't" because of depression. Emily Derecktor, founder of the free online resource Cereal for Dinner, knows first-hand that depression can be disabling. She has compiled evidence-based, doable, realistic goals for surviva...

Depression is a thief. It steals our vitality, our sense of connection and worth. Our dreams. And sometimes our very will to live. This week's guest, Emily Derecktor knows losses. She worked hard to do well in school, get into top universities and earn admittance to medical school. And then depression stole that opportunity. For now, anyways. In this episode Emily shares about her mental health jo...

A single conversation can change the course of your life. A single person stepping in to say "You are not yourself. I am worried about you. I'm afraid you're planning to kill yourself. Are you suicidal?" can change the course of your life and recovery. That's the story Chloe shares in this 25-minute episode. Suicide Prevention Awareness Month might be over, but the need to tune in, step in and car...