Inside Mental Health

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. Learn more about y...

The centuries-old phrase “boys will be boys,” is often used to excuse boys and men of acting in rough, noisy or chauvinistic ways -- traits commonly associated with masculinity. But is this healthy? Is it time for us to evolve our idea of masculinity? Today’s guest introduces us to the idea of “sacred masculinity,” a balanced state of being which integrates both healthy masculine and feminine aspe...

Anxiety is the enemy, right? Or is your body just trying to tell you something? If you struggle with anxiety and aren’t sure how to handle it, this episode is for you. Today’s guest, therapist and reverend Connie L. Habash, offers several key steps to help you work with your anxiety, rather than against it. She shares how to sit with your emotions, feel them in your body and listen with compassion...

Does your brain seem to have a “mind” of its own? Does it jump in the driver’s seat and take you places you’d rather not go? In today’s episode, a licensed psychologist explains how we get trapped in cycles of ruminations -- those dark, repetitive thoughts that won’t leave us alone -- and how to escape this cycle by living with intention. When we realize that every decision we make is just one opt...

Does a certain song take you back to your childhood? Maybe your dad played it on family road trips, and now it never fails to make you smile. We know music has the power to elicit specific emotions and to spark feel-good neurotransmitters in the brain. But what if we could harness the power of music and make it a part of therapy? Today’s guest is a psychotherapist who creates personalized music so...

Do you know someone with 6 toasters? Or a closet full of old newspapers or unopened shoe boxes? Or maybe it’s more subtle: Perhaps your friend is successful and tidy, but they just can’t stop accumulating things they don’t use -- they get an intense thrill with each new purchase. What is hoarding, anyway? Is it always disorganized and dirty? Today’s guest, a hoarding behavioral specialist, explain...

The word "schizophrenia" tends to conjure dramatic imagery, people don't think of the boring parts that consume many with schizophrenia, like lacking the motivation to get out of bed or be social. Host, Rachel Star Withers and CoHost Gabe Howard explore avolition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you consider yourself a perfectionist? Do you highly value strength, resiliency, always counting your blessings and keeping a smile on your face? But perhaps, on the inside, you feel lonelier each day. Maybe you have trouble with intimacy and vulnerability and sometimes feel like nobody knows the "real" you. In today’s episode, psychologist Dr. Margaret Rutherford explains the epidemic of “perf...

Did Grey’s Anatomy get the psychiatric hospital scene right? Do emotional support animals really work? Can you ever be friends with a former therapist? In today’s “information age,” there is a lot of “misinformation,” particularly when it comes to mental health. Tune in to hear why today’s guest, a practicing psychiatrist and popular writer, feels called to help people make sense of the medical mi...

Who doesn’t love cartoons? Especially ones that are informative, engaging and based on mental health issues? PsychHub.com has more than 100 free animated videos on a variety of mental health, substance use and suicide prevention topics. Join us as CEO and co-founder Marjorie Morrison explains how Psych Hub got started, what types of videos they have, how to find credible information in the interne...

In the US, fewer than 100 kids per year are diagnosed with very early onset schizophrenia. Chrisa Hickey, founder of the Parents Like US Club, walked this road with her son, Tim, who is now 25 years old. Listen in as Chrisa describes her family’s journey through childhood schizophrenia and how she became an advocate for other parents like herself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Contrary to media hype, most mass shooters do not have mental illness. Rather, many of these offenders hold heavy grievances against people or situations in their lives they feel are out of their control. Listen as Dr. John Grohol, founder of PsychCentral.com, discusses the difference between mental illness and mental health issues and explains why using mental illness as a scapegoat for this crit...

When did you last step out of your comfort zone? And why would you want to anyway? Listen in as psychologist Lucia Giovannini shares easy, practical tips to help you emerge from your ‘safe’ space and reach for the stars. Lucia Giovannini is a former Italian supermodel-turned-transformational speaker and author of 13 books. Her newest book, A Whole New Life, has been translated into 8 languages, an...

What makes someone an introvert? Is it just shyness? What is the difference between extroverts and introverts? How is the workplace skewed to favor extroverts? What can introverts do to make up for that imbalance? Learn all this and more – Listen Now! Chelsey Brooke is a professional counselor, published writer, blogger, Pathfinder Coach and internationally known figure helping introverted women l...

Do you enjoy watching YouTube videos about mental health and psychology? But are you tired of wading through all the mindless fluff, meaningless new-age jargon and overly pedantic lectures? There is a better option out there – The Psych Show, created by Dr. Ali Mattu. Dr. Mattu is a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York...

Schizophrenia does not just affect the person with schizophrenia, but their families, also. This episode of Inside Schizophrenia explores the family relationships impacted by schizophrenia, both immediate and extended. Two guests join us, Chrisa Hickey, who is the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia and Janel Star Withers, mother of host Rachel Star Withers. Janel shares her experiences with...

When death is approaching, you don’t have to welcome it, but you also don’t have to fight it. Learn how planning for your own (or a loved one’s) death doesn’t have to be an existential crisis, but can instead provide a degree of safety and comfort. Listen in as Dr. John Grohol explains that there is a degree of wisdom in realizing that everything must pass, and your time will come. John M. Grohol,...

Today’s guest is Okpara Rice, CEO of Tanager Place, a mental health facility for children. Unlike adults, children are not in control of their own environment, and anything that affects a child will affect their families, and vice versa. So, what is the best way to help these kids? Okpara joined Tanager Place of Cedar Rapids, Iowa in July 2013, and became CEO in July 2015. Okpara is the first Afri...

Police officers are often the first responders when someone is having a mental illness crisis.  But are members of law enforcement properly equipped for this job?  There are plenty of horrifying stories that would indicate that the answer is “no.” Join us as Gabe speaks with Officer Rebecca Skillern from the Huston, Texas, Police Department about how Houston is training its officers to respond to...

Do you remember the disturbing images from the Sandy Hook school shooting in December 2012 after a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 first-grade children?  It was traumatic for all of us, but what was it like to live there?  Today’s guest worked for 20 months on the Newtown Recovery and Resiliency Team. Melissa Glaser is a licensed professional counselor and author of Healing a Community: Less...

Dr. Russell Morfitt explains the differences between stress, worry, and anxiety. He tells us how using the techniques of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be life changing. Listen to learn how you can free yourself from the burdens of anxiety. Dr. Morfitt is the co-founder of and the Chief Psychology Officer of LearntoLive.com. He has been helping people live better lives for more than 20 yea...

In this episode of Inside Schizophrenia our hosts tackle the topic of early onset – or childhood – schizophrenia. Host Rachel Star discusses her personal experiences with symptoms as an adolescent and Dr. Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich from Harvard Medical School discusses some of the latest research. Listen in now! Bonus Content - Visit Psychcentral.com/IS to learn more about the Inside Schizophrenia P...

One of the most dangerous misconceptions about suicide is that asking a loved one if they are suicidal will increase the odds that they will attempt suicide. Today Dr. Nate Ivers of Wake Forest University discusses the importance of making “the covert overt” by asking blunt, straightforward questions of those you suspect may be thinking about suicide. Dr. Nathaniel Ivers is the department chairman...

How does on-line counseling work for teens and adolescents?  Are there a lot of differences between the experiences of teens and adults?  How are parents involved?  What are the safeguards in place?  How does payment work?  Listen in to see what online therapy for teenagers is all about. Haesue Jo, MA, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with years of experience providing individual and fa...