Mental Illness Happy Hour

One of our best episodes - recorded in 2015 before she was famous (Girl's Trip, Saturday Night Live) - Tiffany opens up about her horrific family life, being shuttled around the foster care system and finally finding her voice doing comedy.   The full archive of MIHH shows one year and older can be found exclusively on Stitcher Premium. For a free month of listening, go to stitcherpremium.com/ment...

The blues-based singer-songwriter who has written for Bonnie Raitt and other artists started out in the epicenter of the NY/Boston folk scene among contemporaries like Bob Dylan and Eric Von Schmidt reminisces about his career, the art of songwriting, jamming with blues legends like Son House, his battles with alcoholism and what success means both professionally and personally. He performs Train...

The hilarious author and uber-popular Tweeter @SoSadToday delves into subjects covered in her latest book, The Pisces (and reads from it). She and Paul talk about romantic obsession, sexual compulsion that leads to shame and regret; the overall search to fill the nothingness in a futile attempt to know the unknowable and the animal part of the brain that overrides logic. Follow Melissa on Twitter...

The comedic actor, improviser and longtime Conan O'Brien sidekick opens up about his battles with depression, worry, anxiety and sadness and how he has learned to manage them with talk therapy. He also shares about the illusion he held that acquiring money and getting married would "fix him". He talks about growing up in a combative, eventually-divorced house where humor was prized and how he felt...

The host of the Terrible Thanks For Asking podcast and author of It's Okay To Laugh (Crying is Cool Too) sits down with Paul before a live audience to talk about how she processed (and still is) the grief of losing family members and dealing with her depression and anxiety. A funny and touching conversation. For more on Nora go to www. NoraBorealis.com Follow her on twitter @NoraBorealis Follow he...

The actor/comedian (Comedy Central Presents: Cy Amundson) opens up in front of a live audience about his OCD, anxiety and how the loss of his teenage sister affected him and his family. For more on Cy visit www.cycomedy.com www.twitter.com/cyamundson Cy's Facebook Page Cy's Comedy Albums This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.  To get your first week of online counseling free go to www. BetterHel...

The Harvard Medical School research psychologist's recent TED Talk "The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage" went viral a month or so ago and here she sits down with Paul to talk about the human habit of judging ourselves for our feelings, how it affects us, the science behind it and how we can move away from toxic self-judgement. She also shares some of her personal life; being born and raised in...

Daisy (with Cory for support) shares about her emotionally absent parents, Taiwanese culture, her anxiety, need to control, fear of making mistakes, struggling to find a sense of self and the imprint left on her by pleasing her emotionally withdrawn/critical mother at any cost. They share about the specifics of their polyamorous relationship and agreements/boundaries vs open ones and monogamous on...

The hilarious, self-depreciating podcaster (Jordan Harbinger Show) and ex-lawyer opens up about a recent professional crisis that left him with extraordinary anxiety, insomnia and panic attacks.  He talks about often feeling like a fraud, (also known as imposter syndrome), workaholism and difficulty in finding who he is outside of his work. For more on Jordan: Website: www.jordanharbinger.com Twit...

The writer (Lady Parts, The Onion) and dog walker shares about the lifelong battle she has had with her brain and emotions including: Intrusive thoughts, OCD, treatment-resistant depression, procrastination, self-judgment, and anger. She shares how REBT was a game changer for helping her cope. Follow Jessie on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NicCageMatch This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.  To get...

Paul's support group friend, recovering heroin addict and author shares about his upbringing on the Isle of Mann (UK) and the shame and anxiety he felt about secrets in his family and within himself. He opens up about his psychosis that convinced him that not only was he the devil he was also James Bond. He touches on his battles with depression, anxiety, panic attacks, codependency, religious del...

Originally recorded while speaking under the pseudonym "Daisy" to protect her from her abusive ex-fiancee, CC, a successful model, DJ and actress describes the abusive relationship she struggled to leave with a wealthy, powerful and manipulative drug addict/alcoholic who had turned increasingly violent and controlling. She talks about the emotionally difficult Mormon household she ran from at 17 t...

Renowned author & TedTalk speaker Dr. Guy Winch talks about different kinds of heartbreak, especially the ones some people  minimize (loss of pets or non-married breakups). He gets into the science of how our brains react to loss, how we experience this emotionally and some tips for coping or supporting someone. More About Guy His new TED Talk about heartbreak: https://www.ted.com/talks/guy_winch_...

Paul is joined by two support group friends, Jonathan & Mukunda, to talk about their experience 3 weeks earlier when a shooting victim stumbled into their meeting and began bleeding out at their feet. Jonathan and Mukunda, both sober and ex-criminals, talk about how they were able to respond differently today than they would have when they were gangbangers. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp....

The Salon contributor and author of Getting Off: One Woman's Journey Through Sex and Porn Addiction shares about her sex addiction, which began at age 12 after discovering masturbation as a way of soothing her anxiety and not having to deal with her feelings but over time escalated into riskier and more addictive behavior which she eventually sought help for. She shares about the odd relationship...

She battled OCD as a child but when she gave birth to twins it gripped her again despite being a trained psychologist who specializes in...yes...OCD. A great episode about the power fear, dark thoughts and shame in fueling OCD but also the power of getting help. She tearfully recalls her obsessive monitoring of her newborns despite being exhausted; being gripped by fear, almost certainty of their...

The writer (HBO's Crashing) and stand-up (Me Being Me) opens up about his dad abandoning his family when he was 2 years-old and how that has effected his view of the world, himself and now his children. He talks about his struggles with food, anger, making mistakes, letting people into his life for fear of them disappointing him and he also discusses his need as a child to care for his overburdene...

Couple's therapist Jen Elmquist sits down with Paul and answers questions about the most common mistakes and hurdles couples face and offers advice on how to value your partner and relationship without devaluing yourself. There are no surveys in this episode as Paul will explain in the opening 20 minutes. Moments before he sat to record he was at his usual Thursday night support group meeting when...

Imagine having a panic attack live on-air while anchoring ABC news. That happened to Dan Harris in 2004. The Nightline anchor, Good Morning America Weekend Co-anchor, war correspondent and author (10% Happier) opens up about his history of anxiety, depression, drug abuse (he's now sober) and witnessing horrific scenes while reporting in conflict zones. He talks about being skeptical at first about...

The author (My Fair Junkie) details her jaw-dropping and often hilarious descent from a nice (but spoiled) Jewish girl from Beverly Hills to shooting coke into her neck, bottoming out on meth and sex and being assigned to a chain gang after threatening her ex-husband with a knife and ultimately having to rebuild her life.  She shares on her struggled with self-harm, BDD, depression, anxiety, sex a...

The young writer/director (2 Kawaii 4 Comfort) shares about the intersection of people on the autism spectrum (especially Asperger's) and nerd culture especially anime. He opens up about his diagnosis as a child, different therapies his parents tried and what it feels like to be on the spectrum. He talks about a lot of the myths and stereotypes of people on the spectrum and how he has changed from...

Marc and Sonja Raciti both served in the military; he as a medic, she as a psychologist. They talk about PTSD myths and the PTSD he struggles with from fearing for his life to seeing unspeakable carnage to having survivor's guilt. She weighs in as his supportive partner, a therapist, and an ex-officer who witnessed and experienced both overt and subtle sexism while she served. They also address ho...

In a live show recorded in Oakland, the 26 year-old writer (Shitfaced) discusses the loving but strained atmosphere growing up and his teenage years attempting suicide, drinking his way to rehabs and an eating disorder. He shares about making peace with being gay, therapy and the importance of writing and using other emotional tools today to keep him sane. Buy ‘Shitfaced’ on Amazon: https://www.am...

The award-winning playwright, t.v. writer (Jack Ryan)and author (Devil in Ohio) opens up about feeling abandoned by her father and the effect it has had on how she views herself, her place in it and the conscious decision she has made to become the hero of her own story by dealing with her fears of not being enough or taking chances. She shares about the catharsis of putting dark parts of herself...

The standup/podcaster (Here We Are podcast) shares about taking unconventional approaches to his battles with depression and hopelessness. He opens up about his kind but very religious and uncommunicative parents and the hometown where things weren't questioned and getting help was considered weak or weird. For more about Shane and his A Good Trip tour go to www. ShaneMauss.com Follow Shane on Twi...