Inside Mental Health

Dr. Joanne Lunceford discusses the impact of slavery's legacy, structural racism, and the need for diversity. She explores the ongoing disparities in opportunities and benefits for different racial groups, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging obstacles and providing access to resources. Dr. Lunceford also highlights the significance of diversity in decision-making processes and shares a compelling story about the Franklin County Common Pleas Courthouse. Overall, she emphasizes the need to address historical inequities and promote equality through diversity.

We all have people with “high conflict personalities” (aka jerks) in our lives. They are the people we have to walk on eggshells around, the ones who are always instigating an argument or causing drama. So how should you deal with them? Do you have to cut them out of your life or just reconcile yourself to being at war forever? And what if one of these people is in a position of authority, like your boss?Join us as today’s guest, personal injury attorney Samantha Drum, teaches us how to recognize a high conflict personality and shares effective strategies for defusing and managing the situation.To learn more -- or read the transcript -- please visit the episode page.Samantha Drum is a high-conflict strategist and personal injury attorney with years of experience managing high-conflict people and situations, as well as coaching others to do the same. After facing several high-conflict personalities at the start of her career, she realized a harsh truth—law school did not prepare her for managing high-conflict behavior or extreme personalities. She decided to take the time to study high-conflict personalities to learn effective tools and strategies that she could use when she found herself in high-conflict situations. She learned how high-conflict personalities work, the way they think, and what causes them to go off. Then she learned to implement plans for managing the situation so she could minimize the damage they cause and maximize her control of the situation.Now she wants to empower other people with these same skills.Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quelling anxiety and relaxing are common reasons people give for smoking or vaping. But is that really possible? Will nicotine help relieve anxiety or other mental health conditions?Robin Koval, CEO and President of Truth Initiative, discusses the nuances between vaping and smoking and their impact on mental health and anxiety. We also delve into some common beliefs about nicotine and answer the question “Is it true that vaping is safer than smoking?” Join us as the Truth Initiative tells us, you guessed it, the truth!To learn more -- or read the transcript -- please visit the official episode page.Our guest, Robin Koval, is CEO and President of Truth Initiative®, the national public health organization dedicated to achieving a culture where all young people reject smoking, vaping, and nicotine.Since joining Truth Initiative in 2013, Koval has transformed the national award-winning truth® youth tobacco prevention campaign and grown the organization’s world-class research, youth activism, and digital cessation programs. Under her leadership, truth has prevented millions of young people from becoming smokers and helped drive the youth smoking rate to a historic low of less than 2%. As youth e-cigarette use skyrocketed, Koval expanded the organization’s reach to be a leader in the fight against the youth e-cigarette crisis and all forms of youth nicotine addiction. Research now shows that truth campaign awareness is significantly associated with lower likelihood of vaping among young people ages 15–24. She has led the expansion of the truth brand to include innovative quitting tools and resources designed to protect and empower young people to live nicotine-free lives, including the first-of-its kind text message quit vaping program for teens and young adults, This is Quitting, which has enrolled over 570,000 since launch and a national youth e-cigarette prevention curriculum Vaping: Know the truth, now reaching almost 6,000 schools across the country.During her tenure, truth has been voted one of the most influential campaigns of the 21st century and named the most effective brand of the year by the American Marketing Association. Fast Company has recognized Truth Initiative as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies and a top ten nonprofit organization in 2022.Prior to joining Truth Initiative, Koval, a highly acclaimed leader in the advertising and marketing world, was co-founder and CEO of the Kaplan Thaler Group, which she grew from a fledgling start-up in 1997 to a billion-dollar agency working with leading brands such as Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, Wendy’s, and Aflac. She was named CEO when her agency merged with Publicis to become Publicis Kaplan Thaler and led the 700-person agency to become the fifth largest in New York City. In addition, Koval is a New York Times best-selling author. She and co-author Linda Kaplan Thaler have written several books, including Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion and Pluck Take You from Ordinary to Extraordinary, The Power of Nice, and The Power of Small.Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many people believe that young children and preteens are incapable of dying by suicide. However, it's important to understand that it isn’t just teenagers and adults who struggle with suicidality — young children, including 7- ,8-, and 9-year-olds, can also feel this way.  But how do you even begin to talk about a subject like suicide to children so young? Join us as today’s guest, a pediatrician, shares conversation starters and tips on when and how to start talking with your younger children about suicide.To learn more -- or read the transcript -- please visit the official episode page.Our guest, Dr. Noor Jihan Abdul-Haqq, is a board certified pediatrician from Oklahoma City, OK, and a faculty trainer for The REACH Institute. She’s a proud graduate of the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. She graduated from Spelman College with honors with a degree in Biochemistry. Her medical school and residency training were completed through Morehouse School of Medicine where she was active with various medical organizations. She has done medical work in Barbados, Dominican Republic, and Mexico. Her awards include the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine award, Practitioner of Excellence Award from Sisters United Organization, Journal Record’s Achievers under 40 award and Outstanding Minority owned business leader. She’s received a Regional award for her work in the OKC Chapter of Jack and Jill of America for providing STEM opportunities for youth. Most recently she was honored as a Healthcare Hero by the Journal Record. Dr. Abdul-Haqq has been interviewed numerous times on local radio, TV, and print media.Dr. Abdul-Haqq opened her current practice Peace of Mind Pediatrics in Sept of 2015 to serve the community that she grew up in. She opened a 2nd location in Spring of 2021. She serves as a mentor for high school and college students and has assisted other physicians with starting their own practices. In September 2020, she helped open the Clara Community Health Center in OKC which is a free clinic for the uninsured.In 2018, Dr. Abdul-Haqq took a REACH training course to increase her confidence and skills in diagnosing and managing mental health in pediatric primary care. Three years later, she joined the faculty to assist with expanding mental health education and training for PCPs. Dr. Abdul-Haqq has a particular interest in integrative medicine and is continuously taking additional courses to further her knowledge. She and her loving husband are the proud parents to 3 wonderful children.Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are lots of books written by doctors aiming to help people manage mental illness or families help their loved ones — all from a purely medical perspective. But today’s guest, NAMI's Dr. Ken Duckworth, wrote a book that, in part, shares the collected wisdom of regular people living with mental illness as well as the perspective of their family and friends.Join us as we discuss the National Alliance on Mental Illness's (NAMI) first book. Dr. Duckworth shares why it only makes sense that people who actually live with mental illness have probably learned a thing or two along the way. His new book, “You Are Not Alone,” is out now.To learn more -- or read the transcript -- visit the official episode page.Our guest, Ken Duckworth, MD, is the chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and has worked with NAMI since 2003. Ken is board certified in adult psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry, and is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He was previously acting commissioner and medical director at the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. Ken has worked on an assertive community treatment team, at an early psychosis program, an elementary school, a health plan, and with people who are unhoused. His passion for this work comes from his loving dad who had bipolar disorder. Ken lives with his family in Boston.The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization, dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. nami.org | @namicommunicateOur host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few decades after Max J. Friedman’s parents died, his grandson wanted to understand more about the family, including his grandparents, a pair of Holocaust survivors who met in a Swedish refugee camp.Friedman realized he knew very little about who his parents really were, especially about their lives before they met one another. They never spoke of their lives before the Holocaust and very little even about the Holocaust years. He was determined to find out and ended up discovering, after a 5-year, multi-nation search, who they really were — and who he had become as a result. Join us as Gabe and Max discuss his writing journey and what lessons can be found from the Holocaust for society today.To learn more -- or read the transcript -- visit the official episode page.Our Guest, Max Friedman, has been telling the stories of others for his whole career — as a journalist, publicist, corporate editorial director, and book ghostwriter. He finally got to share his story by penning a stirring family memoir, Painful Joy: A Holocaust Family Memoir (Amsterdam Publishers).Early in his career, he held a variety of positions in the communications field, ranging from newspaper and magazine journalism (with articles featured in the The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, TV Guide, and elsewhere) to serving as director of editorial services at Channel 13, New York's public television station as well as the unit publicist for Bill Moyers Journal. At Bristol-Myers Squibb for two decades as vice president of communications, he was primarily responsible for the company's global internal communications efforts. He joined the company in 1983 and his work there included speechwriting, employee publications, development and oversight of the company's internet site, brochures, multimedia presentations, corporate advertising, video production, the company's intranet efforts — including a webzine — and its annual report to shareholders. He also worked in publishing as an advertising copywriter with Macmillan, in the government (as a spokesman and editor at the Environmental Protection Agency), in education as a grant proposal writer for the City University of New York and in public relations, as an account executive with Ruder & Finn (now Ruder Finn).He holds a BA in English and Asian Studies from Columbia College and a master’s degree in Journalism from the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.Max and his wife, Jennifer, a reference librarian, live in Larchmont, New York. They raised twin boys and have two grandchildren, one of whom lives in China. For more information, please consult: www.maxfriedman.net.Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former NFL player turned doctor, Derek Price, discusses the stigma surrounding mental health in professional sports and highlights the need for better support and education. He explores the challenges faced by NFL players, the impact of concussions on mental health, and the parallels between athletes, military personnel, law enforcement, and first responders. The importance of specialized treatment and resources for these individuals is emphasized.

Recent research shows that the reasons for cheating in relationships are more complex than just wanting more sex or being dissatisfied. The podcast explores how Ashley Madison helps debunk misconceptions about affairs. It also discusses the motivations behind affairs and challenges societal expectations. The speakers address misconceptions about OCD and societal perception of relationships. They also explore shifting attitudes towards infidelity and offer advice for considering an affair.

We’ve all seen depictions of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in pop culture: characters like Sheldon Cooper from “The Big Bang Theory” or Detective Adrian Monk from “Monk.” Their compulsions are portrayed as annoying, but ultimately it just makes people with OCD appear quirky.However, those depictions don’t even scratch the surface of what OCD really is. Imagine being obsessed with images of violence or death or being worried that you might actually be a bad person and are doomed to hell. Often, there is nothing cute or quirky about OCD in the real world. Join us as Shala Nicely, a woman who lives with OCD, explains the truth about OCD and shares the challenges it has caused in her life.To learn more -- or read the transcript -- please visit the episode page.Our guest, Shala Nicely, LPC, is the author of Is Fred in the Refrigerator? Taming OCD and Reclaiming My Life and coauthor with Jon Hershfield, MFT of Everyday Mindfulness for OCD: Tips, Tricks & Skills for Living Joyfully. She is a counselor and cognitive behavioral therapist in metro Atlanta, specializing in the treatment of OCD & related disorders and anxiety disorders. Shala produces the Shoulders Back! Tips & Resources for Taming OCD newsletter and blogs for Psychology Today, offering an inside perspective on life with OCD. She is currently working on her third book, a murder mystery called In Neptune’s Orbit, about the true price of secrets we keep from ourselves.Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do human potential and self-actualization really mean? We hear buzzwords like this often, but how can we use these concepts to better our everyday lives? Can we use them as part of our educational system to help kids who are managing mental health issues to achieve more? Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, host of The Psychology Podcast, calls in to discuss all this and more on this week’s episode.To learn more -- or read the transcript -- please visit the official episode page.Our Guest, Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, is a cognitive scientist and humanistic psychologist exploring the mind, creativity, and the depths of human potential. He is founder and director of the Center for Human Potential, and he has taught at Columbia University, Yale, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Dr. Kaufman received a B.S. in psychology and human computer interaction from Carnegie Mellon, an M. Phil in experimental psychology from the University of Cambridge under a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Yale University. He is also an Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Wellbeing Science.Our host, Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices