Depresh Mode with John Moe

Have you ever felt like an impostor? Some of you, the listeners, wrote in to answer this question. According to Dr. Valerie Young from the Impostor Syndrome Institute, about 70% of you will answer that question with a “yes.” Dr. Young joins us to discuss both the internal and external factors that cause impostor syndrome, as well as what individuals and organizations can do to lessen it. Dr. Ken Duckworth, the chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, also talks to us about why impostor syndrome is not considered a mental health condition but shares how the feeling might be addressed.Learn more about Dr. Valerie Young, her book, The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women, and her work by visiting www.ImpostorSyndrome.com. Learn more about Dr. Ken Duckworth, his book, You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health, and his work by visiting www.NAMI.org.Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.Check out our I'm Glad You're Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

This episode originally aired on August 1, 2022.Getting Jamie Lee Curtis to open about her many years spent addicted to Vicodin is, frankly, not very difficult. She wants to talk about it. And that’s for a couple of reasons. One, she wants to make it clear that she’s no different from any other addict in any other walk of life. That’s why she calls herself a dope fiend. She just happens to have had success in an industry she derisively calls “show off business”. Two, because she committed to sobriety after reading someone else’s story of addiction so maybe her story can help someone too.We talk to Jamie about how she got hooked, how she sustained the habit, and how she carried on a perfectly successful movie star life without anyone catching on. Until they did catch on.Listen to Letters from Camp, now on its third and final season, at Audible.com. Follow Jamie Lee Curtis on Twitter @jamieleecurtis and on Instagram @curtisleejamie.Jamie's Gifts to John:"At such a time, it seems natural and good to me to ask myself these questions. What do I believe in? What must I fight for and what must I fight against? Our species is the only creative species and it has only one creative instrument: the individual mind and spirit of a man. Nothing was ever created by two men. There are no good collaborations whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy. Once the miracle of creation has taken place, the group can build and extend it, but the group never invents anything. The preciousness lies in the lonely mind of a man. And now the forces marshalled around the concept of the group have declared a war of extermination on the preciousness, the mind of man. By disparagement, by starvation, by repressions, forced direction, and the stunning hammer blows of conditioning. The free roving mind is being pursued, roped, blunted, and drugged. It is a sad, suicidal course our species seems to have taken. And this I believe that the free exploring mind of the exploring human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for. The freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I'm about. I can understand why a system built on a pattern must try to destroy the free mind for this is the one thing which can by inspection destroy such a system. Surely I can understand this. And I hate it. And I will fight against it to preserve the one thing that separates us from the uncreative beasts. If the glory can be killed, we are lost." - John Steinbeck, East of Eden"When things go unexamined for a long enough time, certain things happen. They become very very powerful. They create conformity. They intimidate." - E.L. Doctorow"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." - The Dread Pirate Roberts, The Princess BrideThank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun. Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John's acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is available here. https://read.macmillan.com/lp/the-hilarious-world-of-depression/Find the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

Before she was a cast member on Saturday Night Live, Sasheer Zamata was a cast member at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where she would climb inside the character costumes and mingle with guests at the park. One particular costume, Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, was particularly cumbersome and uncomfortable and that’s where Sasheer had her first ever, full-blown panic attack. She shares that story in this interview as well as her experiences with an irregular heartbeat, a wise life coach, and a strategic approach to navigating the intensity and stress of SNL. Pre-order and watch Sasheer Zamata's upcoming stand-up special,The First Woman, out Tuesday, August 15th at 800poundgorillamedia.com. Learn more about Sasheer, her podcast, Best Friends, with Nicole Byer, and her comedy specials by visiting her website, www.Sasheer.com.Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.Check out our I'm Glad You're Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

Bethany Cosentino describes her new album as “a coming-of-age story about a 36-year-old woman reclaiming her life and what matters against the landscape of the world ending.” That last bit of that description is hard to miss and indeed climate anxiety figures heavily in the record but let’s not look past the middle part of the description, the part with the reclaiming life and what matters. In this fun and insightful interview, Bethany talks about recently being diagnosed with ADHD just a few weeks ago and how it’s helping her gain insight on many elements of her life. She also discusses the photo she keeps of herself as a young child, back when she was a child actor in commercials, and how it serves as a reminder that taking care of herself today means also taking care of that same kid.Bethany's new album, Natural Disaster, is out July 28, 2023. Watch the music video for "It's Fine", the first single from Natural Disaster, on Youtube. For tour dates, her music, and more about Bethany, visit her website, www.BethanyCosentino.com. Follow Bethany on Instagram @bethany_cosentino.Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.Check out our I'm Glad You're Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

Nick Seluk had been drawing an online comic called Awkward Yeti about a socially stumbling cryptid named Lars while working a corporate day job as a graphic designer. Eventually, Seluk started creating strips where Lars’s heart and brain were walking around on their own, trying to strike a balance between their emotional and logical tendencies. And audiences responded, sending Heart and Brain into viral meme territory. In this interview, Seluk talks about how these resonant characters, which he now draws full-time, are a reflection of his own ADHD and are informed by the anxiety and depression he has dealt with. Read Heart and Brain as well as Nick Seluk's other comics at his website, www.TheAwkwardYeti.com.Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.Check out our I'm Glad You're Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

This episode originally aired on September 12, 2022.In the entire 321-year history of Yale University, the most popular class ever is a relatively new one called “Psychology and the Good Life”, taught by Dr. Laurie Santos. Since it’s debut in 2018, it has proved to be so much in demand that Yale now offers a version of the class for free online to anyone in the world.Part of the appeal is that Dr. Santos is a really great professor. She’s smart, presents lessons in a compelling way. But beyond that, the class holds appeal because so many people these days are not happy at all, with college students reporting depression and anxiety in numbers that are astronomical and terrifying. This trend was happening before the pandemic and has only gotten worse since.In this interview, Dr. Santos, who also hosts the podcast The Happiness Lab, talks about what happier people have in common and how to implement practices in your own life to start doing better. Importantly, this isn’t a recipe for suddenly being a character in a musical comedy, jumping and singing for joy all the time. That’s unrealistic and frankly a bit gross. But students who learn from her teachings report an incremental uptick in their levels of happiness, laying the foundation for better times ahead.Helpful Links:Paul Rudd goofing around to the Partridge Family in Ant Man and The Wasp: youtube.com/watch?v=LzXywwT9fI0The Worry About Yourself Video: youtu.be/4A6Bu96ALOwThe Science of Well-Being course on Coursera: coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-beingDr. Santos at the Aspen Ideas Festival: youtube.com/watch?v=ZizdB0TgAVMListen to Dr. Laurie Santos' podcast, The Happiness Lab, wherever fine pods are cast. Learn more about Dr. Santos' Yale course, Psychology and the Good Life, by vising her website at DrLaurieSantos.com. Follow Dr. Santos on Twitter @lauriesantos and on Instagram @lauriesantosofficial.Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.Check out our I'm Glad You're Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

When Emi Nietfeld was applying to colleges, she had her eyes set firmly on the Ivy League. Through her childhood years spent in foster care, shelters, psychiatric hospitals, very occasionally with her problematic mother, and finally a boarding school, Emi was fixated on getting into the most difficult college she could. In an effort to tell her full story, she wrote an application essay that included the struggles she had experienced with mental health issues like eating disorders, depression, and suicidality. That’s what she sent off to Yale as her early decision application and she didn’t get in. Then Emi went back, kept all the homelessness stuff but removed the mental health portions and subsequently gained acceptance into Harvard.Emi discusses the various meanings of the term “acceptance” in her life and why she chose to write about her own sexual assault in unsparing detail.Emi Nietfeld's memoir, Acceptance: A Memoir, is out now and will be available in paperback August 1st, 2023. Learn more about Emi and her writing by visiting her website, www.EmiNietfeld.com.Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.Check out our I'm Glad You're Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

Kate Speer is a New England writer, entrepreneur, and mental health advocate. She has a popular Instagram account and Substack newsletter where she often talks about mental illness, recovery, and how her psychiatric service dogs Waffle and Tugboat have helped along her mental health journey. Kate’s loyal readers have also heard a lot about her friend Maura, how they met in an in-patient facility and became very close, and how Maura died due to her depression. But as we learn in this episode, you may not know Maura as well as you, or Kate, may have initially thought. Kate's story is rich, and a conversation with her covers a lot of ground. We discuss everything from Kate's journey starting in elementary school to going through college, hospitalizations, misdiagnoses, exposure therapy, the joy of dogs, and, of course, Maura.Learn more about Kate by visiting her website, www.KateSpeer.com. Subscribe to her Substack, Probably Anxious, at www.katespeer.substack.com. Follow Kate on Instagram @kate_speer.Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.Check out our I'm Glad You're Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

You don’t have to listen all that deeply into the song catalog of singer-songwriter Noah Kahan to hear mention of mental health themes. It’s an important topic for Noah in his own life, which has involved struggles with depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia. And because mental health is important in Noah’s life, it shows up a lot in his intensely personal, vulnerable, and revealing music. Growing up in Vermont, Noah Kahan was heavily influenced by music and, especially, relatable lyrics penned by his favorite artists like Jason Mraz, Counting Crows, and Bon Iver. He hoped his own work would reach people in as deep a way as those artists reached him. Well, his hopes have been answered as Noah’s star has taken off. He’s played venues like Red Rocks in Colorado and Radio City Music Hall in New York City and his songs, such as the huge hit “Stick Season” have been streamed hundreds of millions of times by listeners who appreciate his efforts.   Listen to Noah Kahan's latest album, Stick Season (We'll All Be Here Forever), on the streaming service of your choice. Learn more about Noah Kahan by visiting his website, www.NoahKahan.com.Correction: We mistakenly refer to Noah's song, "Growing Sideways," as "Moving Sideways." Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.Check out our I'm Glad You're Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

A good day for Michael Landsberg goes up to about a seven but not really any higher than that. His mood doesn’t raise up to an eight, nine, or ten due to the medication he takes for his longstanding major depressive disorder. But Michael’s low days don’t go below a four thanks to the same medication. It’s a bargain that Landsberg is comfortable with. We also discuss Landsberg’s discovery of his own depression and anxiety, how he’s treated it, and whether the fight against stigma is going well.Learn more about #SickNotWeak, the charity founded by Michael and his daughter by visiting www.SickNotWeak.com.Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.Check out our I'm Glad You're Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.Help is available right away.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on Twitter @johnmoe.