Alice Sickface (Mental Health Worker; Body Positivity Influencer) spent one year with crippling depression (and some confusing health concerns). Later she was diagnosed with an Underactive Thyroid (after her first doctor shrugged it off MANY times) which was the culprit. She works in the mental health field yet still struggled with the stigmatization of her own mental health and the necessity for pharmaceuticals to treat her General Anxiety Disorder.
We also talk about:
IBS,
panic attacks,
mono (glandular fever),
her greatest fear coming true (and her surviving),
mental health related tv shows,
dyspraxia,
radical acceptance,
CBT,
"success",
Against Me!,
and SO much more!
Follow Alice on instagram: @alicesickface
Thanks so much for listening, friend!
Please rate/review/subscribe on iTunes (and subscribe/rate in whichever app you use)!
Please support Feelin Weird by becoming a Patreon subscriber--donate anywhere from $1-$100 per month and help Feelin Weird expand. Thank you for your support!
http://www.patreon.com/feelinweird
Instagram: @feelinweirdpod
Facebook: @feelinweird
Lola (Med Student; Brazil) was psychologically and sexually abused by a trusted family member for ten years when she was young. In her teenage years, her first romantic relationship was emotionally abusive. To top it off, in her early 20's, she was raped (TW) by a stranger. She lived in constant fear for over ten years until one day she decided she NEEDED to speak up about it (or else she might explode). Lola was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder in her 20's. She's now in medical school, soon to be a doctor, and has found healing in speaking about her experience with abuse. This is her story.
Lola also talks about:
support groups,
medication,
bulimia,
cutting (TW),
suicidal ideation (TW),
victim blaming,
internet support communities (instagram),
getting the wrong diagnosis,
and SO much more!
*Take head to the keywords in this description so you understand what may be a trigger for you! This is a difficult topic for most people but it is of the UTMOST importance that we listen to survivors of sexual and emotional abuse!*
Thanks so much for listening, friend!
Please rate/review/subscribe on iTunes (and subscribe/rate in whichever app you use)!
Please support Feelin Weird by becoming a Patreon subscriber--donate anywhere from $1-$100 per month and help Feelin Weird expand. Thank you for your support!
http://www.patreon.com/feelinweird
Instagram: @feelinweirdpod
Facebook: @feelinweird
Lady Lucia (Activist, Performer, Sex Worker) was raised Buddhist and majored in Gender and Women's studies. Her identity was defined by activism, particularly Climate Justice, and to fund a trip to Germany (as a delegate at the UN Climate Talks) she started exotic dancing--though she had never been in a strip club previously. At the same time, she was burning out from her activism work and experienced a mental breakdown. How did she found empowerment in sex work and burlesque dancing? Listen to this episode! It's a GREAT one and sex work NEEDS to be talked about!
We also discuss
her first time having sex for money,
idealism + disillusionment,
spirituality + witchcraft,
sugar-daddying,
animal liberation,
FOSTA,
sex work stigma and decriminalization,
existential depression,
eating disorders,
general anxiety disorder,
looking outside of capitalism for liberation,
and SO much more!
Thanks so much for listening, friend!
Please rate/review/subscribe on iTunes (and subscribe/rate in whichever app you use)!
Please support Feelin Weird by becoming a Patreon subscriber--donate anywhere from $1-$100 per month and help Feelin Weird expand. Thank you for your support!
http://www.patreon.com/feelinweird
Instagram: @feelinweirdpod
Facebook: @feelinweird
Sabrina Benaim (poet/writer) explains how finding a squash-ball-sized tumor in her twenties led to her vocalizing her feelings and mental health struggles through slam poetry. Her first mental breakdown was in tenth grade, but she wasn't diagnosed until she was 24. When she was a kid, she felt like a weirdo, and learned to not talk about her feelings, but now she tours the world, sharing her poems with audiences, breaking down stigma and spreading awareness of mental health. Sabrina and I alternate between laughter and seriousness in this wonderful episode!
We also talk about:
writing as catharsis/therapy,
travelling with mental illness,
depression + anxiety,
panic attacks,
isolation,
positive social media,
dance as therapy,
spirituality + meditation + tarot cards,
synchronicities,
John Mayer,
powerful films,
and MUCH more!
Sabrina is the author of Depression and Other Magic Tricks and can be found on instagram @badass_sab
Thanks so much for listening, friend!
Please rate/review/subscribe on iTunes (and subscribe/rate in whichever app you use)!
Please support Feelin Weird by becoming a Patreon subscriber--donate anywhere from $1-$100 per month and help Feelin Weird expand. Thank you for your support!
http://www.patreon.com/feelinweird
Instagram: @feelinweirdpod
Facebook: @feelinweird
BONUS episode! I talk about my tumultuous + toxic love affair with cocaine and what eventually led to a suicide attempt last September. Though suicide is often seen as purely negative, I found this experience to be life-changing and I think it needed to happen to me.
This is not a 'typical' episode because, as you see in the title, I interviewed myself. I thought it would be a funny way to talk about something fairly "heavy". I don't know if it ended up being funny at all... But I think the episode is still very interesting--though I'm very nervous to share it. People open up to me (and thousands of strangers who listen to Feelin Weird) every week about things that scare them, and 75% of guests (not a mathematician...) feel VERY nervous about doing it and are often hesitant to even share their stories, so I think it's important for me to share my WEIRD things as well (so I know what it's like). In my opinion, it's VERY important to talk about suicide (ideations, attempts, and just suicide in general) and I'm happy to share my experience.
TRIGGER WARNING: I talk about suicide, drugs and cutting myself--also, there is mention of blood. Please be cautious if any of those things trigger you! I honestly don't find these things hard to listen to--I LOVE HEARING THESE STORIES--but I know everyone is different.
Thanks so much for listening, friend!
Please rate/review/subscribe on iTunes (and subscribe/rate in whichever app you use)!
Please support Feelin Weird by becoming a Patreon subscriber--donate anywhere from $1-$100 per month and help Feelin Weird expand. Thank you for your support!
http://www.patreon.com/feelinweird
Instagram: @feelinweirdpod
Facebook: @feelinweird