We discuss our mental health and how we're caring for ourselves in this era of social distancing and quarantine. We will talk about how we are doing, how we are coping, and ideas for how you could cope too.
Contact us:
jvrenoe@gmail.com
Instagram: @jenninrinth
Twitter: @renoe
Resources:
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
The Trevor Project: 866-488-7386
Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
NAMI HelpLine: 800-950-6264
Pop culture surrounds us 24/7 and it sculpts not only our personalities but our self-image and self-worth. In this episode, we continue a conversation we started earlier this season about dysmorphia and dysphoria while discussing the importance of visibility but ask if it is valid to struggle with how transgender stars continue to forward cis-heteronormative beauty standards.
We ask the questions:
As a reminder everyone, once again, we are not in anyway experts or doctors. What you’ve heard today are our own personal life experiences that we hope will help end the stigma surrounding mental health. If you ever have thoughts of worthlessness or feel suicidal please seek out professional help. You can find links to options on our About Us page at OurFracutredMinds.com.
As always, if you enjoyed the podcast, we’d love it if you’d subscribe and review the show. You can find us just about anywhere podcasts can be heard, including, most recently, Castbox.
Thanks for listening, but, like our last episode, we really hope you’ll take time to add your thoughts to this topic. As I mentioned earlier, you can always reach me via @Renoe on Twitter or reach us at our email box of FracturedMindsPodcast@Gmail.com.
Interventions are commonly recognized as a way to help someone struggling with chemical dependance, however, are they ever appropriate to help a friend who may be in crisis? Is there ever a time when it is okay to bring others into the conversation? Is there a right way to have the conversation? What are some things you should think about if you're considering staging one?
In this episode we discuss interventions and a few experiences we've had from being a part of mental health interventions that didn't go well. We're curious to hear your takes on this topic. Is there ever a time when this is acceptable? You can always let us know on twitter via @Renoe or email via FracturedMindsPodcast@Gmail.com.
Remember, especially with this episode, we are not experts or doctors. What you’ll hear today are our own personal life experiences that we hope will help end the stigma surrounding mental health. If you ever have thoughts of worthlessness or feel suicidal please seek out professional help. You can find links to options on our About Us page at OurFracutredMinds.com.
As always, if you enjoyed the podcast, we’d love it if you’d subscribe and review the show. You can find us just about anywhere podcasts can be heard, including, most recently, Castbox.
A look at where we've been since July and the reasons it's been so hard for us to record an episode since our last release, as well as a look at why, even with the trauma of 2019, the year was still pretty darn good.
Content Warnings:
In this episode, we'll chat about feelings surrounding a sexual assault, suicidal ideation, self harm, as well as some of what we've worked on to recover from the trauma that's occurred and look ahead to all the things 2020 has us excited about.
Also, always remember that we are not in any way experts or doctors. If you ever have feelings of worthlessness or feel suicidal, please seek out professional help. You can find links on the about us page of OurFracturedMinds.com.
In this week's episode we discussed how coming out later in life can impact your life. We talked about our experiences, what the research suggests, the reasons why people wait to come out, and how it has impacted our mental health over time through both living in the closet and identity denial.
That and more - today, on Our Fractured Minds.
As always, I just want to remind everyone that we are not in anyway experts or doctors. What you hear today are our own personal life experiences that we hope will help end the stigma surrounding mental health. If you ever have thoughts of worthlessness or feel suicidal please seek out professional help. You can find links to options on our About Us page at OurFracutredMinds.com.
As always, if you enjoyed the podcast we’d love it if you’d subscribe and review the show. Thanks, and we look forward to talking with you next time on Our Fractured Minds
In continuation of our special pride month coverage where we focus on exclusion within our own community, we talk with Nico Bolton, a queer POC, about her experiences growing up queer and feeling, and being, excluded in both queer and mental health spaces.
In this episode we cover:
Check out this week's episode to hear our conversation on these topics, and more, this week on Our Fractured Minds.
Today we’re launching our second annual pride month celebration. This episode is especially important for a few reasons. One of them being, this week marks one year since I came out as transgender here on the podcast.
It’s also very important to me because we were joined by Amanda Jette Knox to talk about trans exclusion in the LGBT community. Amanda is an award-winning writer, LGBTQ advocate and public speaker from Ottawa, Canada. Her work has been featured in both national and international publications, including O Magazine, Chatelaine (SHAT-uh-lane), and Upworthy.
She’s also the author of the upcoming book, “Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family” which will be available this summer from Penguin Random House Canada.
I’m so excited to have this opportunity for a lot of reasons. Most importantly, though, is the recent news about trans exclusions in healthcare and government protections in the United States. Being excluded from the general public is hard enough, but there’s been a movement for exclusion in the LGBT community as well. Luckily, advocates like Amanda are standing up and saying enough is enough in a movement recognized online by the handle, L with the T.
That, and more, today on Our Fractured Minds.
Coming out as mentally ill is hard, especially when it comes to our workplaces. Will people see us differently? Will it impact my ability to grow in my career? Will it even keep me from finding a job? These are all important questions that keep us, all too often, from letting people know when we're struggling.
In this episode we address a number of critical issues including:
That, and more, in this episode of Our Fractured Minds.
Managing a relationship is hard. Managing Mental Health is hard. Combining the two while being queer? That's difficult on an entirely different level. Today we look at our experiences to try and understand the best way to cope while maintaining your relationship.
I just want to remind everyone that we are not in anyway experts or doctors. What you'll hear here are our own personal life experiences that we hope will help end the stigma surrounding mental health. If you ever have thoughts of worthlessness or feel suicidal please seek out professional help. You can find links to options on our About Us page at OurFracutredMinds.com.
As always, if you enjoyed the podcast, we’d love it if you’d subscribe and review the show. Thanks, and can't wait to talk with you again, next week, on Our Fractured Minds.
Dysphoria and Dysmorphia are serious issues for people who struggle from either. But, what's the difference between the two? In this episode we take a look at what makes these two conditions different, how they can be similar, how our feelings are often shaped by society as well as our own experiences with both conditions.
Remember, we are not in anyway experts or doctors. What you hear today are our own personal life experiences that we hope will help end the stigma surrounding mental health. If you ever have thoughts of worthlessness or feel suicidal please seek out professional help. You can find links to options on our About Us page at OurFracutredMinds.com.
Rachel Dick is a queer identifying grad student at Fordham University with a passion for hanging from aerial apparatuses, and the new co-host of the OFM Podcast. She grew up in Memphis but never went to Graceland, and has spent the last 7 years in Chicago without ever once seeing a Cubs game.
She’d love to eventually obtain a Ph.D in Human Sexuality with an emphasis on sexuality in spiritual traditions so she can spend her life writing niche pieces about people’s sex lives that no one will probably ever read. When she’s not wasting time on social media, she’s reading fantasy novels and looking for cute dogs to pet.
We chat about anxiety, depression, misdiagnosis, the diagnosis journey, the shocking impact being queer can have on your psyche in today's society, and more. As she says at the end of the episode "10/10 would record again."
We're back with a quick teaser on what's coming this season at OFM, complete with a new cohost. Meet Rachel, an aspiring social worker with a desire to help out humanity with her care, mind, and empathy. This season we're going to focus on communities more often overlooked.
We're still trying to decide if the show will be weekly this year, but, regardless, great content is coming your way. Strap in, see what's coming, and we can't wait to have you along for the ride.
If you enjoy this podcast, we'd love it if you'd subscribe and review the show. Remember, you can find us on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and, now, on Spotify. Also, if you ever have thoughts of worthlessness or feels suicidal, please seek out professional help. You can find links on our about us page at OurFracturedMinds.com.
After a long break, I couldn't stay silent this week. The importance of this year's vote is critical for both the mental health community, and myself as a transgender woman. As you take time and evaluate the issues, if you listen to this podcast I can only assume that mental health is important to your life. If someone you know suffers and struggles with their own mental health, please educate yourself on how each party will impact care.
In this episode, I'll discuss the issues surrounding mental health, how the political parties have shown they'll impact it in the future, and why it's so critical to ensure we work as a global community during the 2018 vote. I also touch on a number of critical reasons why this vote is so important for me, as a transgender woman, and the issues that have been made a topic of debate within my community.
In our return from the holiday, I spoke with Edie, a psychotherapist who works with the LGBT community to help manage the anxiety and depression that comes with managing the stigma it often faces. We discuss treatment options, anxiety, who you should see, how difficult it can be to see someone, and the difference between being LGBT Friendly and LGBT Knowledgable.
Edie specializes in what we might term "identity conflict" and works with individuals toward a deeper sense of integration within a world that seems to demand labels for every experience under the sun but doesn't necessarily encourage understanding the experiences themselves. Her practice is queer as well as poly and kink friendly. She is dedicated to improving a sense of creativity, grace, thoughtfulness, and courage in the lives of individuals.
Edie has been in the field for several years, having worked in community mental health with low-income adults who suffer from chronic and severe mental health disorders and is a fellow at the well-regarded Chicago Center for Contemporary Psychotherapy. Currently, she’s a doctoral student at the European Graduate School in Philosophy and Critical Thought, where she is focusing primarily on the politics, ethics, and physio-philosophical aspects of listening and subjectivity.
Prior to her work as a psychotherapist and social worker, Edie worked in pastry, taught yoga, and completed her first Master's in Film and Digital Media. She also owns a BA in English and Women's Studies at the University of Chatham in Pittsburgh, PA.
In this week's episode of Our Fractured Minds, I speak with Denise Bowker about her experiences with gender dysphoria. We discuss the way it makes us feel, how we can get over it, and the anxiety and depression such an issue can cause.
Denise, herself, was born in New Jersey, and grew up in a small bedroom town halfway between New York City and Philadelphia. After graduating from a small private liberal arts school in Connecticut, she married her college sweetheart and quickly moved to the Chicago area. She now has two grown children and is currently living in Chicago. During the day Denise is a Vice President in the technology department of a large bank in Chicago. Outside of work Her wide array of interests most notably includes supporting runaway kids by participating in an annual 500 mile bike ride through the Appalachian mountains of the Northeast to raise money and awareness for the cause.
To date, Denise has spoken at a number of functions with regards to her own experiences managing mental health. To say she’s been a mentor to me during the process of coming out would be doing her a disservice as her advice and support has made her a dear friend. Hopefully, you'll all learn as much from Denise as I have.
Dan and Emily are two of the United States’ most skilled innovators in merging advanced consciousness and spiritual principles into therapeutic practice. Scientists by background and Mystics by practice, Dan and Emily approach constellating and consciousness from both experiential and evidentiary standpoints. Their unique therapeutic approach has revolutionized both their practices and created scores of extraordinary success stories.
Together Dan and Emily access the ordinary, ancestral and spiritual dimensions of consciousness tocreate healing processes that are illuminating and life-transforming. In the field of their Constellations, ancestral presences often become tangibly real. Behind the pain of personal and transgenerational trauma, people can feel love and receive healing from the consciousness that envelops us.
In this fascinating episode, we discussed the 7 - 14 year of trauma acquired by humans at birth, and how it impacts a person's mental health throughout their life. By addressing traumatic issues from a person's historic past, Dan and Emily have seen phenomenal results in their patients and have made them a believer in this treatment that many would consider alternative. We also discussed how this acquired trauma shows any kind of direction with regards to the nature versus nurture philosophy of humanity.
In week two of our content special during Pride Month, Emily and I discuss her dealings with depression and anxiety, coming out with regards to bisexuality, and, in the wake of last week's celebrity suicides, why it can be so difficult to ask for help when you need it.
If we're willing to be honest with each other, it's quite likely that Emily is one of the coolest people I know. She’s an award-winning writer who currently develops mobile games for both the iOS and Android platforms. She’s been working in gaming for three years, and has been writing for ten. Thanks to her variety of interests and backgrounds, she’s comfortable crafting branded content across a multitude of platforms for both internal and customer facing platforms, including places like the the Geekie Award-winning Wrong Button Blog which she co founded, and as the host of the Fan Theories and Wednesday in Westeros podcasts.
In the episode, we also discuss the importance of self care, however it works for you. For Emily, care was found in words from another time and place, known by millions around the world to be that of Hogwarts. We spend time discussing how her passions for all things Harry Potter, her personal love of writing, and a fascination with Helena Bertinelli helped her get through some of her darkest times.
EDITOR NOTE: This is a recut version of the episode due to a prior upload error.
To kick of Pride Month 2018, Jenn, a transgender woman, discusses her battle with something called gender dysphoria on our podcast, and, in doing so, is introducing herself to the world.
Jenn grew up knowing who she was for most of her life, but was ashamed of the person she knew she was meant to be. Instead, she thought she could choose to ignore that person. After living through al lifetime of shame, depression, self loathing, and suicidal ideation, she finally came to a realization that changed her life forever. Being transgender isn't a choice. It's something you are, and there is never anything to be ashamed of in that.
Throughout the episode, Jenn and I discuss the impact gender dysphoria has had on her mental health, as well as the important distinction between what was once known as gender identify disorder and gender dysphoria. She ends the episode by saying hello to the world.
Five weeks into season two, I sit down with Tony Astacio, a born and bred New Yorker who likes to travel to new baseball stadiums. Professionally he’s a Social Media Coordinator and besides baseball he likes to swim, watch movies and send gifs whenever possible. He recently started a dating and relationship podcast and whenever possible writes about mental health and how he deals with it.
We spoke in our short time together about the cost of seeking help, the difficulty of opening up, and how his experiences have impacted his ability to create content via social media, podcasting, or his long form creative writing, and how each can, in turn, impact his mental health.
Leslie Browning is an award-winning author of twelve books. In her writing, she explores the confluence of the natural landscape and the interior landscape. In 2010, she debuted with a three-title contemplative poetry series. These three books went on to garner several accolades including a total of 3 pushcart-prize nominations, the Nautilus Gold Medal for Poetry, and Foreword Reviews’ Book of the Year Award. She has freelanced for several publications and has a biannual interview column in The Wayfarer Magazine in which she has interviewed dozens of notable creative figures such as Academy Award-Nominated filmmaker Tomm Moore, Peabody-winning host of On Being Krista Tippett and celebrated poet David Whyte. Balancing her passion for writing with her love of learning, Browning is a graduate of the University of London, a Fellow with the International League of Conservation Writers and sits on the Board of the Independent Book Publishers Association. In 2011, she opened Homebound Publications. She is currently working to complete an l.b.a. in Creative Writing at Harvard University’s Extension School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Leslie is joining us today to discuss her new book, To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss and Radical Authenticity. Unlike other books in her library, she wrote it with absolutely no intention of sharing it with others. This book, more than any other she has written, is meant aa conversation starter around a topic that’s important to her and society as a whole. Thus, even as a notoriously private person―she’s sharing the story of her most difficult moments with the world.
In this week's episode I discuss miscarriage with Leslie and how her experience impacted both her mental health and her writing. We discuss stigma, coming out, and how the world needs more stories like hers to be told.
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