Not As Crazy As You Think Podcast
Mental Health is attainable for anyone--especially those labeled with mental illness. Join artist, memoir writer, and bipolar psychiatric survivor, Jen Gaita Siciliano, as she challenges our world's current limited understanding of mental illness in interviews with artists, healers, educators and shamans, who offer fresh perspectives on mental health and creativity. Episodes also include Jen's personal writing on living as a bipolar creative, as well as news commentary that exposes psychiatry as an incompatible paradigm with the true landscape of the human mind. If you are ready for a new narrative on the mental realm in a place that celebrates crazy and cool without penalty, then Not As Crazy As You Think is for you!
Not As Crazy As You Think Podcast
A Discussion on Mental Distress in the Family: Life and Fitness Model David Pumo Opens Up (S4, E7)
In the episode, "A Discussion on Mental Distress in the Family: Life and Fitness Model David Pumo Opens Up (S4, E7)," David, who is also a lawyer and writer, shares his personal family background and reveals a history of mental distress, or what the psychiatric establishment calls "mental illness." In opening up about his lineage as far back as his great uncle's suicide and his grandmother's nervous breakdowns, which resulted in multiple ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) procedures, David shares a personal relationship with what many of us go through--mental distress in the family. But are these genetic certainties? Or is this commonly found in many families?
David goes on to share how an extreme depression of his younger brother, John, led to his suicide, which was difficult for his family, but in a moment of dire crisis, his parents turned their energy towards a positive momentum. In his memory, David's parents dedicated years of their lives after John's suicide to changing the landscape of gay rights through their involvement in PFLAG, or the Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Inc.
David's mother also experienced being prescribed psych meds by her GP in her late years, which possibly led to her body's decline within only months after taking them. The question remains: why put an elderly person on a psych med when they are already so weak and might have trouble processing it? David Pumo is honest, raw, and tells his story with a sense of humor and acceptance reminding each of us how compassion might be the best medicine for "mental illness" in the family.
#genetics #suicide #mentalillness #mentalhealth #fitness #psychmeds #ECTharms #depression #PFLAG #gayrights #
To see some work of my bodypainting on David, check out:
(Warning: mature content)
https://youtu.be/eq9VKdBujiQ
https://youtu.be/CJVJm_6rpko
Follow David at:
Twitter and Insta: @DavidJerome629
and YouTube: @DavidPumo
Don't forget to subscribe to the Not As Crazy As You Think YouTube channel @SicilianoJen
And please visit my website at: www.jengaitasiciliano.com
Connect: Instagram: @ jengaita
LinkedIn: @ jensiciliano
Twitter: @ jsiciliano