High Functioning

Almost exactly 1 year after we released our very first episode, we wrap up our second season. We have put out 21 episodes, over 15 hours of content that has been listened to over 3000 times! Thank you for joining us on this journey and we hope you enjoy this episode where we chat recording a podcast during a pandemic, answer some questions from our audience, and reflect on another season done!

** Special Extended Episode ** Friendships are arguably some of the most important relationships in a person's life...but they often aren't treated as such. Inspired by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman's podcast “Call Your Girlfriend” and book “Big Friendship”, we're talking about how friendships (good and bad) have shaped our lives. Ameera reflects on their pitfalls as a friend, and mistakes they've made over the years with friends and explores both the impact and causes of friendship break-ups. Britt discusses how she has moved from relying solely on romantic partners for love and support, to reaching out to friends more as part of her growth. We share our thoughts (and fears) about how we see our friendship evolving as we enter different stages of our life, and talk about how we navigate being friends with others in various life phases. Finally, after a year of racial reckoning, Ameera shares the challenges they experience with their white friends and how interracial friendships need to look different. Want to connect with a close friend on a deeper level? Share this episode with them and discuss!

Ameera and Britt have become experts at navigating the best and worst parts of the mental health system. In today's episode, we talk about what makes a good doctor for us and think about our good experiences as well as share some cautionary tales about the not-so-good parts. Ameera shares what it was like to be held in a psychiatric ward at a hospital on multiple occasions, and the trauma and isolation they experienced as a result of that. We discuss the unknowns of having to navigate a confusing and overloaded mental health care system, and explore the limitations of a system that can put Black and brown bodies in more danger. Although we've had some disappointing experiences, we are so grateful to the health care professionals that work tirelessly every day to make the scariest times in our life a bit easier, and recognize that an overloaded system is just as unfair to them as it is to us.

Inspired by the Netflix documentary, “The Social Dilemma”, we decided to explore our own relationships with technology and social media. Numerous studies have shown the danger of too much screen time...but what happens when a screen is your main source of connection during a pandemic? Britt talks about the importance of cleansing your feed of accounts that make you feel bad, and offers tips and tricks other than just blocking or unfollowing. Ameera shares a bit about their rejection sensitive dysphoria, and how it makes being left on “read” difficult to cope with. We discuss the dangers of fitness instagram, and the benefits of therapy instagram. Some of our favourite accounts include: @thebodyisnotanapology @decolonizingfitness @silvykhoucasian @yourdiagnonsense @jordanpickellcounselling @soyouwanttotalkabout

Christmas is just around the corner, and who better to talk about the ups and downs of this time of year than a Muslim and a Jewish person?! This week, we're talking about what we love and hate about this time of year - from the presents to the pressure, the holidays can be a complicated time for a lot of people (including us). Britt opens up about how her perfectionist tendencies always lead to an emotional roller coaster on New Year's Eve and Ameera shares how a tragic holiday season last year makes this year that much more important to enjoy. We know things are going to look a little different this year given the current state of the world and talk about how some of our usual traditions are adapting to these uNpReCeDeNtEd TiMeS. From us to you and your loved ones, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Khushiali Mubarak, and Happy New Year!

**TRIGGER WARNING** This episode contains candid discussions about suicide. We recommend ensuring your own safety before engaging with this episode. If you're in crisis, call 911 or 833-456-4566 if you are not in need of immediate medical help. This episode has been one we've been trying to record since season 1. It's arguably one of the most important episodes we've ever done. Our society doesn't talk about suicide enough, nor are we given the tools about how to talk about suicide safely - we want to change that. We use proper terminology, don't talk about the method, and break the stigma and shame around suicidal ideation and attempts. After surviving three suicide attempts, and then losing a friend to suicide, Ameera discusses the trauma around that and the hardship of the aftermath of suicide. We talk about the importance of safety plans, a support system, and navigating the in between passive/casual ideation state where you're not in crisis, but you're still not okay. We touch on the dangers of calling 911, especially for BIPOC, when there have been so many police killings during wellness checks while also recognizing that crisis supports are needed when someone's life is in danger.

Both of us struggle with emotions - feeling them, acknowledging them, expressing them. Most of the time, we suppress them (we're getting better at this). In this episode, Ameera talks about the dangers and toll suppressing emotions took on them and introduces a fancy term called “Alexithymia” while Britt introduces one of our favourite tools: The Feels Wheel (http://feelingswheel.com/). Understanding our emotions not only helps us figure out what we're going through - it also helps us communicate our needs to others, leading to deeper connection. We talk about how emotions can be such a physical experience in our bodies vs contained in our minds. If you struggle with this, or have been conditioned not to express your feelings, you're not alone! Learning to feel the feels takes time and sometimes even when we don't want to suppress, our minds do it automatically.

This episode is all about how well-adjusted we are...or not. Taking care of our mental health requires constant pivoting and tweaks in order to stay afloat. What worked yesterday might not work tomorrow, and what hasn't worked in the past might work today. We touch on transitions that lead to us having to readjust (like COVID-19), and the discomfort that arises when we make changes that we know will be better for us in the long run (like finding a new therapist or changing medications). Ameera touches on the importance of having a daily, monthly and quarterly check ins with themselves, and being aware of life events that might be coming up that require an adjustment.

Today we're talking SAD - as in Seasonal Affective Disorder. Both of us have experienced SAD in very different ways, and we get into how it looks for each of us. We talk about what happens as seasons change, what makes it worse, and what coping mechanisms might look like. Ameera talks about their trauma resurfacing annually, and Britt chats about her experiences with the lack of sunlight having a significant impact. We actually struggle in different seasons; Ameera finds the winter comforting and calming, while Britt gets energized in the warmer months. Does your mood change with the seasons? Is it related to a particular season, sunlight amount, or a significant life event? Slip into our insta DMs! (@highfunctioningpodcast)

We're back! Thank you so much for joining us for season 2 of our favourite venture. We're so excited to be bringing you this season from the comfort of our own homes. We've got 10 fresh new episodes to get you through this winter and we can't wait to share them with you. In this episode, we talk about Season 1, COVID-19, and how we see High Functioning evolving. Ameera chats about the impact of COVID on their writer's block, and their frustrations with COVID, and Britt sparks a short discussion on racism and the reckoning that reached a height this past summer. We get into self care vs. community care, and how we need to show up for one another while still showing up for ourselves.

This weird time just keeps getting weirder and we decided we needed to talk about it. Follow our fumbling thoughts as we try to figure out how we feel about this, what we need to survive, and what we hope for the future. Hope all our listeners are safe, and well, both physically and mentally. Don't forget to check us out on Instagram @highfunctioningpodcast! Remember to rate, review, subscribe and share with everyone you know with mental health (spoiler alert: everybody).

Thank you for making it this far! We are so happy you've come along on this journey with us, and can't wait to chat more next season. On this episode, we get into what it means to be a mental health advocate, and chat a bit about the darker parts of the advocacy world. Having both been in leadership positions that could influence institutional policies, we get into how advocacy work has helped us and hurt us along the way. We touch on the pressure that comes with having to be an inspiration or be healed, and reflect on the way advocacy has shaped our lives, opening more doors than we could imagine. Finally, we share some “behind the scenes” facts about our first 9 episodes - what we liked, what we didn't like, and things you may not know about our recording experiences. Thanks for tuning in, this has been “High Functioning”. Don't forget to check us out on Instagram @highfunctioningpodcast! Remember to rate, review, subscribe and share with everyone you know with mental health (spoiler alert: everybody).

We actually met at work, and today we discuss what's missing in current workplaces, and what a utopian, inclusive workplace would look like for each of us. Ameera spent the better part of a year working on a project that discussed various workplace experiences from a number of people and today distills down some of the key learnings she's gained from her career. Brittany, now in school, reflects on her previous jobs and managers and explores the impact being supported at work can have on productivity. Don't forget to check us out on Instagram @highfunctioningpodcast! Remember to rate, review, subscribe and share with everyone you know with mental health (spoiler alert: everybody).

Good support can look different for a lot of people, and we discuss how much of an impact our support systems have had on our healing journey. We also talk about how we've tried to support each other and what that means for our friendship. Not only do you get to be a fly on the wall for an open and candid discussion about what scares us, comforts us, helps us and hinders us, but you might discover what good and bad support has looked like for you! Don't forget to check us out on Instagram @highfunctioningpodcast! Remember to rate, review, subscribe and share with everyone you know with mental health (spoiler alert: everybody).

Neither of us understood what slowing down meant until just a couple of years ago - we were always in overdrive, and often pushed harder when we needed to rest more than anything. In a world that demands our productivity and admires hustle, we discuss how we've made ourselves slow down and the challenges that have come with that. Discover how we dealt with the negative emotions that came with slowing down, and how we learned to reprioritize what was truly important. Don't forget to check us out on Instagram @highfunctioningpodcast! Remember to rate, review, subscribe and share with everyone you know with mental health (spoiler alert: everybody).

Today's topic is important for a number of reasons, and we encourage you to listen with an open mind. We wanted to explore the impact our privilege, or lack thereof has had on our mental health. Ameera takes the reigns and walks us through the experiences that have created challenges in her healing process while Brittany looks into what it means to be an active ally. This episode takes on a different tone from our usual banter, and delves into some serious topics that are often left unexplored, leaving the listener with some answers and even more questions. Don't forget to check us out on Instagram @highfunctioningpodcast! Remember to rate, review, subscribe and share with everyone you know with mental health (spoiler alert: everybody).

Follow us as we (in a somewhat scattered way) discuss the issues we face with paying attention! Ameera has ADHD, and Brittany's anxiety makes paying attention difficult. We offer insights into how we make it work, what the cost of being high functioning is in relation to paying attention, and discuss how we've had opposite yet similar experiences. Hear about how Ameera made it through without a diagnosis until 24, and how Brittany navigated the guilt of using accommodations while being high functioning. Don't forget to check us out on Instagram @highfunctioningpodcast! Remember to rate, review, subscribe and share with everyone you know with mental health (spoiler alert: everybody).

In today's episode, we share our personal experiences with one of the most common yet controversial treatment methods: medication. Hear Brittany share important life updates and explore the impact medication has had on her life recently. Our experiences with medication have been vastly different, and we've mostly had differing opinions on this topic. We discuss those differences and find common ground in our individual realities. Enjoyed this episode? Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe! Follow us on Instagram @highfunctioningpodcast. 

Today we're talking about everyone's favourite meme inspiration - therapy! We've both had numerous therapists; some we loved, some we hated, and some we don't even remember. We discuss why going to therapy is important for us, how we deal with the high cost, and some of the issues in the mental health system as a whole. Hear us joke about when therapy is hard, how we want to be our therapists favourite client, and what therapy has helped our healing. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @highfunctioningpodcast, to learn more about us, participate in our give aways, and help build up our high functioning community!

**Content Note: This episode discusses suicide at multiple times throughout the episode. We encourage listeners to exercise caution with this difficult subject matter. Today's episode explores how we've both had to fake being okay when we were at some of our lowest points. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? We're not sure, but we have a lot to say about it! Follow along as we share our love-hate relationship with being high functioning, and hear about a time when Brittany pulled Ameera out of a tough spot. Don't forget, we're giving away a Flowjo Self Care Bucket List at 500 downloads! Follow us on Instagram (@highfunctioningpodcast) to win! 

Welcome to High Functioning! A podcast about two millennials dealing with serious mental illnesses while still leading seemingly productive lives. Today, we discuss what high functioning means to us, and how it's helped and hindered us through school, work, and our personal lives. We ask questions about how society defines mental illness and explore how perception about a person's mental health state doesn't always tell the full story.

Wanna know what we're about? Here's a teaser of what's to come. Lot's of discussion about mental health in a variety of contexts; we share personal experiences, rely on stats and science, and often ask for your help (cause let's be real - we have a LOT to learn). Enjoy the trailer? Join us for the rest of this entertaining, vulnerable, exciting journey!