Silent Superheroes - Frank Conversations About Mental Health At Work

Olga is a Technical Program Manager at Expedia. She is originally from Venezuela and now lives in Montreal.  Olga is also an active YouTuber with her channel Cronopio.  Growing up in a Latino community with an alcoholic father and a stoic mother, Olga learned that you don’t complain and you don’t talk about your feelings.  … Continue reading "#35 It’s Time To Talk About Suicide" The post #35 It’s Time To Talk About Suicide appeared first on Silent Superheroes | Mental Health Podcast.

Dillon and Wesley are a rap duet who perform under the names Weslex and MySYN. Wesley and Dillon took different paths through life.  Whereas Dillon was the broody kid a little withdrawn from others, writing poetry and coming from a broken home.  Wesley was the sociable, happy kid making everybody laugh. Despite different paths, their … Continue reading "#34 Making Rap Music As Therapy" The post #34 Making Rap Music As Therapy appeared first on Silent Superheroes | Mental Health Podcast.

In college, choosing a major was challenging for Anne. Her challenge wasn’t because she was a feckless student unable to pick something and stick to it.  It was because her undiagnosed learning disabilities made learning new subjects difficult. Textbooks were a constant battle for Anne while going through school and college.  After a college therapist … Continue reading "#33 When Learning Disabilities Become A Superpower – Anne’s Story" The post #33 When Learning Disabilities Become A Superpower – Anne’s Story appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Stephen is the Founder and Managing Partner of “What If Ventures”. He is also the host of the Stigma podcast. Stephen has left a trail of destruction in his life due to undiagnosed bipolar 1. Three country clubs threw him out for being disruptive. He paid gambling debts by cashing in pensions and was unfaithful … Continue reading "#32 On Being Bipolar 1 With Stephen Hays" The post #32 On Being Bipolar 1 With Stephen Hays appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Carrie started her career as a pastry chef in the United Kingdom.  30 years later, she’s a leader in the Ketogenic diet scene and the author of 5 popular Keto cookbooks including books on crock pot meals, soup and ice cream.  In between pastries and keto, Carrie spent twenty years working the grind of corporate … Continue reading "#31 Why am I bipolar?" The post #31 Why am I bipolar? appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

David is a former radio personality from Malta who is managing anxiety and depression. As an infant, David’s mother took him from Malta to Australia to start a new life. Unfortunately alcoholism and abuse followed them. After a difficult childhood David returned to Malta, the place of his birth, at 19 looking to start a … Continue reading "#30 Just Talk About It – Managing Anxiety and Depression" The post #30 Just Talk About It – Managing Anxiety and Depression appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Ruth is a successful businesswoman who lived, undiagnosed, with panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder for 20 years. One day, after a run-of-the-mill setback work, she found herself in her bath, contemplating suicide.  The next day, Ruth wondered who the woman was with dead eyes looking back at her. She had to go one more … Continue reading "#29 Can You Climb The Ladder with Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder?" The post #29 Can You Climb The Ladder with Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder? appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

It’s a question that many people with chronic illnesses must face. Answering that question pulled Rachel back to living her life after four years of hospitalization. As a young teenager, she struggled to find her own identity and place in the world. It was that struggle that lead to her to her pre-anorexia and later … Continue reading "#28 Who am I beyond my illness? Rachel’s journey with anorexia" The post #28 Who am I beyond my illness? Rachel’s journey with anorexia appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Jonathan Shooshani is the co-founder of HR tech company Joon, that makes it easy for employees to self direct their benefits. For HR and finance teams, Joon eliminates the administrative burden of physical and mental wellness initiatives. Listen To Episode 27 For some people, total wellness is something that comes to them as part of … Continue reading "#27 The Flywheel of Mental Wellness" The post #27 The Flywheel of Mental Wellness appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Andrew is the CEO of mental health startup Heard who are creating a trusted space for therapists.  Becoming a CEO wasn’t always on the cards for Andrew.  Early in life, he was beset with panic disorder, anxiety and depression and as a teenager he did drugs and ran with the wrong crowd.  At his worst … Continue reading "#26 Doing The Hard Work – Panic Disorder, Anxiety and Depression" The post #26 Doing The Hard Work – Panic Disorder, Anxiety and Depression appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Taylor Comeau ‘s retirement from professional soccer helped her realized mental health is as important as physical health. At the end of her she started experiencing situational depression and sought help from a therapist. Situational depression is a short term, stress related type of depression. Listen To Episode 25 Show Notes I’m a huge fan … Continue reading "#25 Situational Depression With Taylor Comeau" The post #25 Situational Depression With Taylor Comeau appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

From time to time, I get requests through LinkedIn from people I don’t know to go for coffee.  I often decline but sometimes my curiosity kicks in and I say “Yes”. When I got Jim’s message, something piqued my interest, and I said Yes.  We arranged to meet at Miro Tea in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. … Continue reading "#24 Calming the Tornado of ADHD" The post #24 Calming the Tornado of ADHD appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Elizabeth has built a successful career in education but grew up in an alcoholic household and became an adult child of an alcoholic. In Silent Superheroes, we often hear about people’s personal battle with mental illness.  The truth is that most of us aren’t an island. We have friends, family and colleagues in our life … Continue reading "#23 Healing From Inherited Trauma – Being an Adult Child of an Alcoholic" The post #23 Healing From Inherited Trauma – Being an Adult Child of an Alcoholic appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

What happens to employee mental health when you add a global pandemic like Covid-19 / coronavirus to the usual stresses and strains of work and life?  I sought out experts in workplace mental health field to get their advice. I was fortunate to find Candice Schaefer, the Head of Global Employee Wellness at Twitter and … Continue reading "#22 How to manage employee mental health through Coronavirus" The post #22 How to manage employee mental health through Coronavirus appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

In this episode of Silent Superheroes, we’re doing something a little bit different to mix things up.  We’ll listen in on a conversation about mental illness at work between 3 people who work in the mental health field. Firstly, we have Catherine Davies who is a licensed psychiatrist. Secondly, we have Joe Guppy, a therapist … Continue reading "#21 A psychiatrist, counselor and advocate walk into a podcast" The post #21 A psychiatrist, counselor and advocate walk into a podcast appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

By day, Daniel is a sales manager at a credit card processing company and by night he’s a stand up comedian. Bipolar and alcoholism bring a unique perspective to Daniel’s work. As a stand up comedian, his life provides plenty of material, and his bipolar means he’s two comedians in one. As a sales manager, … Continue reading "#20 Finding Perspective, Bipolar and Alcoholism at Work" The post #20 Finding Perspective, Bipolar and Alcoholism at Work appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Todd and his family identified his ADD fairly early in life. For a while, a regimen of medication helped him be a 4-point student. Then in 7th grade, a friend introduced him to marijuana. Todd decided he’d found a different way to manage ADD, quit his medications and started a rollercoaster that didn’t fully settle … Continue reading "#19 Garbage And Gas To A Mental Health Advocate – ADHD" The post #19 Garbage And Gas To A Mental Health Advocate – ADHD appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

“I remember doing it, and I remember making the conscious effort. But it really wasn’t me … but it was me. It’s a really hard thing to explain.” Listen To Episode 18 Show Notes That was Shana, describing what she was feeling just after swallowing handfuls of pills during a suicide attempt.  Shana was the … Continue reading "#18 A Monster, Saved By Her Knight In Shining Armor – Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Suicide" The post #18 A Monster, Saved By Her Knight In Shining Armor – Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Suicide appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Shana is an HR professional managing bipolar, PTSD, OCD and body dysmorphic disorder at work. On their own, any one of these conditions can be overwhelming. Managing all of them together should be an insurmountable obstacle, but it’s one Shana overcomes. Even so, there are serious consequences, like having 31 jobs in 20 years and … Continue reading "#17 My Boss Wants To Fire Me, PTSD And OCD At Work" The post #17 My Boss Wants To Fire Me, PTSD And OCD At Work appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Marnie works at Expedia helping teams tell stories, which she describes as her dream job.  Like me, Marnie lives with bipolar disorder and focuses on her mental health management. Before her diagnosis, Marnie went through two marriages and divorces before an offhand comment in an acting class nudged her to explore her mental state. Listen … Continue reading "#16 Marnie’s Mental Health Management Masterclass" The post #16 Marnie’s Mental Health Management Masterclass appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Grand mal epileptic seizures are a serious business, often leaving someone on the floor convulsing. They’re scary for people around them and very dangerous for those who experience them. Kyle’s been living with them for nearly 20 years. Despite that length of time, it’s only recently he’s to come to terms with the fact that … Continue reading "#15 Stress, Drugs and Rigmarole, Epilepsy At Work With Kyle" The post #15 Stress, Drugs and Rigmarole, Epilepsy At Work With Kyle appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Kristina Schiano is a professional drummer who at 23 years old has built a following of more than 750,000 subscribers to her Youtube channel. Her most popular video has been watched more than 10 million times.  These are remarkable achievements and even more remarkable when you consider periods of anxiety as a teenager left her … Continue reading "#14 Drums, Depression and a Dog, with Kristina Schiano" The post #14 Drums, Depression and a Dog, with Kristina Schiano appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

As Shannon read the driving direction, she fell asleep again. This wasn’t the first time, in fact, she’d done it after every direction. Her inability to stay awake had become a problem, and she finally to finally see a doctor. The doctor informed her she has narcolepsy. It hadn’t just affected road trips with her … Continue reading "#13 When A Good Night’s Sleep Isn’t Enough – Narcolepsy At Work" The post #13 When A Good Night’s Sleep Isn’t Enough – Narcolepsy At Work appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Max was 20, in an unfamiliar neighborhood in Paris, thousands of miles from home, desperately unhappy and in tears. More than a decade later he was founding a mental health ERG. This is his story. Listen To Episode 12 Show Notes Depression can take a grip on anyone, at any time. Imagine being a 20 … Continue reading "#12 Purgatory in Paris – The Road To A Mental Health ERG" The post #12 Purgatory in Paris – The Road To A Mental Health ERG appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

“It’s not you, you just don’t see the giant monster behind you that I’m reacting to” Kellie Wagner, CEO @ Collective What do you know about Borderline Personality Disorder? The answer to that question for most people is “not a lot”. So, why do we know so little compared to other mental illnesses like anxiety … Continue reading "#11 The Monster Behind You – Living And Working With BPD" The post #11 The Monster Behind You – Living And Working With BPD appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in five women will be a victim of rape at some point in their lives. If that number shocks you, it’s because many victims of sexual assault and rape cope with their trauma in silence. In 2017, the silence broke as women started speaking out on … Continue reading "#10 Healing From PTSD and the Trauma of Sexual Assault" The post #10 Healing From PTSD and the Trauma of Sexual Assault appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

“I don’t want to be anybody else, I want to be me.” – Scott Scott is part of an active ADHD community on Twitter, focusing on ADHD advocacy in the UK.  It was while working as an online bingo presenter a colleague suggested he might be on the autistic spectrum, and that suggestion put Scott … Continue reading "#9 Accepting Yourself and Accommodating Employees – ADHD" The post #9 Accepting Yourself and Accommodating Employees – ADHD appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Competitive, adventurous, life of the party, a rock. All things friends might have said about Reid before, through the course of a year, he experienced a series of setbacks: a close friend died, he was laid off and he broke his arm while snowboarding.  Those setbacks put him in a depression that robbed him of … Continue reading "#8 Getting Men’s Mental Health Out of The Shadows" The post #8 Getting Men’s Mental Health Out of The Shadows appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Meet Rachel. She’s a coach and the founder of the Resoul Revolution, a transformational retreat for women in leadership.  Rachel is one of millions of people working with depression. In this episode, Rachel tells us about the dark force she experienced as a child but because she didn’t understand it, she described it as a … Continue reading "#7 Resoul Revolution – Anorexia and Working With Depression" The post #7 Resoul Revolution – Anorexia and Working With Depression appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Throughout his career, Kent always tried to help people understand the “why” for their work. That desire lead him to be a recruiter and then an HR leader. It was while leading an HR team that the competing demands of “the system” of work and his own “why” came into conflict. Frozen by the side … Continue reading "#6 Living In The Time of Not Enoughness – Depression" The post #6 Living In The Time of Not Enoughness – Depression appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Richard is a Program Manager living with ADD and depression.  In this episode, Richard walks us through half a lifetime with undiagnosed ADD at work.  His journey to diagnosis starts out as the smart kid who could finish his homework in five minutes and ends as an adult taking on too much responsibility to get … Continue reading "#5 Getting OK With Being Good Enough – ADD & Depression" The post #5 Getting OK With Being Good Enough – ADD & Depression appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Jared is a Systems Engineer working in the technology sector. In this episode of Silent Superheroes, we learn that depression distorts Jared’s visual perception of the world and how ADHD is a problem of time management not attention. Jared’s long inventory of medication leads to a discussion of side effects and the complexity of self-monitoring. … Continue reading "#4 Feeling Sad Or Feeling Nothing – Depression & ADHD At Work" The post #4 Feeling Sad Or Feeling Nothing – Depression & ADHD At Work appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Will is an award winning, independent video producer who is outgoing and confident. Because of his confident exterior, you wouldn’t guess he has a lot of doubt and uncertainty. As a result of these thoughts, Will experiences depression and anxiety at work, and in his personal life.   Listen To Episode 3 Show Notes In … Continue reading "#3 Travel and Talking About It – Depression & Anxiety At Work" The post #3 Travel and Talking About It – Depression & Anxiety At Work appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Alok lives with double depression while having a career in Software Quality Assurance. Alok and I are old friends who met at the final table of a poker tournament. He was the first person to describe depression to me, and it wasn’t until later I realized he had described my experiences. Because Alok shared his … Continue reading "#2 Heartbreak to Hope – Double Depression" The post #2 Heartbreak to Hope – Double Depression appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.

Meet Amanda, a mom working as a pharmacy technician while managing bipolar type 1. In this episode of Silent Superheroes, Amanda relives some of her experiences with undiagnosed bipolar disorder.  Those experiences include making dean’s list during a manic semester and considering suicide while the rest of New York celebrated winning the Super Bowl.  A … Continue reading "#1 From Dean’s List to Desperation and a Workable Plan – Bipolar Type 1" The post #1 From Dean’s List to Desperation and a Workable Plan – Bipolar Type 1 appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.