Gin and Chronic, The Podcast Alaina Sawyer & Claire Clendenen

Alaina and Claire are BACK! They talk about their unintentional summer hiatus and why it was so necessary. They remember good things also exist in the world and Alaina reminds everyone what self care is NOT and what resilience is. They reminisce about how the podcast started and how much they've changed, they talk about the hero complex, and they share how hard it is to find balance between feeling effective and feeling constantly negative. They talk about holistic wellness and the importance of finding what works for you - physically, emotionally, spiritually. Hear about what they've been up to these months - solo trips, therapy, art projects, apartment searches, squishing babies, and tears. Get ready for the G&C Comeback!

Claire shares another medical update… or lack of update… and they agree it’s a good time for another light-hearted episode! Both Alaina and Claire talk about their current and upcoming travel plans. Claire has decided not to wait any longer to pursue her adventures and Alaina gives a description of hospital visits in Northern Ireland. They end by sharing what they've learned so far about Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company
More Info:
Pharma Phorum LA Times Wikipedia, Alex Oshmyansky Daily Mail, "Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli Launches Newsletter Slamming Billionaire Mark Cuban's Online Pharmacy 

G&C has a very special guest today: Dr. Apryl Alexander. At the time of this recording, Apryl is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. She is a clinical psychologist with concentrations in forensic psychology and child and family therapy, and has been widely recognized for her research and advocacy work. Apryl joins the pod this week to discuss health and advoacacy.
Apryl talks about endometriosis, a diagnosis she formally received in college, despite knowledge of it long before. Endometriosis is likely underdiagnosed, due to systems of sexism, racism, colonialism, and privielge in the medical field. She shares a bit more about laproscopic surgery, management of symptoms, and barriers to care. She shares about her professional journey to psychology and her call to advocacy work.
Everyone has the ability to make changes; people often observe inequities and feel angry about them, but don't do more to change them. Apryl shares her advice for how to start advocating: starting locally, finding existing resources and solutions, and staying informed. She talks about giving testimony, proposing new bills, and building relationships with legislators. They end with a conversation about finding balance between advocacy and self care and Apryl brings up the important concept of allyship.
Resources:
Follow Apryl here: http://www.aprylalexander.com/  Endometriosis Information NPR: Supreme Court Roe v Wade Decisions Overturned PNAS: Racial Bias in Pain Assessment and Treatment Recommendations Snowball fights in Colorado Legislative Sessions Calendar Colorado Reproductive Health Equity Act Envision You Public Policy Efforts

Alaina and Claire are reunited in this long-distance episode. Claire fills us in on her recent health updates and they discuss the familiar challenges of health insurance and medical supply companies. Claire updates us on how the Insulin 4 All protest went and the challenges she's been facing in work. They talk about the lack of space for mental health considerations in the current medical system. Both agree that the lack of regulation on food and beauty products is susicious and incredibly problematic. With all the news, the awareness of our broken systems, and the exhaustion of work and school, both admit they've felt depressed and have turned to anti-social behaviors and strange coping mechanisms. Claire recommends The Summer I turned Pretty on Amazon Prime, and Shatter Me, a book series by Tahereh Mafi.

Alaina joins from Northern Ireland to discuss what she's learning about trauma-informed practices. She talks about how trauma appears in all levels of society, to various resulting behaviors, and how systems can be build better to support everyone. This is especially true in the medical field and it's important to talk about the trauma that people with chronic illness and pain and disability experience. She discusses some of the myths around intergenerational and transgenerational trauma (check out links below for more). Lastly, she explains that there is still a lot of hope to be found in studying trauma and how we can all make significant changes to re-write our own narratives around trauma. NOTE: Rachel Yehuda, referred to as a biologist, is a doctor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. See her information and a link to her research, below: 
Trauma Summit Conference info Trauma Summit Speakers  Rachel Yehuda Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma Effects: Putative Role of Epigenetic Mechanisms  Rachel Yehuda Intergenerational Transmission of Stress in Humans

TW: Suicide. We've got another cousin on the G&C pod - this time to share important conversations about gender and mental health! Meet Red, Claire's cousin, a fellow heathcare worker, chronic illness warrior, and a non-binary, trans masc person. Red talks about his journey of self-discovery and how our pronouns are able to keep changing. They discuss how body image and expectations have become too much of a focus and talk about body neutrality as an option instead. Red shares the range in how companies and communies use pronouns and consider gender, and discusses taking an inadequate intake form and improving it to include important identity-based questions. Once again, profit margins seem to control what healthcare companies decide to care about. There's a lot that still needs to change to make healthcare more accessible to queer and trans patients, particularly de-pathologizing gender presentation. Red shares about his mental health journey, as well, which includes discussion of suicide, anxiety, bipolar tendencies/disorder, borderline tendencies/disorder, and ADHD. This brings up concerns about the tendency to over-diagnose or label, genetic mental health trends, over-medication, a pattern of blaming the patient, and the tendency of minoritized groups to people-please towards the majority, oppressive group. Red and Claire end by sharing information about Monkey Pox and the inherent blame and discrimination in the description.