Our Extraordinary Stories with Dr Devika Patel Devika Patel

Shocka, aka Kenneth Erhahon, is rapper and mental health advocate from Tottenham, London. 

He gained recognition for being one/third of Grime collective Marvell alongside Double S and Vertex. After dealing with mental health issues leading to a diagnosis of schizophrenia and being sectioned 4 times, Shocka became a Mental health advocate to help those suffering from their own problems with his music. 

He has since aimed to raise awareness of mental issues and has been a speaker on TED and a guest on numerous talk shows. His October 2018 single, Self Love reflects his personal journey with mental health issues and how he has come to terms with these difficulties. Shocka believes self love is part of the cure for mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety and low self image. By teaching someone how to love and appreciate themselves - no matter what their background or identity is - he believes it will drastically improve their ability to go through life positively.

Trigger warning: reference to suicidal thoughts

Hi everyone. And welcome to another episode of our extraordinary stories. My name is Dr. Patel, and I'm the host of this podcast. I am an NHS junior doctor specializing in psychiatry. So that means I help and support people with mental illness from their point of crisis and diagnosis right through to recovery. 

So on today's podcast, I have a very special guest. This podcast is all about exploring that whole mental health spectrum going from. A mental health crisis, mental health illness, all the way up to recovery and a state of human flourishing. . I believe that at any point in our lives, we are on one part of the spectrum. 

So on this podcast I generally have people with lived experience of   mental health difficulties, and then I also try to bring on people that work within  the mental health sector.

And today's guest, Panisha actually does both and I think, the reason that she's does the job that she does and is able to do it so well and has such good insight into  it, is because of  her own lived experience. So when I first started the podcast  last year she was one of the first people to reach out. And that's exactly what I wanted from this podcast. It wasn't about that person with 20 K 50 K followers that are already talking about their stories, but  to be for everyday people that are just getting on with life and we don't know, what their journey has been, and for that journey to inspire you and make you feel like, actually, I can learn so much from this person's story, or I want to share my story with my friends or family so that they don't feel so alone in their journey as well. And Panisha's been really. Brave and courageous to give her some insights into what she's been through and how she's got through that.

Through a lot of things she has implemented really by herself rather than from external sources like mental health services, GP and medication, all those things. And that's really what I want to focus on. And we will do that as we get to the, to the latter part of the conversation. 

A little bit about Panisha:
I'm currently an Emotional Health & Wellbeing Practitioner in the Northwest of England. I work with children, families, and schools to support with issues around mental health and wellbeing. I work using the community, family unit, and individuals as an eco system to promote good mental wellbeing. I am an advocate for holistic therapies such as meditation, yoga & mindfulness.

Follow me on Instagram @drdevikapatel to continue engaging in this conversation!

Welcome to my podcast, Our Extraordinary Stories
My name is Dr Devika Patel I am a junior doctor working in the NHS specialising in psychiatry, which means I work with people who need support and treatment for severe mental illnesses.
In this podcast, I explore people’s personal stories from along the spectrum of severe mental illness all the way to a state of human flourishing. Too often, these are seen as separate conversations when I see them as part of one spectrum. For example, today I might be living my highest purpose, practising as a doctor, and in a few months, I may be a patient mental illness requiring treatment.

As I'm currently on maternity leave I have had limited time to interview guests I have decided to do some solo podcasts.

As it is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week I decided to reflect on my pregnancy, birth and postpartum period- acknowledging the highs and the lows. I also discuss some mental illnesses that can occur in the perinatal period and briefly touch on the support available.

Connect with me on Instagram @drdevikapatel

Here are some links for further support:

https://www.app-network.org/ Action on  Postpartum Psychosis
https://pandasfoundation.org.uk/ Post natal depression awareness and support
https://www.birthtraumaassociation.org.uk/ Support for traumatic birth
https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/ Breastfeeding network
https://maternalocd.org/ Maternal OCD
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/postnatal-depression-and-perinatal-mental-health/about-maternal-mental-health-problems/ Perinatal mental health MIND episode

My husband is back on the podcast by popular demand. On this episode we discuss how we implemented intentional living practises to create a life we wanted, over the last year. The topics we cover include: 
- Raj's career change.
- Our pregnancy journey
- Navigating my diagnosis of PCOS
-Health and fitness
- How we prepared to become parents

We hope you enjoy this candid, casual conversation. 

Connect with me on Instagram @drdevikapatel. 

Hi everyone, welcome to my podcast Our Extraordinary Stories. 
My name is Dr Devika Patel I am a junior doctor working in the NHS specialising in psychiatry, which means I work with people who need support and treatment for severe mental illnesses.

In this episode, I speak to my dearest friend from university Dr Krishan Parekh. We both went to medical school together and became friends in 1st year. Krishan chose to specialise in anaesthetics- to become a doctor who work in theatres and ITU and completes complex life-saving procedures on seriously unwell patients. They were the doctors looking after the most unwell patients during the pandemic. Krishan gives a small insight into working during the pandemic and how it made him take the decision of taking a year out of training. 

Trigger warning: COVID-19, pandemic, ITU
In this podcast we cover: 
Working during COVID in ITUMaking a decision to step away from Medicine for a year. Taking the plunge- how (f)unemployment really feels and the initial doubtsHow Krishan rebuilt his working life, based on his preferences.Making wellbeing a priority to guide career choices. Doctors and mental health stigmaHow can doctors change the culture in the NHSHow do systems need to change to improve doctors wellbeingHow to make small changes to improve your workplace wellbeingDon’t forget to like, share and subscribe so you get notified every time a new episode is released! I aim to release one every month so stay tuned. If you’d like to be a guest you can get in touch via my Instagram @drdevikapatel. 

I am so excited (and nervous)  to release my first solo episode. The topic I've chosen is Love and Psychiatry and I explore the 6 areas below where I find love and mental health come together in my day-today work as a psychiatrist. 

I discuss: 
- Delusions of love, as a sign of mental illness.
- Difficulty forming and maintaining loving relationships, as a feature of mental illness
- Abuse disguised as love, and it's impact on mental health.
- Compassion- focussed therapy, love as the centre of a talking based (psychological) therapy.
- Love as part of the treatment for mental illness.
-Love as my motto for giving compassionate and dignified care.

I would love to hear your feedback. Please connect with me @drdevikapatel on Instagram so I can produce more episodes you'd find useful.

A reminder, these podcasts are for educational purposes and not to be used as medical advice. They are also brief explanations of very complex topics, therefore not to be used to self-diagnose.

If you have difficulties with your mental health please see a healthcare professional and seek emergency help.