Self Conscious

Sophie Weiner
  • 5.0 (5)
  • SOCIAL SCIENCES
  • UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY
Self Conscious

What is mental illness? Is diagnosis useful? How do you live a full life with a serious mental illness? Self Conscious delves into the lesser-understood areas of mental health and the brain, through interviews with writers, artists, scientists and psychologists.

Episodes

  1. 08/04/2024

    Ep 4: Surviving untreated mental illness w/ Kate Richards

    On the first page of Kate Richard’s memoir, she tries to cut off her own arm. Kate is a deeply thoughtful writer, beautiful prose stylist and a successful medical researcher living in Melbourne, Australia. From her memoir’s harrowing beginning unspools a brilliant, lyrical story of surviving severe. Madness: a memoir is full of vividly surreal tales of living through the depths of delusion, paranoia, psychosis and depression over the 15 years it took for her to get effective treatment for her Bipolar II disorder.  Learn more about Kate and her books: https://www.penguin.com.au/authors/kate-richards Self Conscious Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selfconsciouspod/

    55 min

  2. 06/17/2024

    Ep 3: Who's afraid of the DSM? w/ Awais Aftab

    Awais Aftab is a psychiatrist, scholar and the author of the Substack newsletter Psychiatry at the Margins, where he explores philosophical and scientific debates in psychiatry today. In our interview, we discuss the ongoing controversies within and outside of psychiatry around the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the “bible” of diagnosis. Awais guided me through the fascinating history of the DSM, why so many psychiatrists today hate it, and what the future looks like for diagnosis.  Awais Substack: psychiatrymargins.com Newsletters mentioned in the episode: psychiatrymargins.com/p/diagnosis-as-self-understanding-and psychiatrymargins.com/p/are-critiques-of-dsmicd-as-devastating psychiatrymargins.com/p/psychopathology-exhaustion-and-identity/ Self Conscious Instagram: instagram.com/selfconsciouspod/

    46 min

  3. 05/31/2024

    Ep 2: Psychosis in the age of paranoia w/ Geoffrey Mak

    Are we living through a time of mass psychosis? With misinformation running rampant in our media and the uncovering of  mass surveillance by governments and tech companies, the line between being paranoid and appropriately suspicious is less clear than ever. Can paranoia ever be a gift, or is it always destructive? In his new collection of essays, Mean Boys, Geoffrey Mak writes about what it's like to experience our era of post-truth politics and culture while living with psychosis. He also delves into nightlife, addiction, queerness, growing up in a  Chinese immigrant family, Christianity, and much more. Geoff's book, Mean Boys: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/mean-boys-9781635577952/ Geoff's New Yorker piece: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/the-unholy-son Self Conscious Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selfconsciouspod/ Self Conscious Patreon: patreon.com/SelfConsciousPod

    36 min

  4. 05/17/2024

    Ep 1: Turning hallucinations into art w/ Christopher Grant

    Indigenous Canadian artist Christopher Grant was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in his early 20s after surviving years of untreated symptoms. He says that only in the last year has an effective regimen of medication allowed him to find a more balanced life. Through all these years of struggle, Chris’ practice of drawing intricate, psychedelic art helped him cope with his hallucinations and better understand himself. It was through his art that Chris eventually connected with a large online audience, and realized his experience was more common than he thought. Today, we talk to Chris about his story and turning a disease he first saw as a death sentence into something that connected him with people around the world.  You can find Chris’ art here:  https://www.instagram.com/xoradmagical/ https://www.tiktok.com/@xoradmagical Self Conscious has a Patreon where you can subscribe to hear bonus episodes. patreon.com/SelfConsciousPod Produced and edited by Sophie Weiner Music and logo by Tom Hawking

    38 min
  • 4 Episodes

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

What is mental illness? Is diagnosis useful? How do you live a full life with a serious mental illness? Self Conscious delves into the lesser-understood areas of mental health and the brain, through interviews with writers, artists, scientists and psychologists.

Information

  • Creator
    Sophie Weiner
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Sophie Weiner
  • Show Website
    Self Conscious

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada