Your Life Sucks Ben Small

In this pod, Shai Wasserman, a rising high school Junior from NJ (Socials: shai_daniel13) details his brutal recovery from anxiety, depression, and subsequently, substance abuse.


Topics Covered:
🧠 The bullying that Shai endured, and how this led to physical fights.
🧠 Shai’s tween hatred of the Jewish community, and, as a result, his self-hatred.
🧠 Shai’s spiral into substance abuse
🧠 Shai’s hospitalizations, and his parents decision to send him to wilderness therapy
🧠 Lessons that Shai learned from wilderness and residential therapy
🧠 Shai’s sit-down with himself, and what’s keeping him clean and healthy today.


Shai’s story and voice are truly one a kind. I was absolutely struck by Shai’s experiences and bravery.


Tune in!! 🧠🎙



🧠 Listen and subscribe to the Your Life Sucks podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts! 🎙
🧠 5️⃣⭐️ The podcast on all platforms
🧠 Follow - Instagram @theyourlifesuckspodcast 👍
🧠 DM for all inquiries 📞

Today, for the first time in 4 months, I had a fantastic podcast convo! I chatted with Jess Baden (Socials: @jessmbaden), a rising Junior at UConn, about her childhood and teenage anxiety, phobias, and mental health advocacy.


Topics Discussed:
🧠 Jess’ debilitating generalized childhood anxiety
🧠 Jess’ specific phobias, and how they prevented her from going on trips and participating in class
🧠 Jess’ sudden decisions to expose herself to her fears, and what she learned from those experiences
🧠 How Jess combats her phobias today
🧠 Jess’ sweeping and impactful high school mental health programming


Jess is a fantastic and introspective speaker! This is a great episode to listen to to get back on that Your Life Sucks podcast grind! 🙉🎧🙉


Tune in! 🧠🎙



🧠 Listen and subscribe to the Your Life Sucks podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts! 🎙
🧠 5️⃣⭐️ The podcast on all platforms
🧠 Follow - Instagram @theyourlifesuckspodcast 👍
🧠 DM for all inquiries 📞

New Episode Today!!


Today I chatted with Zach, a teen from California who directs Talk with Zach, an organization aimed at destigmatizing and creating conversational change around mental health.


We chat about:
🧠 The loss of Zach’s grandfather, and how he was both explicitly and implicitly told to “man up” and get over his feelings
🧠 How this experience caused Zach to realize that mental health is not spoken about enough, and ultimately, to create Talk with Zach
🧠 The mission statement of Talk with Zach, and how Talk with Zach advocates for mental health related change


Zach is truly an trailblazing person, whose narrative is nothing other than inspiring. You can find his work @talkwithzach on Instagram and at https://talkwithzachofficial.com .


Tune in!! 🎙🎤



🧠 Listen and subscribe to the Your Life Sucks podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts! 🎙
🧠 5️⃣⭐️ The podcast on all platforms
🧠 Follow - Instagram @theyourlifesuckspodcast 👍
🧠 DM for all inquiries 📞

Today I chat with the greatest #bossbitch, Naama Teitel, about her school related anxiety and how her mental health led her to switch schools twice.


We discuss:
🧠 ✏️ Naama’s school anxiety — her fear of class presentations and in-school panic attacks
🧠✏️ How discussions her school psychologist led to the realization that her current school wasn’t right for her
🧠✏️ The difficult transition of switching schools, and how she began to flourish without school stress
🧠✏️ Deciding to switch back to her old school, and entering her senior year with an improved mental health


Naama is a hilarious and intellectual teen whose story has changed my perspective on how high schools approach mental health.


You can find Naama’s Instagrams @naamateitel, @beauty.by.naama, and @naama_singing


Tune in!! 🎙🧠💪👑


🧠 Listen and subscribe to the Your Life Sucks podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts! 🎙
🧠 5️⃣⭐️ The podcast on all platforms
🧠 Follow - Instagram @theyourlifesuckspodcast 👍
🧠 DM for all inquiries 📞

Today I chatted with Hitika Karla, the 17 year old founder of The Lone Ally Foundation, about her experiences with loneliness. 😴😕 We talked about different types of loneliness, and how speaking to friends can make a person feel SO much more heard.


TOPICS COVERED: 📝📄
🧠 Hitika’s big downs in 8th grade, and how a meltdown with a friend led her to realize that many mental health issues can be significantly helped through talking
🧠 Hitika’s realization that we all experience loneliness, and her starting The Lone Ally
🧠 Hitika’s theories on the importance of human connection
🧠 Her advocacy today
🧠 Much more!


MENTIONED IN THE POD: 🗣
🧠 Hitika’s work, The Lone Ally Foundation:
@thelone.ally


Be sure to tune into this conversation, abundant with great anecdotes, info, and tips & tricks!! 📻🎙



🧠 Listen and subscribe to the Your Life Sucks podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts! 🎙
🧠 5️⃣⭐️ The podcast on all platforms
🧠 Follow - Instagram @theyourlifesuckspodcast 👍
🧠 DM for all inquiries 📞

Today I interviewed Livi Redden, a mental health advocate from San Diego.


Livi is the podcast host of “Today is the Future”, mindset educator, entrepreneur, and writer. She teaches teens and twentysomethings how to intentionally create their life and embrace who they are through the power of emotional intelligence, mindfulness, mindset shifts, and accountability. Her book “The Sooner you Know the Better” comes out in February.


In this episode, we speak about how her parents’ unstable relationship and her father’s death affected her childhood/adolescent anxiety and how she’s used her experiences to become the mental wellness advocate she is today.


MENTIONED IN THE POD 🗣:
General Info on ALS: https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Amyotrophic-Lateral-Sclerosis-ALS-Fact-Sheet

Supporting ALS Research and Awareness: https://www.als.org


You can find Livi on IG and TikTok @liviredden and her website at www.liviredden.com . Be sure to check out her book when it drops on 2/22/22.


Tune in to the fantastic, honest conversation today!! 🎙📞



🧠 Listen and subscribe to the Your Life Sucks podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts! 🎙
🧠 5️⃣⭐️ The podcast on all platforms
🧠 Follow - Instagram @theyourlifesuckspodcast 👍
🧠 DM for all inquiries 📞