Confronting The Madness

EP5: Harvard Professor Anne Harrington Confronts Psychiatry’s Search for the Biology of Mental Illness

Anne Harrington is the Franklin L. Ford Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University.

Dr. Harrington received her Ph.D. in the History of Science from Oxford University, and has held postdoctoral fellowships at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine in London, and the University of Freiburg in Germany. For six years, she co-directed Harvard's Mind, Brain, and Behavior Initiative. She also was a consultant for the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Mind-Body Interaction.

 

We spent the duration of the episode discussing themes outlined in her book 'Mind Fixers: Psychiatry's Troubled Search for the Biology of Mental illness', a book that highlights psychiatry’s repeatedly frustrated struggle to understand mental disorder in biomedical terms.

I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

EP4: Health Critic David Shepherd Confronts Health Advocacy

In this episode, I had the good fortune of speaking with Edmonton City Centre MLA, David Shepherd.   David was first elected in 2015, and recently re-elected in 2019.  David is currently the Health Critic for the Alberta NDP, a very important role given everything that is happening in the world right now.

David and I spoke about his journey, and the winding road he’s travelled, to better understand and manage his mental health.

We also spoke about the current mental healthcare system, or as we both agreed to call it “the current non-system, system” and the role that government and the public can collectively play to help design a system so it works better for its users.

 

 

EP3: City Councillor Scott McKeen Confronts Lived Experience

"It's okay to not be okay".

In this episode, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with my friend, Edmonton City Councillor, Scott McKeen. 

Authentic; genuine; real -- three words that come to mind when I think of the good Councillor.

Scott has been a passionate advocate for our most vulnerable populations in Edmonton.  In 2013, he launched a Mental Health and Urban Isolation initiative through the City of Edmonton.  He has also been leading affordable housing and harm reduction strategies.

Scott has also been very open about his own lived experience with anxiety, depression and addiction. 

During this episode Scott and I had a wide ranging conversation, jumping back and forth between his own lived experiences, to societal challenges we face today.

 

EP2: Sanjay Singhal Confronts Psychedelic Charity

In this episode, I spoke with Sanjay Singhal.  Sanjay is a Toronto based entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. 

I spoke with Sanjay about dealing with his bi-polar diagnosis early on in his entrepreneurial journey; about the challenges he confronted with the healthcare system while trying to access appropriate treatment for his daughter’s eating disorder; how he got involved in funding psychedelic medicine, and lastly, the work he is now doing with his Foundation, The Nikean Foundation. Through the Nikean Foundation (nikean.org), Sanjay, along with the likes of Tim Ferris, was one of the five founding funders of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College in London.

It was a fascinating conversation, and I am deeply appreciative to Sanjay for speaking with me and being so open about his lived experiences.

EP1: Cody Lakevold Confronts Tragedy & Trauma

Host Mark Korthuis interviews Cody Lakevold about confronting the loss of all three members of his family over a three-year period. 

Cody discusses how addiction, illness, and ultimately tragedy, lead to him dealing with lingering effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).