#1: Stephen Hays - Welcome to Stigma - My Personal Journey

What is the Stigma Podcast?

Our focus is on the intersection of mental health, addiction, and entrepreneurship. We will be talking with founders, investors, and leaders of all types about how mental health has impacted them. We will be talking with psychiatrists who have done extensive research on the link between mental illness and entrepreneurship. You will hear from CEOs who can tell you specifically how their leadership styles changed once they incorporated meditation and awareness into their daily routine. You will also hear from those who are still struggling and how they seek help.

The purpose of these conversations is to create a virtuous cycle of sharing, and encouragement to fight against the stigma that prevents people from getting help. As we share our stories of addiction, recovery, and living with mental illnesses… others are encouraged to share. As more people share, more people hear that help is available and eventually seek help.

Our goal is to be a part of the amplification of the conversation on mental health, addiction and most importantly, the stigma that surrounds these topics.

Why A Podcast on Stigma?

I want to encourage the increase in sharing about our shared addiction and mental illness in hopes that more people will share, and thus more people will seek help.

I want people to know that there is hope, you can get well, and the path isn't anywhere near as lonely and hard as you think it will be.

Stigma is the reason why I didn't get help earlier. False narratives around what my symptoms meant, kept me from getting help, as I didn't want to lose my manic superpowers. Turns out (As we talk in the first episode with Dr. Michael Freeman), you can keep the positive benefits of whatever illness you have and mitigate the downside.

I shared my story one day in a blog post in March of 2018. Since that day, I receive a steady stream of people messaging me telling me that my willingness to open up on LinkedIn and Medium and Facebook encouraged them to tell their stories or seek help. So, I realized, I need to create a platform where people can tell their stories in order to encourage others to do the same and get help as well.

My detailed story is here: My Struggle with Mental Illness and Addiction

In recovery, we learn that we only keep what we have by giving it away. Part of the recovery process is to be of service and help others, so this podcast and this venture fund I'm trying to build are a giant 12th step for me.

If it keeps me sober, and it helps one other person, then it's a huge win. That's the goal. Turn up the volume on people's stories, encourage others to talk and break down stigma, and hopefully, some people who are in pain will get relief because of it.

Please join us in this conversation. Please engage, give us feedback, subscribe and write reviews, and engage on social media. Show those who are suffering that there is a groundswell of support, whether you are living in recovery, or you're not an addict, or you don't know what to think. Just join in the conversation and let's all be well together.

Thank you for being here.

Connect with us:

Email: info@stigmapodcast.com

Website: https://stigmapodcast.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StigmaCast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stigma-Podcast-105616270782583/

LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/20144049