Giving Voice to Depression

Giving Voice to Depression

Depression affects more than 350,000,000 worldwide. So basically, if you don't have it yourself, you know someone who does. Giving Voice to Depression was founded to start discussions that reduce stigma and promote understanding. We look at depression from many angles. A journalist with depression pre-produces short (7-10 minute) interview segments, and then the sister co-hosts, who both live with depression, comment on the issues presented. The episodes are informative and hopeful-- and seldom depressing. It's time to shine some light on depression's darkness! Join us.

Episodes

378_What to Say and NOT Say to Someone Grieving a Suicide

September 23, 2025 • 18 mins
What can you say to someone who has lost a loved one by suicide?Whaf shouldn't you say?This episode of Giving Voice to Depression continues the conversation with Deb Sherwood, a journalist and suicide loss survivor. This powerful and candid discussion focuses on the impact of words and actions—both hurtful and helpful—on someone grieving a death by suicide.Deb shares some of the shockingly insensitive and painful comments she recei...
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Ep. 377_The Weight of Silence-Hiding a Suicide Delayed My Healing

September 16, 2025 • 20 mins
This episode  features an emotional and deeply personal conversation about the cost of secrecy.Guest Deb Sherwood lost her husband, Bob, by suicide after a long battle with illness. Deb, a journalist, bravely shares their story, revealing the complex and traumatic aftermath that comes with a death by suicide.She and the hosts, Terry and her co-host at the time, Brigitte, discuss the unique challenges suicide loss survivors face, in...
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Beyond Stigma Finding Humanity in Mental Illness

September 9, 2025 • 26 mins
Meg Kissinger, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of a powerful memoir, shares her family's unique and moving story about living with serious mental illness.She talks openly about losing two siblings to suicide, and how her experiences as both a sister and an investigative journalist shaped her understanding of the US mental health system. This episode is a must-listen for anyone who believes that having honest conversations abou...
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375- Why Can't I Forgive Myself? Navigating Guilt After a Suicide Attempt

September 2, 2025 • 18 mins
This powerful episode of Giving Voice to Depression, features a brave guest named John who offers insights into about a seldom-discussed topic: forgiving yourself after a suicide attempt. John, a 54-year-old from Canada, shares his personal story of depression and a suicide attempt nearly four years ago. He candidly explains that while his young son immediately forgave him, he's struggled to extend that same grace to himself.The co...
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NEW 374_FINAL: Sobering Up to the Truth: My Battle with Bipolar and Alcohol

August 26, 2025 • 25 mins
In this episode of the Giving Voice to Depression podcast, hosts Terry and Carly speak with guest David Shamsud about his journey with a dual diagnosis—living with both Bipolar Disorder and a substance use disorder.David shares his personal story of how he used alcohol to self-medicate and cope with the extreme highs of mania and the devastating lows of depression before he was formally diagnosed. He describes how his manic episode...
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Self-Help for Depression: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices That Help

August 19, 2025 • 23 mins
In this episode of Giving Voice to Depression, Dr. Barbara Moser, a trained teacher in mindful self-compassion, shares three simple yet powerful practices you can use anytime to cope with stress, anxiety, and depression. These tools are free, backed by credible research, and require no appointment, transportation, or side effects.From mindful breathing to the STOP method and a self-compassion break, these practices are designed to ...
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    NEW Ep. 372 Bullying, Isolation and Hope

    August 12, 2025 • 27 mins
    In this deeply honest 27-minute long episode, stage hypnotist Kevin Lepine opens up about growing up bullied, misunderstood, and isolated — long before he had the language to name his depression. From undiagnosed ADHD and childhood trauma to the crushing silence of shame, Kevin shares how these early experiences shaped his mental health journey.He doesn’t just tell his story — he explains what helped: the friends who refused to let...
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    Ep. 371 Ten Years Beyond Crisis: Pausing to Notice Progress

    August 5, 2025 • 22 mins
    Ten years ago, Rebecca Lombardo was in a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt — believing she was a burden, broken, and beyond help. Today, she shares the powerful story of everything that’s changed since.In this honest and deeply human conversation, Rebecca reflects on the decade that followed: how she found the right doctor after 25 years of searching, how she’s learned to manage bipolar disorder with self-awareness and h...
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    NEW Ep. 370 Depression Across Generations A Mother-Daughter Conversation

    July 29, 2025 • 28 mins
    In this unique and deeply personal episode, Terry and her daughter Carly flip the usual podcast format on its head and turn the lens inward. What unfolds is an unscripted, intergenerational conversation about depression, mental health, family legacy, and healing. They dive into the truth that while they help others tell their mental health stories, their own stories matter, too—and deserve space.Carly reflects on how depression was...
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    Ep. 369 Running on Empty Understanding Depression Through Spoon Theory

    July 22, 2025 • 17 mins
    Have you ever wished for a simple, understandable way to communicate your energy and depression levels?This episode introduces a practical and relatable way to describe and navigate the often invisible energy drain of depression using spoon theory. Originally created to explain life with chronic illness, the concept translates easily to mental health by offering a simple unit—“spoons”—to represent your daily energy levels.Clinical ...
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    NEW_Ep. 368 Softening to the Darkness: Eric’s Story of Acceptance and Healing

    July 15, 2025 • 28 mins
    In this gentle, insightful episode, Eric shares his raw and powerful story of living with a lifelong depression he once imagined as an invisible boulder crushing his spirit. Instead of continuing the exhausting quest to eliminate his pain, Eric began to befriend it—shifting from analysis to emotional healing. Through Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, he discovered that the boulder symbolized a part of him trying to protect his...
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    Ep. 367 A Terminal Patient's Fight for Mental Health (rerun)

    July 8, 2025 • 18 mins
     In this episode, JJ Singleton shares what it’s like to live with terminal cancer and depression. He talks about how his mental health changed after his diagnosis, the dark moments he faced, and what helped him stay. JJ didn’t grow up talking about emotions, but through therapy and support, he learned that speaking up made a difference. He discusses the pressure to hide pain, especially as a man, and how naming his struggles helped...
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    Ep. 366 Do Something Different: CBT’s Pathway Out of Depression

    July 1, 2025 • 18 mins
    This episode explores how Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be a useful, hands-on approach for managing depression and anxiety.

    Dr. David Jacobi explains how our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are closely linked—and how working on the things we can control, like changing negative thinking patterns or taking small actions, can shift how we feel over time.Listeners will learn how to apply CBT in everyday life by identifying un...
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    Ep. 365 Proactive Mental Health: Why Therapy Isn't Just for Crisis (rerun)

    June 24, 2025 • 26 mins
    This podcast episode pulls back the curtain on what it's really like to see a therapist, and trust us, it's not all about lying on a couch talking about your parents! Dr. Anita Sanz, a seasoned therapist, tackles the big question: when should you seek mental health support? She makes a compelling case for treating our mental well-being with the same care we give our physical health, or even our cars. If your car breaks down, you ge...
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    NEW Ep. 364: The Power of Being Noticed — How a Teacher Helped Saved a Life

    June 17, 2025 • 25 mins
    A single conversation can change the course of your life. A single person stepping in to say "You are not yourself. I am worried about you"  can change the course of your life and recovery.That's the story Chloe shares in this remixed episode. The school year may be ending, but the need to tune in, step in and care most certainly is not.https://recovery.com/
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    Ep. 363 Euphoric Light After Depression's Darkness

    June 10, 2025 • 23 mins
    What does it feel like to experience true happiness after the lowest lows of depression? In this moving and deeply honest episode, Cara McErlain from Belfast, Northern Ireland, offers a rare and powerful glimpse into the lived experience of depression—and the unexpected joy that can follow.Cara speaks with unflinching honesty about her darkest moments, the numbness and hopelessness that once felt permanent, and the night that pushe...
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    NEW_ Ep. 362 When Depression Erases Good Memories

    June 3, 2025 • 30 mins
    Did you know depression doesn’t just bring sadness—it can steal your memories of joy?In this 30-minute episode, we explore the deeply disorienting and isolating experience of how depression alters memory. Not through scientific jargon, but through lived experience. Writer and mental health advocate Natasha Tracy joins us to discuss how depression can convince you that you’ve never been happy—robbing you of the very memories that mi...
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    Ep. 361 When Pregnancy and Depression Collide (remix)

    May 27, 2025 • 11 mins
    "You’re supposed to be happy." That’s what Isabelle kept hearing when she was pregnant. Married, financially stable, expecting a deeply wanted baby — her life looked “perfect” from the outside. But inside, she was fighting an overwhelming darkness that few people talk about: antepartum depression, or depression during pregnancy.In this honest and powerful conversation, Isabelle joins Terry and Bridget to share what it felt like to ...
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    NEW Ep. 360- Carrying What We Can’t Name: How Unspoken Pain Becomes a Lifelong Burden

    May 20, 2025 • 28 mins
     Trina Kennedy joins Giving Voice to Depression to share her experience growing up in a household where emotional needs were often dismissed or misunderstood. She reflects on how unacknowledged pain shaped her early struggles with anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts—and how therapy, connection, and time allowed her to begin unpacking the emotional weight she carried. Through the lens of trauma, Trina explores what it means t...
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    Ep. 359 Who Are You Getting Better For? A Journey from Surviving to Self-Worth (remix)

    May 13, 2025 • 21 mins
    In this episode of Giving Voice to Depression, guest Ari Cohen shares her powerful and deeply personal mental health journey. Diagnosed with depression at the age of 11, Ari describes how her identity was once entirely wrapped up in her diagnosis. Initially, her motivation to get better was externally driven—whether to attend summer camp, to avoid causing pain to her family, or to meet others' expectations.A turning point came when...
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