Experts who lived it: when the professional has been there too
Psychiatrist Chris Palmer struggled with mental illness from childhood, psychiatrist Sasha Hamdani treats ADHD and has it herself, psychologist Joshua Coleman was cut off by his own daughter for several years, grief expert David Kessler lost his younger son, therapist Patrick Teahan grew up with an alcoholic mother and domestic violence, and psychiatrist Paul Conti talks about his brother's suicide. Palmer and Kessler tie their work directly to it, Palmer through the diet change he went on to try with treatment-resistant patients and Kessler through the sixth stage of grief he added after his son died, which tells readers that this advice comes from people who have been where they are.
What do the six experts in this insight have in common? Show answer
Each has personally lived the problem they treat: mental illness, ADHD, estrangement from a child, the death of a son, a childhood with alcoholism and violence, and a brother's suicide.
How long did the Atkins diet take to clear psychiatrist Chris Palmer's metabolic syndrome? Show answer
Within three months his metabolic syndrome was completely gone.
What pattern did psychiatrist Chris Palmer see in his psychiatric patients who tried the diet that had improved his own mood? Show answer
Those who did not reach urinary ketosis often got no clinical benefit, and improvement tended to appear once they were in ketosis.
What does Palmer say about stopping psychiatric medication? Show answer
Getting off medication is very difficult and dangerous, and it must be done with supervision from a mental health professional or a prescriber.
What sixth stage did David Kessler add to the five stages of grief? Show answer
Meaning, which he says is found not in the horrible event but in who we become afterward.
What finally changed things between Joshua Coleman and his estranged daughter? Show answer
He stopped explaining, defending and blaming, and respected where she was coming from.
What should Coleman's amends letter look like? Show answer
Short, usually two paragraphs, and a fearless moral inventory with no blaming and no excuses.
How does Sasha Hamdani describe ADHD at its base? Show answer
As a regulation issue that affects attention, motivation, energy, emotion, sleep and appetite, not attention alone.
Why does Hamdani refuse to call ADHD a superpower? Show answer
She says she has very little agency over her hyperfocus, and she thinks the superpower label diminishes real struggle.
What are the three goals of the group therapy Patrick Teahan went through and now teaches? Show answer
Finishing business with the family of origin, re-parenting the inner child, and intimacy work.
How does Paul Conti say healing from trauma starts? Show answer
By acknowledging the trauma to ourselves and others, in speech or writing, because humans make meaning through words.
Where do Coleman and Teahan meet on estrangement despite sitting on opposite sides? Show answer
What Teahan says would bring him back, his mother honestly acknowledging what happened, is what Coleman's amends letter asks a parent to write.