Inside Mental Health

Quelling anxiety and relaxing are common reasons people give for smoking or vaping. But is that really possible? Will nicotine help relieve anxiety or other mental health conditions?
Robin Koval, CEO and President of Truth Initiative, discusses the nuances between vaping and smoking and their impact on mental health and anxiety. We also delve into some common beliefs about nicotine and answer the question “Is it true that vaping is safer than smoking?” Join us as the Truth Initiative tells us, you guessed it, the truth!
To learn more -- or read the transcript -- please visit the official episode page.

Our guest, Robin Koval, is CEO and President of Truth Initiative®, the national public health organization dedicated to achieving a culture where all young people reject smoking, vaping, and nicotine.
Since joining Truth Initiative in 2013, Koval has transformed the national award-winning truth® youth tobacco prevention campaign and grown the organization’s world-class research, youth activism, and digital cessation programs. Under her leadership, truth has prevented millions of young people from becoming smokers and helped drive the youth smoking rate to a historic low of less than 2%. As youth e-cigarette use skyrocketed, Koval expanded the organization’s reach to be a leader in the fight against the youth e-cigarette crisis and all forms of youth nicotine addiction. Research now shows that truth campaign awareness is significantly associated with lower likelihood of vaping among young people ages 15–24. She has led the expansion of the truth brand to include innovative quitting tools and resources designed to protect and empower young people to live nicotine-free lives, including the first-of-its kind text message quit vaping program for teens and young adults, This is Quitting, which has enrolled over 570,000 since launch and a national youth e-cigarette prevention curriculum Vaping: Know the truth, now reaching almost 6,000 schools across the country.
During her tenure, truth has been voted one of the most influential campaigns of the 21st century and named the most effective brand of the year by the American Marketing Association. Fast Company has recognized Truth Initiative as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies and a top ten nonprofit organization in 2022.
Prior to joining Truth Initiative, Koval, a highly acclaimed leader in the advertising and marketing world, was co-founder and CEO of the Kaplan Thaler Group, which she grew from a fledgling start-up in 1997 to a billion-dollar agency working with leading brands such as Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, Wendy’s, and Aflac. She was named CEO when her agency merged with Publicis to become Publicis Kaplan Thaler and led the 700-person agency to become the fifth largest in New York City. In addition, Koval is a New York Times best-selling author. She and co-author Linda Kaplan Thaler have written several books, including Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion and Pluck Take You from Ordinary to Extraordinary, The Power of Nice, and The Power of Small.

Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.
Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.
To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com.
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Many people believe that young children and preteens are incapable of dying by suicide. However, it's important to understand that it isn’t just teenagers and adults who struggle with suicidality — young children, including 7- ,8-, and 9-year-olds, can also feel this way.  
But how do you even begin to talk about a subject like suicide to children so young? Join us as today’s guest, a pediatrician, shares conversation starters and tips on when and how to start talking with your younger children about suicide.
To learn more -- or read the transcript -- please visit the official episode page.

Our guest, Dr. Noor Jihan Abdul-Haqq, is a board certified pediatrician from Oklahoma City, OK, and a faculty trainer for The REACH Institute. She’s a proud graduate of the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. She graduated from Spelman College with honors with a degree in Biochemistry. Her medical school and residency training were completed through Morehouse School of Medicine where she was active with various medical organizations. 
She has done medical work in Barbados, Dominican Republic, and Mexico. Her awards include the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine award, Practitioner of Excellence Award from Sisters United Organization, Journal Record’s Achievers under 40 award and Outstanding Minority owned business leader. She’s received a Regional award for her work in the OKC Chapter of Jack and Jill of America for providing STEM opportunities for youth. Most recently she was honored as a Healthcare Hero by the Journal Record. Dr. Abdul-Haqq has been interviewed numerous times on local radio, TV, and print media.
Dr. Abdul-Haqq opened her current practice Peace of Mind Pediatrics in Sept of 2015 to serve the community that she grew up in. She opened a 2nd location in Spring of 2021. She serves as a mentor for high school and college students and has assisted other physicians with starting their own practices. In September 2020, she helped open the Clara Community Health Center in OKC which is a free clinic for the uninsured.
In 2018, Dr. Abdul-Haqq took a REACH training course to increase her confidence and skills in diagnosing and managing mental health in pediatric primary care. Three years later, she joined the faculty to assist with expanding mental health education and training for PCPs. Dr. Abdul-Haqq has a particular interest in integrative medicine and is continuously taking additional courses to further her knowledge. 
She and her loving husband are the proud parents to 3 wonderful children.

Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.
Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.
To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are lots of books written by doctors aiming to help people manage mental illness or families help their loved ones — all from a purely medical perspective. But today’s guest, NAMI's Dr. Ken Duckworth, wrote a book that, in part, shares the collected wisdom of regular people living with mental illness as well as the perspective of their family and friends.
Join us as we discuss the National Alliance on Mental Illness's (NAMI) first book. Dr. Duckworth shares why it only makes sense that people who actually live with mental illness have probably learned a thing or two along the way. His new book, “You Are Not Alone,” is out now.
To learn more -- or read the transcript -- visit the official episode page.

Our guest, Ken Duckworth, MD, is the chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and has worked with NAMI since 2003. Ken is board certified in adult psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry, and is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He was previously acting commissioner and medical director at the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. Ken has worked on an assertive community treatment team, at an early psychosis program, an elementary school, a health plan, and with people who are unhoused. His passion for this work comes from his loving dad who had bipolar disorder. Ken lives with his family in Boston.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization, dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. nami.org | @namicommunicate

Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.
Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.
To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few decades after Max J. Friedman’s parents died, his grandson wanted to understand more about the family, including his grandparents, a pair of Holocaust survivors who met in a Swedish refugee camp.
Friedman realized he knew very little about who his parents really were, especially about their lives before they met one another. They never spoke of their lives before the Holocaust and very little even about the Holocaust years. He was determined to find out and ended up discovering, after a 5-year, multi-nation search, who they really were — and who he had become as a result. Join us as Gabe and Max discuss his writing journey and what lessons can be found from the Holocaust for society today.
To learn more -- or read the transcript -- visit the official episode page.

Our Guest, Max Friedman, has been telling the stories of others for his whole career — as a journalist, publicist, corporate editorial director, and book ghostwriter. He finally got to share his story by penning a stirring family memoir, Painful Joy: A Holocaust Family Memoir (Amsterdam Publishers).
Early in his career, he held a variety of positions in the communications field, ranging from newspaper and magazine journalism (with articles featured in the The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, TV Guide, and elsewhere) to serving as director of editorial services at Channel 13, New York's public television station as well as the unit publicist for Bill Moyers Journal. 
At Bristol-Myers Squibb for two decades as vice president of communications, he was primarily responsible for the company's global internal communications efforts. He joined the company in 1983 and his work there included speechwriting, employee publications, development and oversight of the company's internet site, brochures, multimedia presentations, corporate advertising, video production, the company's intranet efforts — including a webzine — and its annual report to shareholders. 
He also worked in publishing as an advertising copywriter with Macmillan, in the government (as a spokesman and editor at the Environmental Protection Agency), in education as a grant proposal writer for the City University of New York and in public relations, as an account executive with Ruder & Finn (now Ruder Finn).
He holds a BA in English and Asian Studies from Columbia College and a master’s degree in Journalism from the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
Max and his wife, Jennifer, a reference librarian, live in Larchmont, New York. They raised twin boys and have two grandchildren, one of whom lives in China. For more information, please consult: www.maxfriedman.net.

Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.
Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.
To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do so many former NFL players seem to have mental health concerns when they retire? Could we be doing more to address their emotional needs during their playing days, and if we did, do they have the tools to take action?
Former NFL player Derek Price became a doctor after retiring from play and now heads up Sierra Tucson, one of the nation’s largest mental health treatment centers in the country. He shares how these answers are not as straightforward as we think and discusses the struggles of returning military and retiring law enforcement and what he sees as a doctor. 
Join us as today’s guest tells us about his story of leaving the NFL, the reasons behind the stigma surrounding mental illness, and his new program for first responders.
To learn more -- or read the transcript -- please visit the episode page.

Our guest, Derek Price, is the Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Tucson, the award-winning Arizona-based mental health center renowned for its decades of success in treating trauma, anxiety, addiction, and chronic pain. Before joining Sierra Tucson, Derek served as CEO for American Addiction Centers, leading the 150-bed Desert Hope Treatment Center in Las Vegas.

Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.
Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without.
To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices