Podcast Episodes

Paul Rust – Anxiety, OCD & Embarrassment

The actor/writer/comedian known for the Netflix show Love, the movie Inglourious Basterds and IFC’s Comedy Bang! Bang! opens up about his battles with anxiety, OCD, taking on other people’s emotions, people pleasing, wanting attention, shame, fear of letting people down and the role vulnerability and therapy have played in him finding emotional stability and peace.

Follow Paul on Twitter @PaulRust

Follow Paul on Instagram @PaulRust

This podcast no longer recommends BetterHelp because of their unethical business practices as detailed in the suit brought against them in 2023 by the Federal Trade Commission for sharing private customer information with 3rd parties.

This episode is sponsored by HelloFresh. To get $30 off your first week of meals go to www.HelloFresh.com and use offer code MENTAL30

To take the survey Paul mentioned on the podcast (to help out a graduate student doing a thesis on how this podcast helps people) click here.

To become a monthly donor (and qualify for bonus content and goodies from Paul go to www.Patreon.com/mentalpod

Catch the podcast live at LAPodfest Oct 6-8. To learn more go to www.LAPodfest.com

If you live in the Twin Cities come see a live taping of the podcast in the afternoon and a comedy show that night (with Paul as the emcee) Sat Oct 14th. More details to follow.

To make a one-time donations via Paypal go to www.mentalpod.com/donate

Help the podcast by shopping with our podcast’s Amazon link (it doesn’t make your product any more expensive – even bookmark it!)

To help fund Paul’s next trip to record international guests, especially in Ireland, go to https://www.gofundme.com/pauls-trip-to-ireland

Plane Crash Survivor – Author Carol E. Miller

The author (Every Moment of a Fall: Recovery Thru EMDR Therapy) opens up in front of a live audience in Oakland about the years she abused herself through bad relationships, booze and sex before therapy and EMDR helped her confront her true feelings about her predatory father, passive mother, abusive step-father and the plane crash she survived as a 16 year-old.

Visit Carol’s website www.Carol-E-Miller.com

Buy her book Every Moment of a Fall: Recovery Thru EMDR Therapy

This podcast no longer recommends BetterHelp because of their unethical business practices as detailed in the suit brought against them in 2023 by the Federal Trade Commission for sharing private customer information with 3rd parties.

This episode is sponsored by Warby Parker Glasses. To try some on free at home go to www.WarbyParker.com/mental

This episode is sponsored by the men’s personal clothes styling service Bombfell To get $25 off your first purchase go to www.Bombfell.com/mental

To become a monthly donor (and qualify for bonus content and goodies from Paul go to www.Patreon.com/mentalpod

Catch the podcast live at LAPodfest Oct 6-8. To learn more go to www.LAPodfest.com

To make a one-time donations via Paypal go to www.mentalpod.com/donate

Help the podcast by shopping with our podcast’s Amazon link (it doesn’t make your product any more expensive – even bookmark it!)

To help fund Paul’s next trip to record international guests, especially in Ireland, go to https://www.gofundme.com/pauls-trip-to-ireland

Food, Porn, Shame, Vulnerability & Losing a Sibling – Matt Shepherd

Paul’s support group friend shares about recovery and battles with binge-eating, shame, compulsive exercise, not knowing what he looks like, porn addiction, love addiction, fear of leaving relationships, feeling like he “is enough”, growing up in a family where one sibling takes up all the parents’ attention and energy, surviving the suicide of his brother and the huge impact learning to be vulnerable has had on his healing and life in general.

Find out more about Matt at:

If Only You Knew My Secret

YouTube personality Sarah Sterling is 26 and was obsessed with Harry Potter (and Disney) since day one. At a convention she met a singer who captivated her. He was 24 and she was 16. Looking back, she sees it as statutory rape and is processing that. What’s possibly even harder to process for her is that she still hasn’t told her overly-protective easily-overreactive mom. Sarah talks about how she has always felt the need to protect her mom from information that would set off her anxiety and the dynamics of having a parent that loves her but sometimes just doesn’t understand her or accept her as an adult.

For more about Sarah visit:

Surviving Her Harry Potter Nightmare Headmaster – Louise M

British Therapist Louise (a pseudonym) shares about the moment in her otherwise mostly happy childhood that things changed. She shares about the abuse at a posh Harry-Potteresque school when she was six by a headmaster who walked the dark halls with a torch; her mom’s drinking, letting go of childhood shame, fear of conflict, how parents can support an abused child, when kids sexually abuse other kids, inner child work, Britain’s NHS, and trying to cope with past trauma thru drugs and sex.

This podcast no longer recommends BetterHelp because of their unethical business practices as detailed in the suit brought against them in 2023 by the Federal Trade Commission for sharing private customer information with 3rd parties.

This episode is sponsored by Casper Mattresses. To learn more go to www.Casper.com/mental Listeners can use offer code MENTAL

To become a monthly donor (and qualify for bonus content and goodies from Paul like the upcoming raffle for a free hotel, lunch with Paul, weekend passes for two and front row seats for the MIHH taping at LAPodfest Oct 6-8) go to www.Patreon.com/mentalpod

Monthly donors pick a number between 1 and 1000. The closest guess wins the hotel and weekend passes (does not include airfare). Contest ends Aug 16th. Monthly donors get 1 guess for each $5 amount they donate per month. So a 15/month donor would get 3 guesses etc. Patreon subscribers submit your guesses through the Patreon site, PayPal subscribers email Paul thru the mentalpod.com website.

To learn more about LAPodfest go to www.LAPodfest.com

To help fund Paul’s next trip to record international guests, especially in Ireland, go to https://www.gofundme.com/pauls-trip-to-ireland

To make a one-time donations via Paypal go to www.mentalpod.com/donate

Help the podcast by shopping with our podcast’s Amazon link (it doesn’t make your product any more expensive – even bookmark it!)

When Your Trauma Informs Your Turn Ons

Why do some people enjoy physical pain or become aroused by it? For Kal, the discovery came with a lot of complications; he was a young boy and it was at the hands of a powerful and sadistic pedophile Rabbi (Heshy Brier) who is now a fugitive living in Israel. Kal shares about his years of self-destruction and bottoming out before eventually getting sober and starting the process of healing and advocating for other survivors.

This podcast no longer recommends BetterHelp because of their unethical business practices as detailed in the suit brought against them in 2023 by the Federal Trade Commission for sharing private customer information with 3rd parties.

This episode is sponsored by BlueApron. To get your first 3 meals free with FREE delivery, go to www.BlueApron.com/mental

To become a monthly donor (and qualify for bonus content and goodies from Paul like the upcoming raffle for a free hotel at LAPodfest Oct 6-8) go to www.Patreon.com/mentalpod

To learn more about LAPodfest go to www.LAPodfest.com
To help fund Paul’s next trip to record international guests, especially in Ireland, go to https://www.gofundme.com/pauls-trip-to-ireland

To make a one-time donations via Paypal go to www.mentalpod.com/donate

Help the podcast by shopping with our podcast’s Amazon link (it doesn’t make your product any more expensive – even bookmark it!)

80’s Childhood Shitshow! – Dana Eagle

Imagine getting gay hate mail from your own family. Or finding a letter where your parents talk about you in a way that confirms your worst fears. How does Bipolar 2 compare to having something like cancer? Comedian and author (How To Be Depressed: A Guide) Dana Eagle opens up about being a lonely kid in the 80s whose parents couldn’t relate to her perhaps b/c her dad was alcoholic or her mom was thriving in her corporate job. Or is it genetic? Paul and Dana talk about art, comedy, shame, money, puberty, homophobia, abandonment, being bullied, moving and apes!

Buy Dana’s book How To Be Depressed: A Guide

Visit her websites www.DanaEagle.com http://howtobedepressed.com

This podcast no longer recommends BetterHelp because of their unethical business practices as detailed in the suit brought against them in 2023 by the Federal Trade Commission for sharing private customer information with 3rd parties.

This episode is sponsored by Bombas socks. For 20% off your first purchase go to www.Bombas.com/mental

The podcast is doing live recordings Aug 2 & 3 in Oakland. For details and tickets go to www.eastbayexpress.com/mental

To become a monthly donor (and qualify for bonus content and goodies from Paul like the upcoming raffle for a free hotel at LAPodfest Oct 6-8) go to www.Patreon.com/mentalpod

To learn more about LAPodfest go to www.LAPodfest.com

To help fund Paul’s next trip to record international guests, especially in Ireland, go to https://www.gofundme.com/pauls-trip-to-ireland

To make a one-time donations via Paypal go to www.mentalpod.com/donate

Help the podcast by shopping with our podcast’s Amazon link (it doesn’t make your product any more expensive – even bookmark it!)

Anxiety & Panic Attacks – Seth Swirsky

He’s authored Grammy-nominated hits for the biggest artists, put out his own albums, written best-selling books on baseball, and directed a documentary on the Beatles. And for as long as he can remember he has struggled with anxiety, panic attacks and feeling disconnected. What happens when you’re achieving your dreams but you haven’t dealt with the feelings underneath the drive to be recognized? Seth got his masters in clinical psychology. He opens up about his life and his approach to dealing with mental illness -especially depression and anxiety-, making art, raising kids and finding peace through a life lived with authenticity and meaning.