News and Happenings

Beth’s daughter Brittany was 14 months sober when she turned 29 and was kicked off her insurance, ending her stint at the one treatment program that addressed both her addiction and her mental health. On June 25th she overdosed and died. For our season finale, we talk to Beth about Brittney’s legacy, how the system failed her, and what we can do to try and prevent it from happening to someone else.

This was supposed to be an episode about languishing –– a mental health term that came into the spotlight in COVID that means feelings of emptiness, stagnation, or the absence of happiness. But our expert on languishing canceled, due to their own physical and mental health issues. So we thought this was a great opportunity to answer all of the questions we’ve received about mental health in COVID.

After criticisms on Twitter turned into a mob of personal attacks, Amanda Jetté Knox sunk into one of the deepest spirals of her life. She checked herself into the hospital for suicidal thinking. But it wasn’t the first time that she’d hit a low point, and she knows now that it won’t be the last. This week she shares how she’s walking the long road of depression and trauma recovery.

The best way for Dr. Paul Kalanithi to process his terminal diagnosis was to write a book about accepting death. His wife, Dr. Lucy Kalanithi promised Paul she’d see the book through publication. Since then, she has shared her story all over the world and has helped people become more comfortable talking about death, grief, and acceptance.

We’re often taught that trauma is something that happens to us, but psychiatrist Dr. Alauna Curry explains that trauma is something that happens within us. Using different parts of the brain, she explains how our experiences and beliefs can lead us to experience something as traumatic, and how we can use those same systems to heal from that trauma.

This week Nzinga answers two listener questions about setting boundaries in long-term relationships with partners who are working through addiction. Plus, one woman wants to know how to heal from her traumatic relationship patterns, while another caller wants to break out of their pattern of shame around an old pornography addiction.

Not guilty for reason of insanity is a full acquittal of criminal charges. Does that mean it’s a get out of jail free card? Turns out it’s much more complicated. Olachi Etoh first started hearing voices in 2009. It hit its peak five years later, when she thought she was experiencing a terrorist attack at Chicago O’Hare airport. Her reaction landed her in Cook County Jail for a year awaiting trial.

What happens after your question is answered on the show? One of our listeners decided to follow up to push back on part of Nzinga’s response. He and Nzinga discuss what resonated, what hurt, and end up digging into much more than either of them expected.

This week Nzinga catches up with activist and Pod Save the People host DeRay Mckesson and his dad, Calvin. Last year DeRay, his sister TeRay, and Calvin were on an episode of Last Day to talk about what it was like growing up around addiction and recovery. Now, we hear about the impact that conversation had on their relationship, and the way that COVID has (or hasn’t) changed the game for both of them.

In this round of listener questions, one friend asks about serial monogamy and the pattern she sees in her female friends of hanging on to relationships. A brother wants to know what he can tell his sister about her curtailing her son’s Fortnite tantrums. Plus, one woman who doesn’t understand why her son would be given Suboxone.