Camas mom embraces 'unnormal' in mental health podcast
ColumbianOct 23, 2018
Berry, a 41-year-old
Berry came up with the podcast idea in February. Her first episode, dropped in June, was about suicide, following the death by suicide of celebrities
"I know there are other people out there in pain that feel isolated, alone. That feel clueless, dealing with the same stuff I'm dealing with," Berry said. "As I started connecting with people online, and within the community, I knew that there was a missing component, here locally and nationwide."
The podcast hits a range of topics, and Berry always has a guest who's trained in the field of the topic. The guest is generally from the
She's discussed attention deficit disorder and attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder and depression with therapists, substance use recovery with an active member of
Berry tries to keep the podcasts around 50 minutes, but many of the topics are so involved that it can be difficult to be brief. She always includes her expert guest's contact information or resources so people can use the material from the episode even after it ends.
The podcast has more than a thousand listeners worldwide, but Berry feels like it's an important tool for the local community, especially
"When you start talking about more affluent or upper-socioeconomic families, they tend to be very secretive, and they tend to be very guarded about what's happening in their homes," Berry said. "The problem is, you think you can protect it in your home, but it's coming out in school. Educators are seeing, their community members are seeing it, their peers are seeing it, other parents are seeing it. You start seeing these problems that become really apparent when you have multiple suicides happen at a high school like
Berry said she does the podcast partly because parents can be a barrier to care when they're trying to suppress their child's mental health struggles. She said mental health ownership falls on the entire family, and especially on the parents. They play a role in how their child copes with mental health.
As far as the name "Being Unnormal" goes, Berry said it's connected to everyone's desire to strive for normal. She calls it the "fallacy of normalcy" and wants people to embrace their unnormal and realize that perfectionism isn't real life. The goal is self-acceptance. Being unnormal is normal.
"In the mental health space and with parents of children with mental health issues, there really is, 'I really just want to go back to normal,'" Berry explained. "There's this drive for parents to go back to what they perceive normal to be, which was before the symptoms of the behavior started happening. And that won't happen in mental illness. So how do you embrace what is now? And grow and cultivate a new culture for yourself and your family? How do we do that in the community? And how do we do that in the nation?"
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