Episode Transcript
<p><!--block-->Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Couple O' Nukes. As always, I'm your host, Mr. Whiskey. And sometimes when it comes to mental health, it's not the diagnosis or the mental health condition that is ultimately what is making life so difficult, but rather our refusal to accept it, our resistance to it, and the way we treat it and see it and incorporate it into our lives. This can be especially the case with bipolar disorder, which we're gonna be talking about today, here with a guest who says, "Bipolar is my superpower." How we frame our mental health conditions, whether permanent or temporary, can play a huge role into how we live our lives. So let's see how we can frame it in a way that is beneficial to us and others. Here with Reza Ghahremy to talk about this, a fellow podcaster and a man who has, again, lived and walked this journey of both resistance and acceptance, here to share his story and insights. Mr. Ghahremy, so great to have you here, and could you please tell us a little bit about yourself? Thank you so much for that intro, Mr. Whiskey. Um, so, uh, so I'm Reza, and, um, uh, you did a good job pronouncing my name. Thank you. Most people don't get it. Um, and I... What can I start with? Um, so I, uh, I'll just tell you kind of what I do. I'm in a sales, IT sales job. That's my daytime job, and then I'm a DJ, and I have a podcast, and I recently published the book, Bipolar Is My Superpower: How Acceptance Changed My Life. And I just wanna give you a quick, give the listeners a quick, um, important disclaimer. The title does not glorify mania or psychosis or hospitalization. This is something that you'll find a lot of people that haven't come to acceptance with this condition, they are, they're the ones that are glorifying and calling the mania their superpower. This is not something I'm doing at all. The reason I called it my superpower is after your episodes, after you go to the hospital, and after you accept that you're taking your medication now, and you go through recovery groups- And you work on yourself, that's the superpower. So imagine you didn't have this condition, you don't really, uh, you're not... I mean, sure, you can work on yourself, but not as much as I need to work on myself. So the idea behind that title is now that I have this condition, because I have to work on myself more than other people, because I, I get all nerdy with the psych- psychology terms, CBT, DBT, dialectical behavioral therapy, opposite action, this, that, that's a superpower. Does that make sense? Yes. You're talking about there's an extra layer of character development that ultimately, while it's more trial and error, you come out stronger. Uh, just like- Exactly ... if you were to go to, if you had to work harder in the gym, ultimately that results in not just more improved physical ability, but also the mental health aspect of resilience and discipline. And so I wanna talk about, you know, I mentioned the words denial and resistance, and of course that's because you mentioned there's taboo around being bipolar. Uh, I think recent years we've seen a shift. I, at least on my end as a podcast host, I've had plenty of conversations, honest conversations about it, but if I were to ask my parents or my grandparents about it, you know, they'd have a much different opinion compared to a lot of the newer generations when it comes to mental health conversations. There were not podcasts about bipolar mental health just a few years ago. And so I'd love to talk about, you know, you growing up at... And the most important part, a lot of the people from the prior generations before me, be- for millennials especially, you know, they were not diagnosed until much later in life. They didn't know. Nowadays people get diagnosed a little bit sooner. There's more technology resources available. People are more active about it. But I have interviewed many people who they, they didn't know they were bipolar until late 20s, 30s, even 40s or 50s. So tell us a little bit about that aspect. Yeah, I love that. Um, so, um, I was actually one of those people that got diagnosed relatively later in life, right? Mm. Um, I was... How old was I? So this, uh, my first diagnosis was in 2018. We're now in 2026. I'm 39. So how many years ago? If we do the math, I was 29 or 30 years old when I got diagnosed, right? And- To be frank with you, you just, I just never knew. Like, it, like, it never had an episode of hypomania or mania to be diagnosed prior to that. And so oftentimes... But to, to address what you stated about the older generation, I am so grateful to be living in this generation where we are more accepting and we have better medication to, to allow us to accept to take that medication. It's not like in the 1930s where sort of the only option was lithium, and they still prescribe it today for some severe cases, I think. Uh, but the, the side effects are insane with that. For example, you gotta take blood tests every now and then just to monitor it in your system. Yeah, of course. So nowadays we've got things like Abilify, which is what I'm on. We've got things that are more modern, less side effects Did I... You, you kind of said a lot, so I, I don't know. I'm forgetting the other points to address. Um- Yeah, you addressed that you were diagnosed a little bit later in life, and I guess my question with that, was it kind of a sh- was it in a way a relief, like, "Wow, so much of my life makes sense now," or was it like a, "Who am I?" identity crisis, like, "Is this who I am? I mean, I haven't been this for y-..." Like, did the label change your life in some ways? Oh my God, it's definitely identity crisis. It's definitely... No, it's not the first thing that you said, which is a, a relief. No. No, no, no. So what happens is, because it's a heavy diagnosis and because these medications initially they put you on pretty, pretty severe things like olanzapine. Somebody can Google this if they're listening. Olanzapine is, like, I think a horse tranquilizer, Mr. Whiskey. Yeah. It is so heavy that imagine you win the lottery. You're so up from that, and they put you on olanzapine. Believe me, you're gonna fall asleep. It's, it's that heavy, right? It's not like your standard sleep medication, right? So what I'm... The point I'm trying to make is you, they put you on this stuff. You're in the hospital. You're, you're, you're carrying the stigma. "Oh my God, what are people gonna think?" And you're in denial. You wanna do everything you can to fight the diagnosis initially. This is a pattern I've seen among many people, not just myself. Yeah. It takes you years. Like, I was in denial to the point where I kind of manipulated my, one of the psychiatrists into telling me that it, that I don't have it. And then he finally said, "You, you know, you don't have it. It's probably drug-induced from marijuana, and it, uh, and so that's what happened to you." So he... I had a doctor who for a year I was like, "Yes, I don't have this," you know? And, and then of course I, I relapsed and I had another episode. And then it took me a long time, many years, to kind of accept this, embrace it, and of course go public with it. And that to me, excuse the pun, but that's crazy how far I've come. And so, uh, I'm, I'm very proud of myself for accepting this because it allows me to accept the fact that I need medication to stay well. And when you see a lot of the sort of, quote-unquote, "lack," again excuse the pun, "craziness" that people- Project, the ones that have this condition, the ones that are glorifying the mania, those folks haven't accepted that they need to have medication in order to stay well. And I used to hate this analogy that the doctors would tell me. They're like, "This is like diabetes. People with diabetes, without the medication, they can't stay well." And I would hate that analogy. But if you're listening to this and you still hate this analogy, then you haven't come into acceptance with your bipolar disorder because you have to take the medication in order to stay well. Hmm. And so your, your goal with these conversations is that the earlier the acceptance, the more prevention we can have, the better lives we can have sooner as someone with these conditions. Which I apologize to everyone, we gotta back up. This is what we should have started with really, is breaking down the myths around what is bipolar disorder. A lot of people think of it as really, uh, they put it almost synonymous with split personality. You know, you're hot and cold, so to speak. But I know, having hosted hundreds of episodes, that mental health conditions are much more complex than what we often stereotype them to be. Uh, dyslexia was an eye-opening episode for me where, you know, it's not just the rearranging of letters. You know, there's, that's a symptom of many different complex things working together. Bipolar disorder is the same way. There's a lot to it. There's a severity scale as well. You've mentioned, uh, some people are much more severe than others. So let's break down a little bit, what actually is bipolar disorder? I love it. Um, so the thing you have to realize is first off, to, to make a long explanation short, there's two types. There's type one bipolar disorder that is more manic episode-based and more filled, the episodes are more severe, more... Also potentially psychosis can happen. And a type, and then there's type two bipolar disorder, which is more less severe, the episodes, but more episodic, more frequently- Hmm episodic. So when you see the stereotype of the woman or the Katy Perry song, hot and cold- Or, you know, where she describes dating somebody that has bipolar. I think it was one of her exes who really did have that. You're, you know, in the... and, and on pop culture and on Hollywood movies, we see this stereotype of hot and cold, one up one day and down the other day, upset, happy. That doesn't happen to me with Type 1. I've never experienced being moody, and in, in my book, I actually de- dedicated a chapter that bipolar does not mean moody. So outside of the three episodes that I've had in my life, Mr. Whiskey, I have just lived a normal life. I'm, I'm very chill. Mm. I, I don't, I don't get angry. Like, uh, sometimes I'm like, uh, sometimes I wonder, certain people that don't have what I have are more angry and more moody- Hmm ... than I am. So- Right. Yeah, yeah. But, but it's, it's, uh, the Type 2 is the... So that's essentially what this condition is, and there's, as you pointed out, there's a spectrum in mental health conditions, and that spectrum You know, you can't just say... It, it's different. It's kind of for everybody a little bit. For sure, and I think with a lot of cartoons or television renditions of it, we see, you know, the angry outburst. Maybe it's breaking furniture, the very vivid in the facial structure and expression. Uh, but we also see a very quick cool-down period, uh, compared to real episodes could probably last for, uh, quite a while. You know, I've interviewed different people. Sometimes it's hours, sometimes it's days. And I think, uh, I, I love that you talk about being moody, because that's what a lot of people think it is, that you just suddenly get into such a foul mood. And I think we overuse the word a, a lot as well, you know? 'Cause we'll say anytime, you know, a lot of people in a relationship will, will say to their, their partner, you know, "You're being bipolar." You know? Exactly. And it, it- Exactly ... one of those things where I talk about, you know, I've done a lot of episodes on depression, anxiety, ADHD, Tourette's, mental health. There's a lot of people who use those words very freely, very loosely, very self-diagnosis kind of ways. Uh, a lot of social media attention, clickbaiting and stuff. And it's really unfortunate 'cause it takes away, uh, kind of like the boy cried wolf situation, right? Where if you're saying you're bipolar, well, people are like, "Everyone's bipolar. Everyone says they're bipolar." You know? Or, you know, "Everyone I've dated is bipolar." Right? So it's, uh, s- we kind of detract from the people who actually need the help. And so I mean, it sounds like you had a pr- So tell us a little bit more about, especially with your community, was this something where your family or friends were judgmental? Did you feel supported? Uh, you know, I don't think that's the case for everyone. There, there definitely are some parents or friends who will judge us or treat us differently to a degree. How was your personal experience with that? Yeah. I love the questions. You're a great host, by the way. Um- Oh, thank you. Appreciate that. Um, so yeah, of course. I had a very supportive family. Um, take my glasses off. I don't know why I'm wearing glasses. Got the Made In Re- uh, Oakleys. Um- Just for the aesthetics. Just to- Yeah ... to, to look cooler and smarter. Exactly. More. So I had a very supportive family. Of course, it didn't make sense to them either at first, you know? E- even... So to make, again, a sort of a long, complicated explanation shorter, um, I think what folks who experience their loved ones, their friends going through episodes similar to this, please don't judge the person. during the, while he's on his episode or her episode, it's, again, l- excuse the pun, it's a lot of craziness that goes on in the episodes. But, but if you have the right self-awareness, if you've accepted this, if you're on your medication, the episodes first of all become way less severe, and second, um, you can catch yourself because there's a threshold. Once you're in the episode, Mr. Whiskey, then it's like you're fully in. Mm-hmm. And you don't have the self-awareness to know that something's going on. You think it's real, kind of. And so the idea behind it is your family and friends and your support, your network, your doctors, there's certain textbook signs, uh, symptoms, where we call it the textbook symptoms of bipolar disorder. Overspending is one of them. Hypersexuality is another one. Uh, risk-taking, feeling extremely grandiose, feeling that you're, like, famous, for example, feeling that, like, everybody thinks you're famous. Um, um, extremely sort of a little bit irritable. Not sleeping much, that's another, that's a big one. And so those are the kind of things that you should look for. And with me, Mr. Whiskey, at this point I've written the book, I've come to full acceptance with it. I am super confident with trusting God and trusting my family members and trusting my self-awareness that I'll be able to catch myself and, and, and prevent another episode from happening. Mm-hmm. And, and I pray every day that, that that's the case for me. And now I'm gonna ask you the big question that a lot of believers who have a mental health condition or bipolar disorder struggle with: God, why would you make me this way? You know, how has that affected your faith journey? Because it's a turning point for many people where they walk away from God because of this. You mentioned God being a part of your life now. How did you figure out that part of your faith journey? So this Bible came up every time I was in the hospital Um, and I did mention not to glorify mania and all that, but, and this is not what I'm doing here. But for some weird reason, there's anecdotal evidence, and there is some literature to back this up, people that experience episodes become extremely spiritual. Mm. It's something I noticed among the people I was in the hospital with, like we would start talking about the Bible, and everybody kind of, of course the, the Christian people. But I, I don't come from a Christian background, Mr. Whiskey. I, I was born as a Muslim. Oh. Now, when I first experienced hypomania, that's when I started looking at Christianity. And then every episode I had, it became stronger. So that is the one thing that I did take from my episodes, and embraced that spirituality, and now I'm a Protestant. I, I was... I got baptized in June, recently- Oh, wow ... after many years of just attending the church and, um, and things like that. So, um, some s- people that are listening to this, why did God make me this way? Again, think about this as a chapter in your life, and I talk about this in my book, the chapter 10, where you kind of can compare life to a video game. Do you play video games, Mr. Whiskey, or have you ever played video games? Occasionally, yeah. Yeah. The... If you're playing the video game in your first-person perspective, you're playing it wrong. You gotta zoom out. So imagine you're playing GTA, and Reza is a character, and in real life I'm holding the controller and I'm playing my own character. Zooming out, I'm looking at myself in the third person. The experiences in my life are in the character, but the self-worth is in the player playing the game. Mm. And so the way I frame this, and I got this from Julien Blanc, the self-help coach, I have to give him credit for this, um, but if you look at that analogy, you don't feel that your self-worth is less. My self-worth is not less than you because I have bipolar disorder. God made me this way for a reason, and it's just a chap- the manic episodes are just a chapter in my life. It's like levels of the video game. But if I put the controller down and stop playing the game, Mr. Whiskey, that's like suicide, and that's like giving up. So self-worth in the player, experience in the character, and that mindset really helped me a lot. Mm. Oh, that's beautiful, and I, I completely agree. You know, I think of God when he confronts Job, he says, "Brace yourself like a man, and I will ask you all these things," and we see that the universe is so... That's, that's what Job is. God says, "All right, Job, I'm gonna take you, let's take a step back together." Then he presents him all these different things of the universe, and you realize how big and interconnected everything is. And, you know, I think about just the conversation you and I are having now would not have existed, and, uh, every episode of your podcast and, and your book and all the people who have read it and interacted with it. Everything we do is so interconnected, and it is mind-blowing. It's... It can be almost overwhelming to take a step back and b- realize how big everything is and how small at the same time. Uh, so that's, that's very beautiful. And so you, you wrote a book. You've mentioned it a few times. What was kind of like the inspiration? When did you say, "Hey, you know what? I'm gonna write a book," and what was the motivation behind that? Yeah, thank you for that question. Um, so the motivation... Actually, that's a good question. What-- I gotta think about that because, um, there, there was something that caused me to write the book. Um, I, I think I had... Oh, I had, like, a friend of mine who kind of has bipolar disorder, and I had other folks with the condition, and I would see a pattern. I was like, "God, these people just, they don't accept this condition. They're in denial." Like, I had a, a friend of mine who, he's known he has had it for many years, and he messages me on Instagram. He's like, "Dude, I'm considering stopping the meds, man." Like, come on. Are you crazy? Excuse the pun again. I'm like, how could you tell me that you wanna stop the meds after knowing and after been, having been through this for so many years? And then I noticed these patterns of people that just wanna fight the diagnosis over and over again. So that's why I wrote the book, How Bipolar Is My Superpower And How Acceptance Changed My Life, and part of the, the title, Superpower, is that spirituality that I took from the episode, believe it or not. I probably... I'm not, not sure if I mentioned that in the book, but I do, I think. I'm pretty sure I do. Um, but it's, again, embracing some of the, the good stuff of the episode, right? Um, why not? Why not embrace Christianity? It's a good thing. And so the idea behind the book is really acceptance and similar to drug recovery, addiction recovery, mental health recovery. I've always wondered, Mr. Whiskey, why people that go through, uh, the AA meetings, the first thing they say is what? "My name is Reza, and I'm a alcoholic." And I-- It never made sense to me why they said that. I would always challenge this in the groups 'cause I had some drug problems too. Talk about it in the book. But I, I would always challenge. I was like, "Why? I'm not a drug addict anymore. Why do I have to say that?" And now it makes sense to me because the first step, again, is acceptance. My name is Reza. I'm a b- I'm a bipolar disorder. I, I have bipolar disorder. Now, yes, what am I gonna do with that information? I'm gonna, I'm gonna take my medication. That's the number one thing. If anyone's listening to this, please, please, please give it a chance. I know there's side effects, but you gotta give it a chance and give it, give it some time to do its work, and the side effects over time will lessen. You really reminded me of, you know, talking about you've got someone reaching out to you, they wanna stop their medication, and, and you know, you're stating, "But you know what happens," and we've been there, and we've done that. And it just made me really think of all the work I've done in addiction recovery and the relapse. The, "Why? Last time you drank you got a DUI. You lost your marriage. Your kids don't talk to you. Why would you drink again?" You know? Exactly. It's that same frustration. And, you know, I've had a lot of conversations around that, "I am an alcoholic" statement. I've had episodes where people were very against it, gave their point of view. Some people who said, "Hey, I need that reaffirmation to remind myself," because there comes a point in healing and recovery where I get a little overconfident and I think, "I'm no longer an alcoholic. I'm recovered. I can start drinking again. I can do drugs again." Or, you know, "I haven't had an episode in a while. You know, maybe I'm not bipolar anymore. I can control it now. I'm gonna stop taking my meds." And that overconfidence can be fatal. You know, Dr. Brian Luquin, and I, I quote him all the time. He was on my podcast. He talked about addiction is like a demon doing push-ups in the corner of your mind. It's waiting. It's ready. It's waiting every single day for the moment you slip up, you know? And that's kind of the thing. You know, you talked about as of right now with science, you know, the medication isn't a permanent cure for bipolar disorder. It is, you know, a, a... I, I would guess I would call it a constraining device, and until we have the science to permanently cure it in a, in a single pill or shot or whatever it may be, uh, maybe they'll try to put a chip in your brain. I don't, I wouldn't trust that. But, you know. Whatever it is, you have to remember that it's, it's there, and it's waiting for the minute, you know, you constrain it a little less than normal. And so, you know- Yeah, yeah ... and I, I wanna ask in, in your own personal journey, have you ever relapsed? Have you ever gotten overconfident and said, "Enough of the medicine," or was your acceptance a one and done kind of situation? Oh, no. Not, not... This is not at all it was a one and done situation. So it took me, uh, five or s- sort of five, three, or four to five years to come to acceptance with this. So the first episode, the second episode, I became more accepting during the second episode. A little bit more accepting, but, but I wasn't fully there yet. Um, and in, in the third episode... So what I'm trying to say is, um, every time I've had an episode, Mr. Whiskey, it's been because I wasn't on my medication, because I was trying to get off of it. Mm. This is why I should have titled the book really, Take Your Medication. That's what the title should have been. I, I, if I write a second version, you know, I wish I had really taken that approach to the title because, again, I don't want people to think I'm glorifying the mania. The most important thing is to take your medication. And, uh, as you pointed out, it's not a guarantee that you won't relapse, but- With the medication, even if you relapse, the studies are there, you're gonna have less of a severe, uh, episode. So, um, that's what I would say. Right. It's about controlling it to the best of our abilities as we can right now. And so- Yeah, and exactly ... you know, you talked about creating the book, spreading awareness, trying to, again, y- it took you multiple episodes, but maybe we can reach someone right now and they, and they don't want to go through any, or maybe just one or two, right? And that's what it's about. But I mentioned also a podcast. Is that the same kind of, of field of, of service, of making impact, of self-improvement, of spreading the message? Um, you mean through, like- Your, your podcast. Oh, my podcast is not about this, it's about, um... I'm, I'm, I'm actually sort of evolving a little bit more to self-improvement stuff, but it's more about dating relationships. Now, to, to address what you said, it helps because we are For me, the podcast, the DJing, it does help with my condition because it allows me to feel more creative, and a lot of us with this condition, when we have these episodes, we do feel very creative. It's very spiritual, as I mentioned. But then the meds, they take away a little bit of that. But this, this hobby of mine, the podcasting, the DJing, it allows me to, to still feel those things, and it's a good, it's a good outlet. I think I recommend everyone to, to have a hobby and to, you know, outside of their 9:00 to 5:00, to, to do something that they love to do, and that's just great for everybody, regardless of whether or not you have bipolar disorder Right. So why did you start the podcast? Was it just because you felt the, the urge, the creative need to do something? Not necessarily. I've started the podcast because I'm a, I'm a very, um, much of a Gary Vaynerchuk follower of his content. And I think, uh, s- several years ago, I just kept watching his content and, and he's like, uh, you know, something like And I heard somewhere, I'm like, like, it's just so easy to get started nowadays with a podcast. Yeah. Like, back in the day, you had to know how to push the RSS feed and how to get it on Spotify, YouTube. You had to do all that separately. Now you go on a platform- Right, right ... and it just pushes it out automatically with one click, and it's not that expensive. And, and so, and in my mind, I'm like, and Gary Vee, I think he said, he's like, "Well, if you're not doing this, you're staying behind." Like, you know, i- in the sense that this is, like, baseline. It's- Mm-hmm ... so I, I really took that seriously, and I wanted to, and I'm, and I wanted to kind of just, you know. And then through the podcast, uh, I'm learning something, I'm sharing it with other people. And you do have to be a little bit passionate about it. Oh, yeah. I don't recommend it for everybody. Um, you gotta like the technology. You gotta like your own voice. You gotta be confident, and you gotta own that stuff. And, uh, but that's just one thing you can do, podcasting. You can do other things too, but yeah. Yeah, I have to counter you. I think I've met very few podcasters who like their voice. They just accept it. Yeah. You know? Uh, My Voice Is My Superpower: Accepting That You Don't Like How You Sound. You know, that, that'll be my book. Um- ... 'cause most podcasters are like, "I hate hearing my own voice," you know? And, uh- Well, maybe they need to get a Shure mic. Yeah. Sound better on the mic. Yeah, yeah. Not a sponsor, but I, I think it's- No ... awesome to start a podcast. Like you said, the technology's no longer the issue. What it is, and, and I'll, I'll say when you mention passion, this is what it involves. The big issue with podcasting is consistency, discipline, and burnout, and that passion is what really can help fuel all of that because I've had plenty of podcasts And your, and your why. You know, I spoke on a podcasting panel at Military Creator Con about the why is so important because a lot of people, I've had people who I interviewed who were podcasters. They started after me, before me, whatever, and then a few weeks later, after their episode's published, they're like, "I quit podcasting. I wasn't making-" Yeah ... the 40,000 a month I thought I was gonna be making." And you know, some people get in it to- Just make money off of podcasting is a very difficult thing to do. Now, if you wanna get into podcasting to leverage a business, to make social connections, to just increase your knowledge, those are doable. Uh, but- Yeah ... make, having podcasting with a business or having podcasting as a business, two very different things, you know? 100%. But I, I think that passion i- is so important. And you talk about, and, uh, especially podcasting about something you like to talk about. So you chose dating and relationships specifically, you mentioned. What is the, the why behind that? Uh, is that just something you enjoy, or are you just weeping over how bad it is out there? You know, we look at dating culture now and, um- Yeah ... all these different dating shows and dating games and, and dating apps, and it's, it's a war zone out there, so maybe you were like, "I can't stand this," and I wouldn't blame you. So totally. For me, it all started, uh, when I ... I was born in Utah, by the way, and I, when I did my undergrad at USU, I was a very sociable guy. Right? I was like the connector of the campus. In fact, I worked for Zag InvisiShield as a promoter. You know those campus promoter guys? Right, right. They got the free swag. So I was one of those guys, and for, for a little bit at least. Um, so because I knew so many people, they reached out. They're like, "Hey, man, we, we think you're awesome. We want you to promote for us." And so I did that for a while. The point I'm trying to make is, but I was still... Uh, my dating life sucked. Like, I wasn't... And I'm not attr- I don't know, maybe I'm a little bit better looking now, but I don't know, man. Maybe it's my looks or something. I'm not the, I'm not the Brad Pitts of the world, Mr. Wistom, so. You got the glasses back on. Maybe that's what it is. But what I'm trying to say is when the show Pickup Artist on VH1 came out, do you remember that? Or I don't know how old you are, but... Okay. So the Pickup Artist on VH1 came out. Mystery, he, he, he basically had two seasons and then some, some stuff happened and the show got canceled. But he taught guys that were particularly socially awkward how to attract women. Hm. So that's when it all started for me is like I, I was very... I became very obsessed with kind of learning what I can do to gain more confidence with myself- Hm ... and to learn how, not manipulation. A lot of people- Right ... misconfuse it with manipulation. It's not manipulation at all. It's just social skills, learning how to read the room properly, situational awareness, and those are the kind of skills you learn from this stuff. So I dabbled in this stuff for many years, man, um, from going to conferences for it and just watching a lot of YouTube videos about this stuff. And, uh, so the podcast, just naturally that's what I was passionate about. To- at some point I even wanted to be, consider being a dating coach because, like, I had all this knowledge. Why not? But then, I don't know, something happened and I didn't do it. But, um, that's where, where that came from. So is the podcast just you teaching resources and skills, or do you interview different dating coaches and experts? Who should check it out? Yeah. I, I interview, I interview, um... It's not a solo podcast whatsoever. I don't even know how solo podcasting... How do they just talk and talk and talk? Right, right, right. I don't know how to do that. That's, that's incredible for me. But, um, no, I interview from all different, uh, types of coaches. So we've got the f- sort of the more manosphere type of coaches, right? The ones that are more teaching men how to do this. We've got the more feminine feminist types, and we've got the middle ground types. All kinds of coaches that help you from anything from learning how to sort of attract a woman to Now talking about different dynamics in the relationship itself to... I had a... What was my last show about? It was about, like, people-pleasing. Mm. So now we're talking about, like, you know, some people are over people-pleasing and they don't have the strongest boundaries, and so lots of stuff. I think it's interesting. It's called The Rez Podcast, and it's available on all platforms. R-E-Z, The Rez Podcast, and thanks for letting me promote that on your show. But yeah, it's exciting stuff. Yeah, so you know, you got the podcast, you got the book. Uh, we talked about both of those. W- And just to wrap it up, kind of, what is the future looking like? Any big plans or projects coming up or just the, you know- Yeah ... the promotion of the prevention and awareness conversations? So Mr. Whiskey, um, I'm 39 and I have a master's degree from University of Buffalo. I studied science. I've been in sales. You know my hobbies. But I'm still not happy with my career. Mm. So I'm deciding the future for me now that I have this book and now everybody knows how passionate I am about mental health, I wanna go into that field a little bit. So I'm exploring different programs to go into becoming maybe a counselor of mental health or addictions, and I think I can make a difference for people because I have lived experience and- Yes ... anyone listening to this, trust me, I, I looked for therapists that have lived experience, and they're, they're very hard to find. Mm. So for me, I think, um, that's the kind of my future right now. It's what it's looking at, looking like. Yes, sir. Well, I appreciate you sharing those dreams with us, and I definitely agree, especially with, uh, you know, how niche this topic can be. But again, it's a, it's a broader conversation, too, about mental health, about awareness and self-improvement. And I always say, you know, even if you don't have bipolar disorder, it's really important to have this knowledge for when someone in your life does get diagnosed or you get diagnosed or... You know, you never know what's gonna happen in life. And I know you as a podcaster, you understand this. Uh, it's just great to constantly learn, be a lifelong learner, always know more, and be able to make an impact. So thank you for sitting down with me today to talk about this, to spread awareness, and you know, we're gonna have your book and podcast in the description below for people to check out, and I highly encourage everyone to do so. Thank you so much, Mr. Whiskey. It's on Amazon for 9.99 USD, and if anybody is struggling to afford that, send me a message on Instagram, rezaglife, and I will happily ship it to you for free. Just tell me your story and why you want the book. Perfect. Thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Whiskey.</p>
