We were happy to see that our friends at the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario (@mooddisordersON) tweeted a picture of Doug holding up his message of hope!
Doug has a message for those dealing with a mental illness. #BellLetsTalk #MentalHealthMatters @unhingedpc pic.twitter.com/jDLE4uOSf9
— MDAO (@mooddisordersON) January 25, 2017
Thanks to the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario for their continued support!
As we wind down the holidays, we’re taking a small break this week and will be back on Tuesday, January 10th with our New Year’s episode. We’ll talk about what it means to make resolutions, how to set attainable goals, and more on how to make 2017 a better year.
A new year provides us with a clean slate that can be used to realign our thoughts, build up hope, and tackle issues confidently. Join us next Tuesday and let’s get 2017 off to a great and hopeful start!
As some of you may know, I wrote and recorded a song called “Journey Unhinged” about Doug’s struggles. This was something that poured out of me after doing our podcast and learning more about mental illness and Doug’s history. Recently, I shared this song to a home recording community I belong to on Facebook called Home Recording Studio Folks. Michael P. O’Mara, the owner of this group, puts together a podcast featuring music recorded by group members every Friday.
I submitted “Journey Unhinged” for his podcast, and last Friday, December 9th, it was one of the featured songs on the show. Please have a listen to the Home Recording Studio Folks Podcast #20 to hear all the great music being recorded by so many talented musicians. It’s a great podcast if you like real music made by real people, and I suggest subscribing to it if you like great music. Michael does a great job editing and putting together these shows, and I really appreciate having my song featured amongst other great recordings. Thanks Michael!
Hey there, Unhinged listeners! Just wanted to post a quick update on what’s been going on. As you know, we have taken a break from the show for the last three weeks so that Doug could focus on feeling better. During that time, I started a GoFundMe campaign to help alleviate his financial stress, and that generated a couple of bits of good news. One, the genuine outpouring of love and support from our listeners, friends, and family has been nothing short of amazing! And two, GoFundMe selected our campaign as one out of 100 that received an extra $1,000 directly from GoFundMe on #GivingTuesday!
On top of that, Doug has been accepted as a peer support volunteer for the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario after a lengthy interviewing process (yay!). All these things put together has generated very positive vibes that I have to believe has helped Doug during these past three weeks.
Today was the first day with some slight relief, and after some discussion, we have decided to record a new episode of Unhinged for next week! With the holidays coming up, we know it’s a very difficult time for many, so we would like to do our first holiday episode. Our intention is to be able to record this episode some time this week, and put it out next Tuesday. That’s the current plan if Doug’s mood stabilizes or improves. We will do our best and will keep you posted if things change!
-Ed
This is amazing. As you saw from my previous post just eight days ago, I started a GoFundMe campaign called “Saving Doug”. This is an effort to help Doug with basic living expenses since he is on disability and living under the poverty line. Every month, he runs out of his disability money and can go days without eating. This, of course, does not help with his depression.
Well, we had an outpouring of donations from friends, family, and listeners! This morning we reached 50% of our goal, all in just a week’s time. But just as I was celebrating reaching this milestone, GoFundMe took it to a whole other level…
Our campaign was chosen as one of 100 campaigns (tagged with #GoBeyondGiving) that GoFundMe felt was inspiring or touching, and on #GivingTuesday (today), they donated $1,000 to our campaign! I just stared at the donation notification for what seemed like minutes before I was able to fully grasp the fact that we were selected.
So just a huge shout out to everyone who donated (listeners, friends, and family), and a special shout out to GoFundMe for recognizing Doug’s struggles and for the generous donation!
Hello Unhinged listeners! As you may know from our last show, we are taking a short break from the podcast until Doug feels a bit better. This break will help relieve some stress for him, and any bit of stress right now is hard for him to handle.
He’s been down for a few weeks now, struggling with anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and deep depression. As we’ve mentioned on the show before, he’s on disability and lives just under the poverty line. Every month, when he runs out of money, he can go days without food and is just inches away from homelessness. So to try to dig him out of this hole, I started a GoFundMe campaign so he won’t starve and to remove one of the biggest stressors he has in his life. This will help him both mentally and physically.
So if you feel like making a donation, hit the button below. Any amount helps! If you cannot donate, I totally understand. Just keep listening to our show! THANK YOU!
Hello, listeners. Today is Tuesday, and as many of you know, this is when we normally release new episodes of Unhinged. Unfortunately, due to an abnormally busy schedule this week, we have not been able to get together to record a show. Rest assured that we will be back as soon as we can find a few hours that we both have free this week. Worse case scenario, we will have a new episode ready by next Tuesday for sure.
In the meantime, this is a great opportunity to dig back in our archives and catch up by listening to any shows you might have missed. Take a look at our full episode playlist here: http://unhingedpodcast.com/unhinged-episode-playlist/
Thank you for understanding!
P.S. If you’re in the U.S., be sure to vote today!
TLC: Toronto. Laughs. Comedy.
The very long and state-of-the-art brain surgery called DBS. There were more medical staff involved in the room, than I’ve ever seen before.
Friends,
As of this evening, I have decided to end the Indiegogo (Generosity) fundraising campaign. I am more than determined to do what it takes to work in an advocate capacity and push for necessary change in many areas of Mental Health. These of course include continuing to fund research in areas such as Genetics, Neuroscience, Peer Support and of course a much stronger commitment from governments to support those who are in dire need and who are fighting for their lives.
Awareness has definitely come a long way in the last several years, and this fundraising campaign was a testament to just that. In just 4 days, we received 7 donations that allowed us to reach 68% of our original goal…in my eyes and my heart that truly says something about the inherent goodness of people. I’ve met many special friends through social media and I’m extremely grateful for these selfless, wonderful people.
DBS Brain Surgery Saved My Life: Neurosurgery + Genetic Research + Digital Brain Imaging. I am deep in the heart of three clinical trials that are at the forefront and cutting edge in the areas of Neuroscience, Genetic Research, Neuropsychiatry and more. My case is a particularly rare one, and severely intractable, so at this moment I feel good & proud about the fact that these leading scientists & practitioners are learning and advancing in treatment due to my participation and the data that they’re collecting.
If you’ve been keeping up with the podcast, you know that right now, since the MEG Imaging, I am feeling better than I’ve felt in a lot of years. So now, it’s a matter of whether or not the remission continues and if and when I’ll be able to enjoy a meaningful quality of life. Thanks to these advancements in science, as well as the support of friends and family, I will remain hopeful, keep fighting, and will devote the rest of my life helping others get through their immense challenges dealing with this disease.
The Primary reason for ending the campaign early, or why I’d launched it in the first place, is because I’m finally in a place where life & living matters, and doing the podcast is not only therapeutic, it’s broadcasting, which I’d studied in the 90’s and even worked as a radio talk show host for spell. To me now, I feel that it’s my calling in a sense to couple my communication skills with exactly the type of subject matter we cover on Unhinged and I do not want to lose that opportunity to be a voice for those who feel alone, unimportant and ultimately feel they are not heard.
So the show MUST go on, it’s my turn to help & advocate for those in real need, but it was imperative that I found some, at least temporary was to somehow supplement my below-poverty level income, because for one it’s morally wrong, but when you face the prospect of not eating anything for days at the end of each month, it’s inevitable that fear & negative emotions will arise and I get psychologically down, even though I can tell the Neurology (DBS) is working…but I’m still faced with the realization every month not knowing where my next meal is coming from.
Once again, I send out a heartfelt thank you to our supporters and please be sure to tune into out Podcast every Tuesday, not only is it an important means of communicating our plans of advocacy, but it is subject matter that can help people on all walks of life deal with challenging & difficult times in their lives. Hope Lives!
Best,
-Doug Warren Rickel
Mental Health Advocate & Survivor
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.’
~Maya Angelou
“The Brain Pacemaker” Explained…
If you follow our show, you know that the last two episodes have been done without Doug since he was struggling with severe anxiety and was unable to participate. Normally, we record an episode every Sunday and publish it every Tuesday. This past Sunday was again a no-go since Doug’s anxiety was still very high.
Today (Monday) Doug is actually feeling slightly better and thinks he might be able to record an episode tomorrow night. If we can do that, we should be able to get a show out this week. This is what we’re shooting for right now, but like with any mental illness, nothing is a guarantee.
Doug feels very passionate about this, and as of last night’s discussion, he wants to fight through all the discomfort and put together a show not only to prove something to himself, but to prove something to the listeners that are all too valuable to us. He will not let this disease win.
So that’s where we stand right now. We’re hoping for a show this week, and will try our best to deliver. I don’t want to put out another show by myself since I think Unhinged works best when we’re both on. Worst case, we take a little break until we’re ready to pick up again. Hope you understand.
Stay tuned right here so you don’t miss a thing! Thank you for listening and for all of your support!
Oh, and by the way, today is Doug’s birthday 🙂
