The Monsters We Create by Michael Vargas published on 2023-12-05T09:44:45Z *THE PODCAST IS MEANT TO BE PLAYED USING HEADPHONES. IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO HAVE A BETTER EXPERIENCE* "The Monsters We Create" is a mental health awareness podcast meant to help and invite society not to demonize people with mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia. It is meant to educate people, and it intends to give a better quality of life to people with mental health conditions. As a man who has a schizoaffective disorder, I have been living my whole life hiding my condition due to the fear of being judged and considered crazy or delusional and being left aside. I don't want any other person to feel how I did. Genre Podcast Comment by Julie D. Mayo Hi Michael, Thank you for sharing your story. What if you actually do have a superpower? I found your podcast via your Hearing Voices blog post on the NAMI Southern Nevada website. I am a volunteer at NAMI SNV and I would love to connect with you and have a conversation. Feel free to DM me if that is an option here or contact me via my website at accesspossibilities.com. I look forward to hearing from you! Julie 2025-07-08T17:13:08Z Comment by Julie K. I experience stigma related to being diagnosed with major depression. Some people who were very important in my life have shut me out because of it. I don’t know if that’s because they’re holding a grudge against me or they’re afraid of me, but they just don’t talk and they don’t want me around because they have memories of me when I had not yet been diagnosed and was not being treated. It hurts so much and actually makes recovery more difficult. 2025-05-13T01:18:37Z Comment by juana_rubio Hola Michael, me alegra muchisimo encontrar tu podcast. Yo estoy trabajando en un proyecto similar pero desde el punto de vista de la familia de personas con esquizofrenia. Me gustaria mucho poder hablar contigo sobre esto. Donde te puedo contactar? 2024-12-02T15:59:22Z Comment by Camilo Castañeda Michael, donde quizas puedo escucharlo en español ? 2024-09-03T02:05:17Z Comment by Giu Groundbreaking! Looking forward for the next episode. 2024-08-27T00:28:58Z Comment by Grupo Espírita Cristo olá, o espiritismo poderá ajkudar-te bem como a estas criaturas de vidas passadas que te acompanham. é uma ciência tão natural quanto qualquer outra, inclusive esta faculdade chama-se clariaudiência. 2024-08-24T22:28:17Z Comment by SANDRA PATRICIA AMAYA Hola Michael, te habla Sandra soy de Colombia también, Vi tu podcast y me gustaría poder hablar contigo, estoy viviendo una situación similar con un ser querido. Muchas gracias 2024-08-21T21:22:19Z Comment by Natalieanneshao Hi Michael. Will you be adding any more episodes? Very insightful and so well done. 2024-06-13T15:49:26Z Comment by Sebastián Sierra Hey man! I get to your podcast by coincidence, but I'm Colombian too and I have OCD, it would be great if you could do a spanish version of this awesome storytelling because i feel is just great. Thanks for sharing and inspiring courage. Respect. 2024-05-31T18:58:39Z Comment by Sandra Quevedo Hola soy Sandra y no se si es posible tener una versión en español.Gracias 2024-05-28T04:21:08Z Comment by franciscojtobon NPR lo compartió en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7191804744573575168 2024-05-08T16:15:37Z Comment by Malinda Paul This is amazing! Thanks for you're bravery in sharing your story.💖 2024-05-07T00:16:14Z Comment by Karina Moreno Hi Michael, thank you for sharing your story and spreading mental health awareness. My dad had schizophrenia for almost 20 years. In the early 2000s, when he received the diagnosis, there was little to no awareness of schizophrenia or mental health conditions. Many people, including members of his side of the family, never took the time to research and learn about his condition and didn't accept him or even support him. It's been slow progress, but I'm happy to see how mindsets have changed and transitioned to being more supportive and spreading awareness about mental health. Please continue to do this! I'm sending you lots of love and good wishes. You are amazing! And congratulations on winning a scholarship! 2024-05-04T21:30:22Z Comment by juth321 I had a psychotic break that manifested with schizophrenic symptoms - and it's so difficult to change mindsets, even with family members. Once I got better, there were definitely friends I lost that would never see me as anything else but crazy. The reasons behind my break didn't matter. Somehow I was completely at fault, mental, and every interaction they had with me was questioned. I had to get away from them all to get better and take care of me, surround myself with nice people. I love that you're bringing awareness to mental health - especially on mental health awareness month. You're perfect as you are Michael <3 . 2024-05-03T14:35:22Z Comment by Barbara Martini Awesome Michael! My MSN thesis was on this topic. Almost 40 years ago. This piece is groundbreaking on so many levels. Thank you dear Michael! 2024-05-03T13:53:29Z Comment by Hacker2016 Well done, thank you for doing this! 2024-05-03T12:55:15Z Comment by User 7946711 ❤️🙌👏👏 2024-05-03T12:44:24Z Comment by Melisma Cox https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/schizo-affective-disorder-what-is-it-with-melisma-cox/id1476940278?i=1000578514951 2024-05-03T10:59:57Z Comment by Melisma Cox I heard your story on NPR. I suffer from the same condition and appeared on another podcast, if you are interested. 2024-05-03T10:57:09Z Comment by Kristina Foley You are a hero! 2024-05-03T05:14:11Z Comment by Scigal Thank you for sharing your personal story and giving us a small insight into your lived experiences. Congratulations on winning the scholarship. I wish you the best in your future. 2024-05-03T03:15:36Z Comment by Tessa Campbell I appreciate your podcast and your journey. I can see that there's a positive change starting in society that mental health is just as important as physical health and that many are trying to remove stigmas. There's so much we all need to learn. I'm glad you shared this. My son was borderline and it's taken me years to try understand. unfortunately, he gave in to his pain. I'm so glad you did not. I want to raise awareness of BPD. Best wishes to you! 2024-05-03T01:17:55Z Comment by nancy t Thank you for your outstanding podcast. Your presentation was very well constructed. Your explanation of your mental health condition was so informative. I learned a lot about the condition, what and how schizophrenics hear, think and feel. It is a disorder that many people wrongly think and feel about. You are a warrior in opening up and helping others to understand. Understanding helps to eliminate fears. I have severe depression. People think I'm crazy. People think that I am always ready to off myself. People shy away from getting close. What we have is not tangible. It's not understandable. It's not a disease that someone can see like cancer. I could go on..... Congratulations on winning the scholarship. Thank you for educating us. 2024-05-02T14:09:06Z Comment by Christina Ostrander-Hoppe This is groundbreaking! Thank you so much for this. Your insight into your condition is a blessing, and it will help so many people. Please continue to create and share this important work. 2024-05-02T12:00:58Z Comment by Robert Lakatosh This is incredible 2024-03-05T02:15:33Z Comment by KaraLynnKay Thank you Michael ♥️ I too live with schizophrenia. I found your podcast both heart breaking and hopeful for myself. I hope it's helpful in spreading the positive awareness we need. Thanks again! ~KaraLynn 2024-03-05T01:06:41Z
