People do all kinds of things to bring attention to mental health and suicide prevention. There are people who have ridden bicycles nude around the United Kingdom. Some take ice baths and do push-up challenges. A few years ago, the host of this very podcast filmed himself driving his 1963 Beetle, emblazoned with the Suicide/Crisis line on the rear window, up and down the East Coast.

Tim Perreira is walking across the United States to bring awareness to men's mental health and suicide prevention. He is doing it to challenge himself, to help himself understand. To help himself help others.

On day 70 of his cross-country journey from Newport Beach to Virginia Beach, Tim sat down on a rest-day in a motel room in Elkhart, Kansas to share the profound story, journey, and experience with a fellow mental health and suicide awareness advocate, RDID's host, Gabriel Nathan. These two men care so deeply about the activism in which they engage, and their sometimes diverging, sometimes aligning perspectives shine through, making this interview engaging and far-reaching.

For Tim, this path he is creating is as much a reaching out as it is a reaching in. Despite appearing successful on paper—good grades, promising tech career, living in major cities—Tim experienced what he describes as "a landslide going on internally" between 2016-2020. His motivation disappeared, his health declined, and eventually, he lost his job due to declining performance.

Tim was able to rally, making changes in his personal and professional life, but it wasn't enough. He sunk into an even deeper depression, far more recently, and he knew he had to do something. And sometimes inspiration is a slow burn, and sometimes it hits-- well-- like lightning. That's how this went for Tim.

Tim knew he'd found his path forward. Now raising $50,000 for men's mental health charities, Tim approaches each day with his mantra "this too"—embracing every experience, whether it's physical pain, gear problems, or moments of beauty, as part of life's curriculum. "Life isn't happening to you," he explains, "it's happening for you."

What makes Tim's journey so compelling isn't just the miles covered but how he's transformed conceptual understanding into embodied wisdom. By walking without distractions and processing his thoughts in real-time, he's creating a living demonstration of mental health work that resonates deeply with followers across social media platforms.

We know you will be inspired by this thought-provoking interview. Follow Tim's remarkable journey on LinkedIn and Instagram. Tim is now over 100 days into his footpath across America, but he is just getting started making a difference in the lives of others.

Conversations like the ones on this podcast can sometimes be hard, but they're always necessary. If you or someone you know is struggling, please consider visiting www.wannatalkaboutit.com. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call, text, or chat 988.

https://oc87recoverydiaries.org/

What happens when your own mind becomes your greatest fear? When intrusive thoughts flood in that feel completely alien to who you really are? In this intimate conversation, writer Pinar Tarhan takes us deep into her experience with Pure Harm OCD – a misunderstood subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder characterized not by handwashing or organization, but by terrifying unwanted thoughts.

Pinar describes the journey from her initial diagnosis at age 19, when disturbing thoughts about harming herself and others left her convinced she was "going mad." She walks us through the frightening early days when she worried she might be "the worst scum humanity had ever seen" simply because of the thoughts in her head. What makes her story particularly compelling is how it challenges popular misconceptions about OCD and mental illness broadly – including the harmful belief that you need severe trauma to legitimately suffer from mental health issues.

Through persistence and several false starts, Pinar eventually found the right psychiatrist who recognized her condition and provided effective treatment. Her recovery path combined medication, therapy, and developing strong personal boundaries. She also speaks candidly about navigating mental health challenges within Turkish culture, which she describes as "a weird melting pot" where finding people who share her individualistic values proved difficult but essential.

Most powerfully, Pinar reveals her transformation from someone terrified of her own mind to someone who now manages her symptoms so effectively that friends joke about whether she even has OCD anymore. While acknowledging that recovery isn't linear and that certain triggers can still cause temporary setbacks, she demonstrates that living well with mental illness is absolutely possible.

Listen to discover how Pinar turned her painful experience into purpose by sharing her story, potentially helping countless others who might recognize themselves in her words. Her journey reminds us that healing comes in many forms – sometimes through medication, sometimes through connection, and sometimes through the simple power of knowing you aren't alone.

https://oc87recoverydiaries.org/

Florence Mukangenzi is a doctor in Rwanda who lives with mental health challenges, including anxiety. In 2017, back when she was a medical student, she wrote a beautiful essay for our site called "Playing Hide and Seek with a Demon: My Struggle with Anxiety." In 2019, she flew across oceans to join other women from around the world for a unique women's writers retreat in Cape May, New Jersey, where her bond with the staff and contributors at Recovery Diaries flourished. She returned to Rwanda empowered and inspired.

However, COVID soon hit and Florence's life and studies were upended; her mental health struggles continued and she remained committed to finishing her medical education so that she could become the general practitioner she is today, helping others in need in her own community; people living with immense struggles, with the perpetual scars from war-torn genocide, people who sometimes struggle with unhelpful and unhealthy views of mental illness.

In her interview with Recovery Diaries in Depth host Gabe Nathan, Flo talks about what is different about living with anxiety, particularly as a doctor, in Rwanda, but what is also similar to anybody else's experience living with mental health challenges anywhere else in the world. She also shares about ketamine treatment she has tried, which is so hard to access in her country. Flo is honest, charming, witty, and passionate about her career, her recovery, and her advocacy, and it shows in the thoughtful responses she gives to Gabe's questions.

We are delighted to share Flo with you, to introduce you to this inspiring human being, and to share her message of hope and strength.

Are you ready to discover more stories of mental health, empowerment and change? Check us out for more essays, films, and more podcast episodes featuring diverse voices from around the world.

Conversations like the ones on this podcast can sometimes be hard, but they're always necessary. If you or someone you know is struggling, please consider visiting www.wannatalkaboutit.com. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call, text, or chat 988.

https://oc87recoverydiaries.org/