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New Year's Eve · Outside Issues

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Whether it's alcohol or drugs or gambling or sex addiction, why people overuse something. And basically it's all about self medication. If you don't get to the root issues of what is causing that existential emotional pain, then you'll find you'll wind up feeling worse. And everybody's different. Why people do something, why they continually do something that may be destructive to them, I believe is. Is individual to each person. And that's one of the things I learned, especially in my relationship to my son. I have three children, and the way I treat one child may not work as well with another child. And so it's incumbent upon me as a parent to understand who my child is and what that child needs from me.
• 0:53
  Speaker B: Welcome to Outside Issues with Audrey and Patrick. You're Seth Boone. We're not going to say where you work for specifically, but could you tell us a little bit about what your focus is currently?
• 1:04
  Speaker C: I am a mental health therapist, same company as Audrey, providing therapy to individuals with mental health needs. That is my paid position, my unpaid position or volunteer work is I'm an organizer and a policy development associate with an organization called Northwest Progressive Institute. We are a strategic advocacy organization, nonprofit that basically helps advance grassroots politics and progressive politics. So I've been with them for like three years now.
• 1:44
  Speaker B: You're kind of like how Bruce Wayne, you know, he ostensibly he's a philanthropist, but he actually gets up to a lot of extracurricular stuff.
• 1:54
  Speaker C: I mean, shoot, I'd love to be Bruce Wayne. He's got cash and everything. I love that.
• 2:00
  Speaker B: Yeah, I think we all would. Yeah. Well, okay, so I did a little bit of primer. Audrey brought me up to speed on some of the work you do. And so I just had a few questions. So what is the role of social justice in a clinical setting? Because I always tend to think of those areas as being like, distinct and separate. But I was intrigued when, you know, your presentation says that. No, actually they fit together.
• 2:27
  Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, it's. That's, that's just, that's kind of the general idea is that they're either separate or incompatible. But, you know, if we think about social justice and clinical work, social justice really relates to basically the main part is access to care. You know, insurance companies there, if social justice wasn't a thing, you know, they probably wouldn't let insurance holders access mental health care and be covered. You know, and so there's that big piece and even that, you know, we have coverage needs, how long clients stay within our care. And also a big Part, you know, a lot of people forget that, you know, sometimes, a lot of times mental health impairments are a cause of their environment, you know, and so social justice aims to change and better the environment around them to hopefully curb or even totally stop mental health needs from even showing up. You know, couple topics that come to mind is like redlining in Seattle especially, that's where we displace marginalized communities in certain concentrated areas. And that separation is just filled with other different social, economic factors, you know, like exposure to violence, weapons, drugs, that all are factors in experiencing mental health issues. So that is the answer I got off the top of my head for you.
• 4:10
  Speaker B: Well, I like, I mean, so your work is premised on, you know, the idea that our environments do shape who we are and that material conditions do have an effect on our mental well being. And like, that's something that I feel like over the course of my lifetime has been like clarified and demystified, you know, because, you know, there's like, still, some people still think that there is like it's, it's all cultural, you know, that there's nothing material that kind of like. Or, or that it's all pathological, that kind of like, you know, madness or mental illness just kind of comes from, you know, it's, it's either like, you know, it's a, it's a moral thing, you know, or it just kind of comes out of the ether. You know, you're, you're born messed up or not.
• 4:58
  Speaker C: Yeah, no, I totally agree. And you know, like with mental illness, people before, you know, like an individual growing up in an abusive household, you know, they might have stopped at the parents. They're not good parents. That's, that's a label that we sometimes give people. But that parenting style is usually attributed to their own upbringing. And then it goes farther and farther back to like you said, cultural norms. And then, oh my gosh, cultural norms from even trying to assimilate from say, you know, my family, Cambodian Americans, you know, my family came from, they were refugees from genocide and during the Khmer Rouge. And so when they came over to America, collectivism wasn't a thing. It was all about the individual.
• 5:51
  Speaker B: And so you're saying in America collectivism wasn't a thing, or in Cambodia when.
• 5:56
  Speaker C: Like, collectivism wasn't as a strong of a value in Cambodia, because in that, yeah, in that culture it is. You know, the family unit is most important. You know, we stick to the family, we keep our problems within the family. And that family is basically trumps every other matter, but because of the environment they grew up, that made sense. You know, communist soldiers were running around, you know, murdering people. And so the family unit also provided a sense of safety, you know, and if the family sucks, if an individual succeeded in finding food or whatever, it was basically an obligation to share that food with their family, you know, versus over here. You know, we have. We have kids going off to college after a certain age that like, disrupts the idea of a collectivistic culture. And then we even have, you know, and then also with the different cultures, you know, there's a. There's a disconnect, you know, with. In terms of how. Of what the older generation views as abuse versus discipline and. Versus the newer generation, you know, and so that's. That's a big conflict as well.
• 7:23
  Speaker B: And.
• 7:24
  Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, it's almost incompatible or trying to fit the wrong puzzle piece in the wrong spot.
• 7:30
  Speaker D: You did a wonderful presentation for all of us the other day, and I'm so sorry for being just like, like in the background. Burnout is real. And something we talk a lot about on our podcast is my mental health issues. You know, I am diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder with psychotic features. And that's a big reason why I see the clientele that I do. What really stood out for me in your presentation was like, clinicians and for me, clients saying, I'm not political. So, like, let's not talk about this. While care itself is inherently political, mental illness itself, treating mental illness is. Is inherently political.
• 8:15
  Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. And this relates to my beginning spiel of like, insurance. You know, this year 2025, HR1 was passed into law, and HR1 is. I don't like the name. I think it doesn't make sense. But they called it the One Big Beautiful Bill. That's what basically either. I think in 2027 is when they're going to start with requiring work requirements for Medicaid. So if you are not an individual who is deemed disabled or unable to work, you will have to work a certain number of hours to even just hold your benefits. Now this is. Now this really relates to clients and clinicians of that statement of I'm not political. Our work depends on politics, you know, and what is passed in legislation and law. And so those are. That's a really big example. The most recent example I can think of at the moment. And, you know, even politically. Other examples, you know, Social Security, American Disabilities Act, ADA for, you know, even environmental changes as installing elevators to make sure it's ADA compliant or even ramps for wheelchair access, you know, that those were all shaped by some form of political movement or policy change.
• 9:46
  Speaker B: What will the impact be of H R1 once those kick in in 2027? Or do you have. Are you already kind of preparing for Armageddon in the work you do?
• 9:56
  Speaker C: Millions may lose coverage, you know, depending on what they're able to deem and even do. And when those millions of people lose coverage, they may never have coverage again. And so what that means they lose access to prescriptions, mental healthcare that they need, and even. Even primary, primary healthcare coverage, honestly, because Medicaid just, just doesn't cover the mental health side. It covers everything. And so we are going to see a very, very, like you said, almost Armageddon. You know, there will be definitely social conflict, social tension, and ultimately, I think, a big mistrust and distrust in our system. And, you know, not to say that distrust and mistrust is already there. It's just going to be even greater.
• 10:50
  Speaker B: Then one hopes that there will be some like, kind of consciousness of the importance of. Of how these things are shaped at the legislative level, if nothing else. I. I have trouble hoping sometimes.
• 11:02
  Speaker C: Yeah, no, I. I totally get that. You know, and I had that same reaction and feeling when I was working at a different agency, working in outpatient case management for people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders. Basically, it was panic throughout the whole agency because not on top of our clients losing coverage.
• 11:30
  Speaker D: Our.
• 11:31
  Speaker C: The structure for our workforce would have to change dramatically. You know, that would just add to even more budget cuts on an organizational level. So not even clients will lose coverage. People are going to lose jobs at that point. So it's a really unfortunate, big impact. But to spark a little hope, okay. With the work I do with npi Northwest Progressive Institute, I'm actually on a stakeholder meeting for Senator Hasegawa's universal healthcare bill. And so we changed the whole plan. But our hope is that we're going to file for 2027, and this is going to basically increase coverage for everyone in the state of Washington. Now, the big issue is financing. How are we going to pay for this bill, how are we going to fund it? How do we demonstrate it? And most importantly, what's going to happen to those Medicaid coverage organizations in their contracts? So there's a lot of moving parts, and the biggest part we're going to focus on right now is the financing part. So hopefully 2027 is going to be the year for it.
• 12:45
  Speaker B: Well, that does spark a little optimism, at least for your state. Does your organization take Medicaid. Are you dealing with those clients, both of you?
• 12:56
  Speaker C: Yes, yes.
• 12:57
  Speaker D: Yeah. Yes. We just began to offer it. And so I think there's a lot of confusion going around. I mean, I've been with our organization for two years, and this is now becoming a thing. And, you know, being out of the sort of, like, social justice sector and sort of the macro sector, I haven't really been up to speed on it. It's just been kind of thrown at me very, very swiftly. And so I'm getting confused. And then. So when Seth introduced himself, I was like, oh, my gosh. Somebody who's into macro work. And it. It's. I'm slowly learning about, you know, the.
• 13:45
  Speaker C: Wait, what's.
• 13:46
  Speaker B: What's macro work again?
• 13:48
  Speaker D: Oh, sorry. Macro. Macro social work. So there's micro social work, which is essentially like, in my case and Seth's case, like clinical social work, like one on one or like with families or couples. And then macro social work is what he's talking about, which is like, you know, policy making, policy writing, lawmaking, budget setting, bill writing, involved in that. And social work is a key part in that because it. It, you know, focuses on the population of. Of the United States and different states and everything like that. And so, you know, we're trying to deliver care in both micro and macro, in both the micro and the macro sense. And macro is a little bit tricky just because it's on such a grand scale and you. We can't. I mean, we can, but it's harder to individually influence people, unlike, you know, our clients. Our individual clients, where we're directly talking to them and directly giving intervention for their own mental illness or their mental health in general. But macro has more to do with, you know, the policies like Seth is talking about, like, with insurance, the way that they get to our care. And so, you know, micro essentially is like micro as being a therapist and macro as being like a social worker. Social worker.
• 15:22
  Speaker B: Therapist. Therapist to the world, right?
• 15:25
  Speaker D: Yes, exactly.
• 15:28
  Speaker B: So I was reading your presentation, Seth, and I have to imagine I can kind of assume some of your politics just based on the nature of the work you do. And. But to write people down as insured. We believe in healthcare as a human right. And, you know, in terms of access to mental health care, you know, it should be just a given that, you know, if you're sick, and that's not just an illness of the body, but illness of the mind, that you are entitled to, you know, some kind of care service. And I wanted to ask, like, in the work, you do macro and micro. What systemic failures do you find yourself consistently having to address? Or what do you see showing up with your clients that occupies your mind?
• 16:19
  Speaker C: Man, you know, the biggest one I really focus in on and even now, you know, is housing. You know, housing, I think, is really a big step. I worked with the population experiencing homeless for a long time. You know, first it was adolescents, then young adults, then in the outpatient setting, the individuals that were diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective, all of them were on the streets or in transitional housing. And. And with that being said, getting into it. Oh, man. Jumping through hoops and hoops and hoops just trying to secure them some form of housing. And then on top of that, maintaining it is difficult too, because the rules that are set up and regulations do not fit the harm reduction model at all. You know, it is.
• 17:16
  Speaker B: Does that mean, like, once you get the house or once you get the apartment, then the requirements you've got to keep checking in, Right. And kind of re upping on that care and that it's just so difficult, right, to kind of keep.
• 17:27
  Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. And then on top of that, just. Just paying for their own apartment, you know, they're. These individuals that I work with are strictly on benefits. And so the rent is determined by the area, area median income. So AMI, Seattle's AMI for a household is $100,000 at least. So 30% of that is 30K. These benefits, yeah, they can cover it, but they are just so left with so little so to spend on other things such as bills, quality of life items. Not even that, just necessity items. Food, you know, um, and also pet care. They have pets, you know, and so once it's. It's. It's really horrible. Once they're in, they're almost stuck there. It's hard to move up, but it's so easy to get kicked out.
• 18:26
  Speaker D: And so, yeah, we also cover a lot of, like, substance use recovery on this. On this podcast.
• 18:34
  Speaker B: I'm in recovery as is Audrey. And are you? Oh, really?
• 18:39
  Speaker C: I'm a friend of Bill. Yeah, I'm a friend of Bill W. Hell yeah.
• 18:42
  Speaker B: Hell yeah. This is my men's stag HBMs.
• 18:45
  Speaker D: I want a sweatshirt because I've always wanted to infiltrate a men's stag meeting.
• 18:50
  Speaker B: You could do Mulan, but with aa.
• 18:52
  Speaker D: Yeah, right, exactly. Like when we talked about the big beautiful Bill that. The. What do we call it? The fuckity fuck. Fuckity fuckity.
• 19:00
  Speaker B: The fuckity fuck fuck.
• 19:02
  Speaker E: Yeah.
• 19:03
  Speaker D: And with as we're wrapping up the year, something that really pissed me off was Trump's executive order to clear the homeless population and, you know, emphasis on drug use, emphasis on homeless population dynamics. And, you know, when we have also factors such as severe mental illness, homelessness, substance use, we have. What I fear, I'm a very big critic of law enforcement, like a huge critic of law enforcement. And so what I'm fearing the most because of that executive order, if it goes into play, is law enforcement sort of deeming homeless individuals with substance use issues and. Or mental health issues as dangers to society and possibly using our own guidelines against us, such as, like, homicidal ideation. This person has homicidal ideation and throwing them in an institution for no cause. Exactly. Rather. Well, you know, for a cause. They think that the person is dangerous to society when all that's really needed is housing and so, and. And recovery, recovery resources. And so that's like in. As Patrick noted, I think in. In be. In the beginning of our. Of our recording or in our communication, the year in review, I think that was the main thing that irked me this past year was that specific executive order. And I remember posting on my Facebook the. The link to it, and I was like, you want to come for mental health profess? Come for us. Like, you know, it's. That to me is the. Was the most disturbing thing that happened this year.
• 21:12
  Speaker B: Republicans, they'd been talking a lot about fentanyl.
• 21:16
  Speaker D: We've recorded a. An episode honoring a friend of mine, a dear loved one of mine who passed away from a fentanyl overdose. And so getting fentanyl off the streets is one of those things that's going to be very tricky in that situation. I recognize that I operate out of emotion, out of emotion mind. As you know, emotion mind and logic mind and wise mind. Sorry, Patrick. We're using dialectical behavioral therapy language.
• 21:45
  Speaker B: I love your emotion mind.
• 21:47
  Speaker D: Thank you. Thank you. A lot of people don't.
• 21:50
  Speaker B: Those are the logic minds, I guess, right?
• 21:53
  Speaker D: Yeah. The combination is wise mind. Yeah.
• 21:56
  Speaker B: Oh, nice.
• 21:57
  Speaker D: Yeah.
• 21:57
  Speaker B: That's what we're all aiming for here.
• 21:59
  Speaker D: We're all aiming for wise mind. And so my emotion mind is like, do anything it takes to get the fentanyl off the street so no more people can die. But then, of course, there's so many systemic failures and trying to, you know, just improve society and improve the public health sector. It's kind of like, well, where do I put that emotion within myself and how. How do I look at that from a policy standpoint? That's a progressive policy standpoint that would actually work. And so, you know, that's just where I am on Fentanyl.
• 22:36
  Speaker B: On my Twitter, I mostly just engage about film. There's like a lot of left politics that are interwoven with like the film community that I respond to. But, you know, Twitter is my film space. And one of the film writers that I really admire, that I've been following the last few years, he posted something about how he's detoxing from oxy and it's like day two and he just wanted to make an accountability post. Like, this is what I'm going through. And at least one other of my film friends has had like real struggle with substances. And anyway, I was just, I'm trying to get his number so I can call him. But like, you know, and whenever I hear about somebody in the throes of the. That like I was in the throes of it, like I was telling him, you know, I've. I detoxed from oxy and other things a bunch of times before getting the time that I have now. And I don't know, it was like a multitude of things that like were able to pull me through it, but it's really hard. But it's. To, to engage in recovery is like a life saving act and whatever. I mean, I just think of like, you just throw all the paint you can at the wall and see what sticks and trying to help other people and you just try and foster that and encourage that. And you need to have a lot of patience and a lot of, you know, it's, it takes people a while to get it if they get it and a lot of people die. But I figure when we're talking about solutions, that the one solution that makes sense to me, because it's one that worked for me to the problem of addiction and the devastation that it causes is just lean into recovery, fellowship. And really like, even when you're tired, just try and respond to that text from another addict. Try and call somebody to check in, get to a meeting. You know, I've definitely like venmoed a lot of people like little things, you know, to kind of like when they're broke. I don't know. That's what makes me think until, you know, we can throw Trump and J.D. vance in the Hague.
• 24:41
  Speaker C: I think that's just like you, Audrey, you know, with the fentanyl. It's, it's, it's rough. It's hard because it's like, where do we even start with that? You know, do we somehow, you know, enforce different Drug control. But that doesn't. We know in the past that that doesn't work. There's always still a workaround that's found. And, you know, I think Patrick makes a good point. We need a focus on the individual and how to help them, you know, either avoid taking or taking those substances. And I know that's hard to say because now it's mixed in. Even weed now. So it's. It's just. It's fucking everywhere at this point.
• 25:23
  Speaker B: It's cheaper to make. I mean, that's the thing is like, there's no heroin really anymore. There's just fentanyl because it's synthetic. And, you know, like, the business model of it now is like they've got. They've got it figured out.
• 25:34
  Speaker C: Educating and helping the individual choose other outlets or even different substances if possible, with the less. Less rate of fatality, I think is where a good start. But policy wise, I have no clue, to be honest. It overwhelms me too. And I'm driven by emotion, all that too, because a friend of mine did overdose from a fentanyl, thinking it was a perk, but it was just straight fentanyl. Yeah.
• 26:08
  Speaker B: Did he die?
• 26:09
  Speaker C: Yes. Yeah, he did, in his sleep.
• 26:11
  Speaker B: Wow. I'm so sorry. That's horrible.
• 26:14
  Speaker D: Yeah. So sorry for your loss. It's devastating when you lose somebody to addiction.
• 26:22
  Speaker B: It feels like, oh, no, I'm so sorry to interrupt. What were you gonna say?
• 26:26
  Speaker D: Oh, I was just elaborating on how devastating it is to lose someone to addiction and to know that, you know, there could have been things in place that could have helped them before, you know, and a lot of the times I think we've touched on this is like, it's looked at a lot as a personal failure. My addiction was looked upon as a personal failure for sure. I was addicted to a lot of very illicit substances not found in the. In the pharmacy too, and so not yet. Right? Oh, that's true. That's true. I wonder when meth's gonna be on the.
• 27:10
  Speaker B: On the.
• 27:10
  Speaker D: Over the counter, on the OT at.
• 27:12
  Speaker B: Your local head shop.
• 27:13
  Speaker D: Yeah, it's just really hard to lose somebody to this type of. To. To this type of demise. Looking at it as a moral failure pisses me the off. And something that, you know, I think this past year with Trump being inaugurated, Biden wasn't the greatest either, of course, but especially with Trump's rhetoric, it's always like, everything is a moral failure. Everything is a personal failure, even to, like, you know, women's looks, you Know, like, oh, I, you look like a pig. Oh, you look like a dog. Oh, you're, you're fat. You're. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like all, all of the attacks against women and against people who are going through have really, has really defined this year. And so folks like us who are in recovery and lost people, people due to, you know, systemic failure a lot of the times, and a lot of the times micro supportive failures such as not having a solid support system, been a tough emotional mind thought this past year.
• 28:26
  Speaker B: Well, I thought we could go around, you know, and right at the top of the year, it's our season finale episode. And one of my wishes or resolutions for next year is to do another season and just to keep having cool people like Seth on and I. This podcast began because of Audrey and mine's mutual just disgust and feelings of powerlessness at the way that our country is spiraling out of control and just all the misery that, that the Trump administration, with complicity from the Democratic Party seem to be creating. A lot of these problems aren't going anywhere, but it certainly feels good to get together, you know, a couple times a month and chop it up. So I'm gonna start with the gratitude I have for the year. I'm grateful for my relationship, my romantic relationship. I doubled down on it kind of because, like, we went through some struggle this year and. But we also, we did a lot together. We grew together, we traveled, we went to Morocco. And, you know, we're learning, I think, like, new ways of kind of being intimate. I'm just so glad I stayed in. I'm glad I stayed in the relationship. What troubled me this year is because it happened so recently was Robin Michelle Reiner's murder. That's on a very kind of like a personal level, you know, really close to the ground. But, you know, the murderer, I think they were murdered by their own son who himself struggled with mental illness and addiction troubles. So one of, one of me, you know, was the perp in this particular murder, and he's a filmmaker, somebody that I really revere. And I think with that. And then, you know, I had an experience also this year with, you know, an ex girlfriend of mine falling into homelessness and kind of like losing a bunch of battles that she was fighting. And then my, and mine and my family's failure to really, like, help or to address them in any meaningful way. The lesson in that is that sometimes you lose and, and sometimes there's not necessarily a silver lining, but you kind of have to kind of take that in with the. The continuum, you know, and we keep fighting, but you gotta. Sometimes you're gonna lose and it really hurts. And I suppose I'll just, I'll wrap that part up with all the stuff with ice. You know, because I live in la, I feel that there was like, a failure on my part to, like, properly, like, respect going into that last year's election, like, how bad things would get and how much, you know, what was happening in the first Trump administration with the kids in cages, you know, all the stuff, the horrible stuff we were seeing at the border that really, like, animated a lot of the liberal response to Trump, just how much that would be taken into overdrive. And then we'd be seeing the exact same thing happening domestically, seeing non criminals, you know, like an entirely kind of, like, racial profiling and, you know, draconian police state stuff taken to like, the nth degree. And, and. Yeah, and I just think that, like, while it's heartening that I think you. There's been such a uniform disgust with ice. I mean, it's, you know, there's a hardcore conservatism that really celebrates and, you know, you know, propagates and encourages that kind of thing. But I think the majority of people do not like what they're seeing. There's some buyer's remorse happening, but that doesn't really do much to make me feel better about, you know, what's happening. You know, we kind of seem locked onto this course and it's been really tough. So what I like to see accomplished in 2026 is Republicans lose big at the midterms. You know, obviously, I always wish for that, but I could just go ahead and say it, and then people continuing mutual mutual aid and protest, I think. So at the electoral level, you know, I would like to see just some reversals of what happened in 2024, and then, yeah, just in neighborhoods on a one to one basis. People just need to kind of be their own government, operate under the assumption that nobody else is coming, and just try and help wherever you can and get into that spirit of helping. And that has to happen, you know, for us to make any progress. Seth, I'll break it down for you just so we can get all of your responses. So gratitude you have for the year.
• 32:59
  Speaker C: You know, nine months ago, I had a. I had a really bad relapse. And I would call it my. The worst relapse I've had. You know, and it came to a point where I had. I. I really had three. I gave myself three options, you know, it was either death institutions or aa, you know, and AA was. Recovery in general, was only on there because I built a strong foundation with my first sponsor and the first time through. And I'm just grateful that I am. I'm still here. And I. I'm taking recovery more from a different perspective this time around. But first time through, you know, I. I was California sober. And so for me personally, that didn't work. And on top of that, I. I lied about my sobriety for a long time in the rooms of aa, and so I made the amends I needed to tell the truth. And no one reacted the way that I thought they would. As I was programmed from childhood, as in met with some form of abuse, criticism or scolding. It was. It was. It was weird. It was really weird to be met with like, oh, it's okay. We're glad you're back. Or even, like, we don't care, you know, we're just glad you're here and so grateful for that. Grateful just how really life has turned out so far in this year for me.
• 34:53
  Speaker B: And now you understand how your struggle, you know, when shared, can really be like a bomb for other people. Like, you're actually. When you bring that out, you know, you're actually helping other people and healing them by owning your own misery, you know? Yeah, it's crazy how that works.
• 35:12
  Speaker C: Totally. You know, Totally. And then my. My new sponsor, he came from an abusive childhood background, too, and, you know, I was really grateful for him. And, you know, when we were doing the work, I was like, where the. Where the fuck are you pulling this shit from? It's not on the big book. It's not, you know, where. Where is this coming from? And he just, you know, told me about adult children of. Of dysfunctional families, the program aca. And so I got into that, and that's. That's just been. That solidified my recovery and so far and just really grateful to be even through that, because that showed me, again, like you said, Patrick, that when I share my experience, I'm. I may not be hitting all ears, but, you know, the ears I do hit are the ones that matter, because I may have. I may have helped them in some form or another. So, yeah, really grateful for that. Just life in general and the basic. My basic needs being met. So. Yeah.
• 36:17
  Speaker B: All right, so now let's get super negative. What pissed you off this year?
• 36:22
  Speaker D: Yes.
• 36:23
  Speaker C: Yes. You know, as I talk about HR1, you know that Bill so much, you know, I hate it. Yes. Yeah. Let's see what Pissed me off. Ice. You know, I, I saw some Reddit posts that people saw ICE in, in here in Washington and like Bellevue area and Redmond area. And so that caused a fear for my, some of my family members who just recently came from Cambodia because there's now a new conflict in Cambodia and Thailand over.
• 36:59
  Speaker B: I just heard about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 37:01
  Speaker C: A dispute over some religious sacred ground. And so some, some family members had to come from Cambodia to here, and they don't have status yet, so I'm, I'm really worried about them. Other shit that pissed me off recently, actually, is that Washington state really put on a 95% tax on all nicotine products starting January 1st. I'm a nicotine user, but I'm all for, I'm all for taxes, right? I'm all for taxes, but this tax is targeted at the wrong group of people and with the wrong product, you know, Usually is. Yeah, exactly. And so I am, I am so pissed about that. I'm like, why the. Aren't we taxing the wealthy? Why are we taxing a product?
• 37:59
  Speaker B: Well, yeah, it's look busy. I mean, it's like those taxes are just. It's like, look busy time, you know, for the political class that enacts that kind of thing, right?
• 38:08
  Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. And you know, it's. It's nicotine. You know, the wealthy class maybe partake in it every once in a while, but for people who are lower and middle income class, that, that's a coping skill or a coping tool they use. So. Pisses me the fuck off, to be honest. So, yeah, not looking forward to it.
• 38:30
  Speaker B: But what are you looking forward to next year?
• 38:34
  Speaker C: Next year? Yeah, next year doing.
• 38:37
  Speaker B: What would you, what would you like to see happen?
• 38:39
  Speaker C: Oh, what would I like to see happen next year? Oh, man, so much. Oh, you know, I'm looking, I'm looking forward to. And hoping to see some dramatic changes with Seattle's new elected officials. Specifically, Erica Evans, the new Seattle attorney. City attorney. She took over someone named Ann Davidson, who was all about exclusion zones, homeless encampment sweeps, and no drug zones altogether. You know, she is now out of office. A bunch of other strong female Democratic Democrats are elected. So I am hoping, and I know it will open. Some big changes are about to happen, so. Yeah.
• 39:34
  Speaker B: Wonderful. Well, Audrey, let's start. Let's. Let's wrap it up with last but not least, gratitude for the year.
• 39:44
  Speaker D: Well, gratitude wise, I would just like to thank you honestly, the most because you're so incredibly understanding of what I go through, which affects Every facet of my life, especially this year. I've been in somewhat of an off and on depressive episode for the last year or so. I haven't. I've. I've. As the nature of bipolar goes, I had one hypomanic episode in the middle of the year and that was fun because, you know, as if you know anything about bipolar, hypomania is a party. And that's the good part, that's the great part. I was, you know, I was catching up on my notes all the time. Like, I was able to do so many things, but for only a short period of time. And so I'm just so thankful for you and for others who really understood my mental health struggles this year, because it was a particularly hard year for my mental health struggles. Um, and, you know, I might not be the most responsive all the time. And that's just the depression talking, the depression acting. And I really am grateful for people who understand the nature of the illness that I suffer from, in addition to, you know, the disease of addiction. Luckily, I, I was happy to celebrate nine years sober this year. Thank you. It was difficult and I can't lie, like, during my mental health struggles, I did have cravings for drugs and alcohol because that's just the relief. It was getting so bad at a certain point and so many medication changes that I just wanted it to go away temporarily. Just the shitty feeling to just go away. Because I describe bipolar depression as being part of the floor. It feels like you're part of the floor. That's how low it feels. And, you know, I've had to take a lot of time off of work, which means less money. And so having folks like yourself and, you know, countless others to sort of validate my experience because having, you know, bipolar itself is extremely stigmatized. I hear nearly every day like, oh, this person is bipolar because they got mad at me. This person is bipolar because, like, they were so happy to see me and they were buying a bunch of stuff. This. This person is bipolar because they're violent. When in reality, people who have serious mental illnesses are victims of violence, not the perpetrators. Normally, um, as, you know, the media would probably disagree with. But, you know, well, you're.
• 42:45
  Speaker B: You're a healer, so the healers need to be protected. They need to be enfranchised. So, anyway, I, I love you a lot and I'm glad that, you know, you're hanging in there.
• 42:57
  Speaker D: I love you too. And, yeah, so I'm just, I'm very grateful for all the people who have really Understood and helped me through this difficult year of mental well being. And I'm hoping with, you know, continued treatment, continued visits with my care team, I can improve a little bit and have a little bit more energy, have a little bit more, you know, spark in my brain than normal. So that's what I'm grateful for. For 2025 and 20. Yeah. And in 2026, just personally so I can get even, maybe more into what we're talking about, even more in depth because I have found myself feel a little bit shallow and what I talk about because of the exhaustion and the sadness and the, where the, is this coming from feeling on top of being, you know, a full time therapist. So I hope to see better wellness days in 2026 and therefore I can become a better service to my clients, a better service to my community on a, in a, in a micro sense and a macro sense and to my loved ones. And so end of this podcast, of course. So like I, you know, that's what I look forward to for this next year.
• 44:32
  Speaker B: You know, I, it's a, it seems like an obvious thing, but one of my favorite podcasters or media people, Sam Cedar, he just reads a lot like he reads and when he has guests on, you know, he reads their books and I just need to make more time for reading. I think the reading really helps to add that depth because like, you know, I, I consume a lot of political media and I, I wing it a lot, you know, but I think that that grounding, not only is it just good for the mind, you know, like it just opens up those neural pathways and it just gets you to see further and better into things. But yeah, like, especially when making stuff like, you know, podcasts like this, you know, you, you, you really transmit that to other people who could make something out of it. So I, yeah, I'll add that to my resolutions is do more reading. Audrey got me a copy of the Body Keeps the Score and I hope we can do more like investigations into like trauma recovery because, you know, I've, I've got loved ones that, you know, they're recovering from traumatic, traumatic experiences and to be able to understand them more and to be able to kind of carry a positive message, I think could be really wonderful. You know, I thought of this when you were sharing Seth, about your relapse. What has been the most helpful for your recovery so far and what can you share about that?
• 45:52
  Speaker C: Showing myself compassion. You know, I, I beat myself down a lot and especially with addiction is that, you know, I'm, I'm a bad person because I've done this stuff, you know, or I deserve this pain, you know, showing yourself compassion and giving yourself validation that it's. It's okay and that I'm doing the right things to better myself, to recover, I think was really a big step for me. Yeah, positive self talk.
• 46:30
  Speaker B: You get to a point in recovery where you start to see your failings or your, you know, the things that you did that you were ashamed of. You get to a point of recovery where you. Where you see those as constructive, you know, like, it doesn't wash out, you know, whatever. Whatever bad things you may have done, you know, that to give you that shame. But you get to see how, you know, if. If that pathway, if the path. If the path to the forest had to go through that in order to. For me to emerge where I am right now, and. And I am in a positive place and I am connected to other people and I am, you know, doing something constructive for the universe rather than destructive, you know, then it was all. It all makes sense kind of, you know, like. And I never thought that didn't make any sense to me. When I was in those first couple years. Audrey brought another. Another heater, Another great guest to the show.
• 47:23
  Speaker D: I try. As soon as Seth introduced himself and said progressive institution, I was like, okay, like, we need to get this guy on our podcast. Thanks to our organization for bringing people together with like minds.
• 47:38
  Speaker C: Thanks for having me. It's an honor, seriously. I usually think people don't want to hear me talk about this stuff, so, yeah, it's an honor.
• 47:47
  Speaker B: Seriously. You down to come back one of these days? For sure.
• 47:50
  Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
• 47:51
  Speaker B: Let's do it. Happy New Year, everyone.
• 47:53
  Speaker D: Yay. End of 25.
• 47:54
  Speaker B: We'll be back in 2020.
• 47:59
  Speaker E: Sam.