Latest / Pete Vs Anxiety!!!!! / season 3 Finale : meet team from calamity comics
Transcript
- Pete: Ever wish you had someone to talk to anytime, anywhere, matter what you're going through? Meet PsychPAL, your 24-7 AI companion, designed to help you process your thoughts, calm your mind, and keep you moving forward. Chat anytime during a panic attack on a restless night or just when you need to vent. Prefer talking instead of typing? Try voice journaling. PsychPAL listens, transcribes, and truly understands. You can even upload screenshots of tough conversations, and it'll help you unpack how they made you feel. PsychPAL keeps life organized, too. Pete "mental Health Champ": Welcome to this exciting episode of Pete for Excitey. Before we get started today, I just want to give a shout out to my partners at PsychPel, guys. Just check out the link in the description. You give it a try. Seven days, you know, see what you think. And if you like it, I was nice enough to get you guys a code for 20 % off. Just use Pete at the checkout and we're good to go. I think we lost the leash in the process. Elliott Mondry: I think he might join right back in. peter: Show ⁓ Pete "mental Health Champ": That's fine. We can edit it out. With that being said, guys, we're going to introduce our guest today. We have the duo from the Calamity Comics themselves. Elliot Mundry and Alicia Madden are here today hanging out. What's this today, guys? Guys, how are you doing today? Pete: It can add appointments to your calendar, track your mood, and even summarize your sessions for your therapist so you'll never lose progress. Plus, built-in crisis resources are always just one click away. It's a privacy-first, constantly evolving, made to complement your professional care, not replace it. Ready to try it out? Head over to the link in this episode and use my code, Pete, at checkout to get 20 % off your first month subscription to PsychPAL. PsychPAL, because your mind deserves a companion too. Elliott Mondry: doing well Pete, thanks for having us. Pete "mental Health Champ": think we're getting a leash in here. We can hear you. ⁓ there you are. Alicia Madden: Hi, can you guys see me? Elliott Mondry: There you are. Alicia Madden: I am so happy that it worked. ⁓ That's how I'm feeling. New camera. Pete "mental Health Champ": Well, guys, have to say that, well, guys, I have to say I absolutely love the book. I did get a preview of the first edition. Let's talk about it, though, man. I think it's great. I think what you guys are doing is really interesting. The concept of a comic book that talks about things that may go on behind closed doors. Like, how do we how do we even get to this point? Let's run down that. Elliott Mondry: What a transition. Pete: There we go. I think that's the one I like. We got it. We got it. Boom. Elliott Mondry: There's so much to discuss about that. So originally, I wrote the story as kind of a therapy exercise for myself to try to understand what I was going through. because we're all we all deal with anxiety. And when I was going through it really intensely in therapy, I needed something to try to understand it a little better. So I would write, you know, what I was feeling thoughts I was having. And then eventually it went from writing these notes on my iPhone to Pete "mental Health Champ": Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Elliott Mondry: let me play them out in some type of scenario. So I gave this character things that I was going through to try to understand it. And I figured if I could understand it and write about it, then it would help me understand what I was going through. And then if I'm going through this, other people have to be going through it too. So I figured if it helped, and then it helped me writing it. So I figured if it helped me to write it, it'll help others to read it. Pete "mental Health Champ": Mm-hmm. Yeah, definitely. I think it'd be great. I thought it was a great idea. I know when we met, you discussed like you're doing variant different covers to apply to the people. ⁓ I mean, it even has the trigger warning in the beginning. I know you said a lot of people are talking about that, which I think is a really great thing because, you know, some people need to understand what they're about to read, maybe something triggering to them. You know, I think that's really great that you put that in there. Hey, listen, full disclosure, this may cause you to cause a trigger of some sort. be prepared in case it is. Elliott Mondry: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I mean, at least you said this was probably the first time that you've seen somebody put a trigger one or at least the concept of trigger warning the beginning of the books a little newer to you, right? Alicia Madden: Oh yeah, definitely. I was just asking around, do you see this in the beginning of comic books or literature literature? And a lot of the times I hear no, but it just depends on what year the books came out. So books that are published around 2025 and 2026, something like that. Trigger warnings, they're more common now. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, yeah. Elliott Mondry: And when I was writing it, I was very adamant about ⁓ there had to be a trigger warning on the first page, whether or not it seemed like it's overkill or not. felt it was important to set the tone early. Like, hey, this isn't just a fun, loving comic book. You're going to read some serious stuff. And to me, it sets the tone. So you know. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. ⁓ yeah, it did to me. It did 100 percent. That's what I was like. I was like, what am I about to read? This is going to get intense. And it was the way that just pulls you in, like the dynamic of the way that it's drawn and everything else, you know, gives you that old school comic book feel. And like you're looking at you're like, ⁓ yeah, I'm loving this already. And then you're just watching, you know, the main character kind of go through things. And I'm just like, ⁓ yeah. And then I got to the end and I'm like, yeah, I want more. That's it. That's even a hands on question. I got to have more of this because it was so interesting to me. Alicia Madden: Yeah. Pete "mental Health Champ": Because mental health has always been, it's interesting how people depict, like we were talking about Gemma Carell had done her whole autobiography and just drawn. so she drew most of it, 90 % of it's all drawn and it shows pictures and things. So I like the element of what it is, you you're reading as you go, you know, and you kind of see this one guy, looks like everything's going okay. And then, but really when he gets home, it's like he starts breaking down, which a lot of us do, you know, because with the internet, the way that is, you know, lot of people put on a false image of what really goes on, but in behind closed doors, it's a whole other story. Alicia Madden: Mm-hmm. Elliott Mondry: And I mean, that's the whole reason why, why, you know, I wrote him, we're creating it because, know, like the title says, you never know what other people are going through behind closed doors, shameless plug for the pitch right there. But that whole concept to me was so important because that was always the working title. That was the draft title. That title was the only thing that never changed throughout the whole creation of the story. And I wanted that to be a statement in itself because, you know, Pete "mental Health Champ": Mm-hmm. Elliott Mondry: When I was writing it, I'm like, ⁓ yeah, they don't know what I'm going through and I don't know what someone else is going through, et cetera. And just the concept of you never know is just universal. So it's really, anybody can relate to it to some extent. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. Yeah, yeah, you know, and I love the part where it says, let this be a letter to all those suffering in silence. You're not alone in your love. I think that's an absolute powerful message to say to someone after they just read that warning sign. It means that to get ready because it's about to get interesting because, know, a lot of times people don't feel like they're they're the only though they feel like the only person, honestly, you know, like you don't know what people are dealing with. And then when you find out other people. deal with the same things you do, it's relatable then because it's like, okay, well, at least they understand a little bit of what I got. Now, everybody's story is not the same after doing all these episodes so far this show. God, the stories have gone all over the place. A lot of them deal with some similarities, but a lot of them are differently, you know? So I love the idea, though, the variant cover thing was because you're like, it applies to different people. So you're going to grab those different people that have those different things. So I think that's a really great idea. Was that something you guys already set out to do in the beginning or is that something you discussed afterwards? Elliott Mondry: at least you do want to talk about the artwork for the variants a little bit. Alicia Madden: You know, that was honestly Elliot's big thing. I'm so new to comics, and this is his first comic too. We're starting off together. But I never gave two thoughts to variants and didn't really know what they were for. And it was that concept of like, ⁓ like anxiety itself, not just like mental health as a spectrum, it can manifest itself in different ways. two different people. kind of like a $20 bill. It's like each person can have a $20 bill, but how you got it is a different story. You know what I mean? It's the same $20 bill, but it's different for everybody. Anyway, so do you mean go through each of the artists and everything? Elliott Mondry: I guess more like in general, what the reasoning was that we wanted to use variant covers and use different artists styles to portray what we had them portray on the covers. Alicia Madden: Okay, I know we have different, ⁓ we have different reasons. Will you, will you take over and tell us what yours are? Elliott Mondry: So I'll dive in from the mental health part, then Lisa's gonna go with the fun part. ⁓ from the, for me, variant covers represent an opportunity to showcase different art styles. And we have some very, very talented artists who we have as varied artists. We have Emily Rhee out of New York. We have Mary Landrieu out of Canada. We have Joe Schmalky from so many amazing stories that we can't even begin to list them all. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. Elliott Mondry: But everybody's art style is a little different. And I gave them the first issue and said, draw what you feel. And draw what you feel is the most important part of this. And everybody came back with something different that they took away from it. And to me, that represents how everybody views anxiety differently. So the point of having these covers isn't necessarily to be like, oh, look at the cool artwork we have. It's true because it's cool. But the point is, because we want to show anxiety manifesting in different ways, so somebody Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, for sure. Elliott Mondry: walking across a booth at a comic convention or looking at our website, we'll see, you know, cover a and think, ⁓ I don't know what that feels like. That's not how I experienced anxiety, but they might look at cover, you know, C or D and think that's what that feels like for me. And that will draw them to want to explore the story and learn about themselves in a different way. Because if you isolate somebody with one type of artwork, then they're not going to want to read the story. And our whole goal is if you buy it, great. Pete "mental Health Champ": Mm-hmm. Elliott Mondry: Awesome, but our whole goal is to open up discussion around mental health, break the stigma and get people talking about it. So if we can show, look, it's not just this type of way, can be any type of way, then we'll get more people talking about it and ultimately break the stigma. Pete "mental Health Champ": I think what you guys are doing is really groundbreaking because you don't see a lot of people even approaching the subject of mental health and the fact that you gave everybody an opportunity to come back in their own way to do it. mean, that's a great point that because everybody deals with things differently. You know, that was the whole goal of the show was just like, hey, let's talk more about this conversation. Like, because when I researched it in the beginning, you only saw a of doctors talking. But like, where's just the general conversation people are having about this? So. When I started this show, I was literally strictly and only have done interviews. I don't do any solo episodes or anything for that purpose. It's just to get the conversation going. it's it's anywhere from experts all the way down to just the average person. You know, like my idea was to not leave the door closed to anybody. I've only turned down like four stories, but it was just because like some of them just were so muddled. It's like, yeah, I don't feel like you're going to fit what I'm doing here. But, you know, it's been interesting, man, because you don't know when you hit record. God knew you have no idea what you're about to hear next, especially for this season. Elliott Mondry: . Pete "mental Health Champ": as we start wrapping up, because this is the final episode of the season, though. But it was like, you know, when the first one we hit click, I was like, I had no idea what this girl was about to tell me. So she goes down to tell us 30 minutes into this episode, she goes, I come home, I drink bleach and cut my wrist. Right there is a powerful statement just made. Someone is just telling you, OK, well, I came home and try to kill myself two ways now, and I'm just laying here left for dead. And I was like, wait, what? What? What? Hey, what? know, and then like we I have no preview of any of these stories. I have a little bit of the information that goes on. What these people choose to tell me is their 100 % choice. So I love it though. think the variant cover thing is what caught me because I'm a collector. And it's like now I have the option of A, collecting when it appeals to me or B, get them all just because I want them all, you know, and things like that too. So I think what you guys are doing is really cool. ⁓ I love it though. I love the comic book styling. Like I said, I think that way you guys are going break it down into issues is great. I love it, man. I'm like, I would say I'm like, I'm 100%. I've been talking about this all week and being like, ⁓ man, you all got to hear about this thing I'm going to check out. I said, I got these guys coming on from this comic, but they're doing a mental health comic book. And people are like, ⁓ really? Let me check this out. I'm interested now. So you better believe I'm going to start hyping it up for everybody. Like, hey, y'all got to come see this thing. You to these guys out because I love it. I think it's great. I'm a big anime guy too. So like a lot of different stylings, you we all know that different creators at different shows have their own style of how everything goes. Elliott Mondry: Thank Pete "mental Health Champ": So I think you're really appealing to a really bigger audience now that anime is a big thing because before it used to be weird to everybody. ⁓ well, I never watched it before. Now you see so many people watching different animation styles and things. So I love it, guys. I really do. It's great. So how did did Calendly Comics even start? Like, this have you guys always been? know, Alicia, you said you're an artist, right? You're right. Is this always been some things you guys have always done? Alicia Madden: I mean, I can start us off here. Actually, I was, I've always been an artist, but I was going to basically quit art after I graduated college because I didn't even go to college for an artistic degree or anything. It just didn't fit into my like, my pursuit of a career. It didn't fit into everyday life. I was going to quit. And I loved going to C2E2. Pete "mental Health Champ": Mm-hmm. Alicia Madden: And that's where I met Elliot. There was this panel that invited people who wanted to write comics and people who wanted to draw comics. And ⁓ it was basically just speed dating for creatives. So ⁓ we met a bunch of different people that day. And ⁓ what I found is most people, I've always been into comics, by the way. That's why I was there. And I was like, well, you know, let me see what I can see. Most people there had a... Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. Right. Alicia Madden: projects in mind already and I was talking to writers and it seemed like they wanted to tell stories for entertainment's sake and that's a you know, that's a pretty noble pursuit and I'm sure they'll they'll accomplish those things but I was kind of hoping to write something nonfiction because the comics that I really liked were nonfiction and anyway when I talked to Elliot among the many things we talked about he You know, he told me about his mental health struggles and his idea for a comic. And I found that he was the only person in the room to use fiction to tell the truth about himself. I was like, there's a lot going on here. And I was really determined to work with him. So eventually ⁓ he let me read his script. Well, he let me read chapter one, the first issue. And ⁓ I auditioned for the role of his artist that way. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. Alicia Madden: And it started off kind of like a partnership, kind of a ragtag thing, then Ellie could probably pick up here. We started meeting up ⁓ at Howling Pages in Chicago and working on the comic together. And then he was like, let's start a company. Elliott Mondry: I called her up and I said, ⁓ you know, this, cause the series is going to go on for a while. Like we have a lot planned for it. And I said, look, if we want to do this, right, let's do this. Right. Let's make our own books. Let's publish it ourselves. Let's go all in because our whole thing is about mental health. Like we're making this book and these stories for mental health awareness. Let's just get name. And we're sitting in howling pages, one of our local comic shops on like some rainy day. We're staring out the window. Pete "mental Health Champ": Right? Elliott Mondry: And I remember if it was me or you, but we just said Calamity Comics. it was between that and another name. And we go to the owner and said, which name do you like better? And he goes, that one. And it was Calamity Comics. And we immediately created an Instagram page. I looked up the trademarks and everything like that, because when I'm writing, I'm a lawyer. And that's a whole other story. And ⁓ so we dove right into getting the LLC, all the legal stuff done, and just really Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, well, that's interesting. Okay, okay. Elliott Mondry: going all in on making this a reality. Going from now it's not just about me trying to make a story, it's not about Lisa trying to draw a story, it's about us trying to create something bigger than ourselves to help other people. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, no, think, like I said, it's really cool. It's interesting to hear that you're a lawyer by trade and then you went to comic books, you know, because I meet a lot of people that go from one to the other extreme pollers and it's like, oh, OK, well, maybe. you know, at least it is obviously a comic book lover. So now she's making her own. It's got to be something to brag about to people like now making my own comic. Not only have I been reading these all my life, now I'm making something with a purpose, you know, and it sounds like you guys are a match made already ahead of time because you. What you were telling her, you know, and with with mental health there's so much other ones you can get into like BPD and things like that the really Complexity ones, you know, I got a girl I do a side project with she ⁓ Maddie actually in front of the panel you better Elliot Alicia you didn't get a chance to meet her though, but she she has ⁓ What is it schizoaffective disorder and that one's a really interesting one to her story was just like really interesting to hear You know, so I was thinking about the same thing myself is like, you know What if I wrote a book about myself and then I did it animated style and then here we go. You already beat me to the punch on what I was thinking because I'm like, I like that idea. For me, I'm a huge nerd. I love it. I love anime. I love comic books. Spider-Man is one of my big ones. Captain America. All these guys I related to all this time. But now you're seeing, you know, somebody doing comics in the same relation to what I'm doing. It's great because we all have the same goal to raise mental awareness because it's not being talked about. I don't care. I'd love to see. When we get to suicide, it's a topic for you guys, because I could just only imagine what you can come up with from there. You know, with your writing and her style of artistry, man, it's going to be very interesting to see what gets depicted, because that one is, you know, it's interesting because, like you said, everything is different for everybody. So like, I can't wait to see what goes on next, man. I'm excited, though, the endless possibilities of things you guys can come up with, you know, in all the different mental disorders, you know, especially when you get to... ⁓ What is it? Schizophrenia. Because that one's a very interesting depiction of that one too. That one in Tourette's because those two come out very interesting based on what the public thinks it is versus what it actually is. know, like schizophrenia, everyone says they think all schizophrenics all hallucinate and it's not the case. know, same thing with Tourette's. It's not the case. All of them don't have those ticks. Only 10 % of them, in fact, only have the ticks of that. So it's interesting, you know, what could be came out of those two and those kind of subjects as well. Elliott Mondry: Thank No, for sure. mean, and we have a lot. Obviously, we have a lot planned. The most the most interesting thing is how you said about Superman, Captain America and those guys, or Spider-Man, I'm sorry. And, you know, that's another. Pete "mental Health Champ": Hmm. Not Superman, come on Elliot, we don't like DC over here man, come on now. I'm just talking. Elliott Mondry: Alicia is going to be like, excuse me. That's a whole other topic for a different day. Alicia's almost clicked off right away. Because that is the general, that's the first thing people think of. They think Batman, Superman, ⁓ Marvel, DC. And you ⁓ comic, ⁓ you're writing comic books. is it about superheroes, about this and that? It's like, no, you can make real stories about really important topics using the medium because the medium itself is so powerful. Pete "mental Health Champ": ⁓ this would be a great debate. Alicia Madden: Excuse me? Speak for yourself! Pete "mental Health Champ": I'm out of here. Yeah. Yeah. Elliott Mondry: It's the combination of literature with visual mediums. you know, it really helps people who, you know, might want to read a 900 page novel or, you know, sit down and watch a movie for a few hours, but it takes like maybe 20 minutes or 10 minutes to read a single issue, but it can change somebody's life. And that's what's so powerful about it. Pete "mental Health Champ": Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, no, I agree. No, I agree. I think that's that's great, too. Like, I like movies, books. I get a lot of books sent to me. I make it through some of them and some I don't. Unfortunately, it's just like I'm not a big reader, but when it comes to like graphic novel type things, you got me hooked instantly. Graphic novels, comic books like the Ninja Turtles, when they rewrote it into a graphic novel, I was so excited because it was always a thing as a kid, you know, and the fact that you could take the subject contents out of the kiddy element of it and go to more serious tone as it went through it all. Elliott Mondry: ⁓ god, yeah. Pete "mental Health Champ": The Last Ronin, I have all the comic books, including the variant covers for that one, too. You know, things like that. I love all that stuff, you know. And then now that they're making hardback copies, obviously, I got to get those two now because, you know, think I'm a big collector. And don't get me wrong, I'm not against DC because Batman was a big part of my childhood. I loved Batman. I had every Batman toy made except for the Batcave, you know, for a reason I just couldn't achieve this monstrous Barbie mansion type thing. But it was just, you know, I loved it, though. I just loved the fact that Batman was just an average. Elliott Mondry: Sick. Pete "mental Health Champ": individual didn't have superpowers and things like that too and was doing so many different things, you know, and you get into like the flash. I like to see how the movies play out a little bit because some of them were like, you know, I like Zack Snyder's version of the Justice League. think it was really great, even though it's a four hour long, you know, put together, but it's all four parts of it all together, though. I thought it was really great. And that ending was like, ⁓ now I want more. Now you're not going to give me more. What the heck kind of thing. So. I love it though, man. think what you guys are doing, you're about to jump into something very interesting. To see people's responses to it too, it's going to be very interesting to see how people take it because like you said, the different perspectives of how people are going to react to this thing will be interesting. And then the trigger warning, people are going to be like, oh man, a trigger warning? Oh, I don't know what I'm about to get into. It's like, OK, well, here we go. We're going take a ride together. You know what I mean? You got to get ready for what's going to happen next. But I do think that was a great part of it though. The trigger warning, feel like not enough people put into certain things. I know the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why had to put in there for a good reason because the end of that one, a lot of people are starting to drone about the end of it. People are like, I don't understand if you're mad. like, you're watching somebody commit suicide. What do you mean? It's not easy for people to watch this. You're literally watching this girl cut her wrists in a tub. What more do you think people want to see? That's a little too even grap. I'm like, how did this made it past the editing floor? Holy crap, dude. Because that was like the first big thing where people just started freaking out. But Dexter did something similar to that, though, if you think about it. Like the one villain he had, the guy with stats of his MO was he'd sit in the tub with his victims and cut the... It's like, well, OK, we're OK with that. Well, then we go to this one where it's talking about a young girl talking about killing herself. And then we retrace our steps through the 13 steps, why, know, 13 reasons why she did it. You know, and then we get to that finale and then everybody's going insane and where it's like... I think it hit a real soft spot for people that they realized that this is a real thing that could happen to someone. And it was very emotionally charged because you're watching somebody commit suicide. This isn't like somebody making this up. You're literally watching this girl cut her wrist. There's no cutaways or nothing like that. And I think it was interesting to see people's responses and then they decided to change it. And then hearing people get like, oh, why did they change it? It's like, you really don't get it then. You could tell who got it and who didn't get it at that point. Elliott Mondry: Yeah, and I mean, it's, it's almost like some people want to just shy away from that and not admit like, okay, this is difficult, or this is something that's hard to watch or talk about. And that's fair. But then you're doing the audience a disservice, let them make that decision, let them choose to turn the page or let them choose to watch the next episode to see what's going on. But that's not something that we can control. Let them control that all you can do is give them the tools and the warnings. I feel. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So at least a question for you, though. Do you do you have mental issues yourself at all? Alicia Madden: Yeah, definitely that's when Elliot and I definitely I know I saw your face Elliott Mondry: Yeah, that's why we're here. You don't make comic books because we're sane. Like, come on. Pete "mental Health Champ": Alright, come on now, dammit, we don't do this just because. Jesus. Alicia Madden: Like, no. Elliott Mondry: You Alicia Madden: No shit. ⁓ no, I'm perfectly fine. ⁓ Pete "mental Health Champ": So can I ask what it is that your diagnosis is a little bit? We don't have to go fully into it. I'm just kind of curious. Alicia Madden: I may have always been depressed since I was a very, very little kid because I was a little too young to tell if this was just the way I was that I had seizures when I was little. And I've just always been depressed. That's my baseline. things come into my life that exacerbate it. And it turns out I have PTSD from Pete "mental Health Champ": Mm-hmm. Yeah. Alicia Madden: car accident I was in and just major depression and stuff and it's well managed with talking therapy and medication and everything and like I can't wait to do more advocacy ⁓ because I spent a long time not understanding what was happening and even who to ask about it like who to ask about it and what to even like how to verbalize what was going on without Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Alicia Madden: without like basically spinning fiction or something. Like, I had a dream, but I was awake. Like, what is that? Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, you know, and it's like when you're talking to people about it, it's like, who do I go to and say something to that don't sound like I'm completely lost my mind somewhere? So same question to you, Elliot. I know you mentioned anxiety. Is there anything else you deal with that that you never you haven't listed yet? Elliott Mondry: No, mean, anxiety is my my thing. Because that's my that's my thing. ⁓ But it was so for the longest time, so overwhelmingly crippling to the point that it was impacting my relationships is impacting my everyday life. You know, I didn't sleep for a long I didn't realize I didn't sleep for so long until I finally started taking medication. And then that first night after I took something, I actually woke up well rested and I started crying because like, ⁓ Pete "mental Health Champ": Okay. Yeah. Elliott Mondry: That's what that's supposed to feel like. I didn't know you weren't supposed to just feel like you don't sleep. And, you know, a lot of that stuff, as things start to get under control after a few years of therapy, you know, I've been able to communicate better. I've been able to just feel more rested. I've been able to talk through issues instead of running away from them or lashing out at people. And it's just, it's, it never really goes away, but you just kind of learn how to manage it. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. No, no, no. Elliott Mondry: in a more controlled way and understand how to communicate what you're feeling. And then you surround yourself with people who you can talk about with this and things get, you know, a little better each day. not that every day has to be better, but every day is just a little better than the next day or the last day. And Alicia and I talk about this stuff a lot. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, you know. Yeah, you know, there's there's a video. There's a video I watched recently where it showed like explain to people like what it's like is I have anxiety and depression, so one feeds into the other. So mine's like an infinite loop of what's just going on, you know. So there's a video it shows like every, you know, one day you're OK and the next day you're not. And it's like I sent this and put it out for people to see. And a lot of people are just reacting to it. I'm like, this is how it is for me. Like I'm on stage like they were like, oh, you're OK today. And the next day you're not. Why? I don't understand. Here you go. This video is summed it up completely. It just showed like, you know, how some days are okay. Other days are worse for me. So every day I wake up and I decide, you know, what, how I'm going to feel that day, you know, and in some days it's okay. Other days it's not, but I have a really great support system. So, you know, I have a good friend out of Canada that, you know, I talk to every day and she always asks me how I'm feeling and she said, we choosing violence today or not? So I'm like, you know, probably violence today for some point, you know. Elliott Mondry: Mm-hmm. Good. Pete "mental Health Champ": And then I'll go into why I feel about this, you know, because with my anxiety, a lot of times I'll talk out loud to myself. Like I'll sit there having a conversation with myself and it looks like I'm talking to myself, but really I'm just telling myself what the thoughts in my head are coming up with that just don't sound right, you know? And as for my depression, which I could relate to Alicia, Alicia there a lot because like me, I, the first season of the show, no one understood how bad my depression was. Literally the room I was in during the first season of episodes I did. I literally never left that room half the time. I literally turned the light out, went completely pitch black and just went back into that depression. I swallowed in, you know, and it was hard, you know, and I've had suicidal attempts and things like that too. And I went to my partner, try to talk to her about it, you know, and it was just like, she just told me, oh, well, that's not the time to talk about it, which is never a great thing to tell somebody just because it may not be the conversation you want to have that moment. But you got to understand when someone's telling you these things, you got to be prepared on what to do next. Alicia Madden: Mm-hmm. Elliott Mondry: Oh yeah, mean, half of the battle is just listening and not trying to make it about you. Like we discussed in the previous podcast, the most important thing is when someone comes to you in that situation, you want them to listen and be present. And it's not easy for lot of people because of their own anxieties and mental health issues, because it can be very, I hate using the word triggering, but it can be very triggering for some people. And then all of a sudden it creates a whole... Pete "mental Health Champ": Mm-hmm. Yeah. Elliott Mondry: mess of problems of your anxiety causes me anxiety and my depression blah blah blah and then it's a whole thing. Alicia Madden: No. Can I point out that it's a skill that needs to be learned, it needs to be exercised or else, like you you go to the gym to work on your muscles, get those stronger, but you go to therapy to get your emotions stronger. But listening is, yeah, like I don't know where I heard that, but it's not mine. Yeah, and it's a skill to be a support person too. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, go ahead. Elliott Mondry: Mm-hmm. Pete "mental Health Champ": I love that. I love that statement. Elliott Mondry: It's true though. Pete "mental Health Champ": Me too. That's a very good point. Alicia Madden: And unfortunately, I don't know ⁓ where people are supposed to learn that because ⁓ part of the fear that like I had on my journey and everything is like, like you were saying, Pete, like, you got to be prepared for the statements you'll get back. Maybe you'll find out somebody doesn't know what they're talking about, or maybe ⁓ maybe they're echoing the stigma out there. And it's like, it's disappointing. It's scary. makes you feel ashamed. So there's a whole lot of like Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. Alicia Madden: education involved. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, you know. Elliott Mondry: And I think a lot of it comes from also, I'm sorry, Pete, just briefly, I think a lot of it also comes from just, if you talk to people how you want to be talked to in those situations and someone who's going through something like that knows how they're going to respond in that situation. Someone who doesn't go through it or hasn't ⁓ come to terms with what's going on in their life or hasn't addressed these quote unquote issues they're having, won't know how to respond to it. So if you're going through it, you're more likely to know how to respond to it. But if not, Pete "mental Health Champ": Go ahead. Elliott Mondry: You're just, you won't know how to respond. And then it's kind of that cyclical circular pattern. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, I think that's a great response to that. really do. Dad took the words out of my mouth because I agree. That was really great though, because it's tough though, listening to these things. That's how it happens on this show. Like I told you all, I can't record and sometimes, woo, man, hang on for a ride, kids. We're going for it. It's like you don't know what you're experiencing at this point because everybody will tell you so much, but then. that when it gets to the recording, when they get really relaxed, these guys cut into some serious topics like season one's, like season three's opener. We had a guy early on in the show though, he admitted that he had almost killed himself that morning. He like 15 minutes and he casually just walks into it. Like just super casually just walks into it. I'm like, okay, well this is a new turn for me. Cause I remember when it first happened, it was the first time this ever happened with the show. And he had gotten into it. He's like, yeah, I had the gun in my hand. I'm sitting at the edge of the bed. I'm like, ⁓ my God, is he talking about what I think he's talking about? You know, I thought about, you know, just taking, shooting myself this morning. But you know, I didn't. I decided to come talk to you instead. And it was like, it's like a therapy session going on because these guys are admitting these things. And then afterwards he was just fine. Like he just act like nothing was wrong. Oh, what do you mean? I was like, I'm good. And everything else. And he didn't know, like for some reason he couldn't figure out why people were freaking out. I'm like, dude, you just told everybody you were about to kill yourself this morning, 15 minutes into this episode. What do you mean? Like people were just panicking. But I used to do the show live, but then I realized the subject matter. was really strong when it got to some of these stories. I like the intimate setting that we're in now, because it's like you can say things in here that you want. And you don't have to feel like people are watching you and judging you because when you're opening it up to live, it's like anybody in there, anybody can say anything like that too. So ⁓ as I venture towards doing a men's panel live, it's going to be interesting. We'll see how it goes. Because if it doesn't go over well, I'm going to end up just doing it close quarters and make it a private setting for people. Because then we can say what we want to say. And then, you know, go from there because a lot of these subjects will get pretty strong. Like suicide is a very triggering topic for people, you know, especially when you're talking about these things and like people are thinking about these things. You know, I've had a few people come to me and tell me that, oh, I'm thinking about taking my life. My first response is, well, hold on, hold on. Let's talk about this. What's wrong? Talk. And you get them talking to see what this, you know, and then you're ready to send them to 98 the minute you feel like this is too much. You know, which is great because, you know, with 988, they actually will follow up with you too. Once you call them and talk to them, you don't have to call them just for suicide, by the way, guys. You know, you could just call them for whatever. You're just having a lot of issues, can't figure things out, you know. And that was the great thing when I partnered with PsychPow a little bit too, that it's a companion that you can talk to and it caters to you, the user. It's not this cookie cutter, I'll solve your problems in five minutes type thing. You know, kind of like what you guys are doing. It's like, know, like Elliot's point was the covers being different, apply to different people. So with PsychPAL it's the same thing. It learns who you are and talks to you. And one of my friends was actually using it earlier. We were talking on the phone while she was talking to it. She's like, this is really interesting. And she has bipolar. So she was talking like, hey, what do I do about these rages? And PsychPAL came back and was telling her, hey, listen, why don't you try and do these things? And it was really helpful too. it's not, it already tells you right in the beginning, it's not replacing your therapy, none of stuff. But it'll take notes for your therapist. like when you're... you're in between your therapy sessions, you can send the notes to your therapist and they can see what you've been talking to. And it'll do like based on what it is, say what your mood is and you know, things like that. It's really cool that, you know, it does it like that though, that it caters to what you need, but it's really just because you can talk to it, you can text it, you can send it pictures and it'll interpret them in a way that you can understand them. Elliott Mondry: Interesting. Interesting. mean, and it's great that we have these types of tools at our disposal because some, like we said earlier, some people just don't know where to go and what to do. And sometimes it just starts with you and whatever steps you're comfortable with taking in that moment. ⁓ Pete "mental Health Champ": Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah, definitely. know, we also have, by the way, guys, if you guys haven't seen it yet, there's the help up that goes really great for anybody that's struggling at home and you give you guys know anybody. It's a great place to send them because it has everything in one spot for them. I know Canada has one. It's called the mind might help something out to look at them and see what it is. I can't remember what Matt's website is, but Matt's got one there. And there's another girl I met in the UK. There's something similar that it has all the information in one place for you. which is really cool to see and things like that too. Elliott Mondry: And Pete, not to kind of ⁓ derail this thought, but because you brought it up, I wanted to ask your opinion. So we've talked about the variant covers and you've seen the three or the four, the four covers that we have in the back of the book. Do you have one that you gravitate towards over the others or one that caught your eye more? Pete "mental Health Champ": Go ahead. I gravitate them all. Because I'm a mental health guy, I gravitate them all. I think they all were great to me, honestly. I know everybody's looking for me to say a certain... I love the idea just in general. think the variant covers... Like I said, I'm a collector, so I want them all. Like I want everything. Like that Pokemon statement, I want them all. You know what saying? Like I want them all. Like now I'm like, I'm interested to see what the other covers are like. Variants? Okay, you had me instantly. Because I remember we first met, you were talking about it. like, variant covers? All right, cool. Listen, let's go. Elliott Mondry: Thank Same. haha Pete "mental Health Champ": But that's just me though. think they're really, I like the detail of them. Like I said, I do think that I really do like all the covers, honestly. Because like I said, it's a collector in me that's really going because I'm like, oh man, now I got to have all these different ones. I know it's the same book, but there's different variant covers for a lot of them. A lot of them are like, oh, there's different covers. That was always the big collecting aspect of people. Well, I got to get all the different covers because I can't have just the one. I got to show you all the different ones I've got. you know, and then it becomes a rarity thing. ⁓ well, you don't have this rare cover. that's that's just the collector's side of me, honestly. Elliott Mondry: I mean, it's same for me. mean, at the end of the day, I just like variant covers, but I mean, I figured I could take that love of variants and different art styles and putting it into a practical matter, not just a, um, now, collector's items. Great. Cool. Yes. But more, the more important part of just being able to reach a broader audience and have mental health really be in the forefront of the story, not just, you know, limiting people to just, oh, I don't like this cover, so I'm not going to buy the book. It's well, take which one you want. Pete "mental Health Champ": Mm-hmm. Yeah. Elliott Mondry: And this way you can still benefit from the story and, you know, again, open up discussion around it. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, exactly. Alicia Madden: Whoever said that you should never judge a book by its cover? was full of crap. Pete "mental Health Champ": Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The one ever said Elliott Mondry: have never they've never had a comic book they've never set foot at a comic convention or comic shop a day in their life because you can totally judge a book by its cover. Pete "mental Health Champ": Well, how do you think you pick up the book? Think about it. How do you pick up the book in any bookstore? You're looking at the cover and draws you in, you know what I mean? So I think that like what she said is right. It's stupid because it makes no sense. It's full of crap because it's like, how do you pick up a book? You don't look at the cover. You just like, ⁓ I'm just going to grab this and blind it. It works. Alicia Madden: It's just a newspaper. Elliott Mondry: Yeah, but I mean, but it was also something very important that when we started this, book, I said to Alicia, you're doing the main cover. And she goes, what? Because she's like, I've never done a cover before. like, I don't care. You're doing the main cover. Because to me, my biggest pet peeve as a creator and just as a comic book fan is if I open the cover and it's, I've loved the cover art and the cover art doesn't match the interior art. That is my biggest pet peeve. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, exactly. Same thing. Yeah. Elliott Mondry: and that completely destroys my perception of the story. So I said, I want your art to be the first art somebody sees. And if they choose to a variant cover, great. But the most important thing is that your art style is consistent in the artwork that is synonymous with the story itself, whether it's on the cover or in the interiors. Pete "mental Health Champ": I agree. love it though. I the ominous feel of when the last part of it when he gets home, I think it's really great. It drew me in. I was like, ⁓ okay, I like this. I think he did really great. I think they really did awesome with the way the feel of it is. And it just draws you in the whole story. And I've been shown, I showed a little bit to some friends. I only showed little bits and pieces like, hey, check this out. What do you think? And all of are like, ooh, what is that? I'm so interested. I want to know more. I'm like, okay, all right, cool. I'll let you know when I know. And it was just like just a teasing because they all interested who I talked to all the time and I was telling them about how I was going to meet you guys. And, you know, the great thing, too, is that I'm from the Chicagoland area. In fact, you know, I actually was born in Displanes, so my mom still lives up there. So I'm going to actually back up to visit my daughter. She lives up there and she's graduating high school. So I was like, as soon as I saw Chicago, like, oh, we're going to have a couple of Chicago kids together hanging out. Here we go. So. Elliott Mondry: ⁓ really? Alicia Madden: Yay. Elliott Mondry: ⁓ yeah. Pete "mental Health Champ": With that being said, guys, we're at the part of the interview where I'm gonna ask you two questions, okay? Now, if you've ever seen any these episodes, you probably know what I'm about to ask you next, but this will be interesting to hear you guys' response. So the question to both of you is that if your mental health had a song, what would you say that song would be? Elliott Mondry: ⁓ we definitely have a couple of options here. Lisa, do you want to go first? You want me to go first? Alicia Madden: If my mental health had a song, like a Pete "mental Health Champ": This is great. This is great. The responses you get. Alicia Madden: like, my mental health had a theme song? Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. What would you say your theme song is? Listen, this is your choice to give it a theme song. If you're to say this is Alicia's, you know, depression, this is what it comes out as. What would you say that song would be to describe it? Alicia Madden: You know, there is music I listen to when I'm depressed. Yeah. Elliott Mondry: but one that specifically describes what it feels like to be in your head. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah, yeah, what it feels like definitely. Yeah. It's interesting to get your perspective though to see because you're always interested to hear what people's response to this question. Alicia Madden: Well, okay, I think I was over-complicating it because I only listen to one genre of music. I just listen to metal. So I was just diving into like, ⁓ what are all the metal songs? And it's just like, okay, ⁓ I'm just going give you a genre. ⁓ Like early 2000s metalcore. Some of the good stuff. And I would say specifically Open Letter by The Amity Affliction because... Pete "mental Health Champ": Okay, nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with that. Okay, okay. Alicia Madden: It makes me feel like I'm underwater. And that's kind of, that is a good place and a bad place I go to in my mind. At certain times it's really weird. I have a weird ⁓ relationship with water. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. I think that's fantastic. I think it's fantastic. I love the way you described that too. That's really cool to see. So Elliot, what do you think yours would be? Elliott Mondry: Oh, I don't think I know it's breaking down by I prevail. Breaking down by I prevail. And Alicia has known this since day one that that was the song that meant has meant the world to me because it's the one song that I've always listened to consistently that perfectly describes what it feels like when my anxiety is bad and when I was in that dark place. And I think for like the first year that I heard it, was my Spotify, you know, number one, cause I just looked at like five or 600 times. Pete "mental Health Champ": Right, there you go. Yeah. Elliott Mondry: because it really spoke to me about what it means to have these voices in your head and to just have this overwhelming anxiety that just feels soul crushing. And it was the first song that I really listened to that really just, I'm like, they get it. And I think that's beautiful. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, my choices were Artificial Suicide by Bad Omens was my new one, but my first one was the intro to Scott Pilgrim versus the World. I just love that movie, the way it was styled in the comic, you know, because it's that sense of like, that's what it's like. My anxiety is my heart starts racing for mine. So like, I'll know when I'm about to have a panic attack because my heart will start racing and I just can't like I can't catch my breath. So then my ⁓ depression songs were one of the two with either a different kind of pain by cold. Elliott Mondry: interesting Alicia Madden: Mm-hmm. Elliott Mondry: Mm-hmm. Pete "mental Health Champ": or leave the light on and talk away the dark by Pop Roach because the powerful message at the end was about 9-8-8 and it was like, yeah, you know, they get it kind of thing. And it's always been a special place, but you know, because music has been great. We actually met somebody early on in this season that we had a gentleman come on out of the Minnesota area. He and a 12 year old girl had wrote a song called We Are Hearts. Unfortunately, she had taken her life 12 hours after finishing that song. Elliott Mondry: Thanks Pete "mental Health Champ": You know, and things like that, too. So music's always been a big part of my life. So it's great to always ask people that question that they have mental issues. Hey, how would you describe that song to somebody? Because we always have that song we go to, like you were saying, you're listening to it, you know, and things like that. So it's always interesting to hear different people's perspective of, what song they like. So, guys, the main question and the reason I started this podcast, OK, if you could break the stigma about mental health. Now, what I'm asking you is that the one thing you want people to stop believing, what would you each say that would be? Elliott Mondry: We want people to stop believing. Pete "mental Health Champ": Exactly. Stop believing because you know there's so much misinformation out there. What is the one thing that you hear repeatedly that you wish people would stop saying? Elliott Mondry: It's for me, it's the second page of the book. You're not alone. And I think everybody thinks that you're the only one going through it and you're the only one suffering. And validly, you are suffering. We can't deny that. At first, you're going through some mental health struggle is suffering. But the important thing to realize is that you're not alone in it. And when you realize that you can talk about it more and then it's not as isolating. And I think if more people knew that and accepted that, Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. Elliott Mondry: then people would be able to talk about it more and get the help they need sooner. Pete "mental Health Champ": Definitely, definitely. Lisa, what are you thinking over there? Alicia Madden: ⁓ this question reminds me of just something that we always said in group therapy. It's don't shit on yourself. And that, that I want people to stop using the word should like, cause I did that a lot and that's a lot of pressure to put on yourself. And it's, it's, I think it comes from my perfectionism, but, ⁓ you know, I should be doing this and I should feel this and I shouldn't feel that kind of thing. And Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. Alicia Madden: The right way to confront that is to be like, well, number one, don't ever shit on yourself, but confront it and say to yourself, says who? Says who? Pete "mental Health Champ": I love it. love it. I love it. Well, guys, thank you so much for coming to hang out with me today. I appreciate it. I am absolutely looking forward to what comes out on this story so much and looking at what you guys come up with in the future. mean, like I said, with mental health, there's an endless amount of topics you guys can pick, you know, and like I said, I love the art style. So Alicia, hands on to you. I love it so much. love your art style. Elliot, the story writing is really great, too. Really pulls you guys in. So, guys, I really appreciate everything. Before we sign off, you guys want to let know where everybody where they can find you guys at? What are? Alicia Madden: Hinks. Pete "mental Health Champ": What social handles you want to plug? Obviously, Calamity Comics has a website. So where are they finding you guys at? Elliott Mondry: Well, they can find us on Instagram at Calamity Comics Official. ⁓ can follow me specifically if you want laundry rights on Instagram. But the best place to find us is ⁓ Calamity Com... our website, www.calamitycomics.net. Pete "mental Health Champ": Awesome. At least you want to plug any handles for yourself or anybody can check out your other artwork you've done. You got anything that you want to say or you want to just stick with Calamity Comics. It's okay. Alicia Madden: ⁓ Definitely Calamity Comics official on Instagram, like Elliot said, but if you had anything specifically to talk to me about, ⁓ I'm AliciaPop, I-L-L-I-A, Alicia Papilla at, yeah, Instagram. Pete "mental Health Champ": Yeah. Elliott Mondry: If you DM us at the Calamity Comics Instagram, you're gonna get one or two, either me or her responding back. So whichever way you wanna go about it. Pete "mental Health Champ": Awesome. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, definitely. Well, guys, with that being said, we're going to wrap up this episode of Pete for anxiety. Thank you so much, guys, for coming to hang out with us today. I appreciate it. I'm looking forward to the comics coming out, guys. And with that being said, you guys are going find me on Pete versus I.D. on X. I'll be down to TikTok. I'm on Spotify. I'll be down to Pandora Radio. And as I always say, costs nothing absolutely not to be kind to somebody. One kind act you could do could save someone's life or hell, you can make their day. I'm Pete for anxiety, signing off saying don't ask how your day is today. Say, hey, how's your mental health? Alicia Madden: We're a small company.