Show Notes

What happens when the diagnosis changes, the struggle feels endless, and hope seems impossible to find?

In this episode of Why Not Me?, Tony Mantor sits down with writer and journalist Meg LeDuc to discuss her personal journey through depression, anxiety, psychosis, suicide attempts, self-harm, recovery, and ultimately healing.

Meg shares how years of misdiagnosis, hospitalization, and mental health challenges shaped her life—and how determination, faith, support, and the right treatment helped her rebuild it.

This honest conversation explores what it feels like to live with serious mental illness, the realities of psychosis, the impact of stigma, and why recovery is possible even after the darkest moments.

Whether you're living with mental illness, supporting someone who is, or simply looking to better understand the human experience, this episode offers insight, compassion, and hope.

In This Episode:

• Meg's journey through anxiety, depression, and psychosis
• The challenges of diagnosis and finding effective treatment
• Living with suicide ideation and surviving multiple attempts
• Self-harm, shame, and learning to heal
• The role of faith during recovery
• Relationships and mental illness
• How stigma affects people living with serious mental illness
• The difference between receiving help and choosing healing
• Recovery, resilience, and rebuilding a meaningful life
• Why psychosis is not a life sentence

Memorable Quote

About Meg LaDuke

Meg LaDuc is a Detroit-based freelance journalist, creative writer, and contributor to mental health publications. Drawing from both lived experience and professional reporting, she writes about mental health, disability, recovery, and resilience. She is currently working on a memoir chronicling her journey through serious mental illness and recovery

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Show Notes

What happens when the systems designed to help people with serious mental illness become the very barriers preventing care?

In Part 2 of this important conversation, Tony Mantor welcomes Dr. Aaron Meyer and Anne Marie Council for a candid discussion about the failures and possibilities within America's mental health system. Together, they explore why so many individuals spend years cycling through emergency rooms, jails, homelessness, and crisis without ever receiving the long-term treatment they truly need.

The conversation examines the gap between policy and practice, the importance of housing with wraparound support, and why accountability—not simply creating more laws—may be the key to meaningful change.

This episode challenges listeners to rethink assumptions about involuntary treatment, homelessness, public safety, and compassion while offering practical ways communities can advocate for a better behavioral health system.

If you've ever wondered why so many people fall through the cracks, this conversation provides insight, hope, and a call to action.

In This Episode

• Why the "10-year loop" delays treatment for countless people living with serious mental illness
• How emergency rooms and jails have become default mental health providers
• The importance of continuous support instead of one-time stabilization
• Why existing mental health laws are often not fully implemented
• The need for more psychiatric beds and comprehensive treatment options
• How housing combined with wraparound services can change lives
• The role families and caregivers play in advocating for better care
• Why stigma continues to prevent people from receiving help
• The importance of investigative journalism and public accountability
• Practical ways listeners can become advocates for change in their own communities
• Why empathy and person-centered care must become the foundation of mental health policy

Key Takeaway

Serious mental illness is not a moral failing or a criminal issue—it is a healthcare issue. Until communities invest in accessible treatment, supportive housing, and systems that prioritize people over bureaucracy, too many individuals will continue cycling through crisis instead of recovery.

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If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the podcast. Every listener helps expand understanding, reduce stigma, and create meaningful conversations about autism and mental health around the world.

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intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild
Why Not Me the World music published by Mantor Music (BMI)

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In this important episode of Why Not Me? Embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide, Tony Mantor sits down with Dr. Alan Meyer, psychiatrist and Behavioral Health Officer for the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, and Ann Marie Council, retired Senior Deputy City Attorney and mental health policy advisor, for an in-depth discussion about the challenges facing today's mental health system.

Together, they explore why so many individuals with serious mental illness fall through the cracks, the disconnect between policy and real-world implementation, and how communities can better support those in crisis before tragedy strikes.

The conversation covers assisted outpatient treatment, California's CARE Act, healthcare burnout, homelessness, autism, schizophrenia, and the urgent need for earlier intervention and stronger collaboration between healthcare providers, lawmakers, first responders, and community organizations.

This is the first of a two-part series that shines a light on the people working to create meaningful change in mental healthcare.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why mental health and physical health must be treated together
• The barriers preventing people from receiving timely care
• How policy often fails frontline healthcare workers
• The role of cities, counties, and states in behavioral health services
• Why assisted outpatient treatment remains difficult to access
• How technology and AI could improve mental health access
• The importance of prevention instead of waiting for crisis
• Why community partnerships are essential for lasting solutions
• How burnout is affecting healthcare professionals and first responders
• What changes could transform the future of mental healthcare

Our Guests

Dr. Alan Meyer

• Psychiatrist at the University of California, San Diego
• Behavioral Health Officer for the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department
• Specialist in complex behavioral health and high-utilizer emergency response systems

Ann Marie Council

• Retired Senior Deputy City Attorney for the City of San Diego
• Founding Partner and Mental Health Policy Advisor at Quarter Turn Strategies
• Advocate for legislative reform and improved mental health policy

Key Takeaway

Real change begins when healthcare, government, first responders, and communities stop working in silos and start working together. Early intervention, compassionate care, and practical policy reforms can save lives and restore hope for individuals and families navigating serious mental illness.

If this conversation inspires you, follow the show, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who believes mental health deserves greater understanding and action.

#MentalHealth #Autism #BehavioralHealth #Psychiatry #HealthcarePolicy #EarlyIntervention #SeriousMentalIllness #WhyNotMePodcast #TonyMantor #MentalHealthAwareness #Homelessness #CommunityCare

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intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild
Why Not Me the World music published by Mantor Music (BMI)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.