Mental Health News Radio

Joe Fusaro joins us to talk about the incredible initiative he is a part of with McLean Hospital: Deconstructing Stigma. Since elementary school, Joe has had trouble with something that comes so naturally to most people—sleep. Despite his sleep patterns, good grades always came easily to Joe. He played music and was good at sports. Yet Joe frequently felt anxious. Just days after he started college, the 9/11 attacks happened and placed a cloud over daily life. One night, Joe felt unmotivated to do schoolwork, and a friend introduced him to the drug Adderall. It was the start of a decade-long love/hate relationship with medication. The drugs would help for a year or so, then the upper and downers would impact Joe’s sleep. He’d have major depressive episodes and wind up in detox and the hospital. The cycle would repeat again and again. Making matters worse, Joe began having  psychotic episodes, talking to himself about spaceships and someone trying to kill him. Doctors prescribed more medication.It was 2013 whe