Content Warning: This episode discusses suicide, anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and bipolar disorder.
Maria Bamford’s parents, Joel and Marilyn, were not part of a generation that knew all the terminology and awareness of mental health that we have today. They couldn’t even identify their own difficulties as being indicative of mental health conditions. But they did try everything they could think of to help their daughter as she struggled through the years with intrusive thoughts, bipolar disorder type II, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Joel and Marilyn are no longer with us but Maria, now a renowned comedian, actor, and best-selling author, remembers them fondly for the effort they put in, the love they demonstrated, and the values they taught her having to do with building community, helping out your fellow human beings, and adapting a worldview when new information becomes available. Her folks were even good sports about Maria persistently including impressions of them in her standup work. Maria Bamford joins host Dr. Michelle K. Murray for an honest, funny, and loving look at how mental health worked in her family and what she’s carried on after they’ve gone.
In This Family is presented by Nexus Family Healing, a national nonprofit mental health organization that restores hope for thousands of children and families. Learn more and listen at NexusFamilyHealing.org/podcast.