Karena Dawn has been on the podcast before talking about fitness and entrepreneurship as the co-founder of Tone It Up. Today, she joins us to talk about her new book, The Big Silence, a memoir about mental illness and healing. The title comes from the idea that there is still such a stigma surrounding mental health and discussing it openly. In it, she goes deep into parts of her life that are so evocative and powerful, from dealing with drugs, being arrested, and managing a strained relationship with her schizophrenic mother. We talk about her story, how to support someone with mental health issues while still taking care of yourself, and how she’s integrated her husband into the mental health discussion. It’s so important for us to break this silence together, have meaningful conversations around mental health, and shut down the stigma once and for all. We also talk about: Karena’s background of dealing with mental illness in her family Recognizing the complexity of everyone’s lived experiences Finding clarity at the end Taking care of yourself while you help others Discovering where to set boundaries Turning your childhood struggles into something beautiful Teaching people how to work with others who have mental health conditions The goal of The Big Silence Sponsors:   Get discount codes sent directly to your phone. Simply text brand name or keyword to 380-600-3030 Resources:  thebigsilence.com Read: The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing Instagram: @the.big.silence and @karenadawn Text HERO to 741741 for confidential counseling Join our community: almost30.com/membership facebook.com/Almost30podcast/groups Podcast disclaimer can be found by visiting: almost30.com/disclaimer.  Find more to love at almost30.com! Almost 30 is edited by Crate Media. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices