Haunted by Voices: Adel’s Battle with Schizophrenia in the Middle East
Sickboy
CBC
4.8 • 524 Ratings
🗓️ 2 July 2024
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What happens when your family thinks you're haunted but it's all in your head? In this powerful episode, Adel BinHdaya AlFalasi shares his deeply personal journey through mental health challenges, from hearing voices and believing he had superpowers to suffering a stroke at just 30 years old. Initially turning to video games for escape and misled by his family’s belief in supernatural causes, Adel eventually sought medical help and was diagnosed with a neurological condition. His story sheds light on the critical need for mental health awareness in the UAE, the impact of stigma, and the importance of supportive, understanding healthcare. Discover how Adel’s experience with a compassionate psychologist transformed his life and learn why raising mental health awareness is vital for those suffering in silence.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What's the connection between being an astronaut and being a novelist? I hadn't really thought about it |
| 0:06.8 | until I talked to the astronaut-turned-writer Chris Hadfield about his new thriller, Final Orbit. |
| 0:13.5 | Every week on the podcast bookends, I sit down with today's best authors for candid conversations |
| 0:18.8 | about their writing, inspirations, and lives. |
| 0:22.8 | You'll get to see the world through the eyes of your favorite writers, and they might even |
| 0:26.6 | take you to outer space too. Bookends with Matea Roach is available now wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:34.3 | This is a CBC podcast. |
| 0:46.4 | Music This is a CBC podcast. Salaam alaqa, my friends. |
| 0:48.3 | We are at a point where we are going to be having a conversation with a wonderful human from the UAE, |
| 0:56.2 | our friend Adel. Adel is a mental health advocate who is on, you know, he's on a path of trying to |
| 1:07.6 | deal with some schizophrenic episodes, something that he's been dealing with |
| 1:14.9 | since a very young age. He has an incredible story. And we were just so excited to have a chat |
| 1:21.1 | with him about all the work he's been doing on his path to finding, finding, you know, that healing, that healing mentality |
| 1:32.2 | with something that he's struggled with for years. It's a fascinating conversation from a |
| 1:37.0 | cultural standpoint. So I think, I think you're really going to enjoy this. After the conversation, |
| 1:41.8 | we actually sit down, the three of us, and we have a conversation about fetus and two, which is something we've covered before, but it's one of the more interesting cases that we heard about. If you're not familiar with fetus and feet, two, I think a parasitic twin, and maybe they'll give you enough kind of info to go on. So, Adel, we love you. You're the fucking man, dude. And we're so happy that we had a chance to meet you and talk to you. |
| 2:04.6 | And to go on. So Adel, we love you. You're the fucking man, dude. |
| 2:01.0 | And we're so happy that we had a chance to meet you and talk to you. |
| 2:04.6 | And I hope you all enjoy this as much as we did. |
| 2:07.1 | So without further ado, here's a chat sit down with you, Adel. |
| 2:28.6 | Brian told me that I should start this off by saying, |
| 2:32.6 | Salam al-a-Qam. |
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