People sometimes ask me about how I do what I do in my job, specifically asking other people about their mental health issues.

How do I come right out and ask about someone's depression, their trauma, their disorders,

the ways in which mental illness has made their life harder?

How do I develop the nerve, the bravery, the guts to just come out and ask about it here

on the show?

It's Depression Mode.

I'm John Moe.

I'm glad you're here.

And my answer is always the same.

It's not bravery or guts or anything like that. I just forget. I forget that in our society,

you're not supposed to ask about stuff like that. You're not supposed to ask about someone's

suicidal ideation or their time in a treatment facility or how they've tried to address their

issues. I forget because it's something that I've been doing at work for many years now. It's a

societal taboo, but one that I cross so often that it just slips my mind that it is a taboo. And part of

the reason for me forgetting about those

boundaries is that the people I interview have agreed to lower their boundaries. They know I'm

going to ask about stuff like that. They agreed to the interview. So here we go. I won't spring

it on you in the produce section if I meet you there. It's planned during the podcast. But even with

all that, mental health is not an easy topic for anyone, because those mental low points hurt

when they were happening, and they hurt to talk about now. It's painful, it's scary. Here's the thing,

though, people who get this stuff off their chest tend to feel better.

Because, I mean, who likes having heavy things on their chest?

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