Thank you for joining us for episode 434 of Live Happy Now.

We've become more comfortable with talking openly about mental health, but we're still reluctant to talk about mental illness.

Since September is suicide prevention month, we wanted to open up that conversation on this important topic.

I'm your host, Paula Phelps, and this week I'm talking with Gabe Howard, author, speaker,

and host of the Inside Mental Health Podcast by Healthline Media.

After being committed to a psychiatric hospital in 2003, Gabe was diagnosed with bipolar

and anxiety disorders, and today he uses his experience to help others navigate and understand that difficult path.

Gabe is here to talk about not just his journey, but to help the families and friends of people who are struggling with mental illness.

Let's have a listen.

Gabe, thank you so much for being on the show today.

Paula, thank you so much for having me.

You know, you have done so much to create awareness around mental illness and really challenge the stigma that's associated with it.

I don't know that there's any individual out there who's approaching it the way that you are.

And so before we really get into this conversation,

why don't you give us a little bit of your backstory and tell us about your journey?

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 26 after being committed to a psychiatric hospital.

And if you would have asked me, well, hell, an hour before I was committed to a psychiatric hospital,

if I had any mental illness. I would have been like,

no, I'm just fine. My background is I didn't know what mental illness was and I believed all the

stigma and the stereotypes. Mentally ill people are violent. Mentally ill people rock back and forth and

drool. They're antisocial. They're psychotic. They look a certain way. They come from bad homes.

And I always like to remind people of that one right there

...