Nate Crawford is the Executive Director of Here/Hear, a nonprofit that works to give hope
to those with mental illness and their loved ones. He is a regular contributor to The Mighty and
blogs at www.herehear.org.

Click to tweet: Nate Crawford shares his incredible journey on the i’Mpossible Project #podcast!

Time Stamped Notes

• 2.12 Nate plays bass guitar and has three boys under the age of 10 and is a stay at home dad
• 3.15 Nate lives with multiple mental illnesses and has a Ph.D. in theology
• 5.35 Two of Nate’s three boys are musicians, one on guitar and one on piano
• 9.29 Nate’s Ph.D. dissertation is on the idea that religious thinking is improvisation—you pull
  from different sources, react, contemplate, and formulate thinking
• 10.08 One of Nate’s favorite books is Sacred Attunement, which in essence says that the
  impetus of religion isn’t to get things right, it’s to connect with other people and with god
• 12.06 Nate had his first panic/anxiety attack as a 7-year-old in first grade while at school and has
  1-2 panic attacks per year since then
• 13.15 When Nate was 11 years old, he began to have suicidal thoughts
• 14.09 Nate’s parents finally took Nate to see a counselor at age 16
• 14.52 Nate spent the first year of his college career in a “mixed state” where he was alternating
  between depressed/down and hyper manic and it was non-stop
• 16.00 Nate saw an academic counselor (instead of a mental health counselor) who then referred him to a nurse practitioner on campus, who then prescribed him an anti-depressant. Little did they know that Nate’s body doesn’t process or metabolize many anti-depressants
• 17.45 Nate’s family doctor prescribed him another set of pills for his mental illnesses, and they
  weren’t working, so the family doctor kept upping the dosage (and with no effect). He finally
  saw a counselor who diagnosed him with (a serious case of untreated) bipolar disorder and said
  Nate needed to see a psychiatrist. Nate had to fight with his medical doctor to go see the
  psychiatrist because his insurance wouldn’t cover a psychiatrist without the referral from a
  medical doctor.
• 19.38 Nate found out that his cousin who has an anxiety disorder also doesn’t process the same
  psychiatric medicine that doesn’t work for him
• 29.01 Nate counts the bass guitar and playing live music as a coping skill
• 31.17 Nate also counts painting as a coping skill (and he doesn’t claim to be good or an expert!)
• 34.03 Nate created a reading program for kids in his town, and he counts helping those kids as
  coping skill
• 40.00 Nate’s favorite word is “Whoa” (not the Joey Lawrence version ), his favorite key
  signature to play in is C# minor (lots of harmonics… whoa!)… find out more fun facts about Nate
  in the Quick Fire round

Key Points

• Mental illness can onset at an early age and last a lifetime but it is manageable when
  actually treated and treated properly
• We as healthcare consumers, be it physical or mental healthcare, are our own best advocates and must fight for what we deserve
• Creativity for the sake of creativity can be a healthy outlet and coping skill for the
  obstacles life brings our way

Resources or Websites Mentioned

Nate’s non-profit foundation Here/Hear (and the best way to get in touch with Nate):
www.herehear.org

Nate’s email address: Nate@herehear.org