As we enter sweater weather and the days are getting shorter, do you experience seasonal blues instead of seasonal cheer?  Find out how to handle that seasonal depression, also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, so you can enjoy this holiday season!

If you or anyone you know may be experiencing thoughts of suicide please call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Stay Connected with us! Email us at AskDrImani@crooked.com

 

TRANSCRIPT

 

Dr. Imani Walker: This show is for general information and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to provide specific health care or medical advice and should not be construed as providing health care or medical advice. Please consult your physician with any questions related to your own health. [music break] Hey, everybody, welcome to Imani State of Mind. I’m Dr. Imani. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And I’m MegScoop. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Hey. Hey Meg. What’s up with you? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Nothing much girl. You know, just trying to get this daylight savings time in order. Cause, you know, when you got kids, they don’t know that the time changed. So–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Listen. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Little kids they just– [laughter]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Listen. [laughter] Not to equate kids with dogs, but my dog is like, bitch, when do I eat? Like [laughter] you off like I’m hungry. Like, what is going on? Like. Like what is going on? So I completely understand. So yeah, we are in the thick of standard time now um and it’s been a little weird because the day is so much shorter. It gets dark here at like it’s almost going to start getting dark here at 4:45. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Which is crazy. Like, it’s– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s just it’s so wild and it’s going to keep getting, the days are going to keep getting shorter until the winter solstice, which is like December 21st through to the 22nd. So it’s going to be a little bit weird um for the next um month or so. Um. Which brings me to today’s deep dive. So we’re going to be talking about seasonal affective disorder and specifically what is it? And what can we do to really deal with and navigate this this disorder? Um. We’re going to be breaking it all down today um and what else has been going on? So we’re taping this a little early, but when you guys, you listeners are going to be hearing this podcast, it’s going to be Veterans Day. So big up– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: [?] yes! 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –To all of our veterans out there. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Shout out to my dad. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yes shout out. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: My dad is retired out of the military. Veteran. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh yeah, that’s right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: He’s a lifelong veteran. Yes. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That’s right. That’s right. What branch was your dad in? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: In the army. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh nice. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Army 22 years. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Nice, nice. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: So veteran life. I love y’all veterans. You’re the best. Thank you for all you do for our country. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yes. So let me ask you this. Do you did your dad kind of like impress upon you, like military um practices, like do you make your beds with like four point corners? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes. I might as well be a veteran because that’s how my father raised us like we were in the military. You could not– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Have your bed, like not fixed. Your bed always had to be made. Um. Like how we cleaned. Like, just just everything. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Everything. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Everything had to be in order. It just, the most. So– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. Yeah.

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Yes, I was at boot camp my whole life. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yes, yes. Everything. I I don’t have any family that that are veterans, but I used to work with veterans um at the VA. So shout out to all you guys. I really actually enjoyed my time over there. Um. Okay. Now, this past week, literally this past week and also the past couple of days, as far as current events, there’s been a lot going on. Um. It almost seems as though I mean, which is really sad. It almost seems as though like last week, the day that we recorded was the day that Takeoff had passed away. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And over the past week we’re now in the midst of like today is is is well today for us, for all of you guys that are listening um today is election day. So I have my little I voted sticker. I haven’t put it on yet because I haven’t voted for everything yet. I have to go through everything, girl voting in California, as you know, from when you used to live here, it’s like a, it’s like a treatise. I mean, it’s just it never stops. I’m like– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –front and back, damn. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I felt like I was taking, like, an essay test. So so in any case– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wait wait you’re doing it, you’re doing absentee? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. Yeah I do. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I write it in yeah I write it in because– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I went on Friday– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I mean– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Uh early voting. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: In person. Yeah.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I write it in. The last time I voted pre-pandemic, I went in person and it was, I don’t know, like the vibe was a little weird. Like, I guess I don’t know like the vibe was weird because that was the election where we were voting for um uh Trump versus uh Hillary Clinton. And–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –I don’t know, I just I just felt I was like, I don’t know. These white men in line are they seem a little aggy little aggro. So I was like you know what. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And you heard your boy. Your boy Trump is uh, he’s going to be running in 2024. [laughing]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I mean, we know that. He gonna run until the day he die. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Officially. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I mean. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Officially. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah I mean whatever everybody knew that the media has been talking about him since he left. So and I mean, everybody–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Media, not just conservative media, liberal media– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Whatever, they’ve been talking about him left and right. Um. So I’m like, okay, like and new new day, same thing. Um. But there’s been a lot that’s been going on. Now one thing that I wanted to bring up, especially in terms of mental health, is you did you hear that that the woman uh the woman in Iowa or the the teenager in Iowa who, Piper Lewis, um who had to pay back her pay back the person who rapes her and who she killed. She had to pay him $4,000, right? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um. She escaped. She cut off her ankle bracelet and escaped. And you know what? Good girl. Run, run. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Run. Because– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It just it did you know–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –the fact that she– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It it sucks, though, because think about it, like, how how long for the rest of her life she’s got to be on the run, right? Because as soon as she gives her name or somebody notices her, she got to go like, you got to go to jail if you cut that ankle–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Bracelet off. And that’s so– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Unfair that she’s dealt with so much trauma already and y’all made–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Her pay, pay back her abusers. Like [laughing] what?

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. Pay the family like $4,000. Like for what? For like each time he raped me? Like, get out like ugh. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: This is disgusting. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It just. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: This is, some of this stuff– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s disgusting. It’s disgust–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Some of this stuff that happens is in our in our– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s disgusting.

 

MegScoop Thomas: –legal system. Yeah. It’s disgusting. It’s hideous and I’m ashamed. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I’m ashamed. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So, I mean, Piper, run, run, girl. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And I mean, she’s going to get caught. Like she’s going to get caught. Like, that’s, you know, I mean, that’s a given. But I do hope that her punishment for cutting her ankle bracelet is considered within, you know, the scope of the case, which is she’s like, I defended myself. This man was raping me. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Girl, it’s Iowa. And they already made her pay–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: [indistinct] Iowa. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Back the attacker’s family. So I don’t know–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: They did, they did.

 

MegScoop Thomas: –If that would be the case. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But she– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: You know. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Raised like some I like as soon as I heard about it, I was like, Girl, you need four racks? I’ll send it to you. Like, that’s exactly what I said. That’s exactly– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –What I said when uh– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –When uh my boyfriend Peter said that I was like, I’ll send it to her. And he was like–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Oh no, they already raised like it was something like 200K. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Way more yeah. Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: For her. Yeah. So I was like, get it girl, but they’ll find her. And I mean, we’ll, we’ll get more updates to this story later. But I was just like for victim victims rights advocates were like this is wrong as hell. And um–

 

MegScoop Thomas: It is. I just ugh I don’t understand it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It’s disgusting to me. A man wrote that law for sure. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I mean. C’m– [laughing]. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: A man had to write that. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So. So. Right. So, like, I raped you, right? So, like, you got to pay me, though, like no. Like, I’m not, like. For what? Like what are you talking about? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Girl. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um, and then what else happened? So, all right, we have moved past Kanye, um and we’re pretty much, I think, you know, what’s been interesting is that there has definitely I mentioned this on the show before, but there’s a schism right now amongst Black folks like there are people, because I’m online sometimes and I mean, as far as social media and I look at comments and stuff and there’s really like a schism in the Black community. Like there are people that are like, I’m either with Kanye and with Kyrie Irving or I am not. And Kyrie Irving apologized. He he tweeted or he um he tweeted or he went on Instagram and he apologized for posting a link to an Amazon Prime, a movie that is on Amazon Prime. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mm hmm. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That um is alleging that the uh that Black folks were the original Israelites, which I’ve heard lots of times before. That’s fine. But it also contained a lot of anti-Semitic uh rhetoric. And so Kyrie Irving was like, you know, to everybody who, you know, is Jewish out there. Like, I sincerely apologize. Um. Nike didn’t care. They they severed ties with him. They were like–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That’s not enough. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um. The Nets are like, we don’t care. But also the Nets are like the worst team in basketball right now [laughter] from what I understand. So they were like– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: They need all the help they can get. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –you know what, but right. They were like, I don’t care. Um. You know, it’s just I don’t know. Like, it’s in a way, I’m kind of ha– I’m sad that this is coming up because when it comes to Black folks, we have been wanting respect for so long. And when we get information that resonates with us or resonates within us, it doesn’t mean that you have to just automatically accept it and jump on the bandwagon bandwagon like please do your research. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah, yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Like please. Like, like just like we we have been disrespected, downtrodden. I mean, we were brought here as slaves. And just because we have not gotten the benefit of, of, of a lot of things does not mean that we also turn around and berate people who are not like us. So. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Because when we do that right, we take you take on the mindset of your oppressor and– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That’s not what you want to do. So, yeah, I I completely understand. Hey, I’m sure Jesus was Black. I’m sure Israelites. The first Israelites were Black, too. But that’s where it ends. [laughter] Because DeSean. DeSean Jackson, um who’s in the NFL. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: He had he had said something like a while ago about how or he posted something a while ago about how um like white Jews, white, white Jewish people are trying to um basically subjugate uh Black folks. And he posted some like some fake some quote from like a fake quote from Hitler, apparently. And I was like, all right, there’s nothing about like when we come to Hitler, like, all bets are off. Like, just just walk away, like, leave it alone. So, I don’t know, like, I’m happy that as Black folks, we’re we’re discussing this more, but at the same time, I’m also really like, come on, you guys. Like, Come on. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Let’s get it together. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And I get what you’re saying when you’re when you’re a public figure, which Kyrie is, whether he wants to be or not, you do have a responsibility to fact check everything you say right? Now–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: No he said he was like, well, I’m not a role model, so ya’ll shouldn’t be trippin. That’s exact like legit– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: No no I’m saying and that’s he can say– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: He can say it, that’s fine. But the point is– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –You have followers like you can’t deny that. So whether you choose to accept your lot in life or not, that’s not up for debate. The truth is what it is, which is you are unfortunately a like because of your your career, you’re you’re a role model. Um. And as a role model, you do have a responsibility. Now, you don’t have to research the stuff that you say, but when you don’t, this is what happens. You and you know– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –He’s now on the hook for 500K with the nets they’re each donating towards causes, organizations that– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh wow.

 

MegScoop Thomas: –work to eradicate hate. So I’m sitting here like–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah I saw that. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Now, you know, you done came up off half a mill for your mistake. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Comment. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Quote unquote. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. So again, you ain’t got to research, but then you do have to pay the price and that’s what comes with this. And so I think the better I’m not going to I’m not going to sit here and say, like as a Black person, I do understand, like we all come from Black people, right? Like just the world comes from Black people. So to sit here and say there [?] Black people that are jew–, you know, like, I’m not going to get into that because the truth is what it is. But he has a responsibility to like, hey, let’s have a conversation about this. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: You see, that’s a different approach than being like– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That’s different. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –This is the truth. This is the fact. And like, this is [claps hands] what I think. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You said. Clap [laughter]. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You had to make a– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s it– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Clap first. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Like you at least go. Hey, let’s have a conversation. This is something that I found out. Or this is something that I’ve learned. I watched this and it said, you know this. I want to know thoughts about this. What what is your take? Because then it’s then because the whole point is now now you’re educating people, right? Because now it’s people are like, wait, what? You saw that? Where what is that about? Let’s have a conversation. Let me talk about it. You might have opened some people’s eyes or you might have had them–. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: You know, now they can do their own research. But because of how you came across these topics and talked about them, you catching all the flak for it and you got to come up off some money because of games that you’re not playing and money that you have to pay to org– anti-hate organizations. Which it better be some anti-black, I mean, anti-hate organizations that are pro-Black, meaning they help Black people. I’m hoping they allowed him to donate some of that money for that, but I you know–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: They probably was like we’ll donate it for you because you stupid. [laughing]

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah they it probably went straight to like Jewish organizations, which I’m like, y’all now if it’s anti-hate, we know who be hated the most in the world. And as anyone who is– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Dark skinned. So let’s help them, okay? Let’s help this group of people first.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Girl. Okay, look, I’m sitting in front of my laptop, right? And so I’m like, I looked up Kyrie Irving apology. It says Kyrie Irving apology to LeBron. Kyle Kyrie Irving apology to Kehlani. I mean he just it girl look he he don’t care he he does not care and you know lest we all forget lest us not forget that Kyrie Irving is the same person who was like, yeah, I did have a yacht full of white girls because Black women are unattractive. So there you go. [laughter] There you go. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And that’s what I’m saying. Yeah, and you look it’s– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That’s it. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –It’s a free country. You can say what you want to say, but you will there’s consequences for everything. So I don’t feel–. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Bad for him that he’s facing these consequences. Next time, approach the con– approach, the topics that you want to discuss in a different way instead of stating opinions, how about you open a discussion? Right? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It’s different because you can still– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Well girl. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Talk about it. Like–[laughing]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But these are not I mean, you got to consider I mean, I’m not trying to stereotype everybody who is an athlete, but these are not necessarily people who these are not necessarily people who are known for nuance, you know, like they’re not known for nuance physically and they’re not known for nuance, um you know, just just conversationally so or intellectually, let’s say not everyone’s like that. I mean, not at all. And that’s why there’s always stories about like, oh, my God, this guy’s a football player. But he went to medical school. It’s like, Oh, my God, that’s crazy. I mean, so for Kyrie Irving, he’s like, look, I get rewarded when I do bombastic things and this is just part of it. So if you have a problem with it, I don’t care. But you know, like, Kanye, now that, you know, his money is, is, is, is drying up a bit, you know, things may start to take a bit of a turn when it’s like, oh, I got to um they about to come and shut off my my my uh power so. [laughing] Sorry.

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s what I’m saying, like, if you and look, I’m okay with you saying what you want to say as long as you’re okay with the consequences and this is a consequence, they gonna take your money. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. We know. We know Jews run everything all right? They got their hand in everything. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: They are the blessed–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –People. So if you want to talk about Jews, go ahead. But don’t be surprised when now your billions are gone. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Well, welcome to–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Well millions. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Welcome to regular life with the rest of us. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right welcome to reg regla. [laughter] Regla. R-E-G-L-A. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: A regula degular schmegula. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Welcome to regula degular life. So. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So yeah. So that all that happened, a lotta, lots of other stuff happened. But I just I want to make sure that we can get into the show because I’m really excited. I kind of came in kind of hot today because I’m I’m just I don’t know, I’m just, like, in a good mood, despite the fact that it’s been raining for two days in L.A.. Um. So so that being said, hey, you guys, if you guys are loving the show, please let us know by rating the showing on your favorite podcast app. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: We have so much to talk about, so we better start the show right now. [music break]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay, everybody. So we want to know what’s on your mind. What are you struggling with? We love giving our professional and not so professional advice as always. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes, ma’am. It’s time for Ask Dr. Imani anything. Our first letter today comes from Jacks, and here is what she had to say. Dear Dr. Imani and Meg. My dad was diagnosed with dementia about a year ago, and that news shook my entire family. My dad is in denial, so he’s been difficult to deal with as we navigate our new normal. To help my mom out with my dad, I moved back to my small hometown and gave up my fabulous Sex and the City life. The stress of taking care of my dad and emotionally taking care of my mom is draining me to no end. I feel guilty saying I don’t want to give up my life to help. While I know I need to be there for both of my parents. Right now it feels like more than I can handle. I forgot to mention I have an older sister, but she “helps”, quote unquote when she can. But it feels like it’s all on me. When I try to set boundaries with my mom and take time to myself. She guilts me into letting those boundaries disappear. I feel so much pressure to be everything to everyone in my family. I have a lot of resentment for my sister who set her boundaries and kept her life. Based on what I’ve learned from the show so far. I may be developing minor depression due to all of this. I don’t want to be around people and have really low energy. How do I be there for my dad as he processes his new diagnosis? Be there for my mom as she takes care of him, without having to absolutely give up my life and becoming depressed? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay. Jacks. Hi. Uh. Thank you so much for your letter. I I actually have dealt with this a lot. Um. Not necessarily with well, kind of with patients. Um. Not in the sense that they were demented, um like had Alzheimer’s, dementia. Dementia, let’s say. Um. But I’ve dealt with this a lot because I have had patients who had family members like like you who um had older family members who were diagnosed with dementia. I mean, first of all, your dad is in denial. Yes, he’s in denial. He’s in denial because having that type of a diagnosis or being given that type of a diagnosis is a lot. But also your dad is if he truly has dementia, which he does, he’s forgetful. So it’s like, oh, remember, you have Alzheimer’s. And it’s like, what are you talking about like get out of my face. So there’s a lot of pride and also a lot of just, you know, neurodegenerative changes that are going on that are affecting his memory. Um. But the one thing that I really want to uh recommend to you is that, first of all, if you have not signed on to or applied, rather, to be an independent um excuse me, an in-home supportive service caregiver, you should, because you can get paid by the state to do that. Um. And that’s what I meant when I brought up my uh some patients that I’ve had. I filled out these forms out here in uh in California. It’s a in-home supportive services. Um. And there’s a form that I fit that I fill out, the patient gives to me and they send it off. And then they– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wow. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –As they care for a family member, or even if they care for like a neighbor, they are designated as that person’s caregiver. And you get paid. You get paid to do that. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mm hmm. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um. But we’re kind of beyond that in terms of like your mental health. And I’m guessing due to the age of your father that he probably um has some sort of like benefits in terms of like Medicare. Um. I would talk to his doctor and ask his doctor if he qualifies to have um in-home services, meaning that like a like a nurse or a nurse’s aide, really a nurse’s aide, comes in and helps out with your dad because while I completely understand, like, oh, my parents are in trouble, one of my parents is in trouble. I have to go save them and help them because of everything they’ve done for me, it like you said, it is overwhelming and it is exhausting. And when it comes to dealing with family and you’re dealing with interpersonal issues, it can create a lot of conflicts like what’s happening between you and your sister. Um. You’re you’re shouldering a lot of the burden. She’s, quote unquote, “helping out”. Um. I say, you know, obviously be there for your parents, see if you can have a nurse’s aide come in and help with your dad so that you can kind of supervise and make sure that everything’s okay. And then provided that everything is great, then you could actually leave if you wanted to. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And then leave your sister to quote unquote “help” because–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –She can kind of, it sounds like she can basically help out as much as she has been and also have this person, this nurse’s aide, whose job it is to help out. And then there’s no interpersonal conflict with that person because they’re not related. That’s not their dad. So I would I would look into that. Um. So I would, you know, if if if you want to if you want to look into getting paid by the state, you can definitely do that with the in uh in-home supportive services and be a caregiver. But I would more importantly, talk to your dad’s uh doctor and find out um if he qualifies for um for getting like in-home support from a through a nurse’s aide or a nurses agency, because that’s that’s really what you need right now. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah, no I agree with that 100%. You know, I think the line that stuck out to me was, I feel guilty saying I don’t want to give up my life to help. So that’s– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That is your truth, right? Which means that you’re okay with not being there as long as your dad is taking care of and your mom are taking care of, you know, because that’s obviously why you went home. You wanted them to be taken care of. But I think you can have both. I think you can do both. Like Dr. Imani said, you just need to get the help. So if he has Medicare, then you see if he qualifies for in-home care. If not, you living a fabulous Sex in the City life. I’m assuming that means you’re making a little chunk of change at your job because the Sex and the City girls was not poor. So if that’s the case– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Girl. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: [laughing] If you if your dad doesn’t qualify for in-home help, then that’s maybe more reason why you tell your mom, hey, I got to go back. I need to work. I need to make this money so I can pay for the help because I can’t do it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: You know, I’m not equipped–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –For this, but I will pay to have that person come in and then maybe talk to your mom like, hey, I’m, you know, once a month I’ll come back and I’ll help for a weekend or, you know, whatever is doable based on, you know, your location and your availability. But at the end of the day, you don’t want to look back on this time period with resentment, because if your dad is getting older, your dad is getting older, like these are the precious moments you should be sharing and loving, right? You should be soaking it up because your dad ain’t going to be here forever. So it’s like I want to look back at those last days and be like, I had a blast with my dad. I love my dad. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I love my mom. It was fun regardless. You know, even though we were dealing with dementia [cough] at this time, like it still was a great time. And so you need that. Your family needs that. So I think you should just say, okay, yeah, they’re going to be mad at me in short term, but in the long run, my mom will see that this works. You know, my dad will, too. I know they’ll probably be mad with like a nurse being in the house because it seems like he’s got a little pride. But that’s okay. You know, you guys work to find a nurse that everybody likes. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: You know, it may take a few different in-home nurses, but that’s what you offer and that’s what you tell them. This is what I have to give. And if you don’t want it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I’m sorry. And if they don’t want it–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –They may just be like, no, we’d rather you just not be here. Okay, cool. Well, I’ll come back when I can. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I love you guys and then–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. And–

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Leave it at that. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah, honestly. And if that’s the case, you know, then it may be in the future that your dad may need like, ultimately, and hopefully not, but ultimately your dad may need to be in an actual like facility where he can– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Get help around the clock. But we’re not we’re not there yet. And there are medications for Alzheimer’s. There was one that was recently approved by the FDA that’s showing a lot of promise. So um, so, so, yeah, just just talk talk to your dad’s doctor and um you’re you’re going to be fine. You’re going to be fine. But um you just needed you just need to know the resources that are available to you. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So yeah. So thanks, Jacks. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Our next letter comes from a listener by the name of Mercedes. To the ladies of Imani State of Mind. I am in this weird space of confusion or grief. I got news that my father recently passed away. We weren’t close and I was raised by my mother, who passed away about seven years ago. So part of me is sad and grieving knowing I no longer have any parents living. However, there’s another side of me who doesn’t know how I feel about him passing. My dad had other children he did take care of and had a relationship with. However, out of his four children, I am the one doing well financially. My siblings reached out asking if I could handle most of the funeral arrangements, but I feel weird paying for a funeral for a man I barely had a relationship with. I’m torn on what to do. Do I pay for the funeral based on the principle of him being my dad? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh, my God. Mercedes, get out of my head. Okay. Um. Hi, Mercedes. Um. It’s me, Imani. I feel like you’ve been in my head. Okay, so just. Just to be clear, my mother and my biological father are both alive, but this is something that I think about. This is something that I’ve thought about for years and years and years. Um. Especially once I reconnected with or actually excuse me, connected with my siblings um that I didn’t know about until I was in my late twenties. Uh. So long story short, um I have a biological dad. I haven’t seen him since I was 11, I guess. Um. And it’s so it’s been a really long time. My dad is doing great, like physically speaking, mentally speaking. He’s fine he’s fine he’s fine. My parents are both fine. They’re probably going to live forever because I’m in denial. But but they’re doing really well. That being said, I would yes. Out of my siblings, I am the one doing the most well-off financially. Um. I have thought about, you know, like I have daydreamed about like what you know, what is that day going to be like? Is is my dad going to want a funeral? Is he going to want to be buried in the ground? Is he going to going to want to be cremated? These these are all kind of um how do I say this? These are like logistical issues. You know what I mean? Like, these are not issues that have they can have emotions tied to them. But I would tell you, Mercedes, what I would do. I would pay for the funeral. I’d pay for the funeral. I would just pay for it. Like, you know what this is this is this is me having grace. And this is me acknowledging that I love you because you had, you made me. If you if you were not. If you did not exist, I would not be here. I would gladly pay for the funeral. Because the last thing you want is to be arguing over somebody who is dead and you’re arguing about caskets and flowers and just it’s dumb shit. So, yeah, pay for it. Just just pay for it because you don’t want to have that type of just, you don’t want to deal with that type of, like, petty just arguing. It’s just it can be really, really draining. Um. But I do understand, you know, why should I have to pay for it, I don’t know this man like that. Like he didn’t raise me like that. He wasn’t in my life. He wasn’t in the lives of of these these brothers and sisters that I that that that I apparently am related to but don’t really know. For your own peace of mind, sometimes you just kind of have to like take that L or bite the bullet and just do it. Um. It’s something that I’ve had to learn um a lot about over the course of my life because I am, I’m stubborn and I’m like, well, I’m not doing that because that’s not fair. Sometimes you have to just you just have to take that L and be like, you know what fuck it, I’ma do it. If I do it. If once I do this, like, will you guys leave me alone? Or once I do this, will this matter be solved? And then it’ll be over. It’ll be over. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Like, I guarantee you, you make enough money to cover a funeral, and it’s just one funeral. This isn’t like, you not going to be paying for a funeral every six months or every year. And it’s your and it’s your own. It’s one. You only have one, dad. So just– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –You know, be gracious. Just be like, yeah, you know what? I’ll pay for it. You could say, no, that’s still an option. But I guarantee you, it’s going to bring up more emotional issues and more feelings of like, well, he abandoned me, so I should abandon him. And then who are you really hurting? Like you’re hurting– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –yourself and you’re hurting your siblings. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Cause he gone.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So just pay for it. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: So, yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: He gone. He gone. Listen. He flying in the cosmos. He out here riding on asteroids and comets and just living his best life right now. He, he he doing his thing. He’s not thinking about the color scheme of the flowers for the funeral. Just pay for it and just move on–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –with your life. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And that and to that I would add um set a budget and say, don’t–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yes. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Just blindly say I’ll pay for everything. I would say, hey, I can contribute $5000 or whatever that number is and leave it at that. And you know, maybe you let somebody else handle the arrangements if they decide they want to get a casket that costs $4,999– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And don’t have no money for like the actual plot. Well, hey, that’s on y’all. This is all I got, so. [laughing] 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Set set the amount–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right work it out. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –And and let them deal with it. But I do think, you know, at the end of the day, when I think about like, what if I was in this situation, what would I do? Because I might be petty and just be like, no, thank you. I won’t be paying for this um. He didn’t pay for my life, so I ain’t gonna pay for his death. But [laughing] if I can give money to people I don’t know. So, you know, you see the the little Santa in front of the store during Christmas time ringing the bell. And I can put change in there or I can, you know, donate money for this kid’s thing that I don’t know or you know, whatever a friend’s kid who I barely know. Like if I can donate money to different stuff like that. Then I might as well donate money to someone who donated sperm to give me life. You know what I’m saying? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah, yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Like you might as well. You might as well if you can afford it and just make you a budget girl and leave it at that and say, y’all deal with this. This is what I can give. And that’s it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly. Yeah, just just be done with it. It’s kind of like I mean, this is this is very, very simplistic, but it’s like paying a bill. Do I want to pay this bill? No. [laughing]  Like, did I did I get electricity this month? I did. I did. So I’ll do it, like. Fine. Here’s your money. Leave me alone. So just. Yeah, I would. I would just. I would just do that. And then you can just kind of move on also, because I’m really morbid, and I used to want to um uh used to either want to, like, be like work in a funeral home or uh work in the morgue. Just just in terms of funeral funerary costs, there are a lot of different options when it comes to burials. Okay. You don’t have to. No one’s saying pick out the Michael Jackson special casket. That’s gold inlaid, like you can there are there are you can you can cremate. But cremating someone uses a lot of fossil fuels and it’s not really good for the environment. So you can actually do like um a more um climate conscious uh cremation, which involves like sprinkling lye on the body. And it’s I mean, they still dissolve. You still get ashes. Um. There’s there’s all kinds of things. You can bury somebody under a tree. You can let them decompose naturally. A lot of these newer options are cheaper. Not all of them, but some of them are cheaper. So look to see what’s in your area and like Meg said, set a budget. And honestly, you know, if people start getting like petty and argumentative about that, just be like, you know what? The thing about it is that I’m paying for this. [laughter] 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah so. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So I’m going to go with this. Yeah so okay bye. I don’t know you guys, but I’ll see later. So so that being said, pay for it, set a budget and, you know, just, you know, just try to keep keep it like just try to keep it light. So. So thank you, Mercedes. And thank you, Jacks, for submitting your questions. I hope we were able to help you guys. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: If you have a question or a problem centered around your mental health and you want our professional or not so professional advice, please send your emails to askdoctorImani@crooked .com. You can also text or leave us a voicemail at 818-252-9462. Hit us up. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay. So we’re going to be switching gears now. We’re going to take a quick break. But after the break, we’re diving into how to deal with the seasonal blues. Stay with us. [music break]. 

 

[AD BREAK]. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Hey, guys. We’re going to be talking about suicide during this segment. So if that is a bit of a trigger for you. You may want to skip this. Okay, everybody, it’s time to get into this deep dive. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. As we move out of the warm summer months and transition to sweater weather, which is my favorite, some people begin to experience seasonal depression. So, Dr. Imani, break it down for us. What is seasonal depression, also known as seasonal affective disorder? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay. So I’m the perfect person to explain this to you, Mag, and to everybody else out there listening, not just because I’m a psychiatrist um, but also because I’ve had it before. Like I’ve had seasonal affective disorder um and I also have depression, which I’ve said on here many times. A big up to Prozac one more time. Um. Seasonal Affective Disorder essentially describes having a mood disorder, meaning uh you may experience more depression, you may be more sad, you may uh be more fatigued, your energy might be lower, you maybe have more issues with your concentration. All those symptoms that I’m describing are essentially symptoms of depression and seasonal affective disorder basically in a nutshell, describes depression that comes on in the fall, winter and then recedes in the spring once there’s more uh sunshine and daylight available to us, um just, you know, as people. And why does this happen? So it’s actually I mean, it’s it’s kind of a simple explanation. Um. So we just fell back into standard time. I love–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Daylight Savings Time. Most people love Daylight Savings Time. I don’t love springing forward in the spring, but I do– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Love having longer days. I do. I do love just having more daylight available for all my little crops and I get to go outside and walk my dog or whatever. Anyway, you get the point. My point is, is that when we have when there’s less daylight available to us, our brains will then start to make melatonin more because there’s more nighttime, there’s more darkness. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And that’s kind of why there have been a lot of proponents um of of scientists, uh uh politicians, even. I remember back in March, uh they the Senate had voted. Was it the Senate or the con–? Does it go Senate, congress– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I think it was the house. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –the President. The House. Sorry. See, girl, I haven’t studied physics in a long [laughing] I mean, not physics, civics in a long time. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: [laughing] Civics, politics yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But. But the House of Representatives voted to call into question uh whether we should acknowledge uh Daylight Savings Time or standard time or whatever it is. Because what happens is and this has actually been proven through numerous studies, people um get into more car accidents because they’re more tired. There’s there’s more heart attacks. The heart attack thing, like cardiovascular event thing. I’m not quite sure why I need to really read up on that. I’m going to kind of postulate that it might be because people are more tired, they’re more stressed at work. Let’s say they’re trying to fit in more stuff into their day and they’re just more stressed overall. And that– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –May cause like some cardiovascular issues and heart attacks. There’s also more deer deaths like–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh wow. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –people hit deer more so. [gasp] Yeah, more so. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wait. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: During daylight savings or during– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: During standard time. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Standard. Oh. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Which is what we’re in now. Right? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: We’re in now. Yeah. So when it’s more dark when it’s when it’s more dark, when it’s darker overall– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Um there are more uh accidents and there are more the incidents of, of, of deer being hit by a car increases. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So back in March the House had voted to have it proceed to the Senate and it stalled in the Senate because it basically hit 50/50. I am definitely one for wanting to get rid of this whole standard time, daylight savings time conversion because it’s it’s I can tell you right now, I am I was talking to you, Meg, about this a little while ago. I’m still tired, like like Sunday like this. Like like a week ago when we fell back, I was like, oh, my God, I got another hour. Like this is great. Oh, my God, the sun is out. Yay, but it gets dark mad early, like it gets dark before 5:00 out here. And I can’t. I’m like, I–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Be in bed by like 5:00, like, okay, I’m ready to go to sleep. Let’s go. Like, I’m just, I’m dragging.

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah that I will say there’s there’s certain places in the U.S. where that’s weird. Like, I know in L.A., like you said it, the sun starts to go down at 4:45 when we switched to standard time. Whereas in in Georgia, it’s like. The sun starts to go down about 6:30 ish. So it’s still kind of like–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. Yeah it’s still a little–

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Normal, right? That’s still a decent time to get dark. So I get why like, yeah, we don’t need to be. I don’t think we need to be changing this clock okay cause first of all, I don’t know how old I am now that I still don’t understand spring forward, fall back. Every time. Every–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Every time. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –twice a year. For my en– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Every time. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –For my entire life, I’d be like, hold on. Does that mean I move the hand this way? I don’t know why. It’s I don’t know why it’s so hard for me. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I know. I used to–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Thank god for the automatic–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I used to love it.

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Switch on iPhones. Thank you. Thank you for that. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Girl.

 

MegScoop Thomas: Cause I can’t, I don’t know why I’m so slow with it. Every time [hitting hand on table]. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Girl my ass is old. So I’m almost 50 and I would I would I’d change the clocks on my microwave and my oven this past, like this past Sunday. And I–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Uh huh. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Remember, like, being a kid and having to go around to every clock in the house, like my alarm clock–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes, yes. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –my watch, the oven, the microwave, the, the AC like everything had to– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: My car, like everything had to be changed. And now– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –It’s nice because they change it automatically. But now I’m like, we need to get rid of this shit because I am, I’m I’m dragging. It is. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Like, I mean, you guys listening don’t know what time it is right now. It’s like 9:00 in the morning right now. I’m, I’m like, I’m on a cup of coffee and I’m just like, okay, I’m about to go to sleep at this microphone anyway. So there are a lot of there are a lot of uh there’s a lot of scientific data out there suggesting that we should abandon um the switch between daylight savings and um and standard time. Historically, it was because um because back at the turn of the 20th century, uh the U.S. was still a largely agricultural nation. And so people wanted more they wanted to be able to get up earlier so that they could get more work done. But now it’s basically a relic and we don’t follow like we’re not we’re not an agrarian or agricultural society. Most of the most of the money that is made for as far as like GDP is not made with um through farming so– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And you know, and you know what else I learned about this? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s a bit of a, it’s a bit of a drag. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I learned. So yeah, I–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: What? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I had this same conversation with my fiancee and I was like, we’re not a farming society. We don’t need this anymore. And he was like, well, he’s in the tech world. And he was like, well, it’s mostly because of saving energy. I was like, No, it’s not. So that I went to look it up and he was right. I was like, Oh, snap, no. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Are you ser– oh for real?

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes, I like, I was like ugh I was like grr. How dare you be, right? But basically like it started, I think overseas in Europe around World War Two, World War One, something like that. Um. And then the U.S. adopted it for farming, but also because it saves energy. So, you know, obviously– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –If the, and so that and that ends up helping you know costs go down for the country as a whole if you’re using less energy because it gets dark earlier. So you’re, you know, more people are going to sleep, they’re not on devices, all that stuff. So then there’s the argument that, you know, we should keep standard time because less energy is used– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Plus the circadian rhythm of people is– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Like apparently our circadian rhythm is the way, is correct when we’re in standard time, not in daylight savings time. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly, exactly, exactly. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: So. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But here’s the thing about the energy thing. And then we gonna get to circadian rhythms because that’s really important with seasonal affective disorder. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mm hmm. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: How come so but I’m heating my house more so my uh my energy bill goes up so I’m just like it’s going to go up anyway at night I mean–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –In the wintertime. Yeah. So you know.

 

MegScoop Thomas: I just I think we just need to pick which one at this point. I mean, I’d rather I like Daylight Savings Time because I’m a night owl. So like the fact that the sun goes down later, like I just like that. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I would rather–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Us do that. But what we can’t do is keep switching this this damn clock, okay? Because I can’t do it– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –No more. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: See, I’m opposite of you. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I’m tired of that.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I get up at like I’m a get up at 5:30 every day and then I’m like–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wow that’s so good. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Come on everybody lets go and do this and [mumbling] la la. And then by 11:00, I’m like– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s so good. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Ooh, I need to take a nap. But apparently [laughter] I was reading I was reading this thing a– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –While ago um about how that’s like and I mean, like way, way back in the day, like Middle Ages. That’s what people used to do. Like they’d get up mad–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Early and they would have like two naps during the day. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s what you’re supposed to do. Yeah for sure.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. Because I because by 11:00 I’m like, I need to go to sleep. But I’m usually doing something– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I don’t know why we don’t do that in this country. That makes me so mad. Every other–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I know! 

 

MegScoop Thomas: They do that in in Central American countries they do that in Asia like going to sleep in the middle of the day. Taking a nap is a necessity. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Like, I don’t know why– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: We need to–

 

MegScoop Thomas: –we don’t push that in the U.S.. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: We need a fiesta siesta is what we need to do. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. Okay so I have–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Not a shout out to R. Kelly. [laughing] 

 

MegScoop Thomas: For sure. Um. Okay. So question, what is–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Mm hmm. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –How do you know if you have just depression or seasonal depression? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So depression pretty much lasts year round. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I kind of use myself as an example because I started out by saying this when we talked about the topic, but I distinctly remember, so how did I know that I had seasonal depression? I moved from New Orleans, which is I mean, I was explaining this to my son, like yesterday. New Orleans is legit. Like like it’s like it’s like it’s a part of the United States, but it’s basically like it’s own like it’s the northernmost Caribbean country. Like, it’s just– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –it’s it’s own world. They got they own language, like it look different. Like they just on they whole–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Other thing. So I was used to at that point, I had spent five years in New Orleans and I could like the buildings aren’t as tall. I always, at some point during the day, felt the sun on my skin. Like I could see the sun and I could see like when the sun would come up. I could see when the sun would come down or set rather, when I moved to New York, when I moved back home, um when I was done with grad school, I remember like I was like, Oh, fall’s my favorite season in New York it’s going to be so nice. But then I started to like really have a hard time like, like mood wise. Like, I got depressed and it took me a while to figure out. Like, I remember saying to like a friend of mine, I was like, I just. I never feel the sun. Like, I never see the sun. Because the buildings are so like I I lived and worked in Manhattan. And so the– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Buildings were so tall that I was always I was in perpetual shadow. And it just it just– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay that makes sense. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Really messed me up like it it just it totally fucked me up. So. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That’s how I kind of got an inclination that like, okay, what I’m dealing with is seasonal depression. And then of course as soon as like, you know, the spring came and summertime in New York, I mean, even though it smells like hot garbage everywhere, it’s a magical time. Like, I was just like, [laughter] I’m having so much fun. Yay, yay, yay. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. Yeah.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um. And that’s kind of how I knew. So it so basically with Seasonal Affective Disorder, it comes on in the in the winter, um in the fall and winter, and then it recedes in the spring um when there’s just more daylight, when when your body isn’t making as much melatonin. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And it’s actually it’s interesting. It’s something I discuss with my patients sometimes because for a lot of them, they they have to take medication to help them sleep. And anyone who’s been tired during the day and like coffee’s not cutting it and you’re just like, oh, my God, I need a stimulant or something. But you obviously can’t have access to a stimulant if it’s not prescribed to you. Um. When you’re tired, you get miserable. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And, and so that’s something that I don’t I don’t experience because I am on Prozac. And I’ve noticed that with the decrease in the daylight hours, like my mood is great. I’m just tired. I’m just like, I’m so tired, I’m just so exhausted. So that, that’s pretty much um that’s pretty much how uh someone can tell also, you know, go, go, go see a doctor. You can see your primary care doctor. You can speak to a therapist. You can speak to a psychiatrist like me. Um. But it’s it’s it’s pretty it’s pretty easy to kind of tell. You just have to kind of wait until the spring comes. And then if your mood improves, you’re like, oh, okay. Now that being said, it’s like, how do you treat seasonal affective disorder? You can definitely take medications. Um. A lot of people actually like one like actually tried and true method of treating seasonal affective disorder is to get like a, like a light box. Like you can, you can buy specific lights, you can buy them off Amazon and you expose yourself to um a specific um wavelength of light for a certain amount of time per day. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And that actually helps because it it basically provides your brain with the light that it needs so that your melatonin doesn’t um doesn’t kick in too soon during the day. So that that’s actually helpful. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: One one thing to also keep in mind, um, especially for you listeners out there, I know the majority of you guys are are women, um women um overwhelmingly experience seasonal affective disorder compared to men. So it’s that it’s definitely it’s definitely skews more towards um women and and also– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Why is that? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It I don’t know. It just does like it just I don’t know. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Not I’m not I’m not quite sure. I’d have to I’d have to look that up. But I haven’t. I mean, I personally haven’t seen anything to kind of explain that. I’m sure there’s a paper or a few papers out there that I just have to go through to figure that out. Um. And there was something else that I hold on one second. Sorry. I have to take, like, a slight pause. Um. Who’s at risk? Oh, okay. That’s what I was going to say. Um. So Seasonal Affective Disorder also really hits people who live, as you can imagine, the farther south or the like. If you live like far away from the equator, north or south, it’s going to hit you more. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um. If you tend to live in like, you know, like a really cloudy region. So, like, off the top of my head, like ma–, like Seattle, San Francisco, London, like, you know, Scotland, like those kinds of places it’s going to it’s going to hit you more. I mean, basically, we are people who need the sun. And– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –You know, I mean, it’s not our fault that we, you know, we we moved away from the equator because, I mean, you know, human beings are nomadic at times and we’re explorers, but it just doesn’t necessarily fare as well for some of us, for our moods. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Also, if you have a like if you have been diagnosed with depression in the past, um like I was when I was younger, um seasonal affective disorders can definitely hit you greater. Um. If anybody in your family has any type of um schizophrenia, even bipolar disorder, you may find that you may have a greater tendency of developing seasonal affective disorder. But the good thing is that it it does remit. Um. It does remit once the sign, once once we’re exposed more to light and once we’re exposed more to like the sun and stuff like that. So it’s not it’s– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Not a terrible thing if you can afford it to go to like a sunny place or an island, like a lot of people will bounce and go like, Oh, it’s Christmas time. I’m about to go to Hawaii or I’m about to go to Jamaica or whatever else. Um. I mean, I love doing that, but I also hate like holiday travel. But it’s actually a good idea to do that, especially if you live in like, you know, a cold place. Like I remember being in New York and like, like having like, like bringing my, like, bubble jacket with me to, like, Jamaica and then like, you know, like looking at that bubble jacket the whole time, like, I do not–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –want to put this shit back on. But then being like–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Well, here we go, it’s January. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right, right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Let’s, let’s go back and trudge around in the snow. So, but, but, but essentially um it’s a it’s depression. It’s depression that coincides with uh with with the lack of daylight or decreased daylight. Um. You know, one thing that I’ve, with with depression or any type of mood disorder, you really want to be on the lookout. [beep in background] Um. Those of you guys listening, if you start to have any type of like suicidal thoughts, like that’s really when you want to, you know, call call a doctor, um call your local suicide hotline, if any of you guys, you know, if you’re having, like, serious thoughts of suicide, there is the National Suicide Hotline and you can dial 988 from your phone and uh they can put you in contact with with uh with someone who can talk to you and provide you with resources and, um you know, just provide you with the help that you need. But um seasonal affective disorder is a real thing. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You know just it’s it’s depression. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: How do you now, okay. When it gets cold outside, cuffing season is in full effect. How does seasonal depression–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It is. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –And cuffing season like affect each other? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So I mean, cuffing season and seasonal affective disorder definitely coincide. Um. I definitely have fallen victim to um [laughter] the season of the cuffings um because it be cold like it’s cold. It’s like my my bed is cold like I need a body, I need warmth. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You know, I wish I would have probably gotten a dog or some sort of like [laughter] like like, you know, like I wish I would have got, like, a heating blanket or something. Like, sometimes, you know, having a whole body with, like, a person and a brain and, you know, a dude who’s saying, like, the dumbest of things is probably not, like, the best uh the best thing to do. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um. But you know I would-

 

MegScoop Thomas: With you got to take the good with the bad. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Gotta take the good with the bad. But but I would say, you know, for for anybody who is like, oh, my God, I’m, you know, I’m I might have seasonal affective disorder. Maybe I’ll feel better by, you know, getting me a little winter boo, um you know, just, just, you know, pause, like, really, you know, really think about it. I’m going to tell you like this. This is not part of my medical or psychiatric training. The period of time, I told my son this, I was like, listen, when you get older once, once, like October hits and you not with nobody don’t like, you have until October 15th. And then if you don’t find nobody, let it go. Because the worst thing you want to do is break up with somebody right before like Thanksgiving. Because if you don’t, then you then you got to stick with them through like Christmas and New Year’s. And you like, damn you stupid. Like, I gotta just like be with you and like I got to just like you just gonna be hanging around. And then with cuffing season, like you stuck in the house. So it’s like, damn, like, you was like, it was cool last night because you was warm, but now it’s like, you got to go, so. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I say all that to say there is a lot of pressure, you know, especially if you live in, like, a cold climate and like a cold, cloudy climate. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mm hmm. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So, you know, like. Like all your friends. Like, all my friends is all, like, booed up. I want to be booed up, like, you know, just like any other time of the year. Just pause, because what you– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Don’t want to do is be depressed with some new person. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s it–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Like that is– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Right there. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It is not it is not the move. So, you know, I I do not recommend it. I have been there. I just think that it’s uh you know, I just think I just think that it’s uh it’s better to just take your time when it comes to stuff like that. But um but I–

 

MegScoop Thomas: And you know what? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I do understand. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I remember when I was single and if I was single during, you know, the latter part of the year, you know, basically winter time, I always had to remind myself like this, Megan is a time for family and friends or, you know, friends that have become family. So you don’t have a boo during cuffing season, you know what– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Let it go. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –boos don’t just have to be sexual, right? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It’s it can be your friend, your homegirl, your homeboy, whatever. Like you can. It can be your friend, it can be family. So maybe cuddle up like with your your sibling or your that’s kind of weird, but like, you know, maybe your niece or your nephew, that’s like your baby. Like, watch a movie– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –With them or spend time with, you know, your parents or or an aunt and uncle, whoever. Just do what you got to do. But just know, like, it doesn’t have to be a boo that is a love interest. You can still love your family–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly.

 

MegScoop Thomas: –and your friends. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And still get–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Almost the same results. Almost the same. [laughing]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. I mean–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Loving up on them. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I’ll put it to you like this. Some of the most fulfilling like and and these weren’t people that, like, we didn’t claim each other. Like these were legit like my male friends, like we were friends. There was nothing romantic. But we all had happened to move to New York at like the same time, and we would sleep in the same bed together, like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mm hmm. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And then we would, you know, it was morning time and it was like, okay, thank you. And then it was like, okay, like, you know, I’ll holler at you and they would leave. And when I tell you, it was like the best feeling to know that like I had my apartment back, I didn’t have to like there was no pressure. It wasn’t like, so where you know what we going to do what you gonna do? It’s like no, like, you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to do me and you about to leave and go home and do you. Like we– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –All we had all of our clothes on. It was it was it was fine. And it wasn’t like so, you know, I um I been thinking. No, you haven’t. No, you have not. You’ve been sleeping. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right, right, right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You’ve been sleeping and now you’re going home. So– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Thank you. Goodbye. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You know, you can have yeah you can have platonic, like, you know, like bed buddies. That’s what I would call them, like my little bed buddies like we ain’t doing nothing. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Bed buddies. [laughing]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s just cold in here and I and I’m not a fan of like heated blankets because I feel like I’m a wake up and it’s going to be like the burning bed and shit. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: C’mon, my gosh. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So [laughing] for real I’m just like I’m just like I’m [indistinct]. [banter]

 

MegScoop Thomas: I like it to be cold. I like to be cold a little bit because then I can just pull my covers up and snuggle under them. So I don’t. I don’t want the heated blanket. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah no. I mean, I’ll leave the air fryer on and leave the house. No one is gonna shut off. But like like, God forbid I get a heated blanket. I’m. Like, Oh, my God, I’m a burn the house down. But. But anyway, that’s uh, that’s basically seasonal affective disorder in a nutshell. So I, you know, I hope that you guys learned um more about the topic, um and that’s all we have for our deep dive conversation today. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s a good discussion. I never really thought about, you know, seasonal how the season affects your mood. But that is so true. It really does. So–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It does. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Let’s move on to our favorite segment, Pop Culture Diagnosis. [music break]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay y’all, so let’s get right into our pop culture diagnosis for this week. Meg, can you please give our listeners a quick synopsis of the Emmy Award winning show, I didn’t know it was Emmy Award winning ooh I learn something new every day, the Emmy Award winning show Severance and who we will be diagnosing today. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes. Okay. Now, if you haven’t seen Severance it’s on Apple plus. Apple TV plus. Love this show. It is about a guy named Mark and so [cough] he leads a team at his office. But in this society, uh these people have had their memories surgically divided from work and personal lives. So basically when you walk in the door at work, your brain flips and it’s only about work. You have no recollection of your life outside of work. You don’t know if you’re married. You don’t know if you have a family. You don’t know like what’s going on out there. All you know is work life. And then when you walk out of the doors, you don’t remember anything from your job. You just know you’re out of work outside of work life. So you don’t know who you work with. You could be like at the grocery store, standing next to your coworker that you work with every day and you would have no clue. Y’all don’t know each other. Y’all have no recollection of each other. So that’s what this society is. Okay, but what happens is, uh Mark, you know, he’s living his life outside of work. But he runs into a colleague and then starts to discover some stuff about the job because mind you, he doesn’t remember. But the colleague happens to remember something has happened, a colleague remembers what happens at work and he’s just kind of like what? We work together? Like, how do you remember that? Because we’re not supposed to remember. Um. And then he just kind of goes on this trip of figuring out like, what’s really going on and why, like the scandal behind all of this. So, Doctor Imani, um I think we should diagnose Mark. What would you diagnose him as? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay. So first of all, let me just say this show is wild and I know I say like, oh, my God, this show is wild. Oh, my God, that show is wild. This show is really good. And– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: This is going to sound terrible to like, you know, first of all, big up to Ben Stiller for um directing this entire series. Um. Also big up to the Calhoun School in New York because me and Ben Stiller both went there. Um. No one cares. But anyway, um big ups to you Ben Stiller. Um. This show was was was really good. Um it it’s very it’s dystopian. It’s very dystopian. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It really reminded me of my one of my favorite books ever, 1984 um by George Orwell. And it is Orwellian in a lot of ways. Um. But let me let me answer you question. Mark. So, Mark, everyone everyone who works, everyone who gets severed or has agreed to severance, um the actual like procedure and it is like an actual like brain procedure as they depicted in the show. They’re like drilling into, you know, through your skull and to your brain. Um, they so when you’re at work that’s referred to as your Innie and–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –When you’re at home and you’re not at work, that’s referred to as your outie. And part of what’s really interesting is there’s this struggle between the innies and outties. And obviously if you guys are listening like I’m about to get into a bunch of spoilers, but the innies are like, yo, like I exist. Like I’m like, I’m here, I’m a real person. What’s bugged is that your outtie has agreed to severance. So when you are at work and you’re an Innie it’s kind of like it’s a shadow of yourself. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And I say all that to say that when Mark is at work, he’s, there’s nothing really diagnosable about him. Like he’s just–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Going on about his business. He’s like, you know, hunky dory, happy, like, hey, everybody, blah, blah, blah. Like, we got to follow the rules. And, you know, it’s is is he’s very like everyone while they’re atwork is about the book. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: When but however when he goes home and he’s his outie and this outie is the person who has existed for the majority of Mark’s life. Outtie Marc is depressed. He’s very depressed. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Why is he depressed? His wife died like maybe two years previous. Um. He doesn’t. And he lives so and when you work at the company is called Lumen. When you work at Lumen um as an Outtie, you are given subsidized housing, right? So you don’t you like when you look at these people’s like homes like you, there’s no like there’s no pictures. There’s really no like identifying there’s nothing identifying like their past lives. So–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –There’s a point in the show towards the end where how do I describe this, the innies, the innies get access to their outtie persona. And so it’s literally like a switch is flipped. And so they really don’t know what’s going on. They don’t know like who they know, like their name, but they don’t know who they are. They don’t know the people around them like they don’t know anything. And so they have to– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Rely upon somebody that they feel they could trust to tell them everything. Mark happens to be around his sister and his sister explains to him, like yo you used to be a history teacher. And you were married once and but and she she passed away. And Mark, I mean, it’s not a it’s not a far you know, it’s not a far fetched to to understand that Mark voluntarily signed up to be severed or undergo severance because he was so depressed and just didn’t want to have to deal with the majority of his day thinking about his wife. Because when you think about it–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: The majority of the day, if you go to work for 8 hours a day, most of your day is spent at work and then–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –You just come home. But it’s the coming home that actually gives your life fulfillment. Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But for these people, for Mark in particular, he just like I just want to, like, trudge along. I don’t I mean, basically, this Mark is somebody who has not gone through the grieving process. So he’s just constantly grieving. He’s he’s depressed, he’s irritable. He, like, lashes out at somebody. At one point, he kind of tries to have a relationship but the the woman is like uh uh like you are not ready. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um. It’s a mess. But long story short, the thing about severance is just when you think you kind of understand what’s going on, like, okay, these people volun– voluntarily chose to have their memories severed. You discover that Mark, for example, is actually working with his wife. And so–

 

MegScoop Thomas: And didn’t know. Had no clue.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You didn’t know that? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: No, no, no. I was like he didn’t know. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh, oh oh. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: He had no clue. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I was like oh my God, I’m so sorry. [laughing]. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: No, no, no. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. No. No clue. No clue. So he’s working with his wife. It’s not even like he. It’s not even like when he’s at work he’s like, oh, this woman is really attractive. He’s actually attracted to this other woman he works with like, he’s like her supervisor. So it’s–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Just bugged because he’s, like, been around this woman for like two years who is his wife, who’s supposed to be dead. It’s– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And had no clue. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –crazy. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s crazy it’s crazy. Um. And there is there does happen to be his his former coworker, Petey, who chose to stop being severed. And–. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –And it didn’t end very well for him. I’m not it’s you know, like like I was telling you a little while ago, I was like, oh, so this must be one season because I don’t know, like how they gonna drag this out, but they now. I’m like, Oh my God, I can’t wait till season two it’s it’s really, really good. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. I want to see where they take take this story because it’s everything’s not what it seems. And you like you think about like the ethical issue of it, which I didn’t think about until like watching this show cause think about it. If you’re at and there’s a lot of times where people have office romances, so think about it, you don’t know what your life is outside of the office. You might be married with kids. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And then but when you’re in the office, you have no tie, you don’t know what’s going on. So you might be attracted to somebody in the office and then end up having a whole relationship with them. I think they said on the news on one episode like somebody was pregnant. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh! Yeah yeah yeah.

 

MegScoop Thomas: By somebody in the office, but then when they went home. They had like a whole family. So it was like, who are you pregnant by? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: You know what I’m saying. And she had no clue. She had no clue whose baby this was because– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Again, you don’t remember what goes on in the office when you’re outside. So I was like– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh my gosh there’s so many ethical issues that I didn’t even think about when it came to doing something like this. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh, yeah. Well, you were kind of describing as far as like having your work life and your personal life separate. It really reminds me of that George Clooney movie Up in the Air and– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Up in the Air was like he was he was a traveling insurance salesman. He was always on the road and he had this like while I want to call it an office romance. But like he didn’t really have a office. He had this like airplane romance, like traveling romance. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right, right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And then he fell in love with this woman and went to her crib. And this bitch was married with kids, and she came outside like, what the fuck is wrong with you? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And I was like, Oh, my god, this shit is crazy. But it’s it’s it’s not as severe. I mean, obviously, like George, you know, George Clooney’s character. He’s the same person. Like while he’s traveling as he is at home, he’s just never at home. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um. But but this it’s it’s really like there’s so many ethical issues like Meg said going on it’s it’s really it’s it’s wild. And this is going to sound terrible. Um. Sorry, Ben Stiller, but even if you’re somebody who, like, maybe falls asleep from time to time, when you watch a show like me, you can still wake up and still know what’s going on. It’s a really good show. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mm hmm. For sure it is.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: [indistinct] I mean I don’t know if that’s a good. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It is it is. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I don’t know if that’s, like, a good, like, review, but, like, you know what you can go to sleep and wake up and you still can be fine. You still know– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –What’s going on. So um it’s it’s a really good show. Uh. Patricia Arquette killed it. She was on this show, too. Um. Yeah, it’s it’s a great show. I really can’t wait for season two. So. Um. So, yeah. Mark, you know what? Uh. Who played Mark? Oh, my God. I forgot his name. He um. It doesn’t matter. So Mark was depressed or Mark’s character is depressed. It’s going to be really interesting to see in season two. You know, if he’s still depressed, like how he works, you know how he works all of this out because his wife is still alive. And–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. That’s what I want to see. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I don’t even understand. Like how did like they live in the same town? Like, where are they keeping her? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. We’ll see. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s crazy. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: We shall see. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah, we shall see. So, anyway, I’m really I’m really excited about the show. I just finished it last night. So. So, anyway, let me calm down, but, you guys, you really should check it out if you if you have it. If you haven’t seen it yet. So. So everybody, that’s it for pop culture diagnosis. We’re going to have another fun character to analyze next week. So if you guys have suggestions for fictional characters out there, you’d like for me to diagnose. Hit me up on Twitter @Doctor_Imani. Hit Meg up on Instagram at @MegScoop and email the show at AskDrImani@ Crooked.com. And again, if you’re enjoying the show, don’t forget to rate and review the show on your favorite podcast apps because of course, you guys are going to give this show, what? A five star rating. Yay. So thanks as always for listening to Imani State of Mind. Thank you to Meg for co-hosting and we’ll be back for an all new episode next week. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Bye. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: This is a Crooked Media production. Our executive producer is Sandy Girard. Our producer is Lesley Martin. Music from Vasilis Fotopoulos, edited by Evan Sutton, and special thanks to Brandon Williams, Gabi Leverette, Mellani Johnson, and Matt DeGroot for promotional support.