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Celebrities like Kanye West, Catherine Zeta Jones and Mariah Carey have come to say they are living with the medical condition known as Bipolar disorder. The ladies of Imani State of Mind are peeling back the many layers to this disorder and debunking the myths about living with Bipolar disorder. 

Stay Connected! Email us at AskDrImani@crooked.com Follow us Dr. Imani on Twitter @doctor_imani and Meg on Instagram @MegScoop

 

TRANSCRIPT

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Hey, everybody. Hey. Hey. Welcome to Imani State of Mind. I’m Dr. Imani. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And I’m MegScoop, also known as Megan. But you know your homegirl.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly. Yay! We’re your homegirls. [laugh] We your homegirls. We like to talk about mental health. Uh. But welcome to the show. So there’s been a lot that has happened, I guess, since we last recorded last week, I think the day after the Queen of England died. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay, great. I mean. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: [indistinct] I mean. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay yeah.

 

MegScoop Thomas: It’s. I’m sad somebody died, I’ll say that I’m sad that, you know, anytime death happens, it’s like, oh, okay. You know, it’s tough. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You better than me. I’m like, I don’t care.

 

MegScoop Thomas: I guess that’s all I got. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah, like, I don’t care. Like, some actually, someone told me this morning, like, oh, they read some story about how I guess collectively in England that people were having like this dream that she was going to die. And I was like, you mean you guys collectively had a dream that a 96 year old woman was gonna die? Oh, okay. To be expected. All right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Seems kind of obvious. Yes.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah, seems kind of– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: She did live a really long time though I was like, man, that this she’s never gonna pass away. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: She– she ruled, so the entirety of her rule is is the entirety of my mother’s existence. So she ruled for 70 years um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: What! 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Which was which was– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s a long time.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s a long, long time. It’s it’s interesting because I was like I got up on Twitter and I was like, I’m sorry. I don’t care. Like, I don’t care about someone who was the ruler of a colonial empire that caused death and destruction. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: To hundreds of millions of Black and Brown folks across the globe. Like, I don’t care. And I was happy to see that I wasn’t the only one because I have been banned on Twitter, [laughing] in the past. Um. I have been banned for just being like this this person or this chick is like out of control. Like like she’s trash. Like get her out of here. I really like the fact that a lot of the, there were a lot of articles that highlighted her um, her colonial involvement and her just triflingness. And the fact that it was it’s very obvious that between the young, the younger generations and the older generations, the younger generations are not enraptured with this romanticizing of colonial– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Rule, which– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: To me is great, because just romanticizing bondage and plundering is just the height of whiteness. Like it’s, I mean, it’s just like, oh, so– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Let’s just forget the fact that, like, these people, so, you know, like the like the royal family, like, well, he’s king now. King Charles and uh Queen Elizabeth, his mom, they they paid taxes, I think, for the first time over the past two years. And– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Really?

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yes! And you know what I learned yesterday? Um. I was reading this. I was reading these um these tweets and the Queen’s, the Queen’s funeral or her funeral procession, even though the royal family, even though Prince Charles inherited $600 million dollars from his mom upon her death. Taxpayers are paying for that funeral procession. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Are you serious? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yes. Yes. So if you are British, not Irish, because Ireland was like, do not include us. We do not care about that woman. I was– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I was dying, laughing. They had some people. These dudes were river dancing in front of Buckingham Palace to another one bites the dust. I was dying laughing. Yeah, that’s. That’s taxpayer’s money. That that that you see that we saw. I didn’t watch it, but it was crazy. The other thing that I that I learned yesterday is that the National Health Service of Britain, like, you know, their, you know, medical service, because I guess they’re they engage in socialism and we pretty much don’t. General practitioners, like like just regular doctors, like family practitioners could close their offices. So all these people didn’t have, like they had appointments that day and all of their appointments, like, like the general practitioners who chose to close their offices didn’t see patients that day. And I was like, Damn, for real. Like [laughter] I was like, Wow, y’all go really hard for this lady but okay. And and, oh, I just remembered this. So also, taxpayers have to now pay for the change in legal tender because Queen Elizabeth’s face is– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –on the money. So passports. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yup. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And money now have to like quickly be changed over to now, you know, King Charles or whatever his name is now. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I just don’t understand what. Yeah. Like, what’s the point at in this day and age of having, like, a monarchy. A King, Queen? Because the truth is, like, the power doesn’t really lie with them. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Anymore. They have a whole, you know, parliament, they’ve got a– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s Democratic. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –legal system, government. So that’s what I’m saying what’s the point of even having a, I know I mean, people say tradition, but like at this point, y’all just need to be regular people because they don’t really. What what are y’all doing?

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. Yeah, I don’t. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: King. Queen. Like there’s no nothing special that y’all are doing over there, as you know. I don’t know. I just don’t get it. I don’t get it.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I don’t I don’t get it either. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: In this day and age, I don’t get it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. I mean, it’s honestly like they’re just the holdouts to wanting to keep romanticizing this whole, you know, like, oh, you know, like, oh, look at her crown. And, and people in um India are like, yeah, look at her crown. Like there is a huge diamond on her crown that was on her casket that belongs to us. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: African nations. What? Same thing. Like, excuse me? Like, we want our stuff back. Like, that’s not yours. So if you think about right, like like this is the last thing I’m going to say about it, because I just keep thinking about so much stuff. If you think about [laughter] if you think about how London like, even like, you know, I remember reading like um I could be getting like my periods wrong, but I remember reading Great Expectations and you know, there was the Industrial Revolution and like England was all like even before then, England was like mad, dirty and like muddy and dusty. And there was it was just it was a gross place. But– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: England was one of the first countries to to basically institute slavery. And so the Royal African Company was established and granted they, so now England is like, oh, well, we, we were one of the first countries to abolish slavery first. I’m like, yeah, but not after you built like Buckingham Palace. And stole all of them like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. But y’all was also the first one to start it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly. Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: So yes, you should be the first one to end it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I mean, I guess, you know, if you, it’s like if you’re in power, then you get to change history. You know, you get to change the history to what you want it to be. And and what’s interesting in this day and age is that now there are people, there are so many people that are like, actually, you don’t. Like you all are trife. We don’t care. That old woman died. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And and Prince Charles excuse me, King Charles, whatever his name is, is 73. He gonna be king for? Like what? Ten years? Get out of here. I’m like, I’m so tired of y’all. I’m so tired of these people. But anyway, that’s. That’s what I was kind of thinking about this week. I don’t know if there was anything that kind of caught your attention this week as far as like current events–. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: You know. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Or anything like that. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes, there um a couple of things, but there was I there’s an article that I read actually, and it was about talking about like this single woman and like, do you feel less of a woman because you don’t have kids? Like, that was basically the overarching question. And like I was thinking about it because there was a time where I didn’t have kids and like, I think this woman was in her forties and she’s like, you don’t know how damaging it is to a woman when you’re like, so like when you gonna have kids? Where your kids at, you know? I think I mean, that’s damaging for anybody. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: To get in their business. You don’t know, you don’t know if somebody has fertility issues and they’ve been trying, you don’t, like I think about that why in our society having children for a woman is a marker of like womanhood. Like you are a real woman if you’ve had kids. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Mmm. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And that’s not fair, because we don’t say that about men. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Mm hmm. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And so I was, like, just thinking about it, like, why in 2022 is that still? Why is that still a thing? Like, if a woman don’t want to have kids like she’s still a woman? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Cause the patriarchy girl. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: She’s still. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Because the patriarchy. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It just is annoying. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It is annoying. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It’s so annoying. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I’m like, it’s none of your. First of all, I ain’t even, I told I, my son is very aware. I did not want kids. Like, I really I was like, I’m not really I don’t know if I’m really up for this. I had a kid. He’s great. Like I always say, he’s the greatest kid that somebody who did not want kids could have ever had. But I’m just like, at this point, I’m like, listen, I have a uterus. If anybody wants it, let me know, like it’s I’ll take care of myself. It’s it’s gently worn, you know what saying. I used it one time. [laughter] If y’all, you know, like hit me up, hit my Instagram up. DM me. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Would you be a surrogate for somebody? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Hell no, I’m not being pregnant again. [laughter] Ugh. Pregnancy was terrible. I mean, but I didn’t like it. But but I was. I mean, there was nothing wrong with me. Like it was a healthy pregnancy. Like, I think I had like I had some um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Some um, what do you call it? Like acid reflux. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh. Heartburn. Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah, I had heartburn. But, like, I was like, this is dumb. I was like, am I done yet? Like, it just. Because first it’s cute, right? It’s like, ooh, it’s so cute. Like, look, I have a little baby bump. And then when you get to like seven months, you like, come on, I got three more months of this and it’s not nine months, it’s ten. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It’s yeah. Nine. Or was it nine point basically like nine and a half months, I forgot the exact when you do the dates. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I was like, I’m bored like I’m trying to go out. Like this is boring. So no, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I would, I would do it if I wasn’t so old and I didn’t have all these kids already, I would do it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I mean, I’m old. I’m old.

 

MegScoop Thomas: I have a. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I don’t want [?].

 

MegScoop Thomas: I have a birther body. I have a birther body though like meaning it, pregnancy’s pretty easy for me, but I will say after the second one I was like, oh, I could tell I’m old having a baby. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It just. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I got big hips. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: My body look different. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah, I got wide hips. The, the, the midwife was like, yeah, you could give birth to a tonka truck with those hips. I was like, thanks, lady. No, I don’t, I don’t. I’m not doing that no more. Like I don’t want I don’t want. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: No people coming out of my body. I don’t want to carry nobody around for free no more like. And then then you got to take care of, girl. Okay, anyway, let let’s let, let me, let me stop because I can go on and on and on. I want to tell everybody out there listening that I want to make sure you guys remember that this is Don’t Get It Twisted month or we’re going to continue with our Don’t Get It Twisted series and we’re going to be breaking down a lot of popular myths of well-known disorders. And on this episode, we’re going to be talking about bipolar disorder, which is like my favorite disorder of all the psychiatric disorders. But before we get started, if you guys are loving the show, please let us know by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. So let’s start the show. [music break] Okay. We want to know what’s on your mind. Of course, this is happens every episode. What are you guys struggling with? We love giving you guys a professional, not so professional advice. So we’re going to get started with– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes ma’am. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Our favorite. Well, at least one of our favorite things. Go ahead, Meg. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes, it is time for Ask Dr. Imani anything. So our first letter today comes from Asia. And here’s what she had to say. Dear Dr. Imani and Meg, I am worried about my teenage son and his mental health. He has been really distant, angry, and disrespectful lately. This behavior started about two months ago, and I couldn’t figure out why until now. I was cleaning his room and his iMessage for his iPad went off. The message said, well, are you going to tell your dad or your mom what you saw? So I immediately opened the message to see what their friend was referring to and read that my son had walked in on my dirty trifling ass husband having sex with his coworker in our bed over two months ago. My initial reaction was to kick my husband out of the house and burn all his shit. But then I immediately started thinking how traumatized my son must be and me setting fire to his father’s clothes might even be more traumatizing. I am so hurt my son had to witness that, and I don’t want to cause him any more trauma of his parents separating right now. But that lowdown ho of a husband cannot stay in my house any more. My son and his mental health in all this is my number one priority. So I don’t know how to approach this situation without my son getting mad at me for looking at his iPad and his messages with his friends. How do I address this situation without losing trust with my son or causing any more drama for him? How do I bring it up to my husband without throwing my son under the bus? What mental damage do you think has been done by seeing his dad have an affair? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh, okay. Asia. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s a lot. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That’s a lot Asia. Now, just so you guys know, I don’t read these letters ahead of time. So when Asia like when when you first started reading her letter Meg, I thought this was going to be like something having to do with, like, her son maybe being bipolar. And then when it got to the part about like the like the dad, I was like my eyeballs were like, what! Okay, so, all right, okay. So we’ve had a letter like this before where I completely, I basically told the person to throw their girlfriend under the bus. So. And.

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wait. Do you have the same feeling for a son, a teenage son? You have a teenage son. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I do have a teenage son. Um. You know, here’s here’s what I would say. And I said this before. And of course, Meg, you know, I don’t know. Meg might say something different. I don’t really know how you broach the topic. Like, here’s what I would do. Somehow, like, the iPad is like, it’s going to have to be brought into a discussion whether it’s with your son first or your husband first. I say. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wait, does it? Does it?

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Well. Yeah, like, how else are you going to be like, oh, I have a feeling that you was fucking your coworker in our bed. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: No, no, no. You could just say, I know. You don’t have to reveal how you know, because the truth is, now everybody know. Okay, so we don’t even have to, I don’t know, like, even spend time on– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But here’s the thing. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –how I know. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Here’s the thing. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: The point is, we know.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: She gonna be like, Asia going to be like, I know you was fucking um your coworker in our bed, and the husband’s going to be like, no, you don’t. How, how you know, now that’s. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I have receipts. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right? But the receipts is the son’s iPad. You know, like, okay, this is what I would do. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: But again, but that’s not. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Here’s what I would do, this is is what I would do, this is what I would do. I would. Because, first and foremost, honestly, fuck your husband. I’d be more concerned about my son, which is kind of what you said, Asia. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: In your letter. Um. I would honestly, I would go to my son and I would say, you know, listen, I know that you’ve been, you know, real irritated, real upset lately. I think I have an idea of why, but I want to discuss it with you first. And I would just say, listen, I wasn’t like I wasn’t trying to go through your stuff. It just popped up. But now that I know my, like, my, my first, like, what I want to deal with first is how you are doing and how we can help you process all of this. It’s like, I’ll deal with your dad, like, later. Like, that’s not your concern. But I would basically let my son know that I’m here for you and and as somebody who has gone through this. I completely threw my dad under the bus. I threw my dad under like the whole bus. I threw my dad under like a Greyhound bus station. I was like, I mean, I mentioned this on the show before. Like, my dad was like, don’t say anything about how he was cheating on my mom. And so as soon as he said that, I went up to my mom and I was like, yo. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Like dad said not to tell you, but this is too trife. And I and I’m seven and I’m a let you know what happened. So, yeah, like, my main concern is I’m like, I don’t know you, like, fuck him, fuck your husband. Like, you need to really. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You know, like, take the time out with your son. Whether your husband wants to discuss it with your son. I’m sure he does. That’s that’s something separate. But my main concern would be my son. So and so somehow it’s– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Going to have to be discussed. The iPad. So how Megan, how would you do it? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: No actually I like your approach now as you’ve talked through it. And I’m thinking I’m like actually, I like that approach. I think I probably would do the same for the son. That does make sense. Uh. I think for the husband, I probably would just be like, you don’t have to know how I know, but I know what I know. We don’t even have to take time to figure out how I know. But this is what happened. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Mm hmm. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And our son saw it. You. You and I are done. But now you need to figure out how you’re going to fix this with our son. Because now this has done damage to him. First of all, who what kid wants to see their parent having sex. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: In the house! 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And then seeing them have sex with somebody else, seeing them have sex with somebody else. And cheating. Now now they have that ingrained in their head. And now it’s a big heavy weight because like, oh, I don’t want to tell my mom. Like, I don’t want to get in between this, but I know how trifling my dad is like that’s not fair to do that to him. So I think that’s like more importantly, let’s just focus on how we’re going to get through it with him, you and I done. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: We can figure out separation, all that stuff later. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: To be honest with you, you know, and I but you know, look, there I will say this Asia, your son ain’t the first kid to see somebody having sex. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal situation, but he will heal from this as long as you guys talk through it. Get him therapy if he needs it, like. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Mm hmm. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: But just kind of sweeping it under the rug ain’t going to help him. And it’s going to be uncomfortable, but just work through the discomfort and even encourage him. Let’s work through this discomfort of having to talk about this topic, because I’m sure you didn’t you know, it’s been two months since you saw it, you didn’t say anything. You were very uncomfortable, rightly so. So let’s just get through this. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Mm hmm. I agree. I mean, obviously, I agree. [laughing] I guess because. Yeah, but I’m like I’m like, I would I would be more so concerned with bringing it up to your son. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. And then she did say, how does she? She didn’t want to throw her son under the bus. I don’t know if it’s necessarily– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Throwing him under the bus, but I think, like I said, with the, with the husband, you just have to be like, you know, you do have to say that your son knew because that’s the important part right here. Right. Like your son saw this. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: So either way, it doesn’t matter how you found out. The point is, your son saw this, so you got to. I think you do have to talk about that with your husband um just so he can have some, because clearly this the son must love the dad. Because if you didn’t love your dad like that, he would have been told on his father. Right. So he’s a boy. He probably had you know, I’m assuming he has some decent relationship with his father of some sort where he didn’t feel comfortable telling his mom what his dad did. So if that’s the case, you should make sure you talk to your husband. Like, if you want to salvage that, you need to talk to him because he saw everything. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, that’s what I would do. Also fuck your husband. Um. But I said that like five times already. So, so, so. Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Child. All I got to say, niggas be nigging. Okay. Cause’– [laughter] 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Listen, I say that all the time. Like nigs gonna nig. I don’t know what. I mean. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Hey, I don’t know. I don’t know how else to say it. I was like, these nigs out here gonna nig all day, so. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So. In any case, Asia, I hope that helped you. We’re going to go on to our next letter. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Our next letter comes from a listener by the name of Josie. She says hello to you podcast queens. I’m having a problem with my upstairs neighbor. I can’t seem to tell her no and she knows it. So she asks for everything. From watching her four bad kids to taking her trash out when I take mine, to even running errands for them, I can hear Dr. Imani now saying, I’m doing too much. But here’s the thing. My neighbor’s husband died a year ago and I just feel awful for her. So I want to help out when I can and how I can, but it’s starting to be too much. She depends on me for everything. It’s almost like I have become her replacement husband. I want to be a good neighbor and help, but I also think I need to take a few steps back. Is it too late to establish boundaries with my neighbor since I haven’t told her no in over a year? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um. No. It’s never too late to establish a boundary. I mean, even. Listen, there have even been times when I’ve and y’all know, I love a boundary, I love boundaries. But, you know, even I am human. I’m fallible. And there’s times when I may let somebody like, you know, just kind of gain this, just kind of I may allow somebody to have too much access to me. But it doesn’t mean that once I start to feel uncomfortable that I can’t then say, you know what, this is a little too much for me, but here’s what I would tell you to do it. When you establish the boundary, I would make sure that you have like that you give her some options. So maybe it’s a situation where it’s like, you know what, I can’t watch your kids. But, you know, I saw this flier or I have a friend or I have a cousin or something, and this person is able to watch your kids for this much, you know. Because I mean, because it’s not it’s not going to be for free. But I would just let her know, like, yo, you know, this is like, I can’t do this as much as I have been. And you can either give her a reason or not, like I would say, don’t because it’s your life. But but I would I would give her some options. And even if she doesn’t use those options, at least she’s now aware that she can start looking for options and that she should start looking for options because like you said you’re not her replacement husband. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. And she’s only doing it because you said yes. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Like she wouldn’t she wouldn’t be asking you to do all these things if you just were like, No, I can’t do it. So you have to be okay within yourself to say no. And you got to ask yourself, why am I not comfortable saying no? Yes, you feel bad for her because she lost her husband. You know, that’s it’s honorable that you’re helping her, your neighbor, but you also have to honor yourself first, which is if she come downstairs, can you watch my kids right quick, you have to be like–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: No, I can’t. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –No I can’t. If you really can’t and you don’t, even if you don’t want to, just say, I can’t right now, I’m sorry. I won’t be able to. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Or, you know, taking out the trash when you take, you know, if you don’t want to do it, don’t want, what is she going to do? I saw you take your trash out and you didn’t take mine. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Like I know that. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Like is she leaving. [laughing] Is she leaving her trash by your door. Then that’s a different situation. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right, right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Now, now Pearl, whatever her name is, you can’t just be leaving your trash here. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You called her Pearl. [laughing]

 

MegScoop Thomas: Girl. I don’t know what her name is. You know, Pearl you can’t do that. It’s just. But, yeah, it’s doing too much, girl. You got to set the boundary and just say no. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: You have to learn the power of no.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah, exactly. When you said Pearl. I was laughing cause I was thinking about Pearl from 227. That um the old lady who would sit in the window. Yes. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yup. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yes. She was my favorite. I mean, outside of Jackée from 227, so yeah, I mean, Josie, you know, you just listen, it’s never too late to establish a boundary. And I would just, you know, make sure that you put yourself first, like, yes, your neighbor has four kids, but, you know, she has she has four kids, you don’t. And she should– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Be able to understand that. So I wouldn’t I wouldn’t feel bad about that at all. So so I hope that helped you, Josie. Um. And yes, you were right that I was saying that you are doing too much in my head, so whatever. So thank you to Asia and Josie again for submitting your questions. I really do hope we were able to help you guys. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes. And if you have any questions or problems in around your mental health and you want our help, please send us your emails to hello@Imanistateofmind.com. You can also text or leave us a voicemail at 818-252-9462. We cannot wait to hear from you. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay, you guys. So let’s switch gears and get right into our deep dive topic for today as we continue to do the work to better ourselves mentally, it’s also important that we know the basics about some known mental disorders. We’re going to be breaking down what it looks like to be bipolar today. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. Yes. Can we please dive right into this? Because I know a few celebrities um that have come out saying they’re bipolar, like Kanye, Mariah Carey, but really don’t understand the disorder. So and I also have friends that use the term bipolar to describe the weather lately, and I know that is incorrect. So we definitely need to talk about this. [music break]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay. Boom. So it’s time to get into this deep dive. Our deep dive today is all about bipolar disorder, which is one of my favorite mental health disorders. Um. And I say that– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Why is that? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um you know what I think because I’ll put it to you like this. When I started my residency training, I knew some stuff. I didn’t know everything and I wasn’t expected to know everything. Bipolar disorder really was, for whatever reason, kind of difficult for me to grasp. Because in my head, I. I thought I knew what someone who was bipolar looked like in terms of like, oh, they would have mood swings. But it’s way more than that because I would I encountered patients who were bipolar, who may have also had psychotic symptoms like hearing voices or had really bad like paranoid delusions, stuff like that. Sometimes bipolar disorder can kind of skew towards the more depressive type. So sometimes you will have like periods of feeling like really up, up, up. But the majority of the time, they these patients may be depressed. Then you have the opposite where the person may be more so really like up, up and manic, and then will sometimes fall into a deep depression, but not as often. Then you have like rapid cycling Bipolar disorder, it’s it’s all over the place. But we’re gonna, we’re gonna to get into that right now. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Well, yeah, let’s do that, because I have a question when it’s like, okay, so just somebody who I actually know a couple of bipolar people, but when I think of the word bipolar outside of them, to me it sounds like Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Hyde like. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Mm hmm. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Which probably is more like schizophrenia, I’m guessing. I don’t know. But either way, it’s like you’re. You’re one way right now, and then you’re another way, and you switch back, and there’s, like, no reason. You just kind of all over the place. Is that what bipolar is or kind of like a layman’s term for it, a layman’s description? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I would say it could be a layman’s description. Yeah. I mean, I think I think it’s a it’s a decent layman’s description. So basically what bipolar disorder refers to is, uh first of all, bipolar disorder is what’s known as a mood disorder. Mood disorders can also include depression and anxiety. So bipolar disorder can include anxiety and depression. But when we talk about bipolar, we’re talking about two poles, meaning two different poles of mood or like the like the mood spectrum. So on one hand, the person can be really, really depressed. On one side, that’s one pole. On the opposite pole, the person can be the complete opposite of depressed, which is described as being manic, meaning that someone who’s depressed is just, you know, obviously they’re kind of down and sad and it’s difficult to get them motivated, no, low energy. They may feel suicidal. And then on the manic side of things, they’re I guess, you know, I describe it to people sometimes it’s like, let’s say that you took like a huge hit of cocaine. Cocaine makes you really euphoric. You get really, really, like, just excitable. You’re just like talking a mile a minute. You’re just like, yay, everything’s great. I’m the best. I’m the best in the world. So even with that description, with with mania, you will find uh that people may uh have what’s known as um delusions of grandeur. So I’ve had patients come up to me and say, like, oh, um you know, Donald Trump is my cousin or I’m President Biden. Um. I’ve also had patients like when I said that, like it’s like taking like a really big hit of like cocaine, their their speech gets really, really rapid and very, very fast. And it’s almost kind of like you have to really pay attention to what they’re saying. And because their speech is very rapid and very fast, there tends to be a difficulty in understanding exactly what they’re talking about. And that’s because their thoughts race. So racing thoughts is a hallmark of bipolar disorder. So imagine you’re talking really fast because you have all these thoughts in your head that you are trying to get out of your mouth. So there’s that too. Uh, People who are manic, you know, again, like you took a huge hit of of cocaine. Are you going to sleep? No. These are people who can who can basically not sleep for days on end. And on top of that, I’ll ask them, you know, if you’re if you didn’t sleep at all last night, are you tired today? And they’ll say, no, I feel fine. So there’s a decreased need for sleep with mania. So those are kind of yeah, that’s that’s kind of a quick and dirty way to to describe both depression and mania which are inherent in bipolar disorder. So. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mm hmm. Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So I would say in terms of, you know, identifying somebody who’s bipolar, I one thing that I that I really would like for for the listeners to understand is that when it comes to suicidality, or people who attempt suicide and even complete suicide. The highest percentages are those people who have bipolar disorder because they get so high and so, so manic that when they fall, it’s equally as bad. And so they get really, really depressed and really, really despondent and they have higher rates of attempting suicide and also completing suicide. Bipolar disorder, like I said, it’s like my favorite disorder. I treat a lot of people who are bipolar. One of the ways to treat bipolar disorder is with a class of medications called mood stabilizers. Some of these that you guys may have heard of and you too Meg, maybe Depakote, Lithium. Um. There are some other ones like Lamotrigine and or Lamictal. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wait. These aren’t like? When people say this, when I hear like Lithium and all that stuff, does this make people like zombie like? Because I feel like I’ve heard. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Mmm mm. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay, what is so what does it do? It just, you just don’t hit the poles with that? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly. Yeah.

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly like it doesn’t they. So oftentimes when people are bipolar, let’s say they’re in um they’re they’re in a psychiatric hospital, there’s another class of medications that that have some of them have been FDA approved to treat bipolar disorder. And those medications are known as antipsychotic medications. Antipsychotic medications are medications that primarily are used to treat psychosis, which can be found in schizophrenia. So, you know, people who hallucinate, have really bad delusions. The thing about antipsychotic medications is that some of the older ones and even some of the newer ones, let’s say they make you really tired. So that’s kind of where some of the “zombieness”, quote unquote, can come from. But with mood stabilizers, they they don’t really as a whole make you tired. If you give them in conjunction with an antipsychotic, which may make them tired, most of them do. Then you may find you know, they may be, you know, kind of slowed. When I’ve treated patients. I’ll tell them, like, you’re going to sleep for a couple of days. Like your brain– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Is tired, your brain has been doing a lot, so you need to go to sleep. So. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I’ll come and wake you up tomorrow and check on you. But then, you know, by the next day you should be feeling a lot better. And in some of those cases, provided I get the dosage of the medications, you know, correct. And where they need to be for those patients, two days later, they’re like, oh, okay. But here’s the thing. Then you get somebody, I have patients who are bipolar and a lot of them will come to me and they’re like, oh, I’m so creative. Or sometimes they’ll, they’ll tell me stuff like, oh, I was able to decipher like the newspaper, I was able to decipher the Bible. And those are delusions um for some of these. For some of these people, they don’t want to get better. They don’t want to take the medication because, one, they feel really euphoric and high. And also because in the case of people who are very creative, like let’s take Kanye West, for example, who was, to let us all know that he has bipolar disorder. It’s the mania in a lot of cases that drives the creativity. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mmm okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And so if they take the medication, the mania and the euphoria isn’t there, and so then they get really depressed, like, oh my god, my life is over. Especially like if–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –You are creative and that’s how you make your money, it’s like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: What am I going to do? How am I going to like find my inspiration? And, and so I ended up seeing the same patients at a psychiatric hospital, sometimes like three, four, five times, because I’ll treat them while they’re there. They leave, won’t take the meds, get manic again, get psychotic again, let’s say. Come back and then yeah. And then I’m like, well, I guess I’ll just put you on the same medications I had you on before and, you know, wait for you to basically, you know, stabilize. So. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay, so I have a question then. So how do you get bipolar disorder? That’s the first one. And then the second question is, now, this is more like Black grandma, you know, auntie down south. Bible belt. How do you know it’s not a spirit as opposed to bipolar disorder? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay. That’s a good question. Um. So to answer your first question, um I actually have people in my family, relatives who are bipolar. So bipolar disorder is largely thought to be um hereditary, meaning you inherit it, um you know, because it’s encoded in your DNA. I have an uncle who’s bipolar. My grandmother was bipolar. I have a cousin who is bipolar. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wait, these people are all diagnosed? Or was it like, I can tell, like how they’re acting? Like, wait a minute, y’all all have– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: One– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Bipolar disorder. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: My my cousin’s diagnosed. My uncle and my grandmother, I diagnosed them because. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I was like, the evidence is all there. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And I believe I do have some Chinese family in China. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wow. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Who also have bipolar disorder. I know that like when it comes, you know, like I have depression and I have my Chinese family on my mom’s side and on my dad’s side, there’s there’s depression. So that’s why I basically have depression. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mmm. Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But yeah, it’s it’s it is it’s it is definitely considered to be an inherited trait as far as bipolar disorder. Now, to your second question, how do you know it’s not a spirit? Okay. So I kind of went through this when I was a first year resident because I was brand new and I was like, wow. I mean, I was like, I don’t know, like, like this is all kind of new to me. One of the ways that I knew is that it’s one thing like, like let’s say I’m speaking to a patient and the person’s like, yeah, this is a spirit. Like this is, you know, this, this something’s, you know, talking through me, although it’s not. It’s always, you know, you always have to speak to the patient it’s always important that you speak to the people who are around them. So their family. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Any friends, you sometimes you don’t always have that, especially if it’s someone who’s homeless and doesn’t really like have communication with um the same people consistently. But basically you just use diagnostic criteria. Um. Some of the same criteria that I spoke to earlier, like, okay, so you haven’t been sleeping, um you know, maybe they might have been abusing drugs, uh maybe, um you know, then then you kind of you and any time you see a brand new patient, you always ask about family. Sometimes it’s helpful, sometimes it’s not. After a while, you start to get, you start to like I got more confident in being able to say, okay, this person is presenting this way because some of the some of the sudden, like when when a patient comes in to a psychiatric hospital or to like even like a psychiatric urgent care, let’s say. They may be on what’s called a psychiatric hold. And there’s a story like a like a paragraph or two outlining like this is how the person was presenting, these are the symptoms the person, you know, was were exhibiting. And you just start to see commonalities. Like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: If it were truly a spirit, right, there would be a period of time where it would go away. For like, I’m guessing for like significant periods of time. When it comes to bipolar disorder. It is it really. Like I’ll ask somebody, okay, how how often like how often would you say how many times a week would you say you encounter mood swings, as they’ll say, like, oh, one, two, three. However many times. Um. Someone who has a spirit, I would say. I’m making this up. Someone who has a spirit, I would say, could probably say, oh, I’ve experienced this like, you know, once a year for like a month or like, you know. If they’re I guess what I’m saying is with bipolar disorder there is a cycle. It’s a it’s a it’s a cyclical change in mood. Whereas having a spirit can sometimes be a static like or like like a, like a one time event. And then like, let’s say, you know, lots of time passes, like people who are people, you know, like you’ve watched those movies about exorcisms. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And like, they’re they’re like, you know, it’s like they they possessed for like a year. Like, that’s not. That doesn’t happen with bipolar disorder. Also, I never see anybody float over a bed so. [laughter]

 

MegScoop Thomas: Well, [?]. [laughing]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I asked that question because eh you know, you know, growing up in the South it was always like oh that person got a spirit you know it’s never– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –A real like let’s go get mental health help. Right? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right, right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I remember like because I was I grew up in the South and so like I remember the first experience I ever had with bipolar disorder was with uh one of my friends. She actually she was like she confided in me. She said, hey, I am diagnosed with bipolar and schizophrenia. I have episodes. And I was like, what does that mean? She was like, There are times where like, I’ll just kind of black out and I’ll she’s she’s like, I’ve cut myself. I’ve done a lot of things. And I was like, what? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: This is scary. So we were on a work trip. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And she and she, and it was like a week long, like a week long work trip and she was like, hey, I feel like um an episode is coming on. And I was like, okay. So she was like–  

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You got to go to the, to the pharmacy. [laughing]

 

MegScoop Thomas: She was like so basically so she was like, I need you to kind of help me because I don’t want, you know, our whole, like, office to know like that I suffer from this. So I’m sitting here like, I don’t know nothing about mental health. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Like what am I supposed to do? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: So let me tell you what happened. So so we all go out to dinner that night and we’re coming back, and she was like, I feel it coming just get me in the room and just, leave. Like make sure. Just keep me in there. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Girl. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: So I was like okay. I’m thinking, like. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Do I need weapons? Like what, I don’t know how to. Okay, you know. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: She need to go to the hospital. She need to go to the E.R.. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: So I could see as we were like, everyone’s coming back. We’re all getting off of the elevator. Everybody’s going to their room. I could see she started acting a little, like, agitated and weird, so I was like, okay, I guess this is– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Mmm mmm. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –what she was talking about. So I take her to her room, we get in there, she starts pacing, trying to get out the door. So I’m like standing in front of the door so she doesn’t go out and just like act crazy. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Girl no. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And she’s like, sitting there. She’s like, rocking. She’s like, you know, she she just looking around. And I’m sitting here like, she’s, like, trying to grab stuff. I was like, is she trying to. Is she trying to cut herself like, I don’t know what’s going on here. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Mm hmm. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: So I’m sitting here like, you know, me being the little Southern Bible Church raised girl that I am, I’m sitting here like, lord Jesus, take this spirit away from here. Father god.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh, my God. [laughing]. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I didn’t know. I was like 20. I didn’t know. I was just like. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Well yeah! 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Ahh lord!

 

MegScoop Thomas: Get out of here Satan. You must flee. So I’m sitting there like, I don’t know what to do, what am I supposed to do. [laughing]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I couldn’t though–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I commend, you. Though I know, I know. I commend you because let me tell you, if I was 20 and that shit would’ve happened, I would have left. I would have been like I would have left. I would have told the hotel manager like, listen, this chick is in her room, call 911. Like, I can’t like I would have “completely thrown her under the bus”, quote unquote. It’s like, I can’t. I’m not equipped for this. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. I, I. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I wasn’t. That’s all I knew to do. And then like maybe about 10 minutes later, she started coming back to and it was completely like, like she just sat down in her bed and she was like, what are you doing in my room? And I was like. First of all, I’ve been in here for like a good ten, fifteen minutes with you. And she, I said, what’s the last thing you remember? She was like, I remember we were like walking back from, like, dinner. The whole group. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And I was like, That’s the last thing you remember? She’s like, Yeah. And so I was like, girl, you done and had this whole episode. And she was like, Oh, so that’s why you’re here? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. You told me you felt like you felt something coming on, so. And I was like, you tried to grab stuff. I don’t know what you going to do with it. She wasn’t, like, violent. It was just kind of like, she was looking and circling.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: No it was. Right.

 

MegScoop Thomas: Or. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: So I. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: She was agit– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: So that was. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: She was agitated. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right? So I was just like. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Uh oh. And after that, I was like, What do I do if something– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Like that happens again? Like, what if– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: What, what do you do? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –She had tried to kill me or something? I don’t know. She’s in a–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –blackout state, you know what I’m saying? So it’s like. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I don’t know what’s going on. I’m completely in a different zone right now. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Well, that’s actually, it’s kind of common. I’ve had a lot of patients who I’ve seen uh over the years. And even though like when they came in the hospital, they were like on a stretcher, like, you know, like like, you know, they had um restraints, let’s say. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mm hmm. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: On their hands and feet to kind of, you know, keep them from thrashing or hurting themselves when they get agitated. And they were completely just like, agh, and then, you know, I’d have to order um like an inject– like an injection. A medication injection to basically calm them down. The next day they they were like, where am I? Like, how did I get here? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wow. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So I’ve had to have a lot of conversations with patients who were bipolar, who were in the throes of a manic episode and tell them like, okay, this is what happened. And they’re like, I don’t even remember that. Like, the last thing I remember is being in my house. The last thing I remember is walking down the street and then they just, you know, it’s there there is a theory called the kindling theory that what’s happening in bipolar disorder is kind of similar to what happens when people have seizures in their brain, um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mm hmm. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That there are electrical impulses that are that are basically firing dis-synchronously, like they’re just firing haphazardly. And so that is why uh mood stabilizers are also medicat– mood stabilizers and anti-seizure medications are the same exact medications. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh wow. Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Because of that theory. Yeah. So Depakote is an anti-seizure medication that is also used for bipolar disorder. Lithium, the same thing. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Hmm. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Carbamazepine the same thing. Um. Lamictal the same thing. It’s so we don’t know for sure with a lot of like a lot of psychiatric disorders. We don’t know like how or why we have theories. Even with depression, like we think it’s low serotonin, but we don’t really know. And there is a subset of people who get depressed for whom antidepressants just don’t work. They just don’t work. So so that being said, um people who are bipolar, they’re treated most often with mood stabilizers. You can also treat them with antipsychotic medications. Like I mentioned, in some extreme cases, especially when the depression gets really, really bad, they may have to undergo ECT or electroconvulsive therapy, which sounds scary. It sounds scary. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But it’s actually it it works. And I remember there was a psychiatric board question that I never forgot that if you have a pregnant patient who is severely depressed and bipolar. Which of the following is the safest for her and the baby? And it’s electroconvulsive therapy. It’s not medications. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: What? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I just keep seeing like the the movies that have like the 1950s–

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah it’s movie’s girl, like uhhh. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –mental hospital where it’s like. Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. No, it’s actually really quick. You have to go early in the morning. Like I’ve seen it done a few times. There’s an anesthesiologist there because they have to sedate them um and they place the, you know, the the electrodes, um you know, at specific portions on their head. It’s real quick. There is a, there is a period, because you’re basically inducing a seizure. You’re kind of pressing reset on their brain, [gasp] which is a really like archaic way of describing it. So. So a lot of times after people will have seizures, they’ll have what’s called a fugue, not a fugue state. They’ll have a postictal state, meaning that they’ll like they’re not really like they’re kind of they’re really out of it. And so they’re kind of like forgetful, like they need sometimes they may need help just like kind of getting around. But that’s very common after electroconvulsive therapy because you are, in effect, inducing a seizure and it helps to reset the brain. And for a lot of people, it’s it is very, very helpful. It’s very, very helpful. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wow. And that’s something that– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –You like have to keep doing. Or is that like a one time thing? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um, it’s, it’s basically up to the, the, prob– like if the, you know, up to the symptom remission, like if the symptoms are, you know, getting better. Like there’s, there’s certain formulas and there’s certain flow sheet. I’ve never done it. I’ve only seen it done. But it can be like after you kind of exhaust medication options and the person may not be getting better. ECT is really, really helpful. Really helpful. So I just. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wow. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You know. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I want for everybody out there to know it it, in the movies, it’s scary and terrifying. In real life, it really it’s not. Like it’s. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s really quick. And it it does help and it does work. Yeah. So. Um.

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wow, that is interesting. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. Yeah. But there was something I wanted to actually mention because you had mentioned um the weather. So what I’ve heard people say in terms of the weather is they’ll be like, oh my god, the weather’s so schizophrenic today. It was sunny earlier and now it’s raining and now it’s sunny again. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Actually, you were right. So it would more so be like I’m like, wouldn’t that be bipolar? Schizophrenia is– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Ooo yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –something completely, completely different. It’s not a mood disorder. It doesn’t have to do with like, you know, um poles of depression and then mania. It’s not like an acute like 180 um in mood. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: The way that bipolar disorder is. So like that would like that’s actually describing the weather as bipolar is actually a more, I guess, appropriate way to describe it. But people are like, oh, my gosh, she’s so schizophrenic. I’m like, is she, is she hallucinating? [laughter] No, she’s just like being like such a bitch. I’m like, that’s not schizophrenia at all. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It’s not any of that. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: She’s just a– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah, it’s not it’s not any of that. Yeah. I actually remember like kind of to switch topics. I remember a couple of years ago when Kanye was well, he Kanye’s been on a wiling streak for like a very long time. I’ve heard a lot of Black folk say, well, it’s because his, you know, after his mom died, you know, he just like he lost his compass. It may have, listen, possibly, probably. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But his I remember Kanye describing some behavior that his dad had done when he was a kid. Like his dad took him back to school shopping, spent all this money, and then the next day was like, yo, I got to bring those clothes back. Like, I really couldn’t afford that. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. So, like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That sounds like. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. It sounds hereditary. And it and with Kanye, like, I’m. Did you see the, it’s I mean, it’s messed up. I shouldn’t be laughing, but it’s just like, honestly, one of the reasons I became a psychiatrist is because some of this shit is funny. Like when Kanye was like, when Kanye said that um wrote that text that was like, um um Kim, Kim. Kim. Kim. Uh Kim goes to the bathroom more than anyone I’ve ever seen in my entire life. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And did you see that? And then. And then like that. And then the next one it was Kim like DMing him like. Please don’t put our family business in the street. And he wrote, bitch. You probably on the toilet. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: [sigh] [laughing] Oh. Oh my gosh. Oh, my God. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It is so wrong. It’s so wrong, but legit. Like some of the, some of the stuff that people say to me. I’m just like you out of control. I’m like you completely. I’ll be laughing too. I’m like you wiling. I’m like, we got we got to get you under control. I’m like, I got to I’m adjust your medications right now because you out here acting a whole God damn fool. So. So.

 

MegScoop Thomas: That was funny though like ahhh. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That was, I was like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: He didn’t have to say that to her. [laughing]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Sorry I’m laughing. So but then on the other hand you get the extreme like that was like it was funny like he was being wild petty but on the other side you still get like, well, not the other side. The same side you get more extreme petty where it can turn dangerous. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Where like he had that video where it was, it really was like somebody had done like a stop animation of Pete Davidson for this Kanye video and it showed like, Kanye killing him and burying him. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I was like, um, uh uh. I’m like, that’s kind of, um, that’s too much. Like, I was like, can we? I was like, can somebody put him on a psychiatric hold for that. But I guess it could also be explained away as like, Oh, this is creative freedom. But I’m like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Nah that’s. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That’s not cool. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: No, I would have put his ass on a hold. Fuck that. Like you need to, you need to go to the hospital. So there’s been Kanye, you mentioned uh Mariah Carey. There was that time when she went on. I think it was TRL, like total request live? And she was like she was kind of out of it. You could see like she she and this was during her butterfly period. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And she came to the studio with like a t shirt on and some heels and was just kind of wandering around with the microphone like, Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And everybody was like, girl, so Mariah Carey, Britney Spears we know about, Britney Spears is interesting because based on what I’ve read about Britney, she has something called rapid cycling, bipolar disorder. I’ve never seen that. Or have I? [pause] I have. I have seen it once. Um, it so I was I was mentioning earlier that bipolar disorder can like you’ll get a period of time where you’re manic, let’s say, and then another period of time where you’re depressed. Rapid cycling, bipolar disorder is is really interesting to see because they’re it’s like they’re it’s like the cycle is so fast that the person will be, like, crying and laughing at the same time. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh. Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Like, it’s real, like, oh, no. Like, I mean, it’s definitely treatable. But I remember when, like, Britney Spears was like, you know, everybody’s like, oh, she shaved her head. I was like, well, I shaved my head. But I mean, I’m not bipolar. She but really more concerning to me was she was walking around in public like gas station restrooms with no shoes and socks on. [laughter]. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s the part– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That’s that’s. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –y’all should have been mad about. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: No, right. I’m like, that’s the part that y’all should have been concerned about because I was like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That’s disgusting. Like, that’s really like you can get sick like that. So.

 

MegScoop Thomas: Bipolar we can fix, but not this. [laughing] 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. Not that right. I was like, this girl is she is impulsive. Impulsivity is a sign of bipolar disorder. I didn’t mention before. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I was like, she walking around with no shoes and socks on at a gas station restroom. Girl. No. So. Um.

 

MegScoop Thomas: Wait. You know, I know this is not who we’re diagnosing this week for pop culture diagnosis. However, I have seen some of these symptoms in Tyrese. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Um. Like, you mean like. Like personally. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Like, just. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: No no. Just. No, no. Seeing them on the internet, just like how he like [?]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh, like when he was crying and all of that. Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: All of that. I always wonder I’m like, I think you might be bipolar as well. Like undiagnosed or diagnosed and you just don’t want to tell people, you know. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Listen, d– okay, that. I’m a tell you this really quick story about Tyrese real quick. So, first of all, me and Tyrese have the same birthday, okay? December 30th. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mmm hmm. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So back when I was like dating my ex-husband, this is when we first started dating, he was like, Yo, you wanna go to this party? I was like, All right, fine. So we go, this is not evidence of Tyrese’s bipolar disorder, but it was really strange. So it’s birthday time. Like, you know, it’s like a birthday cake. And so it’s in this, like, kind of, you know, bigger, like, um like club type environment, like all these celebrities are there. Tyrese is there, he on stage, they wheel out this cake. And it’s not a real cake. But I was like, oh, somebody about to pop, about to jump out. Yo, a little person hops out. With a fur bikini on and some uggs and starts dancing around. And then then somebody brings out like a baby white tiger and Tyrese starts feeding it with a bottle. And I was like, Yo, what is going on? [laughter] I was like, you know what? You ruining my birthday. I’m about to go. So we left after that. I was like I was like, I’m not doing this. I’m not saying that’s proof of Tyrese’s bipolar disorder, but I was like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That is a funny story. Like [?].

 

Dr. Imani Walker: No I was like excuse me. It’s possible. I honestly, I don’t, I don’t know enough about Tyrese. I kind of have avoided Tyrese like my entire life in terms of, like, his his uh movies and stuff. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh my gosh. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I don’t know why. Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s so funny. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. But um but I’m just glad that we were able to talk about bipolar disorder today. The media does a terrible job. Honestly. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: They’re getting better. Better. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But historically, the media is, I mean, terrible because like you were saying earlier, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. like Dr. Jekyll wasn’t depressed, you know what I mean? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Like, he was just like a scientist. Mr. Hyde was a complete, like, sociopath. So. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: In a way, I’m kind of like, well, I guess, like, Dr. Jekyll was a sociopath? Like, I don’t. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mmm. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But but I mean, it’s a good starting off point if you’re trying to, you know, explain bipolar disorder to people. So I hope that everyone out there now has a greater understanding of bipolar disorder. And um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: You can always Google more about bipolar disorder. You can always like hit me up on Twitter or Instagram. But, you know, like, legit if you guys have any questions about this, like, hit me up and I’ll, I’ll tell you because this is my favorite. Even if this wasn’t my favorite, I’ll, I’ll still. I’ll still. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Don’t hit me up and ask me about it because I’m gonna just tell you the same story about trying to call out spirits, okay? So don’t ask me about it.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: God, please. Jesus. Oh, my God. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Ask Imani about it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah ask me about it. [laugh] Okay, so that’s all the time we have for our deep dive conversation today. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes. I think it’s the perfect time um to get in our favorite segment of the show, Pop Culture Diagnosis. [music break]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: All right. So let’s get into our pop culture diagnosis for this week. Meg, can you give our listeners a quick synopsis of the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon and who we’re going to diagnose today? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes, girl. Now, this is my show, okay? Because I love me some Game of Thrones. I, like, watched all like seven seasons of it in like– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Same. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –a matter of two weeks. So. Love it. And I’m so glad they came out with this prequel. So now House of the Dragon actually takes viewers back like 200 years before um the Game of Thrones, that, you know, the show that we see. And it focuses on the House Targaryen when they ruled over the Seven Kingdoms and it tells the story about how all these white haired people became prosperous and then uh the troubles that they faced when there’s a messy dispute over the succession in the throne. It’s really awesome. I love it. And so we’re going to diagnose the main character of the show. And her name is Rhaenyra Targaryen. She’s the king’s firstborn daughter. Um. And she is like set to she’s probably like the first woman that has like uh the king has actually said she’s going to be the one to be his heir and succeed him so she can be queen. And that’s kind of like everybody’s like, what, nobody’s ever ruled us that wasn’t a man. So, you know, the whole story kind of takes place starting from there. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yes. Okay. So, first of all, I love Game of Thrones or I’ve heard most Black people refer to Game of Thones. Thones. Not Thrones. Game of Thones. Um. And I’m one of those people. I just found it really funny, like when Game of Thrones came on initially that like Black folks, like like, have you ever seen Leslie Jones? Uh. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: She used to be on SNL. She would do her recaps. Oh, my God, that’s me. That is me all day. I’m like, Oh, my God. Oh, shit. Like, I was like I was so, so into Game of Thrones. But that being said, this is House of the Dragon. House of the Dragon. And I like it. I mean, I really I do like it. I really do. The problem is two things. One, these wigs. Girl.

 

MegScoop Thomas: Especially her cousins, the Black family, the Valyrians. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: No their wigs are there, are better. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Valyri– No, but girl how many Black people, you know, with straight white hair that are like like no, blonde. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: No. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It’s supposed to be like blonde blonde.. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s it’s platinum blond. They have locks, their wigs. Look, look better. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: They do. But I’m saying, how many Black people do you know with platinum blond locks that are “natural”, quote unquote. Because that’s supposed to be natural hair. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Girl, I mean listen. What about the hold on? What about um her aunt? Her aunt that got passed over, her hair is. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Girl. She look like an alien. She look like alien from um from she look like the alien from Aliens like, you know, the alien head went like this like it was all–

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Oblong. I am like girl. I don’t know if that’s how your hair is supposed to be. Anyway, I’m like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: They do need some help with the wigs there, I will say. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I’m like. All these YouTube tutorials, all these Black girls throwing up YouTube videos of how to do a lace front and y’all out here with millions of dollars in spending capacity. HBO. And these, girl. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Thank you. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Okay. Anyway, the wigs look crazy, but let’s talk about Rhaenyra or Rhaenyra that’s what I call her. So Rhaenyra. Rae Neera. Um. She is, Rhaenyra’s dope. Like, I really I really like her. Um. I’ve been having to watch the show because it is kind of slow at times, so I’ve been having to watch it with um like I watch the show and then I’ll just go and watch like the recaps on YouTube. There is a particular um um account I watch called Screen Crush. Shout out to Screen Crush because Screen Crush be crushing it. Um. I watched them all last night because I was like, oh, that’s what happened. Oh, that’s what happened because I don’t be paying attention. It just be so slow. So anyway. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It is yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But it is slow. But Rhaenyra is actually like I really like her. So she’s teenage. She’s, she’s a teenager uh in the– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: She’s like seventeen-ish. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –four episodes we, yeah. In the four episodes we’ve seen so thus far she’s going to so another actress is going to play her um I guess in some of the upcoming episodes as she gets older. Rhaenyra I mean, you know, like it’s supposed to be girl, I almost said, okay, a long time ago, Snoop was like, you know, like back in the day, like Game of Thrones, I almost was like, well, you know, back in the day, you know, when Game of Thrones when like, you know, women didn’t really have a lot of, like, rights and stuff. It’s it’s still that time. It’s the whole there’s all this talk about like, oh, Rhaenyra like she’s going to be queen. Like, like the king. Her dad officially was like, I am like, you’re going to be my successor. I’m not going to take that away just because I had a son. At one point, girl there was like, see, the king was having a discussion with the hands to the king about, oh, well, maybe Rhaenyra should marry her little three year old brother. Girl. It was. I’m like, this is disgusting. But.

 

MegScoop Thomas: What? I missed that part. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah, because there’s just, there’s just talking about, like, who she gonna marry, who she gonna marry, who she gonna marry? Like she got to marry somebody because she’s of age. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So they were like, well, maybe she can marry her brother. And then like, you know, you could just keep the bloodline pure. And I’m like, isn’t that how, like. Ugh.

 

MegScoop Thomas: And what’s crazy is like, I feel like that’s probably true like years ago that people actually thought that was okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh no they did. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It’s just gross to me because you also see in the show, like Rhaenyra is very, you know, I like the fact that she does her own thing. She, she is the princess, but she kind of like, ehh I’m gonna do what I’m gonna do, you know what I’m saying? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Eh. So what? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And I like that about her. But then also this last episode, spoiler alert, if you haven’t watched it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Girl. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I just kind of like. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Uhhhhhh. Yuck.

 

MegScoop Thomas: So for those of you who’ve watched it, she, her you know, she kind of, her uncle, who is also kind of um a– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Daemon.

 

MegScoop Thomas: Bad-Ass. Yeah. Uncle Daemon, he kind of is the outcast as well. And they’re, they’re kind of they’re really cool. They have a really cool relationship until I see them like, you know, he brings her out on the night on the town, kind of like disguises her so she can feel like a normal girl. And then they go to a whorehouse and then they go to, like the. The bottom of the whore house.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: The back room or whatever. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Where the real whoring be happening. Okay. And then they start making out. And then I was so like wait. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: No. Girl. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: What? 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It was about, it was about to go down like he had her– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: No that’s what I’m saying. It started– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Like pants down. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah, right. And I was like, wait, what? Hold on. I didn’t think this was gonna go like this. I was thoroughly confused. And then he walks away, and then– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Oh my god. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –She goes back to her room, and then she ends up, like, giving up her goodies to her her uh bodyguard. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Well, look, this was the best part. The best part was that she was like, okay, well, I’m horny now, so. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. So somebody geting these [?]

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So somebody getting fucked. Right. Somebody getting fucked. So she went back to the house and ended up like smashing um her little night guardsman. Um. I forgot his name, but um, 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Ser Cristin Cole. Cristin Cole. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Cristin Cole. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: But I was just like. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I just like, so that but it was kind of like uh now. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It’s disgust– ugh. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Obviously it was a set up to kind of have his his niece out there looking crazy but like, ughh. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It was disgusting. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: It was the only thing I could think, it was just ugh. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: It was gross. I mean, on top of all this, Rhaenyra’s mom died horrifically, the first episode. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Horrifically. Horrifically. It was I mean, I was just like, okay, here, I’m like, here we go, Game of Thrones with the bullshit. Because not only did we have on Game of Thrones the series, we had incest. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: We had like incest. Uh. Jamie and Cersei were brother and sister, and they ended up– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Having sex on their dead son’s grave. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Do you remember that? When Joffrey died. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I was like. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yes. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: What the fuck is going on? So but back to Rhaenyra. So her mom died and one of the things that I was really happy to see is that the next episode, so the second episode, everyone was kind of going on about like, you know, whatever. Yeah. Like she dead. Okay, what you gonna do. And then finally she, you know, her and her dad have a real conversation and she’s like, yo, like, my mom has been dead for six months. And now you tau– you trying to get me to marry somebody, like, get the fuck out of here? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So if anything, I would say I would diagnose Rhaenyra with having like, you know, grief disorder, which is like grief can last up to a month when you have true diagnosable depressive symptoms that can be diag– You can you can diagnose depression after two weeks, but grief disorder can last much longer. Um. So I would say, you know, if it’s been six months and she’s still like, yo, I haven’t even like really fully grieved. Like not only did my mom die, but you cut my mom open to save my brother. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Who also died. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Now my little brother. Right. And my mom died. So like and speaking of king, not king speaking of Daemon, who is just trife beyond measure, he actually told his brother the king like, oh, yeah, I just want to, like, give a toast to, you know, my brother and the king for a day, referring to the–. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –Newborn who died. And I was like, Daemon, you are so trifling. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: He is. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But you know, Rhaenyra, I would say she’s dope. She’s a dragon rider. I love her. Um. But yeah, she’s grieving and she’s grieving. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: And she’s a, and she’s a nod to Daenerys from Game of Thrones. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Which is like her. You know, that’s her descendant. But you can see a–. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –Lot of similarities between them. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly. Exactly. So, yeah, I um that’s that’s what I would diagnose her with. You know, I think. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That yeah, I think that, you know, outside of that, I don’t really see. I mean, there’s definitely triflingness going on amongst amongst these characters, but there isn’t anything– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I was going to diagnose her. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –That I’ve seen specific.

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. Well, I’ll just diagnose her with horniness because clearly she went from about to smash her uncle. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: She did, she went for hers. Okay. She, she’s seventeen.  

 

MegScoop Thomas: And then she’s like, any other any the nearest penis. Oh, you guardsman. Yes, you. Come. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. I was like, girl, um okay. I’m like, listen, as long as it’s not your uncle, I don’t really care. Like so lets just. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Right. Right.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Let’s just move away from that. So um I love Game of Thrones. Um. I really do like House of the Dragon. Um. I’m just waiting for, you know, things to get a little more. Just but I am happy to see some Black folks. I mean, I thought their– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: –that’s the yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: –I think their wigs are much better. Way better.

 

MegScoop Thomas: And I will tell you this, this that probably would have had me. What I like about House of the Dragon is that the Valyrian family, which is like her cousins, and they’re a line of Black people, they are– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Just as, quote unquote, “pure blood” as– 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: The Targaryens, which I was like, oh, because they all have Valyrian blood. Valyrians have–. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Valyrian blood. So does. So do the Targaryens. I guess that’s why they all have the white, the natural white hair. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: They do. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I think it has something to do with that. And I was like dope, like, oh, the oh the only other super powerful family, like the number two powerful family in this show are a line of Black people. Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: I can dig it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Well, because the Va– so they’re all they’re all Valyrian. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: The Targaryens are white, but the Valyrians are– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Valyrians. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Valyrians. They’re from more south. They’re from Essos. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh, Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So it’s like you got across Westeros, you got across the continent, you got to go through the step islands or something. Step, step stones or something. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Oh, okay. Oh step stones yeah.

 

Dr. Imani Walker: And then there’s another continent. And then that’s where Essos is. And that’s more so in the South. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Ahh. That’s Africa girl. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So I guess they darker.

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s what they trying to say. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yes, Africa, right? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: They are trying to say that was Africa. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: That’s Africa with white hair.

 

MegScoop Thomas: That’s Africa in this world. Okay. Got it. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Exactly. Exactly. Because the Dorn, do you remember the Dornish? 

 

MegScoop Thomas: The Dornish yeah. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: They were like kind of more like– 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Spanish. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: I guess. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Brownish people. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Right. Indian, right. So they, they were like, I think they’re the most south. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Mmm. Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: Yeah. And they actually never joined the Seven Kingdoms, which I really like too, because I was like, that’s right. Like, you don’t bow to no monarchy. Like we not even playing playing that game. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: There you go. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: So, so yeah. So that’s, that’s uh, that’s Rhaenyra. Um. Rhaenyra Targaryen. So, yeah, I think, I think she’s she’s just grieving, basically. Um. 

 

MegScoop Thomas: Okay. 

 

Dr. Imani Walker: But that being said, that’s it for pop culture diagnosis. You guys, of course, we’re going to have another fun character to analyze next week. If you guys have suggestions for fictional characters out there that you’d like for me to diagnose. Hit me up on Twitter @doctor_Imani hit Meg up on Instagram @Megscoop and email the show at Hello@Imanistateofmind.com. And again if you’re enjoying the show, don’t forget to rate and review the show on your favorite podcast apps. Thank you 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. This is a Crooked Media production. Our executive producer is Sandy Girard. Our producer is Leslie Martin. Music from Vasilis Fotopoulos, edited by Veronica Simonetti and special thanks to Brandon Williams, Gabi Leverette, Mellani Johnson and Matt DeGroot for promotional support.