Speaker 1: Welcome to Checking In with Michelle Williams, a production of
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and The Black Effect. Hello, Hello, Hello. Today is
Speaker 1: July eighteenth, and it's something about this time of year
Speaker 1: every year. This time five years ago today is when
Speaker 1: the world was made aware that I had checked into
Speaker 1: a treatment facility for depression. You know it's I look back,
Speaker 1: and I was perusing through pictures today to try I
Speaker 1: had to find the statement because a part of me,
Speaker 1: I just I don't like to google that part of
Speaker 1: life anymore. Yeah. July seventeenth, sources told TMZ that Williams
Speaker 1: is receiving treatment at a facility near Los Angeles, So
Speaker 1: let me see if I can find the statement. I
Speaker 1: decided to go ahead and look. Let's see. Here we
Speaker 1: go July seventeenth, So this was yesterday. This would have
Speaker 1: been yesterday, five years ago. For years, I have dedicated
Speaker 1: myself to increasing awareness of mental health and empowering people
Speaker 1: to recognize when it's time to seek help, supporting guidance
Speaker 1: from those that love and care for your well being.
Speaker 1: I recently listened to the same advice I have given
Speaker 1: to thousands around the world and sought help from a
Speaker 1: great team of healthcare professionals today, proudly, happily and healthily
Speaker 1: stand here as someone who will continue to always lead
Speaker 1: by example as I tirelessly advocate for the betterment of
Speaker 1: those in need. If you change your mind, you can
Speaker 1: change your life. So and I abide by those words today.
Speaker 1: If you change your mind, you can change your life.
Speaker 1: What is your mind? Well, we know the mind and
Speaker 1: brain to be two different things. I'm so glad that
Speaker 1: doctor Caroline Leaf is an amazing friend of mine and
Speaker 1: she helps us differ between the mind and the brain.
Speaker 1: So we know the mind the place where you think, feel,
Speaker 1: and choose. So when I say, if you change your mind,
Speaker 1: the place where you think, feel and choose. So, if
Speaker 1: you change how you think, you can change your life.
Speaker 1: If you change how you feel, you can change your life.
Speaker 1: If you think what you choose, you can change your life. Thinking,
Speaker 1: feeling and choosing. We think feeling, choose from the mind.
Speaker 1: And so when I look back, you know, man, I remember,
Speaker 1: I just remember days leading up to me deciding to
Speaker 1: check into a treatment facility. I was on the set
Speaker 1: of Raven's Home. I knew I wasn't feeling well physically.
Speaker 1: I was just physically kind of sick, and I look
Speaker 1: back at some of those photos from the time from
Speaker 1: that time, and I had lost weight. I already don't
Speaker 1: need to miss a meal as it is, because it
Speaker 1: shows immediately. And I remember that time just very very
Speaker 1: very low, very hopeless. I remember that time, but I
Speaker 1: did not want to mess up the opportunity of Raven's home,
Speaker 1: and so I went to work anyway, and maybe the
Speaker 1: second day of filming, because I remember I was scheduled
Speaker 1: to do a few souls and I remember on the
Speaker 1: second day of filming something I don't know, something like that.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I can't remember. I was just sitting
Speaker 1: in the in the makeup artist's chair, just kind of
Speaker 1: crying and sobbing, and she had told me her story
Speaker 1: of dealing with depression and anxiety, and you know, I
Speaker 1: just I was just to the point where I didn't
Speaker 1: I didn't think that I could make it to work
Speaker 1: the next day. That's I remember. That's how weak I was,
Speaker 1: and I just was not in a good place. I
Speaker 1: remember calling my therapist at the time, and I'm trying
Speaker 1: to discover, you know, where to go, what was where
Speaker 1: was going to be the best place that could take
Speaker 1: me immediately in the Los Angeles area, and so I
Speaker 1: found a place and you know, I thought, I'll say,
Speaker 1: you know, let's let's try it out. And I remember
Speaker 1: driving myself to the treatment facility and just I didn't
Speaker 1: take any clothes, no luggage, no baggage, because let me
Speaker 1: see what this is about. And I ended up staying.
Speaker 1: I can't remember how many days I stayed, but I
Speaker 1: remember afterward got out it had leaked to TMZ that
Speaker 1: I was indeed at a treatment facility. That's when we
Speaker 1: put the statement out because I didn't want TMZ to
Speaker 1: put out what they heard or what they thought they knew.
Speaker 1: So that's why I'm big on if you want to
Speaker 1: hear something from me, come to me. I will tell
Speaker 1: it with wisdom and discretion for sure. So I'm looking
Speaker 1: back at this Instagram post and at the time, how
Speaker 1: it has like fifty four thousand likes and four thousand comments,
Speaker 1: and it was comments from peers and people that I
Speaker 1: just I was like, wow, folks are really praying for
Speaker 1: me or just just you know, sometimes you don't know
Speaker 1: how much people care until you're going through something. And
Speaker 1: so the world let me know that I was seen.
Speaker 1: I didn't feel judged. I just am thankful, and I
Speaker 1: just want to encourage somebody out there who's probably feeling
Speaker 1: depressed or very anxious that it is okay to go
Speaker 1: get help now. You do not have to scream it
Speaker 1: from the mountaintops like I did. I did it because
Speaker 1: I just didn't want a narrative circulating around there that
Speaker 1: was false. I didn't want to tell it immediately. I
Speaker 1: was eventually going to talk about it. I didn't want
Speaker 1: to have to do it, you know, in that manner.
Speaker 1: But it's okay, God, it's good, and I'm here, through therapy, prayer,
Speaker 1: changing some things up in my life. You know, Like
Speaker 1: I said, how you think, feel and choose? Now? Do
Speaker 1: I feel regular emotions? Regular emotions you know, or your
Speaker 1: normal emotions I used to say, like sadness, happiness, disappointment, anger,
Speaker 1: I sure do. I sure do, But I work on
Speaker 1: how do I choose to respond to those moments? You know,
Speaker 1: I'm not perfect, you know. There are moments where I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: you should have prayed about that before you allowed feelings
Speaker 1: to overtake you, you know, And that's going to be
Speaker 1: that's an ongoing process. I'm so glad that it is
Speaker 1: few and far between, as the old folks say. So
Speaker 1: it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot
Speaker 1: of vulnerability and humility to get out of yourself. It
Speaker 1: takes a lot, and sometimes you just have to. I
Speaker 1: don't care who you are, what you got going on.
Speaker 1: If you're not resting and setting those boundaries and taking
Speaker 1: care of yourself, yeah, you will get overwhelmed. And I
Speaker 1: pray that, you know, I talk about safe people and
Speaker 1: safe spaces where people can go to get the help,
Speaker 1: and so what a blessing to be able to talk
Speaker 1: about this on season three of Checking In. It's amazing
Speaker 1: because I took the power back of those words checking
Speaker 1: In when the headlinest Michelle Williams has checked in to
Speaker 1: a treatment facility where she has sought treatment. You know.
Speaker 1: So it is a blessing to be here. It is
Speaker 1: a blessing to be alive. And I know that I
Speaker 1: would not be here if it was not for you guys,
Speaker 1: as love and your support and your prayers. I am
Speaker 1: going to just I'm looking up depression symptoms. I didn't
Speaker 1: know that irritability at the time, because I was very irritable.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that irritability could be a sign of depression,
Speaker 1: and it is it is a sign of depression. What
Speaker 1: are the four major signs of depression depression? Feelings of
Speaker 1: sadness People think that, oh, also about irritability. People think
Speaker 1: that it's only sadness that a person is depressed. But
Speaker 1: these are the four major signs of depression according to
Speaker 1: Male Clinic. Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness, angry outbursts,
Speaker 1: irritability or frustration even over small matters. Loss of interest
Speaker 1: or pleasure in most or all normal activities such as sex, hobbies,
Speaker 1: or sports. Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much.
Speaker 1: Yeah I had that. Does that sound familiar to y'all? So,
Speaker 1: depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling
Speaker 1: of sadness and loss of interest. This is, according to
Speaker 1: Male Clinic, also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression.
Speaker 1: It affects how you feel, think, and behave so it
Speaker 1: affects the mind, the place where you think, feel, and choose,
Speaker 1: and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems.
Speaker 1: You may have trouble doing normal day to day activities,
Speaker 1: and sometimes you may feel as if life isn't worth living.
Speaker 1: I feel that you have trouble doing normal day to
Speaker 1: day activities. You have trouble showering, just brushing your teeth,
Speaker 1: getting up to use the bathroom, or answering your phone,
Speaker 1: or getting up to go to work, and sometimes you
Speaker 1: may feel as if life isn't worth living. I believe
Speaker 1: that some people that die by suicide again, I believe
Speaker 1: that some let's put that in big letters somes so
Speaker 1: in me. I believe that some people who choose to
Speaker 1: die by suicide, I feel like, well for me, I
Speaker 1: don't feel like a person wants to die by suicide
Speaker 1: to just be gone forever. I think sometimes people just
Speaker 1: want and escape. They just want to be released from pain,
Speaker 1: They want to be released from the sadness from they
Speaker 1: want to be just released from the depression. And sometimes
Speaker 1: you just feel like, man, life isn't worth living. This
Speaker 1: is keeping me from living. Also, more than just about
Speaker 1: of the blues, depression isn't a weakness and you can't
Speaker 1: simply snap out of it. Depression may require long term treatment,
Speaker 1: but don't get discouraged. Most people with depression feel better
Speaker 1: with medication, psychotherapy or both. Yes, honey, I am a
Speaker 1: living witness to both. Although depression may occur only once
Speaker 1: during your life, people typically have multiple episodes. During these episodes,
Speaker 1: symptoms occur most of the day, nearly every day, and
Speaker 1: may include feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness, angry outbursts,
Speaker 1: irritability or frustration we've gone through that, oh, Tiredness, and
Speaker 1: lack of energy so even small tasks take extra effort.
Speaker 1: Reduced appetite, weight loss or increase cravings for food and
Speaker 1: weight gain, Anxiety, agitation or restlessness, slow thinking, speaking or
Speaker 1: body movements. Feeling of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past
Speaker 1: failures or self blame, thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things,
Speaker 1: Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts,
Speaker 1: or suicide. Unexplained physical problems such as back pain or headaches.
Speaker 1: For many people with depression, symptoms usually are severe enough
Speaker 1: to cause noticeable problems in day to day activities such
Speaker 1: as work, school, social activities, and relationships with others. Some
Speaker 1: people may feel generally miserable or unhappy without really knowing why.
Speaker 1: Now I'm want to go to Depression symptoms and children
Speaker 1: and teens again taken from the Male Clinic. Common signs
Speaker 1: and symptoms of depression and children and teenagers are similar
Speaker 1: to those of adults, but there can be some differences.
Speaker 1: In younger children, symptoms of depression may include sadness, irritability, clinginess, worry,
Speaker 1: aches and pains, refusing to go to school, or being
Speaker 1: underweight means symptoms may include sadness, irritability, feeling negative and worthless, anger,
Speaker 1: poor performance or poor attendance at school, feeling misunderstood and
Speaker 1: extremely sensitive, using recreational drugs or alcohol, eating or sleeping
Speaker 1: too much, self harm, loss of interest in normal activities,
Speaker 1: and avoidance of social interaction. Okay, yeah, I know all
Speaker 1: of this. You know. I found out my depression. We
Speaker 1: traced it all the way back to around the age
Speaker 1: when I was in the seventh grade. I'm assuming that's
Speaker 1: like twelve ish, and so yes, I remember poor performance,
Speaker 1: creates dropping, I remember loss of interest in normal activities.
Speaker 1: You just don't want to do stuff anymore, y'all. I
Speaker 1: get it. I get it, man, I get it. So
Speaker 1: I just want to take a minute to sit with
Speaker 1: you today to let you know that I get it.
Speaker 1: Please get into counseling. I heard someone say the other day,
Speaker 1: you know that they didn't want to sit and talk
Speaker 1: to somebody that they don't know. Well, I get it.
Speaker 1: I ran to a therapist. You know they are trained
Speaker 1: to do this. You know. I've had great therapists, maybe
Speaker 1: one that maybe they had their own way, but the
Speaker 1: very very very first therapist I ever had in Rockford, Illino,
Speaker 1: way amazing, and my current therapist today life changing, life changing.
Speaker 1: I don't know how else to say it. I really
Speaker 1: really really really want y'all to get into some counseling. Please,
Speaker 1: will you all right? And if you're already in therapy
Speaker 1: or counseling, let me know how it's going. And if
Speaker 1: you're feeling, you know, really low, if you're feeling like
Speaker 1: life isn't worth living, I encourage you to get in
Speaker 1: touch with the crisis hotline. There's the Lifeline. Chat services
Speaker 1: are free and confidential. I promise you, I promise you
Speaker 1: it's all going to be okay. Reach out to a
Speaker 1: close friend or loved one, somebody that you trust. Okay. Now,
Speaker 1: if you have a loved one who is in danger
Speaker 1: of suicide or has made a suicide, attempt to make
Speaker 1: sure that you stay with that person called nine one
Speaker 1: one or your local emergency number immediately, or if you
Speaker 1: think you can do so safely, take the person to
Speaker 1: the nearest hospital or emergency. Mom telling you when you
Speaker 1: can be with a friend or someone you love that's
Speaker 1: going through a mental health crisis without judgment. You just
Speaker 1: want them to be okay. You're gonna do whatever it
Speaker 1: is you need to do, even if you don't understand.
Speaker 1: Even if you don't understand, maybe there's someone listening right now.
Speaker 1: You're like, I don't think I've ever dealt with depression.
Speaker 1: I think life has been okay. I want you to
Speaker 1: know that I salute you and I'm excited for you,
Speaker 1: but thank you for listening anyway. And maybe there are
Speaker 1: some things that I've said that you can identify with
Speaker 1: and someone else or a loved one, you know, and
Speaker 1: just sit with them and let them know that you're
Speaker 1: there for them with no judgment. You know. I'm so thankful.
Speaker 1: I have friends and family that prayed that really really
Speaker 1: really really prayed for me, and just really really really thankful.
Speaker 1: I'm grateful five years ago this week, five years ago yesterday,
Speaker 1: Mark's checking into a treatment facility, and I'm thankful. I
Speaker 1: think I'm gonna I'm gonna repost it. I'm gonna repost it. Piggy,
Speaker 1: where are you? Where's my dog? Oh? He's so sweet?
Speaker 1: And now I would have never thought five years later
Speaker 1: I have a dog. Dogs are amazing. Pets are amazing.
Speaker 1: Emotional support, even though Lord he does something every day
Speaker 1: that makes me reconsider but he ain't going nowhere. Oh mg,
Speaker 1: So so much going on this week. We've got the
Speaker 1: Carly russell An abduction and the mixed emotions regarding it.
Speaker 1: I know I was absolutely afraid, you know, but people
Speaker 1: have their own thoughts of what is going on. It
Speaker 1: is not up for me to judge or speculate. Her
Speaker 1: parents were on the Today Show today and interesting events,
Speaker 1: interesting events, this strike, the SAG after a strike. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm like man, am I affected by this SAG after strike?
Speaker 1: And yes I am part of SAG after what a blessing?
Speaker 1: So that is going on. I was told what we
Speaker 1: can work on, you know. It says many of our
Speaker 1: members can and should keep working under various other contracts.
Speaker 1: Here's a quick look at some of the contracts members
Speaker 1: can work under during the TV theatrical streaming strike. Let's
Speaker 1: see commercials television, radio, and digital media, includes the Influencer
Speaker 1: Agreement and the Cameo for Business Agreement television programs covered
Speaker 1: by the networks. Lord, it's a lot we can work on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so my podcast, I still can do my podcast. I'm excited.
Speaker 1: I still can do my podcast. Stuff you can't work
Speaker 1: on on camera work no acting, singing, dancing, stunts or puppeteering,
Speaker 1: no voice acting, narrating, singing, adr or looping. It also
Speaker 1: includes background acting, stand ins, auditions, including self tape rehearsals,
Speaker 1: publicity chow. It's off limits until we get a fair deal.
Speaker 1: I had to ask my management. I didn't want to
Speaker 1: get in trouble. You know of what is going on.
Speaker 1: So that's what's going on, y'all. It's a strike. It
Speaker 1: is a sag. After TV, theatrical streaming strike, it was
Speaker 1: just writers strike. And then the actors jumped on in
Speaker 1: as well in support of the strike. Folks got to
Speaker 1: get their coins, they got to get they It's got
Speaker 1: to be fair and it's got to be right. It's
Speaker 1: got to be right. So that's going on. And then
Speaker 1: I saw something disturbing today that a young influencer was
Speaker 1: murdered and the boyfriend has admitted to it. Nigerian influencer
Speaker 1: Augusta o'cidia, known online as Austa, passed away last week,
Speaker 1: and Lego's police have reportedly opened an investigation into her death.
Speaker 1: She was found dead after she allegedly had an argument
Speaker 1: with her boyfriend Benjamin Be affectionately known as kill a boy.
Speaker 1: Now why they put affectionately known? So he has made
Speaker 1: all of these posts about what happened, and I'm like, lord,
Speaker 1: what is going on today? What's going on? Is it
Speaker 1: something spiritual? Take overtaking the land? What? What's going on?
Speaker 1: What's going on? It's a real question. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: Allegedly she was mutilated and mm hmmm mm hmm, what's
Speaker 1: going on? It's too much, as the folks are saying,
Speaker 1: it's too much. All right, all right, all right, back
Speaker 1: to the matter at hand. If you are finding yourself
Speaker 1: really down, unmotivated, anxious, Anxiety is a tricky thing. You know,
Speaker 1: anxiety can be triggered and brought on. You can I
Speaker 1: be watching a television show.
Speaker 2: I know.
Speaker 1: It happened to me a while ago. I was watching
Speaker 1: something on television and it triggered anxiety. You gotta be
Speaker 1: careful what goes in your eyegates and what goes into
Speaker 1: your ear. The music. You know, there's certain music. Yes,
Speaker 1: I still listen to R and B, pop, hip hop, gospel.
Speaker 1: I listen to every genre of music, but there are
Speaker 1: certain certain things that I'm like, Yeah, I can't listen
Speaker 1: to that. As those folks say, it makes me nervous.
Speaker 1: It makes me nervous. So I am really big, big,
Speaker 1: big on that. What we put in our bodies health
Speaker 1: wise is also important. I have to have my one
Speaker 1: cup of coffee every day, but y'all, it turns me up.
Speaker 1: It turned me up sometimes I could feel I could
Speaker 1: feel it. I could feel it. So it's turns me up.
Speaker 1: And coffee triggers anxiety. Did y'all know that caffeine can
Speaker 1: trigger anxiety. So that's why I try to limit it
Speaker 1: and keep it to one cup, one cup. I try
Speaker 1: to just do one cup. But yes, that thing can
Speaker 1: trigger anxiety. So I will speak briefly on anxiety at teach.
Speaker 1: Feeling nervous, restless, or tense, having a sense of impending danger,
Speaker 1: panic or doom, having an increased heart rate, breathing rapidly,
Speaker 1: also known as hyperventilation, sweating, trembling, feeling weak or tired,
Speaker 1: trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present,
Speaker 1: worry again. According to Male Clinic, my therapist says that
Speaker 1: anxiety will always be a part of our lives, and
Speaker 1: as I'm reading this, experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal
Speaker 1: part of life. However, people with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive,
Speaker 1: and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Often, anxiety
Speaker 1: disorders involved repeated episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety
Speaker 1: and fear or terror that reach a peak within minutes,
Speaker 1: also known as panic attacks.
Speaker 2: Okay, if you having trouble sleeping. Also you can anxiety
Speaker 2: experiencing gastro intestional problems. I remember when I would be
Speaker 2: bullied in school. You know, my mom just thought I
Speaker 2: was sick. Did I have the flu? No, it was anxiety.
Speaker 2: It was anxiety. So most of the time, if I'm
Speaker 2: really anxious, I can feel it, you know, in my tummy.
Speaker 2: Also having difficult controlling worry and having the urge to
Speaker 2: avoid things that trigger anxiety. There are all types of
Speaker 2: anxiety of disorders. Agoraphobia, it's a type of anxiety disorder,
Speaker 2: which you fear and often avoid places or situations that
Speaker 2: might cause you to panic and make you feel trapped, helpless,
Speaker 2: or embarrassed. You can have an anxiety order due to
Speaker 2: a medical condition. You can have generalized anxiety disorder GADS.
Speaker 2: The worry is out of proportion to the actual circumstance
Speaker 2: and it's difficult to control and affects how you feel physically.
Speaker 2: It often occurs along with other anxiety disorders or depression.
Speaker 1: All right, so it's a bunch. You can have specific phobias. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So that's what this episode is about. You checking in
Speaker 1: with how you've been doing, and me just giving glory
Speaker 1: and thanks to God and to you guys that five
Speaker 1: years ago, if the headline could have been another headline,
Speaker 1: but I'm so thankful that I said the three words.
Speaker 1: I need help. And if you don't have my book
Speaker 1: and want to know more, please go to Amazon, Barnes
Speaker 1: and Nobles, Target, Walmart Online, go to checking in book
Speaker 1: dot com and get my book checking In. Thank you
Speaker 1: for continuing to listening to my podcast checking In as well.
Speaker 1: This message will not stop, This movement of mind will
Speaker 1: not stop. For everybody to be well whole, happy, loving,
Speaker 1: full of joy and gratitude as many of days as possible. Okay,
Speaker 1: I love you, and again I'm thankful for y'all's love,
Speaker 1: y'all's prayers and support. All Right, it's okay to check in. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I really prayed that you leaned into this episode and
Speaker 1: that it gave you some awareness, some maybe ability to
Speaker 1: reflect and just know that I love you and again
Speaker 1: I'm thankful. And again, please love on yourself, take care
Speaker 1: of yourself, and if that means having to go get therapy,
Speaker 1: that means, you know, treating yourself medically as it relates
Speaker 1: to depression or anxiety, I'd say go for it. No
Speaker 1: judgment from me. This is a safe space. Love you, Mike.
Speaker 1: Checking In with Michelle Williams is a production of iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: and The Black Effect. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows at