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Speaker 1: Look at Our Radio is a radiophonic novela.

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Speaker 2: Which is just a very extra way of saying a podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm fiosa fem and.

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Speaker 2: I am Ma la Munos. We're podcasting through another Trump

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Speaker 2: election year. We've been podcasting through election years, a global pandemic,

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Speaker 2: civic unrest, political controversies, the Me Too movement, the rise

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Speaker 2: of TikTok, and we are still here. We're not done

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Speaker 2: telling stories.

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Speaker 1: We're still making podcasts. We're older, we're wiser, We're even

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Speaker 1: podcasting through a new decade of our lives.

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Speaker 2: Since twenty sixteen, we've been making Loca to Our Radio

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Speaker 2: independently until we joined iHeartMedia's Michael Dura Network in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty two.

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Speaker 1: From Our Lips to Your Ears, Fall in Love with

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Speaker 1: Loka to a Radio like you never have before.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to Season nine. Love that First Listen.

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Speaker 1: Ola, Ola, Loka, Mories. Welcome to season nine of lok

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Speaker 1: at our Radio. I'm Theosa and I'm Mala. Loka to

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Speaker 1: Our Radio is a podcast dedicated to archiving our present

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Speaker 1: and shifting the culture forward. You're tuning into gabtro one

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Speaker 1: ninety eight.

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Speaker 2: Last time on Locata Radio, we interviewed Anna event Martinez,

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Speaker 2: founder of the Radical Monarchs, about radical motherhood.

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Speaker 3: And so it definitely has opened up a space of

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Speaker 3: empathy right for my own mother as well, and I

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Speaker 3: think it has also caused her to have more empathy

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Speaker 3: for her own mother. Right. So there's that saying right

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Speaker 3: that when you feel ourselves, we heal seven generations.

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Speaker 2: We're out like tune in, leave us a review and

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Speaker 2: share with a friend.

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Speaker 1: Before we get into today's episode, we want to remind

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Speaker 1: y'all that we are hosting a two hundredth episode pop

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Speaker 1: up and activation at Boulevard Market on June eighth. It's

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Speaker 1: a free event from six pm to eleven pm with

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Speaker 1: music by DJ Sizzle, and we're going to be inviting

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Speaker 1: y'all to record memory with us.

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Speaker 2: We'll be collecting your favorite memories of Loka Tora over

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Speaker 2: the past nine seasons and the past two hundred episodes

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Speaker 2: for our Loka Tora Memory Bank. So come equipped with

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Speaker 2: your favorite Loka Tora memory and you just might hear

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Speaker 2: your memory shared on our two hundredth episode of Lokata Radio.

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Speaker 2: So Loka Morees. We've had some incredible guests this past month.

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Speaker 2: We've covered a wide range of topics, and before May

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Speaker 2: comes to an end, we want to take a moment

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Speaker 2: to recognize that May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and

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Speaker 2: in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we present this

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Speaker 2: very special capitulo that addresses mental illness in the LATINX

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Speaker 2: community in a very real, very raw way that may

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Speaker 2: be painful for some listeners. So before we get started,

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Speaker 2: we're giving you our listeners a trigger warning. This episode

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Speaker 2: contains in depth discussions of severe mental illness, substance abuse,

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Speaker 2: and suicide. Please take care of yourself and press pause

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Speaker 2: if needed. You'll be hearing from our guest Norma, who

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Speaker 2: will discuss prescription medications, and this is not intended to

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Speaker 2: be medical advice or guidance, so please discuss any medical

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Speaker 2: related questions with your medical care team.

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Speaker 1: We're joined by Norma Malgosa Barredis, who's on a journey

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Speaker 1: to share the art and stories of her late daughters,

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Speaker 1: Candace and Marilyn.

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Speaker 4: I'm Norma Malcospredis, a president and founder and grieving mother

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Speaker 4: of the Hissing Cats Corporation, and our organization was founded

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Speaker 4: to bring awareness to mental illness and try to break

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Speaker 4: the stigma that holds people back from getting the right

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Speaker 4: help they need.

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Speaker 2: I was first introduced to Norma through my mother, who

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Speaker 2: was longtime college friends with Norma's sister. When my mother

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Speaker 2: told me about Norma and the tragic passing of her

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Speaker 2: two daughters, Candace and Marylyn, I knew we needed to

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Speaker 2: talk to Norma and bring their stories to look at

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Speaker 2: Torah and to all of our listeners.

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Speaker 4: Well, my daughters both were artists since there were little girls.

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Speaker 4: My oldest daughter, Candace, always had a story to her drawings,

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Speaker 4: a very interesting story. My youngest daughter, Marilyn, seemed to

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Speaker 4: either learn from her older sister or she herself had

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Speaker 4: her own style. They both loved art. They both went

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Speaker 4: to Catholic school, so sometimes their artistic expressions didn't work

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Speaker 4: very well. Sometimes their drawings of let's say, the cosmos

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Speaker 4: had faces on planets and hugging stars rather than what

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Speaker 4: it was supposed to be. Yes, they were always artists

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Speaker 4: ever since they were little.

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Speaker 2: Both of Norma's daughters, Candace and Marylyn, were diagnosed with

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Speaker 2: and struggled with bipolar disorder, which emerged when they were teenagers.

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Speaker 4: My oldest daughter was the one who struggled quite a

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Speaker 4: bit with her bipolar disorder. She struggled, but she tried

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Speaker 4: as hard as she could to focus. She graduated from

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Speaker 4: Fitum fashion Design, which was very difficult for her. She

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Speaker 4: as anxiety rose, so did her medications, and they were

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Speaker 4: never really a good fit. They were always too much.

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Speaker 2: Norma's eldest daughter, Candace, was prescribed antipsychotic medication. She experienced

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Speaker 2: side effects like drowsiness and weight gain. Candace worked with

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Speaker 2: her doctors but struggled with finding the right dosage to

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Speaker 2: treat her mental illness.

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Speaker 4: And unfortunately, in our family and in our little society,

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Speaker 4: you know, looks and weight were always a critical point

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Speaker 4: where the girls were made to feel not as beautiful

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Speaker 4: if they had weight gain. Unfortunately, and so medication for

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Speaker 4: my daughter it was very tough for her. She would

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Speaker 4: go into mania's and then her medication would just help

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Speaker 4: her sleep and sleep and sleep, and then sometimes she

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Speaker 4: would get so tired of being lethargic and not being

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Speaker 4: productive that she would get off her medications, and that's

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Speaker 4: pretty much when she would derail, and then she would

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Speaker 4: find something that was not healthy for her to fill

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Speaker 4: a life. That's when problems came in about street drugs,

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Speaker 4: but in her mind and in her world, it made

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Speaker 4: her wake up and it made her feel better.

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Speaker 1: Norma's youngest daughter, Marilyn, had a different experience managing her

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Speaker 1: bipolar disorder.

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Speaker 4: But she was more silent. She never talked about it.

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Speaker 4: She really was affected by the stigma of mental illness

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Speaker 4: being frowned on or not being accepted, so she never

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Speaker 4: really talked about her mental illness and she just tried

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Speaker 4: to handle it on her own.

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Speaker 2: While trying to manage her by polar disorder, Candace experienced

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Speaker 2: weight gain, which was difficult for Candace to cope with

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Speaker 2: in a world that prioritizes thinness.

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Speaker 4: My beloved father, may he rest in peace, would make

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Speaker 4: a comment to Candace, oh, you're starting to gain weight.

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Speaker 4: You're starting to get like your theas, and just that

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Speaker 4: little kidding around was enough to hurt. And then her father,

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Speaker 4: their father was one that talked down about people who

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Speaker 4: gained weight. He was a very slender man, and he

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Speaker 4: talked about everything was looks to him. And so that

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Speaker 4: was important in my daughter's eyes that they received validate you,

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Speaker 4: validation from their father by their looks. And unfortunately, and

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Speaker 4: it still goes on. It's still in my family, and

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Speaker 4: it's not just the men it's a woman also who

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Speaker 4: make comments about people who gain weight. It just is

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Speaker 4: and unfortunately my daughters did not do well with that.

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Speaker 2: Both of Norma's daughters, Candace and Maryland, did what they

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Speaker 2: could to feel better, which sometimes meant self medicating. They

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Speaker 2: wanted to create, art, perform, go to school, and like

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Speaker 2: Norma mentioned, live productive, full lives. Things took a turn

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Speaker 2: during the pandemic and I just was living in downtown

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Speaker 2: Los Angeles.

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Speaker 4: Our society still does not accept those who have ment

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Speaker 4: to own this. They're afraid. When my daughter lived in

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Speaker 4: downtown Los Angeles, she lived in the Alexandria Hotel, and

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Speaker 4: during the pandemic, it was really hard for her, especially

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Speaker 4: to isolate because she had bipolar disorder, so sometimes the

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Speaker 4: depression the downside would go really down. So there was

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Speaker 4: one time that I picked her up for around two

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Speaker 4: weeks just to stay at my house, and when we

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Speaker 4: got back, her apartment was empty. Everything was taken, and

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Speaker 4: we immediately contacted the custodian there and said, what is

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Speaker 4: going on? Her key couldn't open up the apartment, her

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Speaker 4: things were all gone, and the gentleman there said, oh no,

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Speaker 4: that apartment's already been rented out to someone else, and

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Speaker 4: I was with her, so I was trying to get

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Speaker 4: to the bottom of what had happened. And when I

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Speaker 4: finally spoke to the management there, they said, was vandalized.

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Speaker 4: It was burglarized, and they stole your daughter's things. And

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Speaker 4: I said, really burglary where they would take even her

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Speaker 4: last toothbrush and her sock and the rent had been paid,

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Speaker 4: and that was that was their story, that it was burglarized.

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Speaker 4: So that was really, really, uh, one of probably one

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Speaker 4: of the worst times that I can think of that

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Speaker 4: my daughter experienced. She had all her things taken, her

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Speaker 4: art supplies, her paintings, her clothing, and she, like I said,

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Speaker 4: went to fit them. So she had beautiful outfits that

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Speaker 4: she had designed and they were all taken. And the

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Speaker 4: story was that the apartment was burglarized. They claimed that

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Speaker 4: somebody had broken in, and then when I questioned why

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Speaker 4: the key had been changed, then they kind of you know,

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Speaker 4: backpedaled and said, oh, no, no, no, that was a mistake. No,

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Speaker 4: it was just a burglary.

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Speaker 1: Norma did file a police report. She never received a

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Speaker 1: clear answer, but she gathered that Candace was thrown out

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Speaker 1: of her apartment because of her daughter's mental illness. Fortunately,

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Speaker 1: Norma was able to find housing for her daughter. We'll

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Speaker 1: be right back.

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Speaker 2: Always close with her daughters, Norma began to worry about

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Speaker 2: Candace's well being after not hearing from her for a

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Speaker 2: full day. On September twenty ninth, two thousand and two,

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Speaker 2: Norma decided to go to Candace's apartment to check on her,

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Speaker 2: and with the help of the landlord, Norma entered her

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Speaker 2: daughter's apartment and found what no mother should have to

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Speaker 2: find that her eldest daughter, Candace, had passed unexpectedly. It

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Speaker 2: seemed as though she had passed away in her sleep

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Speaker 2: a week.

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Speaker 4: And a half before my daughter passed away. I remember

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Speaker 4: her telling me, Mom, I've decided I'm going to stay

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Speaker 4: on my medications and I'm going to become a famous artist.

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Speaker 4: A Candace had passed away, and I found Candace. I

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Speaker 4: hadn't heard from her for one day. To me, that

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Speaker 4: was odd, So I kept trying to call her and

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Speaker 4: didn't find her, and so I just took off got

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Speaker 4: to her apartment. The lamb lady was very nice helped

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Speaker 4: me open the door.

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Speaker 1: Three months after Candace's tragic and untimely passing, Notama noticed

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Speaker 1: something was off with her younger daughter, Marilyn.

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Speaker 4: Three months afterwards, right after Christmas, my youngest daughter. The

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Speaker 4: only thing that I remembered was that she said she

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Speaker 4: walked a little sort of a little off, and I

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Speaker 4: knew my daughter's I said, well, why are you out

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Speaker 4: walking just a little kind of as if you're slowing

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Speaker 4: down and looks different. She said, oh, Mom, it's a

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Speaker 4: new medication. I'm on, I'm just getting used to it.

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Speaker 4: But see, that was Christmas, and it was the first

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Speaker 4: Christmas without my daughter. And if I can go back

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Speaker 4: in time, I would have asked her what medication are

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Speaker 4: you taking? And I would have looked up the side

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Speaker 4: effects and I would have known. But I didn't. I

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Speaker 4: didn't know until I found her. It was too late.

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Speaker 2: Still morning the unexpected death of her eldest daughter, Norma

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Speaker 2: suffered a second unimaginable tragedy. Concerned with the welfare of

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Speaker 2: her daughter, Marilyn, Norma went to Marilyn's apartment to conduct

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Speaker 2: a wellness check. With the help of Marilyn's friend, they

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Speaker 2: broke into Marilyn's apartment and searched for her. Norma found

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Speaker 2: that Marilyn had taken her own life.

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Speaker 4: She went to her psychiatrist and said that she was

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Speaker 4: suffering quite a bit with anxiety. She was already diagnosed

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Speaker 4: as bipolar. Her psychiatrist prescribed gabab penton, and gabab penton

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Speaker 4: is an anti epileptic seizure medication. At the time, I

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Speaker 4: didn't know my oldest daughter had passed away September twenty ninth,

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Speaker 4: and my daughter started to get this new medication of

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Speaker 4: just a little after in October. So when my daughter,

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Speaker 4: when I found my beautiful daughter, waited for the coroner's report.

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Speaker 4: The coroner said that what was found in her system

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Speaker 4: was gabapentin and that was all that was found in

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Speaker 4: her system. So I immediately asked, would that have given

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Speaker 4: her suicidal ideation? And he said no, it's an anti

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Speaker 4: epileptic medication. And when I spoke to her psychiatrist, she said, oh, no,

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Speaker 4: those that any medication I gave her was antipsychotic. But

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Speaker 4: that wasn't true. I started to do my own research,

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Speaker 4: and large research hospitals like the Mayo Clinic had articles

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Speaker 4: about people who took gabapentin and either ended their life

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Speaker 4: or had suicidal ideation. So I, uh, I know that

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Speaker 4: that's what gave her the suicidal action and the thoughts.

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Speaker 4: She had so many dreams and so many plans, and yes,

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Speaker 4: although she was devastated by the passing of her sister,

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Speaker 4: she had just finished a short film. She already had

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Speaker 4: plans of ann next. She had just adopted a kitten

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Speaker 4: and had another kitten that she had all the reasons

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Speaker 4: in the world to live.

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Speaker 1: Still, A twice grieving mother. In search of answers for

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Speaker 1: what might have driven her youngest daughter to commit suicide,

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Speaker 1: Norma followed up on the only lead she had, a

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Speaker 1: toxicology report, which found the only substance in her system

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Speaker 1: was gabbat Pentin.

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Speaker 4: I contacted at least eight different attorneys and they all

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Speaker 4: turned me down. They wouldn't take a case against gabbet

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Speaker 4: Pentin because it's owned by Pfizer and that's a very

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Speaker 4: large pharmaceutical and they just said it it. They've already

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Speaker 4: been sued. They've been sued for over nine hundred million

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Speaker 4: dollars and it's a drop in the bucket, So you

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Speaker 4: would not want to go against them. You're not going

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Speaker 4: to win. So what I did was I thought, well, then,

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Speaker 4: of course I wasn't and they asked me, what are

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Speaker 4: you trying to get? Are you trying to get justice?

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Speaker 4: What is justice to you? And I said, well, I

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Speaker 4: can't get justice. I can't get my daughter back. That's

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Speaker 4: the only justice there would be. But I want there

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Speaker 4: to be a black box duty to warn, which GABA

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Speaker 4: Penton does not have about suicidal ideation. So I put

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Speaker 4: a report into the FDA. I haven't heard from them.

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Speaker 4: Then I decided to put a complaint against her psychiatrist

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Speaker 4: through the California Medical Board. Marilyn had a good friend

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Speaker 4: who's a scientist in New York, and he told me,

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Speaker 4: nor don't get your hopes of pie. Those are doctors

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Speaker 4: that are on the panel there. Just don't get your

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Speaker 4: hopes of pie. Sure enough, just the other day I

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Speaker 4: received the letter that said they did not find enough

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Speaker 4: evidence that showed intentional negligence, so they closed the case.

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Speaker 4: So I'm now at the point of all I can

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Speaker 4: do is just by word of mouth, tell people Gabbapentin

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Speaker 4: is an anti epiletic seizure medication. That's what it's made for,

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Speaker 4: and it's being prescribed for everything under the sun.

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Speaker 2: There is limited but growing research about the possible links

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Speaker 2: between anti seizure, medications and suicide. Since the early two thousands,

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Speaker 2: there have been grave concerns in the medical community about

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Speaker 2: the potential linkages between gabapentin and suicidal ideation in patients

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Speaker 2: with underlying mental illness. In fact, in two thousand and four,

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Speaker 2: gabapentin manufacturer Pfizer pled guilty to multiple criminal and civil

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Speaker 2: charges for illegally promoting off label use of gabapentin. According

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Speaker 2: to a two thousand and four article in the National

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Speaker 2: Library of Medicine titled Pfiser pleads guilty, but drug sales

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Speaker 2: continued to soar, written by Gene Lenzer, Pfiser, the world's

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Speaker 2: largest drug maker, pled guilty on May thirteenth to numerous

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Speaker 2: civil and criminal charges for illegally promoting the off label

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Speaker 2: use of gabapentin, also known as neurontin. It has agreed

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Speaker 2: to pay a two hundred and forty million criminal fine

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Speaker 2: and one hundred and fifty two million dollars to state

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Speaker 2: and federal health care programs. The fine is the second

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Speaker 2: largest given in the industry, according to the same publication.

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Speaker 2: David Franklin forty two, a microbiologist and former Harvard research

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Speaker 2: fellow who worked as a medical liaison expert for Warner

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Speaker 2: Lambert before it was bought by Pfizer in two thousand two,

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Speaker 2: filed a whistle blower suit under the False Claims Act

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Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety six, charging the company with using fraudulent

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Speaker 2: scientific evidence to promote off label uses of gabapentin. The

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Speaker 2: company's promotional efforts, doctor Franklin said were profoundly effective. He

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Speaker 2: added a huge majority of people taking gabapentin now are

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Speaker 2: taking it for the wrong reasons. Still seeking justice. To

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Speaker 2: spread awareness about the potentially lethal nature of mental illness

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Speaker 2: and inappropriately prescribed medications, Norma has channeled her grief into

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Speaker 2: activism and advocacy. She has committed to keeping the memories

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Speaker 2: of her daughters alive, and with the support of her family, friends,

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Speaker 2: and therapist, she created a nonprofit called The Hissing Cats

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Speaker 2: Corporation to support her mission.

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Speaker 4: I have been relying on the love and support of

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Speaker 4: my family and their friends who have become my family,

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Speaker 4: and a wonderful therapist through EMDOs are highly recommended, has

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Speaker 4: helped me get through this, and I'm here because I

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Speaker 4: have faith. I have this. The Hissing Cats trying to

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Speaker 4: put a purpose to my pain and I have family

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Speaker 4: that loves me, and I need to keep going.

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Speaker 2: I recently attended a gallery opening that Normal organized with

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Speaker 2: her organization, The Hissing Cats, in Pomona, where Norma showcased

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Speaker 2: original artwork by her daughters, Marilyn and Candace. Norma tells

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Speaker 2: us more about the mission of the Hissing Cats Corporation.

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Speaker 4: Well, the Hissing Cats. First of all, the name the

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Speaker 4: name is because both my daughters had emotional support cats

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Speaker 4: and they loved cats. This is one way that I

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Speaker 4: can keep their legacy alive to show their art and

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Speaker 4: to bring awareness to mental health through their art exhibits

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Speaker 4: and in their art exhibits. I also found that I

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Speaker 4: want to reach out to the community of new artists,

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Speaker 4: young artists who cannot on their own, maybe have not

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Speaker 4: had the opportunity to exhibit their work, and they can

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Speaker 4: exhibit their work at our exhibits and feel great about themselves.

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Speaker 4: And when people walk in to our art exhibits, not

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Speaker 4: only do they see work from very talented people, but

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Speaker 4: they also have an open, safe space to talk about

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Speaker 4: mental illness.

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Speaker 2: Normal also curates guest artists who can also display their

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Speaker 2: art work alongside original works by Maryland and Candace my.

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Speaker 4: Guest artists was a nonprofit organization run by these wonderful couple,

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Speaker 4: and it's the name is Saint Remy Arts and Culture.

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Speaker 4: And their students who struggle with mental illness or some

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Speaker 4: are homeless, come in and work on art and they

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Speaker 4: teach art to them. So many of their students had

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Speaker 4: their art up and I could just see they felt

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Speaker 4: so good about themselves being in an art exhibit, and

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Speaker 4: it was just a beautiful collaboration. There were people there

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Speaker 4: from all walks of life, and many people who are

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Speaker 4: mental health advocates were there, and that's mainly our focus

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Speaker 4: is to bring awareness to mental health through art.

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Speaker 1: Norma is on a mission to share not only her

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Speaker 1: family story, but also both Candice and Marilynd's art. She

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Speaker 1: wants the LATINX community to take mental health and mental

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Speaker 1: illness seriously and to be empowered to be informed patients

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Speaker 1: and consumers of prescription medications.

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Speaker 4: First of all, I want the Latino community to know

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Speaker 4: that mental illness, it does not distinguish between colored race,

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Speaker 4: ethnic background. Mental illness is an illness just like cancer.

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Speaker 4: And instead of being that the Latinos that sometimes we

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Speaker 4: are where image is so important and everything's hush hush.

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Speaker 4: You know, maybe it's talked about, but in a whisper

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Speaker 4: about someone else's family instead. My advice to them would

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Speaker 4: be go beyond that. Love your your family member, find

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Speaker 4: out what it is that they are hurting, Why are

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Speaker 4: they hurting, Get them help. We want to say thank

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Speaker 4: you to Norma for joining us on look At Radio,

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Speaker 4: for her vulnerability and for sharing this very, very difficult

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Speaker 4: and painful story. You can support the Hissing Cats Corporation

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Speaker 4: by visiting the Hissingcats dot Org. With a donation, you too.

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Speaker 4: You can have a print of one of Marilyn and

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Speaker 4: Kandas's original artworks, and your donation will go towards supporting

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Speaker 4: the mission of the Hissing Cats.

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Speaker 1: If you're looking for a therapist, head to one of

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Speaker 1: the many directories like LATINX Therapy, Therapy for Black Girls

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Speaker 1: and Open Path Collective. Look at a Radio is executive

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Speaker 1: produced by Viosa Fem and Mala Munios.

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Speaker 2: Stephanie Franco is our producer.

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Speaker 1: Story editing by Medosa.

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Speaker 2: Creative direction by me Mala.

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Speaker 1: Look At Radio is a part of iHeartRadio's Michael Dura

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Speaker 1: podcast network.

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Speaker 2: You can listen to Locata Radio on the iHeartRadio app

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Speaker 2: or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 1: Leave us a review and share with your prima or

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Speaker 1: share with your homegirl.

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Speaker 2: And thank you to our local morees, to our listeners

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Speaker 2: for tuning in each and every week.

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Speaker 1: Besitos Loka