Podcast seeks to lift stigma on mental health issues
“The Gaster Girls,” originally from Elizabeth, talk about their lives in an effort to help others.
“The Gaster Girls,” originally from Elizabeth, talk about their lives in an effort to help others.
Two Elizabeth natives are relying on their experiences with mental health to try to spread awareness in a unique way: through a podcast.
Christine Kanalis, now of Fredericktown, and her younger sister, Sarah Leibhart, now of Kennedy Township — aka “The Gaster Girls,” which is their maiden name — started the podcast “The Mental Funny Bone” last April.
While stressing that they aren’t mental health professionals, they provide mental health resources during their episodes every Thursday. The Gaster Girls are hoping to break the stigma over talking about mental health while trying to laugh along the way.
The podcast’s goal is to strive to create a safe and entertaining space where listeners can explore mental health topics, find solace and enjoy laughter. The podcast aims to destigmatize mental health discussions and empower individuals to approach their well-being with humor and openness.
Kanalis, an executive director in clinical data management for a CRO/global technology company, deals with ADHD. She and her sister have been thinking about doing a podcast for years until they got serious about putting something together last April.
“We had come up with a couple ideas and what we were finding was that being on a podcast and talking to each other and trying to make everyone laugh was good,” Kanalis said. “But we both felt like we could do something better and do something that not only made everyone laugh, but also contributed to a topic that was near and dear to both of our hearts.”
Leibhart, an ERP support analyst who deals with major depressive disorder, said their family uses laughter to deal with every emotion. Listening to “10% Happier” with Dan Harris struck a chord with her.
“That was kind of something that spoke to me, and from that episode, I called my sister and said hey I think we need to do something with mental health based on our backgrounds,” Leibhart said. “And she just happened to be thinking the same thing.”
In early 2020, Kanalis’ daughter tried to take her own life. A short time later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, leaving Kanalis, her husband and daughter shut in the house for the next few months. They connected their daughter to as many resources and as much care as they could.
“It was sort of an eye-opening experience and ultimately it ended up being the best thing that happened,” Kanalis said. “Her reaching out to us and letting us know she needed more help than what we were giving her was sending a big message. That kind of stuff sticks with you.
“She came home and said do not tell anybody. I think that was really hard and really challenging for her and it was definitely challenging for me because when somebody goes through that and you are close with them, it’s important to be able to talk about it openly and be able to get the support that you need.”
Leibhart recalls going through some rough patches in her teens, and said mental health issues weren’t talked about as much back then, but they were more than just sadness or thoughts in her head.
When Leibhart became a sophomore in college, while also dealing with insomnia, she had her first major panic attack — thinking it was a heart attack. She’s thankful her parents were with her, knew exactly what to do and has gone through “funks” ever since, with the last being seven years ago.
One moment in college, Leibhart said she remembers calling Kanalis, who was living in Arizona at the time, and Kanalis reminded her how important it is to keep going day to day.
“I remember just being in a really bad place and just thinking this hurts so bad and I just want it to be over,” Leibhart said. “I remember calling her and I believe I said, ‘If I could end it, I would. If I had a gun, I would end it because I just can’t do it anymore.’ And I think I hung up on her. I remember her telling me how important it was to go and talk to somebody, so that was the first time I went to counseling on a college campus.”
Now on medications, Leibhart said when she gets into a funk, it “physically hurts.” It can be like someone does not want to be a burden anymore and is sick of fighting off depression and anxiety.
“It’s like Whacka- mole. You get the one hit down and you think you are good, and the next one pops up, and at that point something that had cycled so many times I was just losing my will to continue to fight it, and how many times do I have to fight this?” she said. “My sister’s response is every time. Every single time you are going to fight it and you are going to do the same thing that you always do and you are going to call me and you are going to tell me about it and I am going to listen.”
Kanalis brought her sister a keychain that says “every time,” and now Leibhart said she has a constant reminder to keep going every day. She hasn’t had a major depressive episode since, viewing where she now is as recovery.
Stemming from their personal experiences, the sisters wanted to create an outlet not just for them, but also to have fun and to help other people.
Leibhart said it makes her heart happy, and both sisters consider it a way to normalize a topic that is very stigmatizing for some people because there are people who do not understand that they are not going to hurt the other person just by talking about their feelings.
“It’s easy to see when someone has a broken arm, right? Those are easy. It’s easy to see physical ailments,” Kanalis said. “It’s a bit easier to treat them. I think that a lot of the hang ups, at least in my experience, have been we just never talked about it growing up or people do not know what that’s like and I have trouble relating to what might make you sad or what things work for you. I like to think the best of people and I like to think that some of the stigma is because it’s hard to understand what having a mental illness really is about.
“The podcast is a way for me to share my story in a selfish way, and to also help others. Talking about it helps me, and I realized that in the past year it helps other people know that they are not alone. We can talk about it, and we can laugh, but we can also be serious, and there is always somewhere for them to go.”
The sisters welcome guests — including Mon Valley nonprofits such as March Fourth and Michael’s Ovation — to the podcast every month. They also discuss self-care books and are getting more mental health professionals in hopes of expanding on topics they haven’t discussed before.
The sisters take listener feedback and love to hear from those who listen to them to hopefully break down barriers around mental health discussions.
“We focus a lot on getting people to feel comfortable talking about it and we want people to know that they are not alone,” Leibhart said. “Another thing that has happened over the past year is that we’ve been able to reach people that don’t have a mental illness who don’t understand the mental illness, which includes my husband.
“It’s eye opening for them as well and I’m really hoping that’s something else that we can reach is the people who don’t understand it and I think that’s another thing that sets us apart. It’s a big deal to make people comfortable and just to open up the eyes of people who don’t understand it.”
“The Mental Funny Bone” can be found at https:// thementalfunnybone. buzzsprout.com/ or any site for podcasts, including Spotify, Youtube or Apple Podcasts.
“Talking about it helps me, and I realized that in the past year it helps other people know that they are not alone.”
SARAH LEIBHART