“When I was 13, I went to the psych ward for the first time,” recalls Emi Nietfeld.
After a childhood spent in manipulative therapy, institutional facilities, foster care, and even times of homelessness, Emi got into Harvard, and then went on to get a great job at Google. This is the classic American rags-to-riches story, of someone overcoming misery to find success and happiness, right?
Not exactly. “Those perfect human interest stories are fictions,” she says. “We really do expect people to be perfect in a way that I knew I was not.” In this episode, the nuance of learning to accept one’s pain, and yet refusing to stand for it.
** Please be advised that this episode contains details that may be upsetting to some listeners including references to suicide, sexual assault, and disordered eating. **
Additional resources are available at:
National Sexual Violence Resource Center
National Alliance for Eating Disorders
Show Notes
Resources mentioned this episode:
Quote from James Baldwin “Notes of a Native Son”
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