Her Sister Was a Witch!

Hot Take: Many people who meet criteria for a mental health diagnosis aren’t “pathologically ill” — their bodies are responding appropriately to mis-attuned, oppressive, and unsafe systems.

In this episode, Roland and Hannah are joined by Dr. Monica Band for a deeply nuanced conversation about mental health, diagnosis, and what we often miss when we pathologize human responses to cultural harm. Together, they explore the idea that anxiety, depression, dissociation, and burnout may not always be signs of something “wrong” with a person — but adaptive responses to environments that demand too much, offer too little, or fail to keep people safe.

They unpack the role of diagnosis as both a tool and a limitation: how labels can bring clarity and access to care, while also reinforcing stigma, othering, and a false sense of defectiveness. The conversation challenges all-or-nothing thinking, social media over-diagnosing, and the pressure to be “normal,” while making space for resilience, post-traumatic growth, and community as medicine.

This episode invites listeners to move away from self-blame and toward curiosity — asking not just what’s wrong with me? but what might my nervous system be responding to?

Because sometimes healing isn’t about fixing yourself — it’s about changing the conditions around you.

FIND DR. MONICA BAND HERE:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/monica-p-band-washington-dc/350458

https://www.mindfulhealingcounseling.com/dr-monica-p-band