Coming Out

About this episode

This episode features Scott and Paul sharing their personal stories about living with Parkinson's and the challenges of coming out regarding their identities.

Many people living with Parkinson’s struggle to talk about their diagnosis. Fear, stigma, and uncertainty can keep people silent for years. Even Michael J. Fox kept his Parkinson’s diagnosis private for almost a decade. This week on 2 Parkies in a Pod, we meet Scott and Paul, who share powerful, deeply personal coming out stories — not just about Parkinson’s, but about identity, isolation, and finding the courage to be seen. Paul reflects on how closely his Parkinson’s journey mirrored his experience of coming out as gay: “I guess I dealt with Parkinson’s in the same way I dealt with realising I was gay… by not talking to anyone about it for many years" Scott speaks honestly about living with Parkinson’s while single, gay, and without family support: “Being single, gay, with no family support, I did feel very isolated — and there weren’t many people I could see in the community that I had anything in common with.” In one of the episode’s most raw moments, Scott also opens up about experiencing suicidal thoughts and explains how the helplessness he felt during tests for deep brain stimulation treatment resurfaced memories of past sexual abuse. His honesty shines a light on…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dave Clark, Kuhan

Guests: Scott, Paul

Topics covered

• Parkinson's diagnosis
• identity
• mental health
• coming out
• isolation
• community
• vulnerability

Keywords

• Parkinson's
• coming out
• mental health
• identity
• isolation
• community
• vulnerability
• Scott
• Paul

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Parkinson’s and The Invisible Man

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