About this episode

The episode explores the challenges faced by patients with serious mental illness and their self-directed recovery efforts.

"Something is preventing us from building a system that works for people with serious mental illness. In lieu of that, patients are often left to improvise recovery for themselves. They learn to live with their inner voices and build their own support structures. Can their stories give us insight into what a functioning system of psychiatric care might look like — and what might be getting in the way? You can find resources for people with mental illness and related stories from The Seattle Times and KUOW here: https://www.seattletimes.com/component/lost-patients-podcast/ https://www.kuow.org/podcasts/lost-patients See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Topics covered

• mental illness
• psychiatric care
• patient stories
• recovery
• support structures

Keywords

• mental illness
• psychiatric care
• recovery
• support structures
• patient stories

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Seattle Times, KUOW

More episodes of Focus: Adults in the Room

• Adults in the Room: Bad Apples · April 7, 2026 · 38 min
• Adults in the Room: The Boy in the Photograph · March 31, 2026 · 30 min
• Adults in the Room: The Bet · March 24, 2026 · 32 min
• Adults in the Room: Jonathan · March 17, 2026 · 40 min
• Adults in the Room: Blame the Messenger · March 10, 2026 · 36 min
• Adults in the Room: The Price of Belief · March 3, 2026 · 41 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Focus: Adults in the Room podcast page.