How to Deal When the Shit Gets Real Podcast · Rietta Boksha

Kenzii Rose: Suicidal Ideation and Biopolar Type II

·37 min·2 clips

An antidepressant without mood stabilizers sent Kenzii into mania after an initial depression diagnosis.

1. How to Deal When the Shit Gets Real Podcast centers this episode on Kenzii Rose and her experience with suicidal ideation and bipolar type 2. 2. Rihanna hosts the conversation, and Kenzii Rose appears as a mental health advocate with AFSP who co-facilitates Solace and works with Healing Conversation. 3. The episode asks how Kenzii handles suicide loss, bipolar symptoms, and the work of supporting other people through similar crises. 4. Kenzii says she lost her older brother to suicide in 2020 and was referred by her therapist to Solace, which had been meeting in person before the pandemic. 5. She describes Solace as a free, drop-in group for people with different losses, including someone who lost a person in 1972 and people with more recent losses. 6. Kenzii says she attended Solace with her mom, which helped them talk about her brother's death when they were not already discussing it at home. 7. She says another friend died by suicide in September of that year, and the same group supported her through both losses. 8. Kenzii explains that she was later asked to facilitate Solace and now leads it every other month. 9. She says Solace is available worldwide on Zoom, with attendees joining from places like France and Canada. 10. When asked about warning signs, Kenzii describes her brother's messy room, his messy car, and his frustration with work and purpose. 11. She says she did not recognize those details as signs at the time because she was focused on her own mental health. 12. Kenzii says there is not one single event that causes suicide and instead describes a larger pattern that builds over time. 13. She applies the same lens to her friend Reek, whom she calls a filmmaker, comedian, USC graduate, and sketch-club founder. 14. Kenzii says Reek would fixate on one bad interaction or one sketch that went wrong instead of the larger set of accomplishments around him. 15. The conversation turns to bipolar type 2, and Kenzii says she was diagnosed at 19, which felt scary and made her angry. 16. She says a classmate who used bipolar as an excuse shaped her first impression of the condition, and she later learned more from books, Maria Bamford, and Lady Dynamite on Netflix. 17. Kenzii explains that medication, a care team, and communication helped her move away from isolating and icing people out during depressive moods. 18. She says bipolar type 2 includes hypomania, while her own episodes can last months and shift by season rather than cycling every two weeks. 19. The tone stays direct and personal, with Rihanna asking follow-up questions and Kenzii answering in a conversational, reflective way. 20. People dealing with bipolar, suicide loss, or mental health caregiving would get the most from this episode, while listeners wanting light entertainment would probably skip it.

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