The Symptom Media Podcast
The Symptom Media podcast brings together mental health experts and individuals with lived experience to foster empathy, understanding, and positive change for healthcare providers and patients. Each episode blends expert knowledge with personal narratives to offer a holistic perspective on mental health.
Season 1 explores the mental health challenges of healthcare providers: burnout, substance use, suicide, grief, moral injury, and more through honest conversations as we seek real-world solutions.
Featured Episode
Episode 5: Nursing on the Edge:
Suicide, Stigma, and Systemic Failure
In this deeply human episode of The Symptom Media Podcast: Bridging the Divide in Mental Health, host Dr. Lindi van Niekerk is joined by Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Christopher Wojnar and Nurse Scientist Dr. Judy E. Davidson to confront the devastating crisis of suicide among nurses.
Drawing from personal loss, lived experience, and groundbreaking research, Chris and Judy explore how perfectionism, stigma, workplace discipline, and systemic neglect compound nurses’ vulnerability, and why silence can no longer be an option. Together, they advocate for cultural change, trauma-informed leadership, and the power of honest conversation. This episode is a powerful call to action for institutions and individuals alike: we must care for our caregivers.
Nursing on the Edge: Suicide, Stigma, and Systemic Failure
Nurses face rising suicide, stigma & systemic neglect. In Episode 5, experts Chris Wojnar & Dr. Judy Davidson demand cultural change and open conversation.
Episode 4: The Human Cost of Caring: Navigating Moral Injury
Explore moral injury in healthcare with Dr. Lindi van Niekerk, Dr. Sophie Redlin & Andrea Mackay, on compassion, ethics & healing in Episode 4.
Empathy and Experience: The Importance of Physician Mental Health
Hear how Dr. Christine Yu Moutier & Dr. Sidney Zisook expose the stigma, stress & mental health challenges physicians face, and the paths toward healing.
Episode 2, Part 2: Substance Use Among Nurses: The Journey Back to Nursing
Nurses share their recovery journeys from substance use, challenges regaining a license, and the power of peer support & education in returning to nursing.
Episode 2, Part 1: From Addiction to Advocacy: Nurses’ Journey
Listen to a podcast where nurses share their journey from addiction to advocacy, highlighting the power of recovery and the fight against professional stigma.
Recovery and Support Systems
This episode discusses the ways health professionals can find support when facing burnout, which can correct a misalignment between one’s core values and the stresses of work.
Overcoming Burnout
Tune into Symptom Media’s podcast on overcoming burnout. Gain practical tips, expert insights, and strategies to restore balance and improve mental well-being.
Systemic Causes of Burnout
This episode explores the emotional toll of Dr. Ami Doshi’s work, and how the overwhelming demand for services and lack of resources can contribute to burnout.
Recognizing Burnout in Healthcare Providers
A detailed reflection on the experiences and symptoms of burnout, which included a shift in energy levels, dread of work, and other signs.
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