Jordan Neely’s story in Man in the Mirror by Anand Giridharadas shows how quickly mental illness and homelessness become a label that shuts the door on compassion. I don’t know what it is to live without a home. I do know mental illness: I’ve lived with severe bipolar for over thirty years, including debilitating psychosis in the early years of my diagnosis. I share why I understand some of the behavior we so often fear, and three small ways to practice compassion, even when we don’t understand.

I’m not here to discuss the trial or its outcome. Jordan Neely was fourteen when his mother was murdered. By 2023, he was living on the streets of New York, and when he died on a subway train after being held in a chokehold, the story most people heard was much shorter: a homeless man, mental health issues. When I was at my most unwell, I had doctors, treatment, and people who stayed with me. So many people living with mental illness on the streets have none of that.

I close with words that shook me to my core: “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” These words are often attributed to the philosopher J. Krishnamurti.

If you live with mental illness, love someone who does, or have ever looked away from someone struggling on the street, this conversation is for us. Share this with someone who cares about mental health and their city.

In this episode you will learn:

• Jordan Neely’s story: losing his mother at fourteen, and his life before that day on the subway
• The media shorthand “had mental health issues”, and how it ends our compassion and curiosity to understand more
• Mental illness and violent crime: why people with severe mental illness are around 11 times more likely to be victims of violent crime, according to a Northwestern University study
• Living with bipolar and psychosis: my early years of losing control, and the care that changed my story
• Why we look away from people experiencing homelessness
• Three small ways to practice compassion, even when we don’t understand

The book: Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City by Anand Giridharadas (Knopf, 2026)

Research referenced: Northwestern University study of violent crime against people with severe mental illness (Teplin et al., 2005)

Episode 98, Should You Try IV Ketamine? | My Experience, Bipolar & Neuroplasticity, is where I share the IV ketamine treatment I mention in this episode: [YouTube link]

Connect with Lulu:
Website: https://www.luluessey.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lulu.essey/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucille-marie-essey/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lulu.essey

This is an inside job. Please share this episode with people you love. And follow while you are here 💛

Should you try IV ketamine? I’ve lived with bipolar for over thirty years, and after 18 IV ketamine infusions, I share my personal experience of ketamine therapy for bipolar depression, how I support neuroplasticity in the two weeks after every infusion, and why ketamine and psychedelics are in the news, from the United Nations to the FDA.

I am not a clinician, and nothing in this episode is medical advice. Please make any decision about your treatment together with your psychiatrist or mental health professional.

This month, the use of ketamine for depression and psychedelics was discussed at a mental health leadership forum at the United Nations, and this week I shared my lived experience as the patient on a panel hosted by Ember Health. Eighteen infusions in, ketamine is a foundational part of my mental healthcare. People ask me one question more than any other: “Should I try IV ketamine?” My answer might not be what you expect.

If you live with bipolar depression or depression, love someone who does, or are curious about ketamine therapy, this conversation is for us. Share this with someone who is considering ketamine therapy.

In this episode you will learn:

• IV ketamine for bipolar depression: what 18 infusions have changed in my mental healthcare
• Ketamine and medication: how I went from four medications to one mood stabilizer, working with my psychiatrist
• My honest answer to “Should I try IV ketamine?”
• Ketamine and neuroplasticity: the daily practices I use in the two weeks after every infusion, when the brain is more able to form new connections
• Why I set an intention before each ketamine infusion
• How the ketamine and psychedelics conversation becomes more meaningful when it comes back to everyday life
• Why I submitted a public comment to the FDA about IV ketamine for depression and insurance coverage

Listen to my ketamine series on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts:
Part 1, Episode 69, 30 Years of Trying to Fix My Brain: https://youtu.be/cvlg94ZfSpg
Part 2, Episode 70, What Happened When I Said Yes: https://youtu.be/2OBG69hw9h4

Part 3, Episode 71, What’s On The Other Side of IV Ketamine: https://youtu.be/arpbHu18YXQ]

I am a patient at Ember Health, with no affiliation and no payment of any kind.
Ember Health: https://emberhealth.co/

Connect with Lulu:
Website: https://www.luluessey.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lulu.essey/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucille-marie-essey/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lulu.essey

This is an inside job. Please share this episode with people you love. And follow while you are here 💛

What makes you human in the age of AI? As AI-generated music, images and AI slop fill our feeds, this episode is about AI anxiety, everyday creativity for our mental health, and the part of us that is irreplaceable. So much of what we scroll past is now made by machines, and many of us are actively looking for things made by real people.

In August, Australia's music charts banned songs made wholly by AI, after an AI cover of Madonna's Like a Prayer climbed the dance charts. The Australian Recording Industry Association said it wanted to promote the human nature of artistry. The flood of content like this is why Merriam-Webster chose slop as its 2025 word of the year. Slop is their word for low-quality digital content produced in large amounts by AI.

This moment brings The Inside Job, Out in the World to a close. Each week, I have taken one moment from out in the world and paired it with a past episode that speaks directly to what is underneath it. Because the work we do on this podcast, building Mental Fitness, self-worth and Self-Love from the inside out, is not done in isolation. It shows up in the world, in our culture, in our news.

After the introduction you will hear Episode 48, which I recorded a year ago. It is pure joy. I talk about AI directly and why I choose to treat it as a partnership and a collaboration. AI is task-orientated. We are not. AI needs us to exist. We do not need AI in order to exist. I share how everyday creativity rewires our brain and helps calm anxiety, with insight from Martha Beck, why most creative blocks are perfectionism in disguise, and why adults need play too. I'd like to be clear: the worries about AI and jobs are real, and they deserve their own serious conversation. This episode is about what makes us human.

If AI has left you feeling anxious, or life has left you feeling flat and uncreative, this conversation is for us. This series is not about the exceptional. It's about the human. About us as humans.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why Australia banned AI-generated songs from its music charts
• What makes us human in the age of AI, and why I choose to treat AI as a partnership
• Why every one of us is creative, whatever our job title
• How everyday creativity rewires your brain and helps calm anxiety
• Martha Beck's insight on creativity as a balm for anxiety
• Why most creative blocks are perfectionism in disguise
• Why adults need play too, and what my childhood pile-ups taught me about joy
• One simple experiment to try this week: disrupt one automatic pattern

Connect with Lulu:
Website: https://www.luluessey.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lulu.essey/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucille-marie-essey/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lulu.essey

This is an inside job. Please share this episode with people you love. And follow while you are here 💛