Kody Green, Schizophrenic Hippie - From Incarceration and Addiction to Advocacy and Inspiration -Ep. 100

Guest: Kody Green, patient advocate

Kody lives with schizophrenia and is a motivational speaker/content creator with over a million followers on TikTok alone (@schizophrenichippie). He has also overcome struggles with drug addiction and incarceration, which he shares information about on his platform. To be a better advocate and speaker, Kody has been trained as a peer support specialist, recovery coach and suicide prevention specialist.  

Kody's podcast is called Unseen & Unheard:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unseen-unheard/id1589319270

"After my release from incarceration and my schizophrenia diagnosis, I thought there was nothing left for me. When I started sharing my story online, I did not think anyone would care. After gaining 1 million followers on social media, I realized how my struggles and my story could help others." Kody J. Green

We will ask Kody to share his story, and especially:

• Incarceration experience and steps afterward
• Long-acting injectables
• Anosognosia - did he ever have it?
• Did he have family support? (we are moms, soo…..)
• His upcoming book!

Links:

Here is his website: https://www.kodygreen.com/

Here is a link to his TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@schizophrenichippie?lang=en%22%20\o%20%22https://www.tiktok.com/@schizophrenichippie?lang=en%22%20\t%20%22_blank

https://www.hopeforschizophrenia.com/

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://www.randyekaye.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Transcript

Randye Kaye: Well, I wish I had noise makers. I wish I'd thought of it, because this is episode number 100, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, very exciting.

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Randye Kaye: I'm so excited, who knew 4 years ago when we started this, podcast that we would still be here, still doing it. And to mark the occasion, we have

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Randye Kaye: a most amazing guest this evening. And I think we're going to jump right into it. So rather, if this is your 1st time listening to our podcast rather than introduce ourselves to you, the listener, we're going to introduce ourselves to our guest, Cody, who, if you're watching on Youtube, you can see his face right now.

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Randye Kaye: Cody Green is known as the schizophrenic hippie, at least on Tiktok.

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Randye Kaye: And this episode I'm titling from incarceration and addiction to advocacy and motivational speaking.

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Randye Kaye: and we're delighted to have you on our 100th episode. Cody is a patient advocate.

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Randye Kaye: He lives with schizophrenia.

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Randye Kaye: and he's a content creator with I'm a little jealous over a million followers on Tiktok alone, with a presence on many, many other platforms, including cameo. I can't even believe that, but we'll talk about that later, and Cody is such a beacon of hope for me as a mom. He's overcome struggles with drug addiction and incarceration. 2 things my own son is struggling with right now.

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Randye Kaye: and he shares information on his platform to be a better advocate and speaker. He's been trained as a peer, support specialist, a recovery coach and suicide prevention, specialist, Cody, welcome to the podcast.

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Kody Green: Yeah, thank you guys so much for having me.

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Randye Kaye: We are delighted. So since I'm talking, I will just introduce myself first.st My name's Randy.

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Randye Kaye: and I have a son who does not want his real name revealed, and so we call him Ben in my book, Ben, behind his voices, and he is just fingers crossed a month away from graduating from jail diversion and really excited to restart his life.

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Randye Kaye: So he is diagnosed with schizophrenia. He doesn't really believe it, but we are where we are, and that's a bit about me, Mimi. You want to go next.

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Miriam Feldman: Hi! Nice to see you again. Remember, we met at the Nami and the convention in Denver. Everybody's very excited to have you around. I have a 38 year old son, with schizophrenia and just happy. You're here.

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Randye Kaye: And Mimi's book is. He came in with it.

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Randye Kaye: Mindy.

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Mindy Greiling: Hi Cody. We had a cup, I guess, Michael Brisbane on. I don't know last month or so, and with his mother and he and his friend Jasper were interviewed by you at the Convention, and they he was just so pumped and excited and in awe of you. So

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Mindy Greiling: you are really a role model my son is 46, and he has been in jail 3 times, and now is in the hospital for almost a month. He's, you know, on his 17th day of his second stay this month, and I think I would prefer the hospital

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Mindy Greiling: to to jail, so I'm can't wait to hear what you have to say.

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Randye Kaye: And Mindy's book is called Fix what you can.

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Randye Kaye: her son. Her family story

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Randye Kaye: interspersed with getting stuff done on a State legislative level. So we each have different approaches, but a whole lot of love and advocacy for our sons. So Cody, welcome welcome to the, podcast.

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Randye Kaye: I think we're just going to ask you. You've done this a million times, I'm sure, to tell us your story

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Randye Kaye: and let us pop in with questions as they come up. Does that work for you guys?

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Randye Kaye: Yep, okay.

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Kody Green: Yeah, for sure. So you know my journey with schizophrenia actually started before my diagnosis. I was raised by a mother with schizoaffective disorder. So I do have the unique perspective of being both a caregiver and a person living with schizophrenia.

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Kody Green: And I, I really do appreciate that perspective as I've come into advocacy. But my very 1st introduction to understanding schizophrenia and psychosis was actually you know, having to

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Kody Green: become a caregiver at a very young age. I was raised by a single mom, who in her late twenties, early thirties, started experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations as well as delusions and paranoia, and so

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Kody Green: it wasn't until I was in high school that she finally got a proper diagnosis and was on medication that was actually showing to be effective for her, and it was right around that time that I was looking at going off to college. And so

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Kody Green: my 1st year of college. I started having those very same symptoms myself. And so, despite knowing what I know about schizophrenia, the illness really made it impossible for me to understand what was happening. I I would say that even at that point in my life I understood more about the illness than a lot of people. But that didn't really. That didn't really help when you know, I was having delusions, and

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Kody Green: I was incapable of recognizing that I was struggling. And so, instead of reaching out for help, I tried to cope with using drugs and alcohol which eventually led to me being incarcerated. And so that was several years of my life struggling with addiction, struggling with incarceration. And it wasn't until I was released that I was able to get proper help.

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Kody Green: be able to get into a psychiatrist be able to reach out and start seeing success with medication and treatment. And then, after that

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Kody Green: part of my journey, several years later, I started attending peer support groups. I started learning more about schizophrenia, and I I always tell people I don't think anyone means to become an advocate. I think it's something that is kind of set in front of you. And so I just wanted to help people better understand schizophrenia and mental illness in general. And so I started posting about it on social media, and

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Kody Green: very quickly grew a following, and saw how beneficial telling my story was. Not just for other people living with schizophrenia, but for friends and family members who wanna better understand the illness, and also for doctors and psychiatrists to see what they might not be hearing from their patients, and what their patients might be too afraid to tell them, and so really just trying to advocate on on every

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Kody Green: front when it comes to schizophrenia, and I've been very lucky to have the the reach that I've had, and I'm just trying to, you know. Be a voice for people like my mom, or like your sons who might never get to share their stories.

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Mindy Greiling: I said that you it didn't help you to have your mother be ill because you still didn't recognize it in yourself. How about your mother? Did she recognize it in you?

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Kody Green: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, she I'm very lucky. I always tell people I I know that a lot of individuals struggling with schizophrenia, or homelessness or addiction might not have the support that I had. Both my mom and my wife pretty early on, were able to tell what was going on. It didn't, really, you know, and this is something I hear.

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Kody Green: unfortunately, very commonly is people will reach out and say, you know, I understand this is what's going on. But my loved one can't understand that this is what's happening. And so they. Although they did recognize it. It still took several years for me to be able to. You know, finally reach out and ask for help and be able to get the the assistance I needed, and when I 1st reached out for help I didn't reach out.

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Kody Green: Thinking that I had schizophrenia, I just started recognizing that I couldn't do what everyone else could do. I couldn't hold down a job, I couldn't, you know, go back to school. And so it was. Just I reached out more because I wanted to know what was why, I couldn't, you know, do what everyone else was doing, and why I couldn't keep up with my peers.

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Kody Green: I didn't believe that I had schizophrenia at the time of my diagnosis, and even several months into taking medication. I didn't really believe that. And so it wasn't until, you know, I had been very well established on medication, and I was able to start, you know, gaining some clarity that I really recognized. That that was what I was struggling with.

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Randye Kaye: Yeah, wow, so I can.

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Randye Kaye: I can tell that you've told this story many times, and I I appreciate the the beautiful nutshell that you've told it in. Can we go back a little bit? Because I have yeah questions? Oh, absolutely well, you know. Are you an only child?

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Kody Green: I'm not. So. I actually have a a little brother and a half sister both of which you know, kind of became caregivers for my mom as well.

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Randye Kaye: So are you the oldest? Then you're the oldest son. And how old were you

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Randye Kaye: when

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Randye Kaye: your mom started?

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Randye Kaye: Behaving? Not like Mom. I don't know how else to put it.

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Kody Green: Yeah, you know, I was preteens early teens. So I was. I was quite young, and my mom was.

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Kody Green: you know, it was just little things. It started very subtly. She was. She would get like paranoid. She would start thinking that you know people were touching her food, or that people were doing certain things around the house, or like people were trying to listen into the conversations we were having in the house.

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Kody Green: and you know. It quickly led to delusions and and hallucinations. And

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Kody Green: you know, as kids, we didn't really know what we were looking at, we didn't. We couldn't really

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Kody Green: identify what was going on. And so for several years she lived undiagnosed. She was going. She was trying to get help pretty much the entire time.

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Kody Green: You know something about her mom instinct. She just knew that she was unwell and needed to once again, not knowing that it was schizophrenia. But she knew that she needed to get some sort of help.

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Kody Green: and it took, you know. Well, over 5, 6 years for her to get proper diagnosis. And you know, and that's where I always say I'm very lucky, cause you know my entire. From the time I was started having symptoms to the time I was diagnosed.

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Kody Green: even though for me it felt like decades struggling with addiction and incarceration. I was really only going through that time period for about 2, 2 and a half years cause. I started having symptoms at 18, and I was diagnosed at 21. So a little bit, probably closer to 2 and a half 3 years. But you know, a lot of people go much, much longer without a proper diagnosis, and that can lead to severe cognitive issues and all sorts of other issues that can come up too.

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Randye Kaye: So how did that?

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Randye Kaye: Thank you. How did that play out for you?

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Randye Kaye: Now you've mentioned a wife so clearly you're married, and we've spoken briefly about everything you're accomplishing right now, and you're how old? 2829.

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Kody Green: I turned 30 this year. So in October.

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Randye Kaye: Happy oh, October! What.

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Kody Green: 20, second.

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Randye Kaye: Okay, I'm the 11.th I saw.

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Mindy Greiling: Congratulations.

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Randye Kaye: Okay.

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Kody Green: Thanks. Yeah.

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Randye Kaye: All right now. You're an old 30 year old, so

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Randye Kaye: But for the for the benefit of people who may be just at the beginning of this journey I will mention that

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Randye Kaye: for many women schizophrenia appears later in life.

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Randye Kaye: and of course there are exceptions, but in terms of numbers for men. It does start earlier as it did with you. And so the later that schizophrenia develops the better your chances of being aware that you have it because you've had a chance to grow up kind of beforehand. So, like you, many of our sons started exhibiting symptoms earlier mid to late teens, and my son. Also.

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Randye Kaye: things really went off the rails at 18, and no diagnosis till he was 21. So you know, we can relate to that.

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Randye Kaye: You kind of said well, drug addiction and incarceration. Are you willing to say more about that? You know what? What brought you into a place where you were incarcerated. Was it just you were caught with pot, or

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Randye Kaye: whatever you're willing to say about it? But you seem like an open book, so.

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Kody Green: Yeah, of course. So for me it was. I mostly used stimulants, was my primary addiction.

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Kody Green: and the the reason for that was a lot of my paranoia led to me, being afraid to be sedated or or go to sleep, because I thought if I went to sleep someone would lock me up or or put me in a psychiatric facility. And so I used primarily stimulants. And my my incarceration was because of possession. And you know, other drug related crimes. And so

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Kody Green: it it was very much, you know, a result of me not getting, you know, early intervention and treatment, and unfortunately, thinking that for some reason, you know, that was all I thought that would help, and I didn't feel like there was anything else I could do to cope. And so that's what I ended up.

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Kody Green: Using as a coping mechanism. And it's so unfortunate I hear so many of the same stories from other people struggling with schizophrenia, or, honestly, most mental illness, we see very high rates of addiction, and one of my, you know, hopes is that by sharing my content.

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Kody Green: I I just hope that even if one person sees it and recognizes some of the symptoms and themselves, and it prevents them from using drugs as a coping mechanism. That that's a win, you know.

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Randye Kaye: About your path

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Randye Kaye: out of incarceration. What was that? What was that like for you?

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Randye Kaye: How'd you get? Yeah.

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Kody Green: So I

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Kody Green: yeah, I actually you know, when I was incarcerated when I was still in jail is when I started recognizing that, you know, something might be wrong with me, and I started asking for help.

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Kody Green: And unfortunately, our current jail and prison systems in America aren't really set up for helping people who are struggling with severe mental illness or psychosis. And so, despite asking for help, I couldn't see a doctor. I wasn't able to get to a mental health professional. I was told that because I had a passive addiction that me trying to meet with a doctor was me

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Kody Green: trying to seek for drugs. They thought I was just trying to find a way to get drugs. And so they, you know, it became very difficult to ask for help. So it wasn't until I got out of jail that I was able to finally get a doctor's appointment and a referral to a psychiatrist.

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Kody Green: and little did I know that when I reached out to my wife and my mom and I said, Hey, I think something might be wrong. I just wanna talk to someone. I didn't know that over those past 2, 3 years they had been gathering resources. They had a doctor ready for me. They knew what psychiatrist I could get referred to, and because of my mom's diagnosis I got through. I got through that process very quickly.

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Kody Green: cause it was easy for them to recognize that I had these symptoms, and I had the genetics from my mom. And so I I think I got, you know, once I started my

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Kody Green: 1st psychiatry appointment appointment. I was through to medication within a matter of a couple of weeks, and so I was. You know, very. It was a very streamlined process, because of, you know, the efforts of the caregivers around me, but also because of you know, my Mom's diagnosis, and no one should have to have a genetic

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Kody Green: genetic family pre predisposition to, you know. Get that early early care and

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Kody Green: early treatment, but that's kind of what led to me getting through the system a lot quicker.

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Mindy Greiling: How long were you in jail? You mentioned 2 to 3 years, but I'm assuming you mean that the time that it from 18 until you were diagnosed. Not how long you were in jail. Right? How long were you in jail?

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Kody Green: My longest stretch was 6 months, so.

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Mindy Greiling: So a long time to. Not so you didn't get screened for mental illness. And even when you asked you didn't get to see a doctor that's

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Mindy Greiling: that's outrageous.

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Kody Green: Yeah.

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Mindy Greiling: Jeff, what state I I should know. But what state were you in when you were in jail?

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Kody Green: I. So I I was in Wisconsin.

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Mindy Greiling: Okay? Hmm, so I'm in Minnesota. And we actually, I think, do better than that. I'm sure there's cases where we don't.

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Mindy Greiling: We have a task force right now that was just enacted by the Legislature to do even better. But when my son isn't been in jail he's always gotten his medication in Minnesota, not when he was in Montana, however.

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Kody Green: Yeah, no Wisconsin, you know. And it's you know, this has also been. I was released in 2,015. So my hope is that almost a decade later, my hope is that they're doing better. But that's you know, the frustration I think we all have as advocates is seeing where things should be, and realizing that they're not as far as they need to be. But there's definitely some states that are

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Kody Green: way further ahead and more established and providing different types of care. And when I was screened, the only question they asked me is, if I was suicidal. And that was it. And then it was booked in, and nothing after that.

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Mindy Greiling: Oh! Were your family allowed to visit.

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Kody Green: Yeah, Yup, I was, you know, I I was still able to do phone calls and visits. And so that was at, you know, at the time it was

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Kody Green: not super great for me, because I was still in a very bad place mentally, and so I couldn't even

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Kody Green: I don't think I could even recap a single one of those visits, because I was in such a bad place, and it's a big chunk of my of my life that I can look back on and not remember a ton about, because I wasn't getting the help I needed, and I was still very delusional, and I was still struggling a lot with at that point, you know, because I was incarcerated, it was

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Kody Green: because it was struggling with withdrawals, and, you know sobriety, and like kind of getting back into functioning without a a any sort of like distraction or substance. But it was still, you know, incredibly difficult without the proper resources.

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Miriam Feldman: Do you still need support to stay sober from the other substances? Or is that a thing from your past? Now.

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Kody Green: I'm far enough into my sobriety that I you know I'm comfortable telling people that I'm a recovering addict. I still say recovering because I don't think anyone is ever fully recovered. I think it is an ongoing process. I do think that if I'm not careful I could end up back in a situation where I'm struggling with addiction. But overall, you know, I did

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Kody Green: peer support for a long time when it came to my addiction. Now I'm pretty stable, and I'm pretty comfortable managing, and on my own but there was a long period of time where I attended groups, and I was able to meet with other people who were struggling. And it's also how I got introduced to mental health. Peer support groups was through na! And a. So that was how I learned about like groups like Nami. And that's how I started attending different mental health peer support groups, too.

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Randye Kaye: That's a it's a really obviously inspiring story.

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Randye Kaye: and does my heart good to hear it.

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Randye Kaye: So here's what I'm wondering.

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Randye Kaye: I don't know if you had. It sounds like you had a journey to acceptance or out of Anna Signosia. It doesn't sound like there was one moment where you went. Oh.

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Randye Kaye: I know what it is. Right. So

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Randye Kaye: if, before you were ready.

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Randye Kaye: if a Peer support specialist had come to you and said, Cody, listen.

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Randye Kaye: I know what you're going. I know you don't think you have this schizophrenia, but trust me, you have it. I've got it. Let me talk to you. Do you think you would have accepted that help or rejected that help because you weren't quite ready.

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Kody Green: I I don't know. It's it's really hard to say. I will say that I think

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Kody Green: a and you know, looking back is so difficult cause. It's hard to tell what's delusion and what's like what actually happened. But I do think there was very brief periods where I thought, maybe it's something I could be struggling with.

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Kody Green: but I don't think I ever reached out because of the stigma surrounding like I knew how people looked at my mom after her diagnosis. I remember dealing with people judging her for taking medication. We grew up in a very small town in the Midwest. Mental illness isn't talked about, and when it is it's never talked about positively. So I think if I ever did have those moments of

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Kody Green: like clarity, I I think I shoved it down because I didn't want the diagnosis. I didn't want to be labeled as crazy. I didn't want to be the 18 year old kid on a bunch of medication. And you know, like I said, it's hard to say. I don't know for sure, but I like I can think of moments where I

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Kody Green: believed that I thought that. And I just tried to act like that wasn't the problem

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Kody Green: and so I don't know that it would have been affected, had a effective had a peer told me otherwise? You know I all I know is, once I started having some clarity talking with peers, changed my entire perspective on the illness and my outlook for the future. So I think that's more. What peer support gave me was a hope

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Kody Green: after my diagnosis. You know, it was like I I hear a lot of people say this, but my schizophrenia diagnosis did feel a bit like a death sentence. I had never known anyone living a full functional life with the illness. You know, movies, TV shows everything like that doesn't ever portray someone with mental illness or schizophrenia in a very positive light. And so I

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Kody Green: I really didn't expect that I would ever get to do much in my life, and had it not been for peers, and and you know, a supportive care team, I I think I would have given up. I don't think I would have pursued all the things I did.

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Miriam Feldman: Well, I have.

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Mindy Greiling: Did you have a peer specialist or.

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Randye Kaye: I meant. I think Mimi was going first, st and then Mindy.

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Mindy Greiling: Oh, okay. Sorry.

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Miriam Feldman: Well, it's just, you know, this is the thing that always happens to us is when we see someone like you. We're like, why not? Our son.

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Miriam Feldman: Yes, you were got treatment quickly and got a medication. My son was badly medicated for 1516 years before he. We found Closine and his his

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Miriam Feldman: change since Clozapine has been astounding, but because of all those years of being

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Miriam Feldman: diminished, I don't know that he will ever come back to where he might have been. But my question is

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Miriam Feldman: at

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Miriam Feldman: What do you think is is the difference between somebody like you obviously is functioning, you know, completely in your life. Do you think it's because you have really great medication that works really well with you? Or what do you think makes the difference between a recovery like yours and most of the rest of the recoveries.

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Kody Green: Yeah, I think. You know, I think medication plays a huge role. I tried medications that worked well for others that didn't work well for me, and that's why, like in on social media and stuff, I never say exactly. I don't say brands or anything like that. I do tell people now that I'm on a long acting injection, and that's given me a lot of freedom back, and it makes me feel like a little bit better day to day I deal with a little bit less symptoms. But for me, I really think it is the

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Kody Green: early early intervention. Because even in the difference between me and my mom. My mom went many years without a diagnosis, and she really still struggles cognitively, and she was never able to return to work. She's still on disability, and you know it's

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Kody Green: it's it's really difficult cause I you know, I almost feel guilty. Sometimes I think I can relate a little bit to, you know what you were saying about your son. You know, you see, like even me, I feel so grateful to be functioning and doing well. But then I see my mom, and I'm like, Well, you know.

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Kody Green: I why can't she also have this amazing opportunity to basically rebuild her life. She never really got that, you know, and it's super frustrating. And so like, I said, I think that's what gives me a really cool perspective, not cool but interesting perspective as a person with schizophrenia and as a caregiver. Because when caregivers reach out to me, I understand that frustration. I also understand, like how

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Kody Green: upsetting it can be, you know, and for me it's a little bit

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Kody Green: it more intricate, too, because I do feel guilty. You know there are a lot of people struggling that I don't think will ever get to be, as you know, functional day to day, as I've been able to get. And that's my hope with, you know.

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Kody Green: advocating is just trying to get people earlier intervention or

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Kody Green: get more research into schizophrenia. So we can figure out how to prevent a diagnosis, to begin with, you know. And so I you know, every time we see a new advocate, I think

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Kody Green: you know, there's 1 more person that's hearing this message. There's 1 more person becoming more aware of schizophrenia, and hopefully, one more person getting early treatment and early intervention.

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Mindy Greiling: I can see why your podcast is so popular. And you mentioned cool. You know, I think, that that's not usually what we think of as with a person with schizophrenia, and I think that's part of your

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Mindy Greiling: popularness is you are cool. That's something that Michael talked about when he was on here. How cool you are! I think that is, it is very cool to have a podcast buy a person, whiskey.

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Mindy Greiling: friendia, who really cool.

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Mindy Greiling: I had a question that I was going to ask. Did you have any role models? Did you have peer specialists? You're young enough. Our children didn't have them. They didn't exist when our kids were 1st diagnosed. But did you have role models that were peer specialists, either formal.

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Randye Kaye: Come in!

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Kody Green: Yeah.

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Randye Kaye: Out a bit, but I think you said either formal or informal, was that the last part of your sentence.

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Mindy Greiling: Informal. That helped you, boy. Oh, yeah, and I don't even have a storm. So I don't know what's going on here.

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Randye Kaye: So it's

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Randye Kaye: the Internet.

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Kody Green: Technology.

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Randye Kaye: You heard that you heard the question, though right.

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Kody Green: Yep.

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Kody Green: So I did have, you know. I always, despite her having her struggles and not getting to the same, you know, level of stability that I have. My mom was always a huge role model for me.

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Kody Green: Because, you know, she was able to do all of these things while struggling with a severe mental health diagnosis and for a lot a large part of her adult life was undiagnosed. So she was, a very, you know close personal role model when it came to like advocacy, I actually found Gabe, Howard and Michelle, hammer who have a by A, podcast called schizophrenic bipolar and a podcast and you guys are all.

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Randye Kaye: We know them well.

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Kody Green: Yup. So they, they were really my 1st introduction, I think, to like public advocacy for mental illness. And I didn't find them. My wife was trying to find ways to better help me, and better accommodate my struggles. And she found their podcast in the years where, you know I was finally seeing success with medication, and I was trying to learn more about the diagnosis, and I was attending local peer support groups. But I hadn't really started doing advocacy myself, and

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Kody Green: hearing people talk so openly and honestly about mental illness and schizophrenia, even the uncomfortable parts, you know that that gave me a lot of hope, and it was also seeing people that were living, you know.

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Kody Green: full, functional, happy lives. They had relationships. They had friends and family members that, you know didn't disown them just because of an illness or diagnosis. And I saw these all these things, and I'm like, well, if other people can do it. Why can't I? You know? And so

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Kody Green: they're just 2 of the now very many advocates that I've been able to connect with and learn from, but I early on. I think they were a huge part of my journey.

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Randye Kaye: That's amazing. I have to tell you that.

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Randye Kaye: So I, my son, is in a jail diversion program. So we get a 15 min phone call a day and it's fine. I'll take it. It's better than

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Randye Kaye: you know looking through a glass

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Randye Kaye: at in jail. So.

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Randye Kaye: But I do have access to his email because I can write to him. I also have the password because he's job hunting.

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Randye Kaye: It's so funny. If if

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Randye Kaye: any listener to the Podcast, knows. 6 months ago I was like, Oh, my God, my kids in jail, what are we going to do? And you know we never know what's going to happen. But right now, as I've said before, I'm daring to hope, and so is he, and he's getting job

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Randye Kaye: counseling. And the job counselor says, Oh, Ben, is the highlight of my week, so that just did my mother's heart really, you know, like she loves winning because he's so. He's trying really hard to get work, I think, until his teeth are fixed. It's going to be difficult, because he wants to go back to being in the restaurant business.

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Randye Kaye: I

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Randye Kaye: convinced myself a long time ago sort of that. It's not my job to convince my son that he has schizophrenia because no one can do that.

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Randye Kaye: But

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Randye Kaye: I went on your Youtube channel and subscribed and saw the he, my son, is also on a long acting injectable. So he, much as I loved, how Clauseral was for him. It's not what he's on now, and so he's on an injectable, and we're not going to mention names. I know you don't like to do that, and I'm fine with that.

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Randye Kaye: But I, you know, because my son probably should have been born in the sixties and loves the grateful dead, and you know he does it like

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Randye Kaye: schizophrenic. Hippie was like right up his alley. So I sent him a link to your Youtube video, where you talk about how the long acting injectables are helpful to you.

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Randye Kaye: And I'm not gonna belabor the point. I just sent it to him. So I asked him on the phone yesterday. I did, says, Yeah, I started, and I I told him a little bit about you so he might watch it, but that's the most we can do, because.

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Kody Green: Yeah.

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Randye Kaye: It has to come from him somehow, and it may or may not come, but I think the fact that you are a peer advocate is very and also Kevin Early, another one who is the early bird. I don't know. If you know Kevin, he was on our podcast and he also went through jail diversion, and he's also has a master's in social work. So the fact that you are using your experience to help others.

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Randye Kaye: and it sounds like you had family support, which is awesome, and you're giving people hope. Can I just ask how your brother and half sister are doing right now?

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Kody Green: Yeah. So my little brother is kind of getting past. He's 28 now, I think. So. He's kind of getting past the typical age range for men to develop it. He's doing very well. He did struggle with addiction early on in his adulthood. But you know he didn't really have any episodes of psychosis or anything like that. So we're almost in the clear for him, just based on age range. And my little sister is,

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Kody Green: quite a bit younger. So, and given that, you know, women do develop the illness later in life. She's someone you know, we're we're always kinda keeping an eye on and making sure she knows we're here if we need anything. Because my mom struggles with schizoaffective disorder, which is schizophrenia and a mood disorder like bipolar. She, my little sister, did develop a bipolar disorder, and she is treated for that.

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Kody Green: and she's found success with medication and so it hasn't been too much of a you know barrier in her life. But it's definitely something that we're all aware of, and we, you know, let her know that we're there to help if she needs it.

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Randye Kaye: Important.

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Randye Kaye: and I have one more nosy question.

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Randye Kaye: Did your wife know, when she fell in love with you, that you had schizophrenia.

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Kody Green: So me and my wife. My wife is such a big part of my story, and you know I can never have enough time to talk so much about her, but my wife actually started dating me a year, about a year year and a half before I ever showed any symptoms of schizophrenia, and she was with me through the entire, like everything I just described. You guys, she was with me through all that. So she was with me when I started having symptoms.

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Kody Green: She stayed with me through my addiction. She was there when I was incarcerated, and so I'm you know, eternally grateful for her because she was by my side the whole time, and she's a large reason that I, you know, reached out for help, because, you know, when I said that I was like I could tell something wasn't right. A big part of that was I. I just felt like

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Kody Green: I was letting her down. I was letting my mom down, and it wasn't really about me like I said I didn't think I had any issues, but I didn't want to let her down, cause she had been with me that whole time, and you know, she you know everyone is always very nice about me and my journey. And I did do a lot you know, as a as an individual going through all of this. But she was there for every step of the way, and you know I I wouldn't be here, if not for her, and her sacrifices through all those

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Kody Green: different issues that I dealt with so.

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Randye Kaye: I'll

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Randye Kaye: so my! I had a question here. Did he have family support? But I think you've answered that.

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Randye Kaye: Tell us about your upcoming book.

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Kody Green: Yeah. So I it, it just became available for pre order and I didn't expect it props to you guys, cause. It sounds like you guys are all authors. I didn't expect writing a book to be as difficult as it was.

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Randye Kaye: God. It sucks the life out of you.

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Kody Green: Oh, my goodness, I it was a great experience. I'm always so grateful to be able to share my stories and everything. But I I think I'm gonna take a break from writing books for at least the Fo foreseeable future but it's specifically about mental health and mental illness in the workplace.

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Kody Green: And the reason I felt like I it was necessary for me to write about it was because as soon as I got medication I was very lucky that I was able to get back into working, and although I did lose several jobs and I had workplaces that were not, you know, great for understanding what I was going through, I started finding that some employers had different resources that I could use, and some employers.

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Kody Green: Once I started explaining my diagnosis and everything going on. We're actually really accommodating. And because we do have disability accommodations.

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Kody Green: I I wanted to write a book so that people could kind of hear my story about what it was like. Going through the workplace. I worked in so many different industries, and some went, some jobs went really well, some jobs. Did not I talk about what it was like before my diagnosis, after my diagnosis, applying for different accommodations or trying to use things like Fmla, just to be able to keep my job if I needed time off. And so.

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Randye Kaye: Smla. Just explain. Someone doesn't know what that is.

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Kody Green: Yep. So Fmla's Family medical leave Act, and that would be yep, and that would be, you know, it's a lot of times used for someone who's a caregiver for someone with a illness or disability. But employees can use it for themselves to in certain jobs and roles. And so basically, it just let me take unpaid time off so that I didn't lose my job if I did have a short psychiatric day or something like that. So I just really took

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Kody Green: all of these experiences I had and put them into a book so that people could understand that a lot of the times, you know, we see such high rates of unemployment for people with disabilities. But it's not always because

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Kody Green: people with disabilities, aren't you know there's this idea that people with disabilities aren't willing to work. All I wanted was a job. I just wanted to be normal. I wanted to have an income. And I wanted to be able to buy things, you know, and I never thought that was going to be possible. And once I started working, I realized the problem wasn't me. It was employers. It was people not willing to understand my diagnosis, not willing to accommodate my diagnosis.

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Kody Green: and I can't fix that. So, you know, finding ways to talk with your employer with Hr. And find accommodations, is a big part of the book, and I also talk about burnout how to deal with that, you know, and I also featured stories with, and I just mentioned them. But I was actually able to interview both Gabe and Michelle for this book, and they kind of share some of their experiences of

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Kody Green: You know, mental health and mental illness in the workplace. And so it's it was a really great experience, and I'm I'm super excited that I was able to do it. I hope that it becomes a resource for people, not just people struggling with mental illness, but also I wrote a few chapters specifically for leaders and Hr. And employers, so that they can understand what they can do

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Kody Green: to be more. A more accommodating workplace. Unemployment is hitting some of the highest or some of the lowest numbers right now, and they need more talent in the workplace. And so at some point, they're gonna have to be more accommodating. They're gonna have to understand that some people need, you know, assistance and need help, and they wanna work, but they can't find a job willing to accommodate them. And so it's called minds over meetings, and that's kind of the idea of it.

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Kody Green: I know that was a probably longer description than what you guys need.

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Randye Kaye: No.

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Kody Green: I am.

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Randye Kaye: It's an important topic. It's a really important topic. So.

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Kody Green: Yeah.

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Mindy Greiling: It's

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Mindy Greiling: I, wanna insert a factoid here that you may have in your book. But it's something like 20 of people with serious mental illnesses who are working. And it's like 80 to 90 who want to work. So that part of your story is so important.

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Kody Green: Yeah, and I featured.

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Randye Kaye: John wants out of life right? It's all he wants. He, you know, he wants to be able to buy a shirt that he doesn't have to budget into his Ssdi, and he wants he wants to work. And looking at his history when he, in a period where he before Covid, where he was doing really well. There were restaurant jobs he lost. They be. He does not disclose, because he doesn't believe he has schizophrenia. But

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Randye Kaye: interviewing some of those employers. They knew it.

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Kody Green: Yeah.

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Randye Kaye: They knew it. They just didn't tell him they knew it, but they got him like they got his quirkiness, and they got his good humor, and

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Randye Kaye: it is, but he's also lost jobs because people didn't get him. And they didn't.

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Randye Kaye: You know.

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Mindy Greiling: He didn't ask for accommodation, so.

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Randye Kaye: Doesn't have schizophrenia as far as.

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Mindy Greiling: Right.

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Randye Kaye: No, and he also doesn't have a drug problem as far as he's concerned. So we'll see where that goes. But right now it, you know, right now

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Randye Kaye: it's a good day. So yeah. But but having a job.

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Randye Kaye: I I think he's supposed to see his job coach once a week, and he probably goes every day. He just wants

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Randye Kaye: it. It's what I. We all need to feel useful

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Randye Kaye: to our families, to people.

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Randye Kaye: So a job that accommodates you is is a huge. I think your book is going to be very important.

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Kody Green: Yeah, I was. I was very passionate about the topic. And and like you just said I, you know, I felt like schizophrenia took so much from me. And getting a job just was another thing that I felt like I got to take back, you know, and so a lot of my advocacy is just trying to hope hopefully, help some other people struggling with schizophrenia be able to take back stuff like I have like the ability to drive the be, the ability to be

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Kody Green: able to work a job. And the ability to, you know, have a healthy functional relationship. All things that I lost because of, you know my diagnosis and

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Kody Green: and so I'm just grateful to take some of those things back. And when I was asked to write about this topic. I was like, you guys are not gonna be able to stop me from writing about this topic. And so so yeah, I'm I'm very excited about it. And it's supposed to come out at the end of this year, and I'm gonna be taking it all over doing book tours and trying to meet with some of the people who have.

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Kody Green: you know, followed me on social media for years, and who have supported all of my advocacy efforts, and I would like to also get in front of more legislators to go over some of the the facts about. You know how they can help make sure that employers are doing what they need to do to accommodate people because there are Ada laws that are not being followed, and people that are being taken advantage of in the workplace. And there's a lot more that you know, not just employers can do. But legislators can do too.

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Miriam Feldman: You know there's an aspect of this, too, that I don't think that people talk about or think about enough, and that is that there are people with certain kinds of disabilities.

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Miriam Feldman: including mental health issues

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Miriam Feldman: that actually make them better for lots of jobs than other people. And I think back to

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Miriam Feldman: before my son ever got sick. I'm a painter, and I ran a painting company, and I had a woman who worked for me who had bipolar, and I didn't know that much about any of it, but I look back on it now, and I realize I had accommodated a little bit that became sort of. I just did that intuitively. It wasn't some sort of big political decision, but

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Miriam Feldman: she had the perfect bipolar for this job. You know all all the things that were

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Miriam Feldman: things that were kind of symptoms of byproducts over bipolar were things that were tailored so perfectly to what I needed her to do. She was one of the best employees I ever had, and I think that people can just think out of the box a little bit. That's just one vague example. I mean, there's there's so many examples of people who are differently abled, but that makes them specifically better for certain jobs.

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Kody Green: I was I was super shocked to find out that when I so when I started working, you know, I I had just come out of

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Kody Green: jail, and it was already hard enough to find a job. So I took the 1st job I could, which was production and manufacturing, and I quickly found out that roles like that were not for me, not only because they were hard on me, but safety wise. A person struggling with an illness like mine, and recovering and still having symptoms shouldn't be doing jobs that are on a forklift stuff like that. But I did find that when I transitioned to

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Kody Green: office roles specifically for me, it was sales because

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Kody Green: I had worked so hard to regain my voice and my, you know, my

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Kody Green: a lot of people with schizophrenia isolate, and that's what I did for a very long time. And so, when I was able to like, find my voice again and communicate with people again. I did really well in sales, cause all I wanted to do was talk to people. Rarely was it about what I was selling. It was just me talking to people, and like I did really well at that, because, you know, I had spent so many years alone and struggling, and felt like

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Kody Green: no one, you know, cared about who I was or what I did, and so I just you know I I was in a job where I could literally just talk to people feel, you know. So UN, you know, feel like

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Kody Green: I was always surrounded by people feel so social, and that was the perfect job for me, and that was the job I held until I started doing advocacy and social media. Full time.

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Mindy Greiling: I'd like to go back to your desire to talk to legislators, because, as Randy said, I was in the Minnesota Legislature for 20 years.

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Mindy Greiling: and I think when most legislators think of the Ada. Of course they think of

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Mindy Greiling: wheelchairs and curb cuts, and you know that the a lot of people think the Ada was physical disabilities, and if they do go further, then they think of people with developmental disabilities. But I think people with mental illnesses who have totally different

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Mindy Greiling: needs for accommodations aren't generally thought of, and also people with schizophrenia aren't are often not at the table. I think you're you and Michelle and Gabe, and you know many others now are are the exceptions. And so for the fact that you can speak for people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective. I hope that you do.

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Kody Green: Yeah, absolutely what what I saw, too, was

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Kody Green: And I said this in my book, too. When I was 1st diagnosed, a doctor told me one of the doctors who wasn't in my care team, but someone I met with basically told me that I would never work. He said I should get comfortable, being on disability because I would never be able to work again. That's what an actual doctor told me, and so imagine that, you know, like I I felt so discouraged. Who am I to, you know, doubt a medical professional, but that's

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Kody Green: you know I'm I'm very glad that I didn't listen, and that I did try to get back to work, and that I worked so hard to you know.

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Kody Green: fight for accommodations in the workplace, and make sure that I could work a job. And you know, I wouldn't have done that if I had just listened to that doctor and given up. And I'm afraid that's I. I'm afraid that's happening more than people are talking about. I think a lot of people are being told E. Even people who are finding success with medication and treatment are being told that they should just plan on being on disability forever and not trying to work.

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Kody Green: And I think you know, working is just one part of life, but I think what it does is for me. It gave me hope. I'm like, well, if I can do this. I can do all the things I wasn't able to do, you know, because so many people told me after my diagnosis, I wouldn't be able to drive. I wouldn't be able to work. I wouldn't be able to, you know, maintain relationships not just like romantic relationships, but friends and family members, and so I do all of those things now. And I I think

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Kody Green: the job was just one portion of that that you know. People kept telling me, I wouldn't be able to do it, and I just felt the need to prove them wrong.

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Mindy Greiling: I I'm actually shocked that you were told that, you know, and.

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Kody Green: Yeah.

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Mindy Greiling: At age 30. I think that's the sort of thing that people were told. I thought, you know, when they're 50 or 60, they were told back when they were young. But I'm I'm shocked that you were told that now you know, people say there's Minnesota nice, and I'm not so sure people are told that here it's how they're treated that gives them that strong impression. I don't know if anyone says you can't work.

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Mindy Greiling: but when people go to want to work. Often they spend days or months perfecting a resume or something, but they never get a chance to actually apply for a job. They might be helped to role model how they could interview. But they don't actually get an interview. I think a lot of the people who are doing those things

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Mindy Greiling: also don't believe they can work. So they're just kinda going through the motions, pretending they have a job preparation but they don't really go at it as if it could really work. There are exceptions like clubhouses. They have incredible employment programs. And I'm sure you know about that. If you're connected to some of the people that you are.

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Mindy Greiling: But it's really getting through the perception that people convey that you can't do those things that I think is just as damning as telling you. But I'm shocked that you're told as well at your young age.

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Randye Kaye: Well, there's always, you know, somebody had to graduate bottom of their class in medical school. So that's you never know who you're gonna see

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Randye Kaye: and they still call them doctor. So we are getting near the end of our time. And I I do wanna mention for anyone who's listening, that if your loved one or you is on social security disability, there is a program called Ticket to work where you are allowed and encouraged to work.

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Randye Kaye: and there are certain limits. I think it's 9 months of working as much as you want, and then it's just then then you limit the amount you're quote, allowed to learn and earn in a month

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Randye Kaye: and keep your social security. So there is a way to keep your Ssdi, because even if your disability is under control, it's still a disability. So

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Randye Kaye: if you do want to go to work and you're afraid you'll lose your disability. It's not something that had your disability insurance. I should say your Ssdi. It's not something that happens right away.

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Randye Kaye: A good job coach will help you, and I'm sure you know this, Cody, because you're trained in peer support will help you understand what ticket to work is. You can try working, and there is a process by which you can ease your way back into the work world. And if it turns out you don't need Ssdi anymore, then you know, that's what happens. But often. So there is a way I wanna make sure in the few minutes that we have left.

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Randye Kaye: that you have a chance to

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Randye Kaye: talk about anything we haven't asked you about like, you know your 1 million and a half tiktok followers, or your work on cameo like you know. What? What would you like to tell us that we haven't yet asked you.

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Kody Green: Yeah, I mean, you know, and we mentioned it. But I don't think by name, I do. I do. Host, the Unseen and unheard podcast and that's been an amazing experience. I've been able to interview several schizophrenia advocates. And the last episode was actually with my mom. And I got to talk to her about both of our diagnoses, but also what it was like having to watch her son go through the same diagnosis. She went through and you know that podcast has been just such a huge

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Kody Green: turning point for me, because I think

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Kody Green: you know as much as I do advocacy. It's so important to keep learning. And I learned something from every person in that

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Kody Green: series. And so the unseen and unheard podcast it is available on all podcasting on all podcasting apps or sites. But it also lives on the hope for schizophrenia.com website and that's a great resource for parents, family members, or people who are newly diagnosed. A lot of good resources on there.

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Kody Green: And then, you know, you did mention all my social media. And that's just that's really just been a way for me to continue spreading these,

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Kody Green: you know, spreading these messages, telling my stories. And so you know, if you want to find me on any social media, as you said, my username is schizophrenic hippie on everything. And I I you know I when it comes down to it, social media is really why I'm able to do all this. It was the reason that people started hearing my story, and we're started, you know, started

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Kody Green: showing me that there was an interest. And PE having people better understand schizophrenia. So I'm super grateful for all of that.

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Kody Green: And my, you know my last message. I always try to remind people who are newly diagnosed that

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Kody Green: it doesn't have to be a death sentence, you know, if you are able to find medication that works for you, and you're hearing this, and you are able to recognize that you have the diagnosis. Those are just the beginning steps. And despite, you know, like I said so many people told me I wouldn't be able to do all the things that I am actively doing, and so if you're able to get the help you need, please don't let it be the end of the road. It's it should just be the beginning.

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Randye Kaye: Awesome. And your website is Cody green.com, KODY. And you know how to spell green

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Randye Kaye: dot com, and all of those social media links and information about the book, and

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Randye Kaye: you can check out the Youtube channel and subscribe to that

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Randye Kaye: and unless you have any other last words, Mindy and Mimi, I just want to say what a delight it has been to get to talk to you.

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Kody Green: Yeah, thank you guys again.

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Mindy Greiling: So.

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Kody Green: For having me.

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Miriam Feldman: Yeah. It's been great.

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Randye Kaye: Awesome. I'm stopping the recording.