Facing the Suck – A Conversation about Tuberculosis, Stigma, and Death

If you’re not a regular listener of the Happiness Lab podcast, I wanted to share this interview with Author John Green, which covers his new book about tuberculosis, and veers into how we stigmatize people with illnesses by expecting them to make all the same decisions we would, and always act strong, etc.

They also spend some time discussing death, an underlying theme in much of John’s work, and the importance of confronting it. Our unwillingness to face the reality of death causes us to turn away from people who are dying, leaving them alone much of the time, as well as people grieving, leaving them alone in their grief.

I’ve seen both of those firsthand. I’ve also seen how powerful it can be when we don’t stigmatize someone dealing with illness, including mental health issues, and when they are grieving. It changes everything to know that people are willing to connect with us during the times we need their support the most.

We need more of that—so much more than we have currently.

Listen up!