Not Broken

In this episode, Rosemary Wanganeen shares her lived experience as a proud South Australian Aboriginal woman who was a child under the policies of the Stolen Generation, and the journey that led her to develop the Seven Phases to Integrating Griefology framework. Recognising the profound harm caused by intergenerational suppressed and unresolved grief, her framework reveals how ancestral losses continue to shape contemporary life experiences. This is a powerful conversation about understanding grief beyond diagnosis, and the cultural lens required to truly see and respond to it.

Mark Horowitz, Associate Professor of Psychiatry,  did his PhD in how antidepressants work and prescribed psychiatric drugs to his patients regularly as part of clinical practice. However, when he faces a near-fatal experience coming off his own drugs he is forced to re-think what he has been taught about these drugs and how they work. Since then his career has pivoted to trying to educate his colleagues about the harms of these drugs, including withdrawal. This has led to him writing the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines, endorsed by the Royal Australian College of GPs to bring evidence-based guidance to clinicians helping others to stop taking psychiatric drugs. 

This episode explores the benefits and pitfalls of psychiatric diagnoses, questioning when labels clarify distress and when they risk oversimplifying it. Dr Matthew Dunbar speaks with Professor Jon Jureidini about the limits of diagnostic explanations, the evidence behind antidepressant prescribing, and the importance of transparency with patients. Together they highlight the need for humility in clinical decision-making and the value of “watchful waiting” rather than rushing to label or medicate.

What if the problem isn’t the person but the language used to describe them? With Dr David Caldwell, we unpack how labels, tone, and questioning can either build trust or reinforce stigma. A compelling case for choosing words with care as we examine how diagnostic framing shapes patient identity, clinical interactions, and outcomes. 

Medication isn’t the only answer and sometimes it isn’t the right one. Joined by Dr Candice Oster, we explore social prescribing: the emerging practice of connecting people to community, purpose, and practical support when unmet social needs are driving distress. A compelling case for formalising an approach that treats the whole person, not just their symptoms.

If we treat suicide as a psychiatric problem are we oversimplifying a complex human reality? In this opening episode, our hosts, Professor Jon Jureidini and Dr Matthew Dunbar introduce themselves and challenge the idea that the explanation for suicide lies in the brain, exploring the powerful social factors that shape despair. A bold conversation that sets the tone for Not Broken.