Rebecca Wei Hsieh finds her voice, writing about suicidality and OCD in her personal essay, “Now What?: Suicidality and Planning for an Uncertain Present“. She wrote it several years ago, when she was at the very beginning of her career, coping with family relationships she deemed “fractured” and it seemed like the future was impossible to plan. In many ways, Rebecca was, at that point, not that different from others her age navigating the complexities of life and family, but Rebecca was doing all of that while attempting to extract herself from thoughts of suicide and symptoms of OCD that were, at times, controlling. Now it’s 2024 and Rebecca is well established in her career, she is doing the work of maintaining her mental health, she is slowly exploring rebuilding some family relationships, and her views on life, work, and mental health are explored with an introspective sincerity on this episode of our podcast, Recovery Diaries in Depth.

Rebecca shares about how publishing her essay under her real name was an empowering decision and one that she embraced as a component of her mental health journey. Perhaps one of the most powerful and heart-stopping portions of the interview is where Rebecca vividly describes how, at age 12, she told her mother that she was struggling with thoughts of suicide.

Rebecca Wei Hsieh doesn’t shy away from talking about the hard stuff, the real stuff, the issues we need to be speaking about and addressing. People like her are the reason why we do this show. We’re so proud to have had a chance to speak with Rebecca and to share her with you. We hope you enjoy her interview, and her wonderful essay reading as well.

Conversations like the ones on this podcast can sometimes be hard, but they’re always necessary. If you or someone you know is struggling, please consider visiting wannatalkaboutit.com. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call, text, or chat 988.

— Gabe

​EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / EDITOR: Gabriel Nathan | DESIGN: Leah Alexandra Goldstein | SITE ORIGINATOR: Bud Clayman

See Related Recovery Stories: OCD, Recovery Diaries In Depth Podcast