When Giulia Lukach had her first manic episode, it seemed to come out of nowhere. She was in her late twenties, and had been married to her husband, Mark, for three years. “For him it was just so new because I’ve always been the happy girl,” Giulia told Anna in an interview in 2015. Her psychosis was dark and intense.“ The only thing she could talk about was the devil and that she needed to protect the world because the devil was inside her,” Mark said in their 2015 interview.
In 2023, Mark and Giulia sat down with Anna again. In the intervening years, they had a second child, and after years without Giulia having a manic episode, they thought they were in the clear. “We had this quasi-pseudo-science theory that maybe by sharing our story with the world, that was becoming this like protective barrier,” Mark told Anna. In this episode, you’ll hear parts of the couple’s original 2015 conversation, and how their outlook has changed since, both in how they treat each other, and how they deal with the unknown. “I have been to war with myself and with my mind many times,” Giulia said, “knowing that my episodes can come at any moment – that's like high anxiety for me – and so I literally live in the moment now. I only live in today.”
Also, side note: Will you be in New York City on Saturday, December 9th at 12:30pm? Come to a Death, Sex, & Money live event at Caveat, a cabaret on the Lower East Side, to celebrate the show’s run at WNYC. We’re calling it Four Interviews and a Funeral. Join Anna, the team, special guests, and dance along to live music. Tickets are available here.
My Eating Disorder Turned Into an Obsession With Money
'Tom' Felt So Alone Not Being Able To Drive. We Made An Introduction.
Filling the Health Care Gap (and Filling Lips!) in Appalachia
You’re at a Crossroads. We’re Here to Help.
A Tarot Reader Explains Why Intuition is So Tricky
A Sociopath's Guide to Death, Sex, and Money
From Indie Rockers to Full-Time Caregivers
I Was In Debt. Then My Sister Offered Me $16,000.
The Very Hot Marriage of Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts
A Former Pro Climber On Enduring Chronic Illness
Who’s Driving Your Uber?
Four Interviews and a Revival
This Senator Saved My Love Life
Life After Death: News About the Future of Death, Sex & Money!
Four Interviews and a Funeral
Your Inheritance Stories: When Death, Family and Money Mix
Meshell Ndegeocello Thinks Authenticity is Unsustainable
Productive Discomfort: A Job Training Program for Single Moms That Centers Mental Health
Maria Bamford on the Lucrative Nature of Oversharing
Underdogs, Training Montages and Buzzer-Beaters: When Sports Movies Got You Through It
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
The NPR Politics Podcast
Up First
This American Life
Stuff You Should Know
On Being with Krista Tippett