Episode 20: ‘Never Have I Ever’/ Conversion Disorder

Doctor Vs Comedian

On today’s episode, the guys start off by reminiscing about the career of the acclaimed director Richard Donner (1:07). They talk about his classic films including ‘Superman’, ‘The Goonies’, ‘Scrooged’, ‘Lethal Weapon’, as well as the not so classic ‘16 Blocks’ (featuring a classically bad vocal choice by Mos Def). Then Asif asks Ali about his thoughts on Mindy Kaling’s ‘Never have I Ever’ (7:25), whose second season is out now on Netflix. They talk about the excellent casting choice of the previously unknown Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. The guys discuss the diverse representation in the show and how the show depicts the idea of growing up South Asian in North America. Then Asif asks Ali about conversion disorder (aka functional neurologic disorder) which is depicted in season 1 of the show (31:12). Asif talks about the diagnosis, how it comes about and how it is NOT people ‘faking’ symptoms. The guys also reference Ricky Bobby from ‘Talladega Nights’. Asif then talks about the prognosis and treatment of the disorder.

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Music courtesy of Wataboi and 8er41 from Pixabay

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Show Notes:

• What South Asian Youth Are Saying About Devi from "Never Have Ever":
• Decade of progress in motor functional neurological disorder: continuing the momentum:
• Conversion Disorder: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29851882/
• https://www.neurosymptoms.org/en_US/
• Paralympics and conversion disorder: https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/87/2/217