Kati: Hey Everybody! Today I'm sitting down with Hannah Hart
Hannah: Hello!
Kati: to talk about mental health and gender
Oooh
Hannah: ahhh!
Hannah: I think it's a valid point to enter a discussion about mental health
but also discuss gender
because I feel there's kinda a lot of barriers between
men, and taking care of their mental wellness
as it's often perceived as this kinda form of feminine weakness.
Kati: Totally! And I think that that
honestly has been difficult for men to reach out
because, it's not seen as the manly thing to do
and then on the flipside
I think women, and this is just my hypotheses
based on what I've read,
then women are marked like oop!
they had it!
They had it
but, um in all actually we're just reaching out for help
like at a ten to one basis to men.
Hannah: So I have a question,
As I've entered Hollywood I've noticed a lot of people spend a lot of time
and money, and energy thinking about their bodies and their relationships with their bodies
Now, I've always kinda thought that like, to be honest eating disorders was kind of a consequence of women
feeling self-conscience about themselves
but, now that I live here, I kinda think that some men may have troube with that too!
Kati: yeah
Hannah: is there any truth to that?
Kati: Yeah, there definitely is
and the, um, interesting thing is we had a new DSM come out
for those of you who don't know what the DSM is
it's just like the diagnostics bible for mental health clinicians.
It's not the end-all-be-all!
The DSM came out two years ago
a new one, first time in ten years,
and they added in Binge Eating Disorder
to it, as a diagnosis,
Now, I know that it's been going on forever and every since when I was in school
but, they finally added in as a diagnosis and because of that
we've found that over 40% (forty per cent) of those who struggle with Bing Eating Disorder
are men.
Hannah: Woah! Ugh! I'm checking myself right now
because I probably literally
I've never thought about binge eating and the relationship to men
Though, if I think about people
that Ive known in my life,
you know; the image of a guy just kinda standing blankly in front of a fridge
I would even think about that as binge eating.
Kati: Yeah. Or like their carbo loading because they're going to work out like that
There's a difference between what we consider in the past
as "manly" or "OK for men to do"
it's OK for men to drink tons of beer and chicken wings or something
but it's not OK for women, or
Hannah: cos thenit's a disorder?
Kati: Exactly! And I think that
and I mean, this is just all us talking about this topic
but, I think it's important to recognise what stigmas we place
and what assumptions we make
when it comes to, especially eating disorders.
Kati: The next common misconception that we hear about
mental health when it comes to gender is that women are more pre-disposed to getting personality disorders
more specifically, borderline personality disorder,
uhm, and this
I'll just be short and sweet with this one
because the truth of it is
the way women deal with mental health issues is more internal.
We tend to turn in on ourselves, we ruminate
feel bad about ourselves
we take it out on ourselves
so they say that women
like if we're going to self-harm we talked about a little bit before
like, if we're gonna cut ourselves as a way of a way to cope
we're gonna end up in the hospital; we're gonna get marked down as like a borderline personality disorder.
And so, men may have the same symptoms,
but it does not express itself outwardly, so it's not getting marked down.
Hannah: Woooah!
Hold up: question?
Kati: Uh huh?
Hannah: So when you say borderline personality disorder,
Kati: Uh huh.
Errr... I, I walk me through the association with self-harm,
to borderline personality disorder.
Cos, when you say borderline personality disorder I think, like, what the guy has multiple personalities?
I just don't know what you mean!
Kati: That's OK!
It's a good question,
So, someone with borderline personality disorder struggle with attachment,
usually, it's something that occurs to us when we're younger,
a lot of people who've had PTSD as a child
won't attach to a primary care giver;
and we have, uh, like
"I Love you/I hate you/I love you/I hate you"
kind of feeling
uhm,
and I have a video I can link in the description
if you want more details about it
uhm, but because it's a very emotionally
expressive disorder,
a lot of people said it's women primarily
and, we finally come out to find that's not true.
Hannah: Wow! So... Wow, this is all so interesting!
But, also, so general!
y'know?
Kati: Yes!
Hannah: I think a lot of the reasons why we're drawn to compartmentalise
in society today because we're trying to understand things to a greater extent.
So, if the things we're saying - y'know don't resonate-don't feel right
don't sound right,
It's because they're not 100 per cent statements
because nothing is really 100 per cent statement
There are a lot people on this planet
Kati: Yeah,
Hannah: and we're just trying to understand
how to help each other
and help ourselves,
to the best of our ability.
Kati: Yeah, to make sure we're getting the help we need
and we're not lumping everyone into a bucket and saying
women are predisposed to eating disorders so,
a man that is exhibiting an eating disorder behaviour just gets overlooked.
I think the fault, honestly,
falls on professionals like myself, knowing
all the different symptomatology
and how it may, erm; you know
show itself and being able to recognise that
"Oh, that might fall into here",
"I should ask these questions"
Hannah: Right, so as a clinician, it's your job to look past your own genda bias?
Kati: Uh huh.
Hannah: when, trying to seethe best way to helping someone might be?
Kati: Yes.
Hannah: So, the last time we got together and talked, we actually talked about hormones
and stereotypes in terms of like,
women's mental and emotional imbalances do to hormones.
Katie: Uh huh.
Hannah: but, men have hormones in their body too, right?
Kati: Yeah, and they too have oestrogen and testosterone
as do women
uhm, there's just different levels, and they find that, uhm, like women,
we were talking about in the PMS (PMT in UK) video how women have a monthly
cycle of hormonal changes that shifts,
but men have it daily.
And, we talked a little about it in that video but just to reiterate
that testosterone levels rise through the night for men
and then go down after they wake up.
And at 2 to 3 pm in that afternoon is when they're the lowest and they might feel depressed,
or lethargic, or even sometimes irritable
just because of the hormone shift that has happened that day.
It's important to know that, hormones can play a role in mental health,
but it's not just a women's issue.
It's not just a woman's problem: we're not the only ones with hormones
I feel that's like a message I've definitely heard and received growing up
that....
Hannah: Growing up in our, what, horrible sex education system?
[ KATI EXHALES ]
where only 22 states provide sex education in schools
and 13 of them have it anatomically accurate?
Kati: Yes
But it does speak to the fact that we can't beat ourselves up
for not knowing this and not having the common knowledge
or thinking that all our current conceptions are true if we haven't investigated them.
Which is why it is so important that channels like yours exist
because you're bringing this knowledge, uhm, to everybody; it's easily accessible.
Kati: And I think it's important that we, as people who have experienced different things,
felt things differently,
need to talk about it!
I know I hear a lot from men viewers that they struggle with borderline personality disorder
or eating disorders and know that you're not alone and that doesn't make you weird
or wrong,
Uhm, as for women, I think
The thing I want to leave all of you with is
that we reach out for help sooner.
And that's fucking awesome!
Hannah: Yeah!
Kati: The sooner we reach out the better
I know for myself, if I let myself stew
like from the moment I think "I probably should go back to see my therapist"
if that goes on for too long,
It gets harder and harder to make that appointment and get out and so,
then I end up feeling worse for a longer period of time.
So, the sooner we reach out the better and I think that's why women are more resilliant at this but
men, make the change.
Hannah: That's interesting. You know, you bringing that up
yeah men, I like that, yeah, men make the change!
WOW, I've learnt so much!
And you know what?
When In Doubt, Just Reach Out!
Kati: Oooooh... I like it
Hannah: everything's better with a limerick
Kati: You're new to my channel, and you, like Hannah and myself find mental health information interesting
and exciting don't forget to subscribe-I put out videos every Monday and Thursday
and I'll put the links to the articles that I've found
so that you can read and draw your on conclusion, because
I feel the more we educate ourselves the more talk about it
starting a conversation is the most important thing.
Hannah: Kati, thank you so much for having me; thank you so much for being here
it's just so great to have these healthy positive discussions
and I always feel like I walk away learning something.
Kati: well, thank you for taking the time to talk to us
And I will see you all next time.
[ OUT TAKES ]
Hannah: ding ding ding, ding ding ding-ding-ding!
I like to shake it of a little bit!
Kati: Uh huh!
Hannah: Ooooh!
Hannah: Not like that?
Kati: but yes like that!
[ THEY BOTH LAUGH ]
Hannah: Sounds good?
Hannah: Uhm!
Kati: [ WHISPERING ] leave with a mesage of hope and recovery
Hannah: Uhm! Leave with a message of hope andrecovery
[ KATI LAUGHS ]
Hannah: Good job!