Melbourne Arts Student Society (M-ASS) General Committee Presents
Mental Health Day May 5 2020
Hi, my name is Amelia and I have anxiety.
Hi, my name is Gemma Wise
and I used to suffer from
what could be described as quite severe levels of OCD.
Now it's more moderate.
Hi, my name is Eloise Hardy and I suffer from
clinical depression and generalised anxiety disorder.
Hi, my name is Emma and I suffer from
obsessive compulsive disorder, depression and anxiety.
Hi everyone, my name is Sophie
and I'm diagnosed with cyclothymia and social anxiety disorder.
Hi, I'm Max and in the past have struggled with anxiety
and a maladaptive personality, which means that my brain
assumes the worse sometimes about pretty much anything.
Hi, my name is Katriana
and I suffer from borderline personality traits.
How are you currently going?
Currently it's been quite tough.
My OCD is a maladaptive way
of me attempting to feel as if I have control over a situation,
or trying to ensure that a definite outcome occurs.
This feeds into my anxiety because I then mull over
every possible outcome of a scenario.
In terms of the Coronavirus,
we all have little control over what's currently happening,
and we don't know what to expect.
As a result of this, my compulsions
have increased tremendously.
My compulsions are that I have to do specific
tasks in an even amount of time.
Also, having so much time on my hands
means I have all this extra time to worry and analyse situations.
Yeah, there have been quite a few mornings
where I don't wanna get out of bed.
Just because it's been hard to find a reason
to wake up and start the day.
Look it's not all bad.
This is just a little dip in the road thats
the nature of all of mental illnesses.
There will always be situations that
cause a spike in your conditions,
but I'm in a much better situation to manage these
when they arise compared to when I was first diagnosed
about seven years ago.
That was a time when my anxiety stopped me
from functioning normally on a day to day basis.
Now it's more just about keeping tabs on when
I do notice a peak,
and then trying to work through the causing factors.
Now I'm doing a lot better than I did.
In year 11 or 12 was when my OCD was at its worse
just because of VCE and all the stress.
At the time I was seeing a psychologist
and it was lucky for me that the first psychologist
I saw worked for me.
That doesn't happen for everyone
and after a while I went on medication
and I was lucky that the first dosage and
medication that I tried worked for me.
Got rid of most of my anxiety
and eventually maybe after three years
I could get rid of a majority of my rituals.
But, yeah. Now mainly OCD just affects me socially,
its just like over-analysing things that I say,
making me say things that I don't wanna say.
Like apart from that I literally live a normal life,
and I'm much happier where I am now
compared to where I used to be.
What are some common misconceptions
within the general public about mental illnesses?
People that struggle with borderline personality traits
aren't bad people, they're not mean people.
They just have trouble regulating their emotions
and their moods.
Sometimes they have trouble with relationships,
and the best thing you can do is just try and support them
and not judge them for what they are going through.
Some people think that mental illness
is simply not real.
This is innately incorrect and we now know that
mental illnesses are complex elements
that have biological, socio-cultural and
psychological perpetuating factors.
Genetics and chemical imbalances are often at
the core of many mental illnesses
Therefore, people that are diagnosed deserve
the same compassion and respect that those
with more physical elements are afforded.
Another misconception is that people can simply
choose not to feel this way.
This is innately damaging and again, incorrect.
People might say
'go for a run and that will cure mental illness'.
However, for severe cases
medication, therapy and hospitalisation
are necessary steps for recovery,
and should not be stigmatised.
Comments such as 'go for a run'
are ultimately patronising and trivialise the experience
of those that are suffering.
Everyone's mental health
goes in waves no matter who you are.
And everyone has rough patches to their own degrees.
And I think that having a psychologist shouldn't
necessarily only be used for serious textbook cases
of depression, or anxiety, or of any other mental illness.
Because even if there's something about
your behaviour or one of your friendships
or anything even it seems trivial that you can't work out,
having someone like that to speak to
in confidentiality about anything can help.
Even if your mental health is at a 90%, it can still
help raise it an extra 5%.
Is the way that we think it's supposed to look?
So my anxiety sort of manifests in a way where
I have these really irrational fears surrounding death,
and a lot of people dismiss that as just phobias.
Because you know, they say
'Oh you're really happy and positive and smiley,
like you don't look like someone who's mentally ill.'
But I think this just goes to show that
it's so important to acknowledge that
mental health issues come in all shapes and sizes.
And all are perfectly valid.
Even if you think the things that you are struggling with
might seem unimportant or not a big deal to other people,
you can't control how you feel.
So how you feel is valid.
And it is so so important to accept that, especially right now.
I think if we can change and broaden our
understanding of how mental illness can look,
then we can broaden our conversation too.
Which will just allow us to understand
mental illness better.
And be better equipped to look for the signs,
not only in our loved ones, but in ourselves too.
The best way to get rid of some misconceptions
might be to explain a little bit more
about what OCD is.
Everybody's OCD is different,
but for me it was basically like
my brain would not stop thinking.
Every hour, every second of the day, a new thought.
I would be over-analysing every single thing I did.
Being hard on myself, like you said this wrong,
you didn't do this right.
It would also be having thoughts constantly
put into my head,
like catastrophical, disturbing thoughts
things you don't want to think,
very irrational things.
And to get rid of the anxiety and guilt
that these thoughts cause,
you, like a lot of people develop rituals.
It can be like turning a light switch on and off
a certain amount of times.
And they like build up over time,
and it just becomes a lot.
It can take you hours to do things.
It used to take me hours to do homework,
because if I wrote below the line,
I would have to erase the whole sentence,
because I thought I was going to fail my next test.
You just kind of wanna stop all the thoughts coming in,
and you wanna stop thinking about it.
You just want your brain to like stop thinking.
You can't rationalise someones fears
or anxieties to them.
When someone is anxious, or in more extreme cases
having a panic attack,
their bodies are physiologically reacting
as if there is a danger.
I like to compare it to when you feel nauseous.
You get the chills, your face grows pale
and the only thought running through
your head at that point is 'I'm going to be sick'
So you can imagine how difficult it is to
convince yourself that your anxiety is not based on a reality
then your body is telling you otherwise.
Not everyone looks like they're suffering
from a mental illness.
So you should talk to all of your friends
and make sure that they are doing okay
during the quarantine.
Which has been really hard on everyone.
Mental health is best described as
sitting on a continuum from mentally healthy
to the prescence of a diagnosed disorder.
In between these two extremes,
lies a state known as mental health problems.
You can experience poor mental health
without having a disorder.
There are many factors
that can cause our mental health to decline,
but one that is often left unspoken about
as a result of stigma and shaming is
the impact of sexual assault.
Hi, my name is Phoebe Nadaenbush.
I wanted to talk about the mental repercussions
of sexual assault and rape.
This is purely from my own experience.
So how it affected my mental health,
I had a lot of flashbacks,
and a lot of sadness and anger.
There was a lot of fatigue,
and for me it took my understanding that
it was something that never should have happened
in the first place,
but something that my body has had to deal with.
it was dehumanising, and it was a violation
of bodily autonomy.
And it was really unnatural,
and something that was sort of a shock to the system,
in terms of mental health and physical health.
How I got through it,
was by talking to people,
mental health care professionals,
my family, my friends,
reaching out to people who I knew
this has happened to, which seems like a scary thing to do
but unfortunately it's affected so many people in our community.
So there are those networks,
which are really important to reach out to.
Also for me, I found that exercise,
finding creative outlets,
whether it be yoga, or painting
baking, face-masks, netflix.
Anything to just take your mind off it.
And things just for yourself.
And it really takes time and compassion
for yourself to understand what's happening.
Which is really frustrating, but it's a long process,
and you just have to trust it eventually will get better.
Good luck in isolation.
What forms of self-care do you partake in
to maintain good mental health?
First off, recently I've been keeping in touch with my friends.
Being able to talk to them online is a huge help
cause I've always feel like I've got some support.
But the other thing I do a lot is journaling,
because I feel like you can help organise your thoughts.
You can keep all your things that are worrying you,
in one place.
And it really helps me to just keep everything organised,
and have a look back of it over different weeks
to see what I was dealing with.
I take antidepressants, as well as do things
that make me happy.
Like exercising, hanging out with my dog,
and talking to my friends.
So currently puzzles have been my best friend.
It's one thing that I currently have control over,
and it helps me focus that nervous energy somewhere.
More generally, however I do find a run is really helpful,
just because I'm able to focus my attention on the song
I'm currently listening to.
And it means I get a rest from everything else that's going on up there.
It's also great because you do get that release of
endorphins, which always leaves me feeling very chirpy.
Talking social, I'm really lucky
to have an amazing, inspiring friendship group at uni.
And having those connections, has definitely helped.
I've been trying to do something creative everyday.
So, I actually have been learning the ukelele,
not very well, but been trying.
So I've just been writing some songs, writing poems
just like little stories, things like that,
because that's how I like to express myself creatively.
And it sort of gives me a nice break.
Definitely doing things I love.
So in year 11 and 12, I played like three sports,
cause it helped kind of just distract me.
It was the thing that my brain could focus on.
But sometimes it's not always good to
push your thoughts away, especially an OCD
when you're constantly thinking every second.
And it's hard to push all those thoughts away
after a while.
I also found that going on long walks,
and just kind of in general acknowledging that
those thoughts are there.
You don't need to go really deep into them,
just let them pass by.
Then when you get back,
it's easier to focus on what you need to do.
I'm lucky enough to have been able to
for the most part overcome the illness.
But it still does affect certain aspects of my life,
and it certainly does come in waves.
And when it does, I like to take a week or two
to just chill out, and spend a lot of time with my family
and my friends, who are the people
that I can trust the most with anything.
And I like to do little things for myself and
spend time with myself doing different activities.
I'll go walks, I'll go to the beach,
and things like that just to take away
the intensity and the pace of my, otherwise very busy life.
Because those are some of the things that can set me off.
What do you wish to tell those who are
currently dealing with mental illness?
One of the best things you can do
is reach out and talk to people you trust.
They will be able to help you figure out
the best course of action,
something that will get you on the right track
to figuring out what's going to make you feel better.
Talk about it and tell someone.
Cause chatting about it can make things
a lot easier.
There are so many avenues for help.
You haven't chosen to feel this way,
however you can choose to actively participate in recovery.
Through medicare you can get 6-10 free counselling sessions,
after each GP referral.
And we also have a fantastic psych team at Unimelb
that will be more than happy to help you.
Just know that you are valid, whether you have happiness
and that there is no shame in sickness.
It's a journey,
has lots of ups and downs,
it might suck,
and there's no quick fix.
But, it is so worth it to go on that journey,
to better your mental health.
There are friends, family members, people out there
who are willing to help you.
It might be hard to reach out at first, but just do it.
Reach out to me if you have any questions or anything,
I'm so willing to try and help, to the best of my ability.
And also while there are family and friends out there
who can help you,
it's not a substitution for professional help.
Seeking professional help is very important.
If you're feeling down, or anything like that,
or you have any thoughts or feelings that you might need it
just go do it, don't hesitate.
Everybody's problems are relevant to themselves.
it's important that you prioritise your mental health,
and seek the professional help that you need.
We aren't going to be saying
'Yeah, I went for a run
and every single day I learned this instrument,
I wrote a book, I got all H1s at uni.'
It's not a productivity competition.
We're going to be looking back and saying
'We survived.'
And if that's all you do,
that is enough.
Mental illnesses are a product of the brain.
They don't reflect on you as a person,
or your strength of character.
It was when I realised this,
that I was able to embrace them,
share my story,
and not feel ashamed for having them.
Because I think that's the usual with the
stigma surrounding mental illness.
It makes us think that we are to blame for
what's going in on in our head,
and it's totally not the case.
it's just the fact that we process information
in an unhelpful way.
And if you are watching this and thinking,
I'm never going to get better,
Trust me, you will.
Take it from someone who was a firm believer at the beginning
that they weren't going to make any progress.
It does get easier to manage,
and you will gain back control over your life.
Despite the times when I'm at my lowest of lows,
in the end I would always come back
to the fact that the amazing emotions
and feelings that you get to experience by living,
outweigh all the negative ones that tell you
it's not worth it.
These moments make you stronger,
and never underestimate that strength.