Hey everyone, my name's Antonia Gentry, and I play Ginny in "Ginny & Georgia".
Hi, my name's Felix, and I play Marcus in "Ginny & Georgia".
So, this season explores topics like depression, self-harm, anxiety, and identity.
Yeah, when you say it all out loud, it sounds like a lot to dig into.
Do you wanna talk about it?
Do I?
Do you?
Are we?
I think we should.
I think we will.
For me, I think self-care is the little things that make you happy.
I think it's the little things that take your stress away.
And even if it's as simple as sitting and watching TV or playing some music. For me there's those things that are kind of like easy, tangible things to do.
And then there's kind of the more-- Like, it's a responsibility.
Mm-hmm.
Like, I think going to therapy or setting healthy boundaries with people, like making sure that you are communicating around what you need.
I'm really stressed and I'm supposed to recognize when I'm stressed.
So tell me a joke.
I don't wanna think about anything serious.
Do you know that if you clean a vacuum cleaner, you become a vacuum cleaner?
Treating it as something as simple as, like, brushing your teeth every day.
Like, if someone said they didn't brush their teeth every day, it would be like, "Oh--"
"Are you okay? Maybe you should try."
Yeah. Instead of looking at it something that you like, "Ah, there's something wrong with me. I have to go to therapy."
Mm-hmm.
Phrasing it in a way that it's like, "No, it's self-care, it's hygiene."
I think it's also important though to emphasize just how hard it can be to actually motivate yourself to take those steps.
Yeah.
It's about really finding some courage within you to make yourself get up and do things that you know will help you out of your funk.
It can be something as simple as making sure you brush your teeth every day. Eat at least a meal or two.
I love my cat.
I'm-- I love my cat!
He's an amazing-- He doesn't know it, but he helps me so, so much.
In those moments where getting outta bed seems like the biggest challenge of the day.
Mm-hmm.
Taking the goals that you want to achieve through the day and bringing them into an achievable space.
Yeah.
It's like, okay, I'm gonna do something this hour that makes me smile.
Mm-hmm.
Or I'm gonna get up and brush my teeth.
I'm gonna-- I keep going to brushing my teeth. I don't know what that is.
You good?
Yeah, I mean, it's the first thing! Literally when I know I'm slipping when I don't wanna brush my teeth.
Or no, I mean, it's actually true.
The warning signs can be very subtle.
Yeah.
It's a gradual buildup and then suddenly you realize you have stopped doing all of the things that you would normally do.
Exactly.
And so yeah, I think that's a good warning sign. When you don't wanna brush your teeth.
When you don't brush your teeth.
It's like, "Nah. It's too much work."
I think it's so funny the way we talk about self-discovery.
I don't think you just arrive one day.
No.
Or maybe you do.
I haven't! Not yet.
Oh, I certainly think it's more of a journey than anything.
I don't think that you wake up one day go, "Oh, this is who I am!"
Yeah.
I think it becomes dangerous when you try to be someone you aren't because of shame.
And so they try to be someone they're not. They try to do things that they're not comfortable doing. And rather than feeling like they found it, they're even more lost.
I know that's something that I've struggled with.
If I don't feel comfortable right now with who I am or with what I'm doing, rather than being ashamed of that, let me try something that I think I would enjoy.
But that's also really hard.
You have to be able to look at yourself from, like, the third person. Yeah.
Which is so difficult.
Yeah.
And really tough.
I think it's a continual journey.
I don't think there is ever really a moment where you're like, "Okay, I'm completely secure."
Yeah.
I think recognizing it as a journey rather than something to strive for is something that helps dissuade that gremlin that sits on your shoulder and goes like this.
"You're a failure."
"You'll always--" Yeah.
Yeah.
No, I agree.
I'm pretty similar to Marcus in a sense that if I'm not doing well, I'll withdraw from everyone.
Yeah.
Especially the people I love because it's just too hard.
It's really hard to admit that I'm not doing well.
You know, I don't want to let them down.
And so it's easier to not be in touch. Through recognizing that and through doing a little bit of work on it, like trying to counteract that and be proactive and be like, "Hey, this is how I'm feeling."
Recognizing and being open and communicative is key.
It's destigmatizing. It's okay to be--
It's normal.
It's also a normal experience that a lot of people go through.
Totally! But that's, you know, the way we view the world now. You just like scroll through and people curate their best versions of themselves.
Mm-hmm.
It isn't even true.
So you are faced with like, "Ah, ah!" You know? That's what really astounds me, is that how similar everyone is.
And yet we still play into this like--
How we all still lie to each other? Yeah.
You know, and putting it up.
If the people around me and the people who love me know where I'm at, it's easier for other people to understand and to empathize and for them to share with you as well.
Yeah.
Because you can then be a support to other people in that kind of time.
You never know who in your life is there to help you unless you actually allow them to help you.
And it's important to have people who understand that and who are patient. But you also have to be patient with yourself.
I've been able to find people in my life who are very open about mental health.
It just demystifies everything.
If my friends aren't doing well, we know this.
Yeah.
We all know it.
And we are there to support in whatever way is respectful.
Mm-hmm.
But also without abandoning them.
Without shaming them.
It seems like communication is the spice of life.
Yeah.
Like I guess if people can communicate, then people can be honest.
People can be proactive.
Yeah.
At the same time, recognizing that it's really hard to communicate.
Yeah.
It's tough.
I don't want to talk.
One of the biggest challenges I've faced is. like, parenting myself.
Like no one's there to be like, "Wake up."
Yeah.
"Clean your room."
"Eat breakfast. Take a shower."
"An Oreo is not breakfast."
Yeah.
I'm like, "Why do I feel like crap? Oh it's because I'm not taking care of myself."
And so there is an array of different options out there. Whether that's therapy or self-care, like taking walks or leaning on your friends.
But I don't think it's a one-size-fits-all thing.
No.
People having advice for things like, "Oh, just take a bath. It always works for me."
"Take a cold shower."
Yeah.
"It always works for me."
Yeah, well I know that doesn't work for me!
The biggest thing for me, and the biggest shift, is that like self-care and mental health is healthcare.
Mm-hmm.
It's part of looking at your body.
Like, it's the same way as eating healthy.
It's the same way as, like, going to the gym.
It is a tangible thing that you can do.
A big fear of mine is failure.
Sometimes the-- I would rather not do things so that I just don't fail.
"If you don't do it, you won't fail."
Mm-hmm.
But then I realized that if you never actually faced those things, you're failing.
And failing is a part of life.
Can't learn without failure.
You can't learn without it.
Yeah.
And so I think for me it's just kind of reminding myself like, "Look, this is a difficult thing."
"I'm afraid of it."
"I don't want to do it, but what if!"
And you learned something.
And I learned something.
I don't really have, like, a catch-all.
I think the ones that I ascribe to, I think definitely reveal a lot about where my anxiety manifests.
Things will get hard. And I think that's an inevitability of life.
You can't have light without the shade.
But knowing when times are hard that you can get through it is an affirmation for me that helps me not like despair.
Yeah.
I feel good.
I feel inspired.
I mean, it's tough talking about mental health.
I feel embarrassed.
It's hard to be vulnerable.
I feel good after this conversation, but I never wanna walk away from a conversation about mental health thinking like, "Oh, I figured it out."
You know?
Because I don't think that's true.
That's just lying.
The goal ultimately is just to break down stigma.
The reality for many people is that life is hard.
Life goes on.
Mm-hmm.
And, you know, we all are experiencing challenges every single day.
And you're not alone in that. So.
Well, I'm not going anywhere.
Neither am I.