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Infrequently Asked Questions
We strongly believe that smashing stigmas lies in the recognition of a discomfort of the unknown. When we listen to the voices of young people with lived experiences we can not only learn, but also challenge our own gaps in understanding the huge spectrum light and dark in the world of mental health. Have a listen, and then we extend an open invitation for everyone to ask us anything and be curious about things that may make you uncomfortable.
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How does having a mental health diagnosis relate to accountability or responsibility?
Have you ever used your diagnosis to avoid responsibility for something in your life or how does your feelings around that change ?
How does having a mental health diagnosis relate to accountability or responsibility?
Have you ever used your diagnosis to avoid responsibility for something in your life or how does your feelings around that change ?
How does having a mental health diagnosis relate to accountability or responsibility?
Have you ever used your diagnosis to avoid responsibility for something in your life or how does your feelings around that change ?
I guess over the years mental illness has been portrayed as something that can get used as an excuse for avoiding accountability or responsibility. And sure, sometimes it might look like that's what's happening when you don't understand what's going on for an individual that could be making it hard for them to participate in what seems to you like the simple routines of life. And maybe some individuals do learn to use it as an excuse.
But for most people, the biggest challenge is breaking the stereotype. It's hard being a working professional. When people assume that you will use your mental illness as an excuse, or when your peers assume that you got where you are because people feel sorry for you. I feel like I have to work extra hard to prove each day that I deserve my job, or whatever role of responsibility I have. And I know the stereotype pushes me to make sure that I never, ever use my mental illness as an excuse for anything.
I guess over the years mental illness has been portrayed as something that can get used as an excuse for avoiding accountability or responsibility. And sure, sometimes it might look like that's what's happening when you don't understand what's going on for an individual that could be making it hard for them to participate in what seems to you like the simple routines of life. And maybe some individuals do learn to use it as an excuse.
But for most people, the biggest challenge is breaking the stereotype. It's hard being a working professional. When people assume that you will use your mental illness as an excuse, or when your peers assume that you got where you are because people feel sorry for you. I feel like I have to work extra hard to prove each day that I deserve my job, or whatever role of responsibility I have. And I know the stereotype pushes me to make sure that I never, ever use my mental illness as an excuse for anything.
I guess over the years mental illness has been portrayed as something that can get used as an excuse for avoiding accountability or responsibility. And sure, sometimes it might look like that's what's happening when you don't understand what's going on for an individual that could be making it hard for them to participate in what seems to you like the simple routines of life. And maybe some individuals do learn to use it as an excuse.
But for most people, the biggest challenge is breaking the stereotype. It's hard being a working professional. When people assume that you will use your mental illness as an excuse, or when your peers assume that you got where you are because people feel sorry for you. I feel like I have to work extra hard to prove each day that I deserve my job, or whatever role of responsibility I have. And I know the stereotype pushes me to make sure that I never, ever use my mental illness as an excuse for anything.
For someone who has recovered from a particularly dark time - do you ever still have those really dark thoughts?
Do you feel like you ever fully recover?
For someone who has recovered from a particularly dark time - do you ever still have those really dark thoughts?
Do you feel like you ever fully recover?
For someone who has recovered from a particularly dark time - do you ever still have those really dark thoughts?
Do you feel like you ever fully recover?
I personally don't think there's any such thing as full recovery. Kind of the same way I don't think there's any such thing as a normal. Episodes of illness or dark times are different every time. The length of time between episodes might vary, the triggers might change. The way you're affected by your illness might change, because I guess you too are constantly changing. For me with every episode, I'm learning new ways to break the negative behavioural patterns. Sometimes I can do this on my own. And other times I turn to my friends and family to remind me of my own strength. And I guess the memory of light. I guess, while I don't believe in such a thing as full recovery. I know that dark times don't scare me as much anymore.
I personally don't think there's any such thing as full recovery. Kind of the same way I don't think there's any such thing as a normal. Episodes of illness or dark times are different every time. The length of time between episodes might vary, the triggers might change. The way you're affected by your illness might change, because I guess you too are constantly changing. For me with every episode, I'm learning new ways to break the negative behavioural patterns. Sometimes I can do this on my own. And other times I turn to my friends and family to remind me of my own strength. And I guess the memory of light. I guess, while I don't believe in such a thing as full recovery. I know that dark times don't scare me as much anymore.
I personally don't think there's any such thing as full recovery. Kind of the same way I don't think there's any such thing as a normal. Episodes of illness or dark times are different every time. The length of time between episodes might vary, the triggers might change. The way you're affected by your illness might change, because I guess you too are constantly changing. For me with every episode, I'm learning new ways to break the negative behavioural patterns. Sometimes I can do this on my own. And other times I turn to my friends and family to remind me of my own strength. And I guess the memory of light. I guess, while I don't believe in such a thing as full recovery. I know that dark times don't scare me as much anymore.
I’m interested in how a person befriends a mental illness, rather than thinking of it as something to be managed or overcome. For those of you who have made a friend of this part of yourself, how did you do it?
I’m interested in how a person befriends a mental illness, rather than thinking of it as something to be managed or overcome. For those of you who have made a friend of this part of yourself, how did you do it?
I’m interested in how a person befriends a mental illness, rather than thinking of it as something to be managed or overcome. For those of you who have made a friend of this part of yourself, how did you do it?
OK.. I'm answering the question on befriending a mental illness. So I think, well, I don't think I've really been able to befriend my own situation. I think there are some parts that I'm working on which are more like acceptance. And I think that's because.. when I had my last psychotic episode, I was pretty aware that some of the hallucinations that I was having, were.. not really distressing and even kind of beautiful or enjoyable, like I saw kind of flocks of birds in the sky and things like that, and heard this sort of beautiful music and I was kind of aware at the time that it was a hallucination, and that made me kind of afraid, but at the same time, I was kind of aware that not everyone was able to experience what I was experiencing in that moment. And that made me feel kind of.. kind of special. And so I remember thinking quite clearly that I didn't want to forget that feeling of..like specialness, because I knew that later on I'd been feeling much.. very different about what had happened.
So I guess, that's where I feel like I try to remember some of the positive aspects of the experience as well as the negative. At the same time, though, I think the overriding experience for me is that having a mental illness is really hard. And I sort of don't want to discount that by trying to make it seem like I'm really happy with this situation or that there's no hardship involved. And I think especially when I think about my mum's case, I think where she tries to befriend her experience of mental ill health.. that can involve a lot of denial of some of the more difficult elements, so that's why I think I probably stopped short of really befriending my own situation. But yeah, I think what I am working on is acceptance.
And I think some of the things that helped me with that is people around me who sort of see the whole picture of me and how I sort of see the world. And that really helps me to kind of accept those parts that are really difficult. My partner says that I have a beautiful brain, which is kind of something that helps me kind of feel more accepted, just as I am. And that's what I'd say about that. The end.
OK.. I'm answering the question on befriending a mental illness. So I think, well, I don't think I've really been able to befriend my own situation. I think there are some parts that I'm working on which are more like acceptance. And I think that's because.. when I had my last psychotic episode, I was pretty aware that some of the hallucinations that I was having, were.. not really distressing and even kind of beautiful or enjoyable, like I saw kind of flocks of birds in the sky and things like that, and heard this sort of beautiful music and I was kind of aware at the time that it was a hallucination, and that made me kind of afraid, but at the same time, I was kind of aware that not everyone was able to experience what I was experiencing in that moment. And that made me feel kind of.. kind of special. And so I remember thinking quite clearly that I didn't want to forget that feeling of..like specialness, because I knew that later on I'd been feeling much.. very different about what had happened.
So I guess, that's where I feel like I try to remember some of the positive aspects of the experience as well as the negative. At the same time, though, I think the overriding experience for me is that having a mental illness is really hard. And I sort of don't want to discount that by trying to make it seem like I'm really happy with this situation or that there's no hardship involved. And I think especially when I think about my mum's case, I think where she tries to befriend her experience of mental ill health.. that can involve a lot of denial of some of the more difficult elements, so that's why I think I probably stopped short of really befriending my own situation. But yeah, I think what I am working on is acceptance.
And I think some of the things that helped me with that is people around me who sort of see the whole picture of me and how I sort of see the world. And that really helps me to kind of accept those parts that are really difficult. My partner says that I have a beautiful brain, which is kind of something that helps me kind of feel more accepted, just as I am. And that's what I'd say about that. The end.
OK.. I'm answering the question on befriending a mental illness. So I think, well, I don't think I've really been able to befriend my own situation. I think there are some parts that I'm working on which are more like acceptance. And I think that's because.. when I had my last psychotic episode, I was pretty aware that some of the hallucinations that I was having, were.. not really distressing and even kind of beautiful or enjoyable, like I saw kind of flocks of birds in the sky and things like that, and heard this sort of beautiful music and I was kind of aware at the time that it was a hallucination, and that made me kind of afraid, but at the same time, I was kind of aware that not everyone was able to experience what I was experiencing in that moment. And that made me feel kind of.. kind of special. And so I remember thinking quite clearly that I didn't want to forget that feeling of..like specialness, because I knew that later on I'd been feeling much.. very different about what had happened.
So I guess, that's where I feel like I try to remember some of the positive aspects of the experience as well as the negative. At the same time, though, I think the overriding experience for me is that having a mental illness is really hard. And I sort of don't want to discount that by trying to make it seem like I'm really happy with this situation or that there's no hardship involved. And I think especially when I think about my mum's case, I think where she tries to befriend her experience of mental ill health.. that can involve a lot of denial of some of the more difficult elements, so that's why I think I probably stopped short of really befriending my own situation. But yeah, I think what I am working on is acceptance.
And I think some of the things that helped me with that is people around me who sort of see the whole picture of me and how I sort of see the world. And that really helps me to kind of accept those parts that are really difficult. My partner says that I have a beautiful brain, which is kind of something that helps me kind of feel more accepted, just as I am. And that's what I'd say about that. The end.
How do you feel when you express your challenges through art, or being creative? Does that change how they make you feel?
Does creative expression help you deal with them directly?
How do you feel when you express your challenges through art, or being creative? Does that change how they make you feel?
Does creative expression help you deal with them directly?
How do you feel when you express your challenges through art, or being creative? Does that change how they make you feel?
Does creative expression help you deal with them directly?
Ah, so I would say that I'm not a particularly creative person. And I don't think using art or...really helps me deal directly with the challenges that have come up for me. But I have found...thinking a bit more broadly about creativity...I have found it useful to think about different ways I could describe what's... what I've been through, but also be doing creative things as a group, even if those creative things aren't necessarily directly talking about what's happened has been helpful for processing things
Ah, so I would say that I'm not a particularly creative person. And I don't think using art or...really helps me deal directly with the challenges that have come up for me. But I have found...thinking a bit more broadly about creativity...I have found it useful to think about different ways I could describe what's... what I've been through, but also be doing creative things as a group, even if those creative things aren't necessarily directly talking about what's happened has been helpful for processing things
Ah, so I would say that I'm not a particularly creative person. And I don't think using art or...really helps me deal directly with the challenges that have come up for me. But I have found...thinking a bit more broadly about creativity...I have found it useful to think about different ways I could describe what's... what I've been through, but also be doing creative things as a group, even if those creative things aren't necessarily directly talking about what's happened has been helpful for processing things
When I create art, I create art for myself. It's a way of processing the world that I'm living in, and experiences that I'm going through. So naturally my mental health falls into that. Doesn't necessarily help me deal with my mental illness, but it helps me understand and make sense of what's going on. And sometimes, when I'm done, it might help me communicate to others what I can't necessarily find the words to express.
When I create art, I create art for myself. It's a way of processing the world that I'm living in, and experiences that I'm going through. So naturally my mental health falls into that. Doesn't necessarily help me deal with my mental illness, but it helps me understand and make sense of what's going on. And sometimes, when I'm done, it might help me communicate to others what I can't necessarily find the words to express.
When I create art, I create art for myself. It's a way of processing the world that I'm living in, and experiences that I'm going through. So naturally my mental health falls into that. Doesn't necessarily help me deal with my mental illness, but it helps me understand and make sense of what's going on. And sometimes, when I'm done, it might help me communicate to others what I can't necessarily find the words to express.
[no accompanying audio]
The connection between mental health and creativity is so interesting. I tend to be someone who processes in images rather than words and I do have trouble expressing myself and my experiences through verbal language. I think I tend to avoid it. When I reflect on difficult moments I've lived with my mum it's more of a heightened playback in my head, hence why I wrote, My Mum the Zombie for the site. Where I could use words like; a trance-like state, dissociated, broken and confused, frightened, grief, I chose to draw a zombie behind a wide eyed red headed girl with a badly cut fringe. I think it helps me reflect in a more complete way, all the thoughts, feelings and emotions are captured in one image and once it's out on paper its archived, I don't have to replay it in my head so much.
There are also all these details that express, at least to me, the complexity of my experience, one summer my mum cut my fringe so badly that it's become a ongoing joke between her and I twenty years later. It's the love and playfulness in our relationship, but when I did the drawing this was not something I sat and thought about, I just drew a jaggered fringe.
I do think that for me to feel any sense of relief or resolution through art it has to be very explicit, a flurry of intense pigment or brush strokes isn't right, abstraction is cathartic but it doesn't act as a way of resolution.
As for my mum, I can't tell which is the dependant, art or illness. She is a creative person by nature, studied art and learnt many skills when she was young. Now on a bad day she won't leave her room let alone express her feelings creatively.
On a good day, when she's happy and motivated she'll create and play and it seems to make her even happier yet sometimes she becomes obsessive with her projects.
It's such a positive thing for her to have this outlet but sometimes the obsession overwhelms her and becomes the trigger for an episode. She feels tormented by the notion of getting it right, a failure because she can't motivate herself to engage consistently and judged viciously in the minds of those around her.
Maybe they're not connected at all or maybe they're so tightly intertwined that her mental health and her creativity is just one big ball of brain stuff.
As a creative person myself I think it's really important to supply her with options and tools to create so when she is in one of those good moods she can have a moment of artiness.
It kind of feels like she's a little echidna rolled in a ball with her spikes out and I'm putting a crayon just beside her, for later.
I might go do a drawing of that...
[no accompanying audio]
The connection between mental health and creativity is so interesting. I tend to be someone who processes in images rather than words and I do have trouble expressing myself and my experiences through verbal language. I think I tend to avoid it. When I reflect on difficult moments I've lived with my mum it's more of a heightened playback in my head, hence why I wrote, My Mum the Zombie for the site. Where I could use words like; a trance-like state, dissociated, broken and confused, frightened, grief, I chose to draw a zombie behind a wide eyed red headed girl with a badly cut fringe. I think it helps me reflect in a more complete way, all the thoughts, feelings and emotions are captured in one image and once it's out on paper its archived, I don't have to replay it in my head so much.
There are also all these details that express, at least to me, the complexity of my experience, one summer my mum cut my fringe so badly that it's become a ongoing joke between her and I twenty years later. It's the love and playfulness in our relationship, but when I did the drawing this was not something I sat and thought about, I just drew a jaggered fringe.
I do think that for me to feel any sense of relief or resolution through art it has to be very explicit, a flurry of intense pigment or brush strokes isn't right, abstraction is cathartic but it doesn't act as a way of resolution.
As for my mum, I can't tell which is the dependant, art or illness. She is a creative person by nature, studied art and learnt many skills when she was young. Now on a bad day she won't leave her room let alone express her feelings creatively.
On a good day, when she's happy and motivated she'll create and play and it seems to make her even happier yet sometimes she becomes obsessive with her projects.
It's such a positive thing for her to have this outlet but sometimes the obsession overwhelms her and becomes the trigger for an episode. She feels tormented by the notion of getting it right, a failure because she can't motivate herself to engage consistently and judged viciously in the minds of those around her.
Maybe they're not connected at all or maybe they're so tightly intertwined that her mental health and her creativity is just one big ball of brain stuff.
As a creative person myself I think it's really important to supply her with options and tools to create so when she is in one of those good moods she can have a moment of artiness.
It kind of feels like she's a little echidna rolled in a ball with her spikes out and I'm putting a crayon just beside her, for later.
I might go do a drawing of that...
[no accompanying audio]
The connection between mental health and creativity is so interesting. I tend to be someone who processes in images rather than words and I do have trouble expressing myself and my experiences through verbal language. I think I tend to avoid it. When I reflect on difficult moments I've lived with my mum it's more of a heightened playback in my head, hence why I wrote, My Mum the Zombie for the site. Where I could use words like; a trance-like state, dissociated, broken and confused, frightened, grief, I chose to draw a zombie behind a wide eyed red headed girl with a badly cut fringe. I think it helps me reflect in a more complete way, all the thoughts, feelings and emotions are captured in one image and once it's out on paper its archived, I don't have to replay it in my head so much.
There are also all these details that express, at least to me, the complexity of my experience, one summer my mum cut my fringe so badly that it's become a ongoing joke between her and I twenty years later. It's the love and playfulness in our relationship, but when I did the drawing this was not something I sat and thought about, I just drew a jaggered fringe.
I do think that for me to feel any sense of relief or resolution through art it has to be very explicit, a flurry of intense pigment or brush strokes isn't right, abstraction is cathartic but it doesn't act as a way of resolution.
As for my mum, I can't tell which is the dependant, art or illness. She is a creative person by nature, studied art and learnt many skills when she was young. Now on a bad day she won't leave her room let alone express her feelings creatively.
On a good day, when she's happy and motivated she'll create and play and it seems to make her even happier yet sometimes she becomes obsessive with her projects.
It's such a positive thing for her to have this outlet but sometimes the obsession overwhelms her and becomes the trigger for an episode. She feels tormented by the notion of getting it right, a failure because she can't motivate herself to engage consistently and judged viciously in the minds of those around her.
Maybe they're not connected at all or maybe they're so tightly intertwined that her mental health and her creativity is just one big ball of brain stuff.
As a creative person myself I think it's really important to supply her with options and tools to create so when she is in one of those good moods she can have a moment of artiness.
It kind of feels like she's a little echidna rolled in a ball with her spikes out and I'm putting a crayon just beside her, for later.
I might go do a drawing of that...