Play: 3 Mental Health Podcasts To Check Out
If you live in Australia and haven’t made time for ABC Conversations, it’s time. And now that Conversations comes in pod-form it’s never been easier. The hour-long interviews, along with the breadth hosts Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski offer, often result in fascinating thought and insightful reflections.
Why this pod for Mental Health Today?
The first thing that comes to mind when I think about Patrick McGorry is a phrase he often uses when talking about mental health care—“fully human”. We have more knowledge, research and scientific insight than ever when it comes to mental health and psychiatry, and while McGorry has contributed to all these areas, it’s actually his desire to encounter and consider the entire human experience—to see mentally ill people as “fully human”—that draws my attention and appreciation. He’s a national figure, an “Australian of the Year” (2010), possesses any number of qualifications, but what I find most interesting in this interview with Richard Fidler is how McGorry frames his language and care for people struggling with mental health illnesses.
One of the areas that McGorry has pioneered mental health thinking and care for the better is in youth mental health outcomes and how Australia long (adversely) forced mental health care into “physical illness paradigms”. This is a particular concern for young people as early treatment and care are paramount in reaching positive future outcomes.
To learn more about McGorry’s work assisting youth mental health, and for a clear example of how he wants wider society to think about mental health illnesses and wellbeing, check out an organisation he helped develop, Headspace:
More than 75 per cent of mental health issues develop before a person turns 25.
And yet, many traditional services aren’t equipped to address the unique barriers that young people face to accessing mental health support. Headspace began in 2006 to address this critical gap, by providing tailored and holistic mental health support to 12 - 25 year olds. With a focus on early intervention, we work with young people to provide support at a crucial time in their lives – to help get them back on track and strengthen their ability to manage their mental health in the future.
At the heart of our services is ensuring we meet the evolving and unique needs of young people and those who support them. Therefore, young people are at the centre of everything we do and they play an active role in designing, developing and evaluating our programs.
With almost 3 million occasions of service provided, we have helped thousands of young people get vital support through our 110+ national headspace centres. - Headspace
One of my favourite university lecturers suggested I check out this episode of Invisibilia back when I was researching the history of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and psychiatry. While there is heavy stuff to take on board in this pod (violent thoughts, self-harm and trauma are discussed), the effort is worthwhile in considering the important, and dare I say evolving, relationship between thoughts and individuals.
So, do you believe that your thoughts reveal who you are?
Why this pod for Mental Health Today?
What I found most helpful about this pod is what co-hosts Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller term ‘the secret history of thought’, and how this history can impact the way we think, feel and act. (Shout out to Spiegel, Miller and the team for the ep’s fascinating structure!)
By examining the “three phases of thought history”, through the experiences and learned thoughts of therapists, we start to contemplate just how varied psychology and psychiatry has been and continues to be when it comes to dealing with mental illnesses and practices. It also importantly allows everyone to think through different theories, practices and developments employed to assist patients.
Note on the ‘three phases of thought history’:
It is important to go into this pod with an open mind. The first time I listened, I was searching for ways to rubbish Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). For years I had seen a psychologist who had applied CBT practices, yet I was at a disgruntled point of thinking that CBT methods didn’t deal with underlying issues. In other words, I felt like CBT was just applying a bandaid to a gaping wound. I eventually decided that I wanted to go with traditional psychotherapy. What I later discovered was that my binary thinking was causing issues and stopping me from working with trained professionals. And this pod helped reveal and breakdown my binary attitude!
PS. Stick with the pod because it wraps with a remarkable story about the ‘locked-in man’.
This is the biggest epidemic that no one is talking about. - Thomas Insel
As director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Thomas Insel told a TED Talk audience in 2013 that every fifteen minutes there is a death caused by suicide in the United States. Insel prefaced this staggering statistic with another: 90 per cent of suicides are related to mental illness. That means that in 2019 over 40,000 people died by suicide in the US. In order to understand some of the reasons this statistic exists (and tragically grows), we need to consider the stigmas that still affect many living in silence.
Why this pod for Mental Health Today?
If treatment, therapy, medication and research aren’t discussed, and if those affected don’t feel safe sharing, then how will we break down stigma? (It took me years to understand and accept that I was susceptible to depression and anxiety disorders. For years, I refused to accept and deal because it felt like a public stain against my name.)
This podcast spans the globe and hears from a variety of learned and experienced thinkers on mental health stigma and how it affects and stops others from seeking assistance. You’ll hear from a comedian in Australia, a neuroscientist in the US, a researcher from the University of Cambridge, a journalist in Uganda and Zimbabwe, and a Ghanaian entrepreneur seeking to break down unhealthy masculinity and its effects on anxiety. What we hear from is that there are damaging stigmas all over the world that need to be examined and confronted.
I hope this pod will nudge people to consider what stigmas exist in your life.
