Mental Health Arts Podcast: Recent Episodes
Mental Health Arts
Mental Health Arts is a year-round arts programme led by the Mental Health Foundation Scotland, built around the annual Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF). Established in 2007, the festival is one of the largest of its kind in the world and among Scotland's most diverse cultural events, covering everything from music, film and visual art to theatre, dance, and literature.
Invisible M*ther is a collaborative piece by Rebecca Livesey-Wright and Indra Wilson, commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation for the 2024 Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. The piece uses polyvocal writing techniques to to visibilise hidden maternal narratives whilst affording an element of anonymity important for preserving a safe space for both ourselves and those who are adjacent to our stories.
Premonitory Urges is a sonic exploration of the sensation experienced by Tourette’s sufferers which is an overwhelming sensation to perform a tic, an experience similar to the urge to blink. This work uses sound and voice to express this buildup and release. It also uses sine and saw waves to act as a grounding solace providing a drone underneath the vocals. Other sounds include groans and also vocalised inhales, common tics experienced personally by the artist. As the piece progresses, it transitions into a harmonious blend of choral and ambient electronic elements, culminating in a euphoric soundscape that symbolises the calming effect of sound and singing on the body.
Wax and Wane is a vocal exploration of the shifting nature of tics within the body, transforming from physical motion to vocal expressions, varying in complexity and intensity throughout the artist's life. Tics, particularly those linked with Tourette's, often diminish or become less visible at certain times of day or during different life stages. Stress can exacerbate them, while at other times, they retreat inward, becoming internal sensations only the person experiencing them can feel, yet still causing interruptions, like a subtle flutter beneath the skin.
Sit Still is a choral composition for four voices that delves into society's assumption that stillness comes naturally. It challenges the notion that movement—such as fidgeting or wriggling—is a sign of disengagement, immaturity, or misbehavior. The work draws on the artist’s reflections on her own self-criticism for struggling to achieve stillness, especially in moments when it feels most necessary.
Flutter explores the constant interruption of Tourette’s to everyday life, through small sounds as well as the shame which can be experienced when experiencing tics.A collection of erratic, arhythmic voclisations are counterbalanced by soothing lullaby-esque humming, exploring both shame and empathy. Fragments of spoken word explore the complexities of this condition alongside public perception. The work addresses the festival theme of Invisible, particularly considering masking in women (Tourette’s is often underdiagnosed in women, or symptoms are less noticeable whilst still being present).
Two of the big events at the 2024 Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival are Men Don’t Talk, a play written by Clare Prenton which tours Scotland from 18 November, and Silent Men, a documentary by film-maker Duncan Cowles which is screening as part of our Film Awards programme at the CCA in Glasgow before touring to cinemas across Scotland. Both set out to explore why men can be so reluctant to talk about mental health. Here, Duncan and Clare meet for the first time and compare notes on what they discovered.
Performing Anxiety: Nye Russell Thompson interview by Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival
Reflecting light and stillness, and the process of creativity and the essential part this can play in all of our wellbeing. Some Revolutions are ongoing, peaceful, and very quiet.This track is by Talking Heads volunteer Paul Duncan, composed in response to the exhibition Photography Revolution by Dundee-based mental health charity Wellbeing Works. Paul is a classically trained musician who is currently based in Perth and who composes music both as an outlet for his creativity and also for the therapeutic value that it brings into his wellbeing. Short examples of his compositions are on his Soundcloud page https://on.soundcloud.com/n1Nh5.
Listen to this podcast by Talking Heads volunteer Kirsty Ann-Watters, featuring an interview with koi collective members Sally MacAlister, Grace Baker, Zara Louise Kennedy, and Evie Mortimer about their new play Hysterical!. Commissioned by Live Borders for the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, Hysterical! is a free fall through a categorically inaccurate history of mad women, based on real women in real times.
As part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, the University of Glasgow hosted Rebirth and Revolution: the Life and Legacy of Mary Barnes to mark the artist and mental health campaigner’s centenary year.At the launch of the exhibition, a panel of experts gave a series of talks to contextualise her journey in art and recovery, from its beginnings at R.D. Laing’s controversial therapeutic community at Kingsley Hall, and how her legacy continues to have an influence in the present day.Listen to this podcast by Talking Heads volunteer Sarah Visser, which uses audio clips from the event to explore the long and winding road that is the history of mental healthcare and how Mary’s story can inspire the use of creativity to promote recovery.
The past few years have seen a huge increase in the number of artistic projects, from theatre and film to comedy, that explicitly address mental health. Often these projects involve the artists sharing their own traumatic experiences.In our second Mental Health Arts Network gathering, recorded in March 2022, we explore how we use the arts to explore mental health while safeguarding the mental health of artists and audiences. Our speakers are:Tamsin Griffiths and Paul Whittaker of Four in Four. Based in Cardiff, Tamsin and Paul are cross-disciplinary artists with a Mental Health diagnosis, who create participatory interactive projects that blur the boundaries of art-forms and challenge perceptions about mental health.Juliette Burton (pictured) is a comedian who has talked openly about her mental health experiences in her shows. She is an ambassador for the mental health charity Rethink Mental Illness, and has worked closely with Mind, Beat and Time To Change.Rebecca Day is a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, and founder of Film in Mind, which advocates for better mental health in the film industry and provides bespoke therapeutic services for the filmmaking community. Vikki Doig recently moved on from a job as learning and engagement manager for Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, where she mentored young people, programmed mental health workshops and worked to support a culture of care across the youth theatre sector. She is currently a member of the Mental Health Arts Network working group.Hosted by Andrew Eaton-Lewis, arts programme officer for the Mental Health Foundation.
Reclaiming Our Heritage is a Mental Health Foundation podcast inspired by its two-year oral history project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project’s aim is to record and preserve the spoken testimonies of the mental health community between the 1950s and early 2000s.
Each episode will explore themes that have come out of these spoken testimonies, and these will be further discussed by a professional guest. The full interviews by these contributors and others are available in the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive.
In this episode, Halina Rifai speaks to guest David Cutler, Director at Baring Foundation, about how stigmas have evolved over the years with the help of testimonies from the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive.
The Reclaiming our Heritage project is funded by a number of donors including an “Our Heritage” grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
This is Reclaiming Our Heritage, a Mental Health Foundation podcast inspired by its two-year oral history project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project’s aim is to record and preserve the spoken testimonies of the mental health community between the 1950s and early 2000s. The full interviews by these contributors and others are available in the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive on the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival website.
Each episode will explore themes that have come out of these spoken testimonies, and these will be further discussed by a professional guest.
In this episode, Halina Rifai speaks to guest Wendy Halliday, Director at See Me, about how stigmas have evolved over the years with the help of testimonies from the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive.
The Reclaiming our Heritage project is funded by a number of donors including an “Our Heritage” grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Content Note: Features discussion of suicidal ideation.
Reclaiming Our Heritage is a Mental Health Foundation podcast inspired by its two-year oral history project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project’s aim is to record and preserve the spoken testimonies of the mental health community between the 1950s and early 2000s.
Each episode will explore themes that have come out of these spoken testimonies, and these will be further discussed by a professional guest. The full interviews by these contributors and others are available in the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive on the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival website.
Each episode will explore themes that have come out of these spoken testimonies, and these will be further discussed by a professional guest.
In this episode, Halina Rifai speaks to guest Sean McCann, cognitive behavioural psychotherapist and lecturer, about mental health over the generations with the help of testimonies from Hugh, Dougie and Chris from the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive.
The Reclaiming our Heritage project is funded by a number of donors including an “Our Heritage” grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
This is Reclaiming Our Heritage, a Mental Health Foundation podcast inspired by its two-year oral history project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project’s aim is to record and preserve the spoken testimonies of the mental health community between the 1950s and early 2000s. The full interviews by these contributors and others are available in the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive on the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival website.
Each episode will explore themes that have come out of these spoken testimonies, and these will be further discussed by a professional guest.
In this episode, Halina Rifai speaks to guest Andrea Spink, an art psychotherapist, about the impact of art on mental health with the help of testimonies from the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive.
The Reclaiming our Heritage project is funded by a number of donors including an “Our Heritage” grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Art can be a powerful way of addressing the difficult subject of suicide, but how can it be done without sensationalising, stigmatising or triggering? This is a recording of a discussion event that took place on 23 February 2022, hosted by the Mental Health Foundation as part of its new Mental Health Art Network programme, supported by the Baring Foundation. Taking part in the discussion were:
Mariem Omari, artistic director of Bijli Productions, whose show One Mississippi is a powerful piece of verbatim theatre based on interviews with men who have been driven to attempt suicide. One Mississippi is touring Scotland in May 2022 as part of SMHAF.
Rory O’Connor, Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Glasgow and author of the book When It Is Darkest, which explores why people take their own lives.
Bex Singleton, a film-maker whose short documentary I’ll Love You Till The End sensitively examines the experience of people bereaved when someone they love takes their own life.
Michael Duke, a playwright and theatre director who is currently developing a new project about the difficulty of understanding, through notes left behind, the worlds experienced by people who have died by suicide.
Hosted by Andrew Eaton-Lewis, arts programme officer for the Mental Health Foundation.
The event image is taken from the poster for One Mississippi by Bijli Productions.
If you have been bereaved or affected by suicide, you can contact Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide. Email email.support@uksobs.org or call the helpline, open 9am to 9pm Monday to Sunday, on 0300 111 5065.
Breathing Space is a free, confidential phone service, available to anyone in Scotland, providing listening, advice and information about mental health. You can speak to a Breathing Space advisor on 0800 83 85 87.
Samaritans volunteers are there to listen. The phone line is free to call and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can speak to a trained Samaritans volunteer on 116 123.
Content Warning: Features discussion of suicidal ideation
This is Reclaiming Our Heritage, a Mental Health Foundation podcast inspired by its two-year oral history project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project’s aim is to record and preserve the spoken testimonies of the mental health community between the 1950s and early 2000s. The full interviews by these contributors and others are available in the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive on the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival website.
Each episode will explore themes that have come out of these spoken testimonies, and these will be further discussed by a professional guest.
In this episode, Halina Rifai speaks to guest Emma Jayne Park, dancer, theatre maker, collaborator and micro-activist, about the question of what is innovation in mental health arts projects with the help of testimonies from the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive.
The Reclaiming our Heritage project is funded by a number of donors including an “Our Heritage” grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
This is Reclaiming Our Heritage, a Mental Health Foundation podcast inspired by its two-year oral history project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project’s aim is to record and preserve the spoken testimonies of the mental health community between the 1950s and early 2000s.
The full interviews by these contributors and others are available in the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive on the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival website.
Each episode will explore themes that have come out of these spoken testimonies, and these will be further discussed by a professional guest.
In this episode, Halina Rifai speaks to guest Cheryl McGeachan, senior lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Glasgow, on the subject of how therapy has changed over the years with the help of testimonies from the Reclaiming Our Heritage archive.
The Reclaiming our Heritage project is funded by a number of donors including an “Our Heritage” grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Consumed is a ten minute audio work that explores the disorienting experience of eating disorder and the way in which negative, dangerous thoughts around food and the body are normalised in the media and in our society.
Blending satirical sketches, details of eating disorder symptoms and statistics, and semi-confessional spoken word fragments, this audio piece delves into the messiness and complexity of connections between control, eating and the body. As well as navigating the all-consuming nature of negative body image, Consumed addresses the capitalist consumerism that paradoxically encourages ‘not consuming’ – encouraging dieting and weight loss – in order to sell products and make profit.
Consumed was commissioned by the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival as part of My Normality, a series of artist commissions conceived in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Isla Cowan is a Scottish playwright, performer and director, currently based in Edinburgh. She specialises in creating ecofeminist work and believes in theatre that challenges both its audience and its makers.
www.islacowan.com
Photographer and writer Nikki Kilburn is interested in exploring “how identity and lived experience creates complex realities”.
Nikki was commissioned as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival's My Normality project to create a collection of “five empowered portraits of womxn of colour with a lived experience of racialised trauma” accompanied by an audio narrative of their voices telling their stories, in order to show “how the lived experience of racialised trauma creates othering and stigma”.
Nikki Kilburn said: “It was really important for me to remain true to the identity and style of each womxn in their portrait and spoken word narrative. We worked together to co-create how we would capture their visual representation and narrative. Each portrait was carefully created based on how each womxn wanted to tell their story and my self-portrait transforms the dehumanising racism of white supremacy into an act of power. Whilst weaving the spoken narratives together I was mindful to stay true to each womxn's individuality and elevate shared lived experience. The music, lyrics and my spoken word poem throughout the audio piece created a context for the stories to be knitted within. This process has been a beautiful, enriching healing experience for us all.”
My Normality is supported by Creative Scotland.
In this episode of Mind Matters, Michael McEwan speaks to writers Sasha Greene, the Scottish author of Something Like Happy which explores mental health, and Angela McCrimmon, author of Can You Hear Me Now?: Finding My Voice in a System that Stole It, about writing and mental health.
Michael McEwan speaks to Janine from the Well Happy Band and singer-songwriter Michelle Connolly in this podcast for the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2021.
Amble Skuse is a composer and violinist whose chronic fatigue syndrome has meant that she mostly worked from home long before lockdown. She has created an improvised musical piece that explores how isolation can cause a “looped psychological experience”.
To make the piece, Amble created software that enabled her to scan her own brain waves using an EEG sensor and send the voltage of the brain waves to her computer. The performance was then shaped by her own responses as she listened to it, in a creative feedback loop.
Amble explains: “The sensors are connected to processors, including delay, loop time, reverb and distortion. As I improvise, my subconscious reactions to my sound generates the processing. As I hear the processing, I will then have further reactions which produce further processing. The sound that I create in the improvisation is a combination of my conscious intention (violin) and subconscious interpretation (EEG processing). The piece demonstrates that we are a combination of intention and subconscious interpretation in all our interactions.”
“The recording includes fragments of a poem – which you can read in full below – that Amble wrote while living in a camper van in the Western Isles during a long period of stormy weather. “The wind was so violent I hadn't been able to sleep for days and days,” she recalls. “It felt as though the wind and the birds were inside my head, swirling and swooping, chattering and clattering. The poem reflects how my mind feels when the ME hits and my brain is no longer able to be calm and focussed, but jitters around by itself.” The result is a powerful illustration of how, as Amble puts it, “our isolation causes our own world view to influence our behaviours without external perspectives”. The recording on this page is just one possible version of the piece, which is generated differently every time Amble plays it, depending on her mental state.
“The piece tried to reflect the circular nature of isolated thought, and a jittered mind, shattered by fatigue,” she says. “In itself that is a hard thing to create as when my mind is at its most jittery I am most unable to connect the electronics and perform the piece. There is something ironic about trying to share the jittered mind space when what that mind needs is rest. I think that is the learning point for me - that communicating the fractured points of ME using technology actually requires me to function well enough to use that technology in the moment, and to create a piece whilst in a difficult mindset.”
Hosting a one-off, World Mental Health Day-themed spotlight conversation on student mental health, Reena Staves from Think Positive is in conversation with Sally Nimmo, a See Me Youth Champion, to discuss how use of the arts has provided some semblance of solace during COVID-19.
In Episode 2 of Mind Matters, host Michael McEwan leads a conversation on how people on Scotland are experiencing lockdown. He is joined by Stuart James, who hosts a show at East End Community Radio in Glasgow, and William Rae, who is currently shielding in Aberdeen.
In this first episode of Mind Matters, journalist Michael McEwan's guests are Nick Jedrzejewski, Communications Manager with See Me Scotland, and Michael Byrne, Managing Director of Lived Experience Trauma Support (LETS).
Michael and Nick discuss See Me Scotland's recent campaigns such as Pass the Badge and the ramifications of lockdown on mental health. Michael Byrne shares insights into his personal mental health journey, how receiving a diagnosis was key to his recovery, and the work done by LETS.
Nina Abeysuriya presents Being On The Inside, a new podcast which addresses mental health issues. In the first episode, produced for the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival and Mental Health Awareness Week, Nina spoke to Tamar, an Edinburgh based belly dancer, teacher, choreographer and performer, about body acceptance.
In this episode of Talking It Over, hosts Nicole Bell and Iain Mitchell are joined by Frances Simpson, Chief Executive of Support in Mind Scotland, to discuss Crazy, the Feature Documentary winner at SMHAF 2018.
After eight years in the mental health system, Eric takes the decision to exercise control over his treatment for schizophrenia. What follows is an intense struggle with the law, his doctors and his family, as he strives to find his own path to wellbeing.
The podcast explores the vital issues the film raises around human rights and stigma, how Eric's experiences compare with those of people living with schizophrenia in Scotland and the work that is being done here to support people with long-term mental illnesses.
Talking Heads reporter Michael McEwan interviews Darren McGarvey, aka Loki, the Scottish rapper, about his new book Poverty Safari and what it has to say about inequality and mental health. Loki was speaking after a special spoken word and music event based on the book at Paisley Central Library, held as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival.
Talking Heads reporter Michael McEwan spoke to representatives from Paragon Music, who are hosting mindfulness drumming workshops as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. They discuss how drumming can help with your mental health and why the organisation's ethos is an ideal fit for the festival. Features interviews with Charlotte Gibson, Communications Manager & Programme Coordinator at Paragon Music, workshop participant Rory and workshop leader Gameli Tordzro.
Podcast series Talking It Over with Support in Mind Scotland is back for this year's festival. Hosts Nicole Bell and Iain Mitchell present more fun and fascinating conversations inspired by the festival programme and issues relating to mental health.
In the first episode, they speak to the Mental Health Foundation's Arts Lead Andrew Eaton-Lewis about the theatre programme, before having a discussion about The Mental Show and how it creates an engaging and moving piece of theatre about bipolar disorder, using music, anecdotes and medical notes.
Jassy Earl chats with Dan Proverbs, founder of the campaign Brothers in Arms, and Duncan Cowles, a documentary filmmaker currently working on his first feature Silent Men, in this podcast from the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2017.
They discuss men's mental health, the barriers which inhibit men from opening up and the ways in which we can begin to talk and find other ways of talking about feelings, emotions and what goes on in our heads, during times of good and bad.
Jassy Earl is a photographer, videographer and performance maker. At the core of her practice is an emphasis on people, stories and the human experience, working with people, children and communities. Most recently she is interested in grief, loss and the dialogues we have around death, particularly with young people. To find out more about her work, visit her website.
Brothers in Arms: www.brothersinarms.co.uk Duncan Cowles: www.duncancowles.com / http://relfilm.com
Music: 'Bermuda Triangle' by Liam Chapman and Prehistoric Friends prehistoricfriends.bandcamp.com
"There was a recurring theme of escaping, escaping in some ways the prison that mental illness can become for some people."
In Looking Closer, Nicole and Iain from Support in Mind Scotland travel up and down the country speaking to people involved in exhibitions at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2017. This podcast features interviews with SMHAF Highland partner organisations, who hosted exhibitions at The Bike Shed, Inverness; and The Stafford Centre, SiMS' own community resource in Edinburgh. They also discuss artworks from Out of Sight, Out of Mind and Duvet Day, a physical exploration of depression by C&O Dance Theatre.
In Looking In: Experiences Through the Ages, Nicole and Iain discuss two multi-arts events at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival: Six O'clock in Princes Street and Neu! Reekie!
Named after the famous Wilfred Owen poem, Six O'clock in Princes Street was a night of poetry and performance in the stunning setting of Edinburgh Castle's Great Hall. Exploring veterans' experience with trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, it was led by NHS Lothian, Scottish Poetry Library, Strange Town and Veterans First Point.
Popular spoken word night Neu! Reekie!, curated by Kevin Williamson and Michael Pedersen, took place in partnership with Dundee Literary Festival at Bonar Hall. Featuring novelist Jenni Fagan, presenting her short film Bangour Village Hospital, Loki, the Scottish rapper, guitarist Craig Lithgow, and Kevin Williamson and KiXX Collective performing a racy retelling of Robert Burns' Tam O'Shanter, it was a memorable evening.
You can watch material mentioned in the podcast here:
Jenni Fagan, Bangour Village Hospital: https://player.vimeo.com/video/219761618 Loki: https://www.youtube.com/user/misterloki100
Talking It Over is a podcast series produced as part of the Talking Heads project at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival by Nicole Bell and Iain Mitchell from Support in Mind Scotland. Find out more by visiting their website: https://www.supportinmindscotland.org.uk/
You Matter Always brings young people and professionals together to share ideas on how arts and culture can positively impact mental health and wellbeing. Talking Heads reporter Jo Osborne hosts this discussion after a brainstorming session at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival to develop ideas for the You Matter Always programme for Scotland’s Year of Young People in 2018. The discussion featured: Suzanne Beins, creator of You Matter Always; Alan Clark, Project Manager at Create Paisley; Reuben Millward from RAMH; and Sophie Paterson, a 13-year-old filmmaker whose short film Patience won first place at St Matthew’s’ silent film competition during the festival.
The focus is firmly on theatre and how the stage acts as a platform for representing mental ill health in this podcast. Nicole Bell and Iain Mitchell of Support in Mind Scotland speak to Andrew Eaton-Lewis, arts lead at the Mental Health Foundation Scotland, Mark Lockyer, writer and performer of Living with the Lights On, and Support in Mind Scotland colleague Laura Gulliver about AJ Taudevin's political cabaret Hysteria!
This podcast was produced as part of Talking It Over... with Support in Mind Scotland, as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival's Talking Heads project.
In this Talking Heads podcast, reporter Michael McEwan interviews some of the filmmakers involved in Dykebar & Me, a short film which screened at St Matthew's in Paisley during this year's festival. They discuss the impact the film has been having in challenging mental health stigma across Renfrewshire, and the effect it has had on their own lives.
Michael McEwan has a learning disability and is a motivational speaker who talks about challenge, stigma and his own experiences finding employment. He previously worked for the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disabilities (SCLD), presenting to organisations including the Scottish Government and the National Autistic Society. Find out more on his website: http://www.michaelmcewanmedia.webs.com/
Talking Heads reporter and freelance journalist Michael McEwan interviews some of the people involved in Making Our Mark, an inclusive event at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, showcasing work from community arts projects in Renfrewshire, including Limelight Music and Dirty Feet Dance company.
Michael has a learning disability and is a motivational speaker who talks about challenge, stigma and his own experiences finding employment. He previously worked for the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disabilities (SCLD), presenting to organisations including the Scottish Government and the National Autistic Society.
Find out more on his website: www.michaelmcewanmedia.webs.com.
Paula McGuire, 'the world's least likely adventurer', shares her experiences at arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017. For more information about Paula visit www.paulamusttryharder.co.uk
Theatre-maker Skye Loneragan performs an extract from her new show Though This Be Madness at The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017. www.skyeloneragan.com
Founded by psychiatrist Dr Akeem Sule and neuroscientist Dr Becky Inkster, Hip Hop Psych describes itself as ‘the interface that links hip-hop music and culture with mental health’, using its founders’ medical credibility and passion for hip-hop to cultivate awareness, empower others and remove stigma surrounding mental health and hip-hop. This is a recording of Dr Sule's presentation at arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017.
How do we make arts events more accessible to people living with social anxiety? Emma Jayne Park, associate artist for the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, Mental Health Foundation arts lead Andrew Eaton-Lewis, 'unlikely adventurer' Paula McGuire, and Fiona Couper of National Autistic Society Scotland explore some ideas, from Harry Giles’ Chill Out Corner (pictured)to dance performances in people’s living rooms. Recorded at arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017.
Can the arts and social justice campaigning happily co-exist? Jenny Edwards, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, discusses the issue with filmmaker Fran Higson, Halina Rifai of feminist collective TYCI, and Emma Jayne Park, associate artist for the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. This was the closing session at arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017.
What does it mean to be mentally healthy in the midst of so much anxiety-inducing political and cultural turmoil? And what can artists do to help? Kevin Williamson of Neu! Reekie!, Linda Irvine of NHS Lothian, playwright Lynda Radley and poet/playwright Tawona Sithole discuss mental health in the age of Brexit and Donald Trump. Chaired by leading cultural critic Hannah McGill. This discussion took place as part of arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017
Is it possible to adopt a more mentally healthy attitude towards our own deaths, and the deaths of those we love? Andrew Eaton-Lewis puts the question to Angie Dight of Mischief La Bas, creator of Festival of Ian Smith: A Celebration of Death, Stephanie Katie Hunter, producer of After Words, a new theatre show about the role 21st century technology plays in the grieving process, and Julie Cameron of the Mental Health Foundation, in a discussion recorded at arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017.
No songwriter has ever described depression with the eloquence and empathy of Leonard Cohen. In tribute to great man, who died in 2016, life-long Cohen fans Adele Bethel (former frontwoman of Scottish band Sons and Daughters), poet Sean Hunt, and Gail Aldam of the Mental Health Foundation compare notes, as part of arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017.
What happens when close relations are lead characters not only in your private life, but also feature in your work? Award-winning filmmakers Karen Guthrie (pictured on the poster for her film The Closer We Get), Theresa Moerman Ib and Lucie Rachel join Flore Cosquer of the Scottish Documentary Institute to explore the emotional impact of creating a probing family portrait for the public eye. Chaired by Richard Warden, film lead for the Mental Health Foundation. This discussion was recorded at arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017.
Often misunderstood and misrepresented, trigger warnings can be vital for people who have experienced trauma. But is it actually possible to predict what will trigger someone when organising an arts event? Mental Health Foundation film lead Richard Warden, theatre director Jen McGregor and clinical psychologist Dr Simon Stuart share their experiences with cultural critic Hannah McGill, in a discussion recorded at arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017.
Talking Heads reporter Jamie Goodwin produced this podcast at Strictly Recovery: Time to Dance, a fun participatory event at Recovery Fest in Renfrewshire, demonstrating how dance can contribute to mental health, wellbeing and recovery.
Interviews:
Colin Turner: Recovery Development Worker, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (RHSCP)
Jackie Heron: Day Services Manager, RAMH;
Rowan Anderson: Planning and Development Officer, Renfrewshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership
Debbie Jones: Vice Chair and Co-Founder, Sunshine Recovery Cafe
Iain Risk: Committee Member, Sunshine Recovery Cafe
Stephen Houston: Chairman and Co-Founder, Sunshine Recovery Cafe.
Links:
RAMH: http://ramh.org
Renfrewshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership: http://www.renfrewshireadp.co.uk/home.aspx
Sunshine Recovery Cafe: https://www.facebook.com/Sunshine-Recovery-Cafe-836397306404658
Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (RHSCP): http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/integration
Here is a simple song based on my feelings about the grief I have experienced. I hope that if you listen to it you will identify with it in some way, as nearly all of us have been through some kind of grief or loss in our lives.
My intention is that if you are thinking of going to watch the Good Grief short films, this song will resonate with you in some way and encourage you to see them. I believe they will address this difficult and often taboo subject in a moving yet helpful manner.
Good Grief is a programme of short films curated by filmmaker Theresa Moerman Ib, taking place at 7pm on Saturday 29 October at Edinburgh Printmakers as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival.
Follow this link for more information and booking details: https://www.mhfestival.com/events/962-good-grief
The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination.
This session from Dust 2016, at the CCA in Glasgow on Wednesday 20 April, asked the question: how does the built environment around us impact on our health, and how should architects take this into consideration? The panel consisted of architect Richard Murphy (whose firm Richard Murphy Architects has designed two residential dementia homes and an 80 bed mental health facility); architectAndy Law of Reiach and Hall architects (responsible for the award-winning Maggie’s Centre in Lanarkshire); and Angus Farquhar of the groundbreaking arts organisation NVA (whose projects include the Hidden Gardens at Tramway in Glasgow). The event was chaired by Jackie Sands, Senior, Arts and Health, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and presented in partnership with Festival of Architecture 2016.
The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination.
Producer Samuel Goldwyn shot down a proposed social purpose film with "If you want to send a message, use Western Union." Although it's now posts and tweets instead of telegrams, does the idea still hold for cinema: more pleasure, less preachy? And even if we agree that films make a difference in combating mental health stigma, is that best done through documentary or drama?
Discussing these questions at Dust 2016 - at the CCA in Glasgow on Wednesday 20 April - were director and educator Kate Burton, recently involved in the young person's mental health drama Talk It Out; Sonja Henrici, co-director of the Scottish Documentary Institute and producer of the festival hit Seven Songs for a Long Life (shot at Strathcarron Hospice); Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch, who won a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival with God Help the Girl; and filmmaker / visual artist Ruth Paxton, whose exploration of a Glasgow man's depression and suicide, Pulse, was a winner at the 2015 London Short Film Festival. The session was chaired by Richard Warden, film lead for the Mental Health Foundation.
The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination.
This session from Dust 2016, at the CCA in Glasgow on Wednesday 20 April, was a discussion around the National Theatre of Scotland's Eve/Adam project, a double bill of theatre shows exploring transgender lives – Eve, a very personal, reflective show by playwright Jo Clifford (pictured), and Adam, the true story of an Egyptian trans man’s journey to self-discovery, directed by Cora Bissett (Glasgow Girls, Roadkill).
The negative impact of stigma and prejudice on the mental health of transgender people is well documented, and the Mental Health Foundation is working with the National Theatre of Scotland to document transgender life stories in a positive and empowering way. Here, Jo Clifford and Cora Bissett talk about the project with Vic Valentine of the Scottish Transgender Alliance and Alison Wren from LGBT Health & Wellbeing.
The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination.
This session from Dust 2016, at the CCA in Glasgow on Wednesday 20 April, was a discussion around the question: ‘how do we talk to children about mental health, and what can artists do to help?’ It was chaired by Fiona Ferguson, creative development director for Imaginate, with Deborah Malcolm (author of Meh, a children’s book about depression), Rob Gallagher of Impact Arts (which runs art therapy courses for children), art therapist Alison Peebles, Red Bridge Arts creative director Alice McGrath (currently producing Titus, an acclaimed children’s show that addresses mental health) and child psychotherapist Andrew Dawson.
(NB: In the interests of clarity, the Andrew referred to by Fiona Ferguson at the beginning of the session is not panellist Andrew Dawson but Andrew Eaton-Lewis, arts lead for the Mental Health Foundation.)
The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination.
This session from Dust 2016, at the CCA in Glasgow on Wednesday 20 April, was a discussion around One Thinks of It All as a Dream, a new play by Alan Bissett about the life of Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd. Ahead of the play's premiere at the tenth Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. psychiatrist Dr Peter Byrne and writer/broadcaster John Cavanagh discuss some of the myths and misconceptions around Syd Barrett's life, while director Sacha Kyle and actors Andrew John Tait, George Brennan and Kieran Baker preview a short extract from the show.
The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination.
This session from Dust 2016, at the CCA in Glasgow on Wednesday 20 April, brought together speakers from three projects that use visual art to address mental health issues – Out of Sight Out of Mind, an annual exhibition by 100 artists with lived experience of mental illness, that takes place as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival each October; The Clinic, a group exhibition showing as part of the 2016 Glasgow International festival of visual art that explored pseudo-sciences and the diverse ideas that surround them; and Broken Grey Wires, a contemporary art organisation exploring 'mental health, philosophy, psychology and everything in between'. The discussion was chaired by art critic Moira Jeffrey.
DECLARATION took place at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow from 3-6 March. The festival was the result of a unique partnership between NHS Health Scotland, the Mental Health Foundation, the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) and the Centre for Health Policy at the University of Strathclyde.
The programme featured 30 events - a mixture of film screenings, performances, debates, workshops and provocations, each one inspired by one of the 30 articles in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with a focus on how human rights and the right to health come alive in Scotland today.
Article 28: Right to a Social and International Order
The UK government is planning to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights. While First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has vowed to block the move in Scotland, the plan has provoked a huge, ongoing debate about how human rights are best protected. We gather together a panel of experts to debate the issue – and consider what replacing such an important piece of human rights legislation could mean in general and also for our right to health in Scotland.
Chaired by Joyce McMillan, theatre critic, journalist and campaigner for democracy and human rights, the panel also features Naomi McAuliffe, Amnesty International's Programme Director in Scotland and Dr Iris Elliot, Head of Research and Policy at the Mental Health Foundation.
DECLARATION took place at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow from 3-6 March. The festival was the result of a unique partnership between NHS Health Scotland, the Mental Health Foundation, the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) and the Centre for Health Policy at the University of Strathclyde.
The programme featured 30 events - a mixture of film screenings, performances, debates, workshops and provocations, each one inspired by one of the 30 articles in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with a focus on how human rights and the right to health come alive in Scotland today.
Article 6: Right to Recognition as a Person Before the Law
What impact does it have on your life, particularly your health and wellbeing, if the gender you live as is not recognised in law? Nathan Gale is a trans queer disabled artist, activist and lawyer. They worked as policy officer for the Scottish Transgender Alliance for three years before moving on to undertake a law traineeship with the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service. Nathan identifies as non-binary and will lead a panel discussion on legal rights for people who identify other than as men or women. Also speaking on the panel are Jennie Kermode, journalist and Chair of Trans Media Watch, and Jai McAllen.
Join host Nicole Bell in conversation with film journalist, Eliza Jorn, for the final episode of the Expressions series of podcasts as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival.
This episode examines film more broadly as a platform for the representation of mental health with discussion on a selection of three films ('Mental', 'Rocks in My Pockets' and 'I Am Tom Moody') which featured as part of this year’s Festival.
The films 'Mental' and 'Rocks in My Pockets' can be purchased online and the animated short 'I am Tom Moody' can be accessed on the director's Vimeo page, here:
https://vimeo.com/45281618
In light of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival’s screenings of Still Alice in two regions this year, host Nicole Bell speaks to Dr Maggie Ellis, a Fellow in Dementia Care at the University of St Andrews, for the second episode in her Expressions series of podcasts.
The episode examines how dementia is represented in the film and the role of film as a platform for the representation of dementia.
In light of the comedy performances and workshops taking place as part of SMHAFF, listen to the first episode in the Expressions series of podcasts with host Nicole Bell and comedian guests Michael Grieve and Hannah Rodgers. This episode examines the relationship between comedy and mental health for those performing and the wider implications of comedy as a platform for discussing mental health. To take part in a comedy workshop as part of SHMAFF, look here.
Hear Talking Heads reporter Andy Revill speak to Michael John McCarthy about his chosen record and what the Turntable project is all about. The podcast was recorded at an event at the Sunshine Recovery Cafe in Paisley.
Jenny Lindsay's poem Today is a brave, candid and moving description of living with depression, which she has performed at two events presented by the Mental Health Foundation - The Dust of Everyday Life conference at the CCA in Glasgow in March 2015, and Rally & Broad's Because the Night show during Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2015.
You can read more about Jenny at http://rallyandbroad.com/about/
Photograph by Simon Baker.
On 26 March 2015 the Mental Health Foundation staged The Dust of Everyday Life, a conference at the CCA in Glasgow designed to ask challenging questions about the relationship between mental health and the arts. The findings will help to shape future editions of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, as we prepare for our tenth programme in 2016.
The Dust of Everyday Life consisted of a series of panel discussions touching on film, TV, theatre, photography, and writing, as well as stigma, social justice and raising awareness.
This is a recording of our session on photographry, A Picture in Mind: Saying a thousand words without promoting stigma, in which we asked: how does the visual image help us to communicate the reality of mental ill health without reinforcing stigma? How are people using new media and traditional methods to tell their stories and address stigma? And what’s the alternative to the ‘headclutcher’ image for news reportage?
The panel consisted of Graham Miller (documentary photographer and founder of Photohonesty), Alex Hewitt (photographer and picture editor) and Alison Kerry (head of media, Mind). It was chaired by Chris O’Sullivan (policy and development manager, Mental Health Foundation).
On 26 March 2015 the Mental Health Foundation staged The Dust of Everyday Life, a conference at the CCA in Glasgow designed to ask challenging questions about the relationship between mental health and the arts. The findings will help to shape future editions of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, as we prepare for our tenth programme in 2016.
The Dust of Everyday Life consisted of a series of panel discussions touching on film, TV, theatre, photography, and writing, as well as stigma, social justice and raising awareness.
This is a recording of our session on the life and work of theatre-maker Adrian Howells, who died in 2014.
The panel consisted of Deirdre Heddon (Professor of contemporary performance, University of Glasgow, Nic Green (theatre-maker) and Farida Mutawalli (BACP accredited counsellor). It was chaired by Joyce McMillan (theatre critic and cultural commentator, the Scotsman)
On 26 March 2015 the Mental Health Foundation staged The Dust of Everyday Life, a conference at the CCA in Glasgow designed to ask challenging questions about the relationship between mental health and the arts. The findings will help to shape future editions of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, as we prepare for our tenth programme in 2016.
The Dust of Everyday Life consisted of a series of panel discussions touching on film, TV, theatre, photography, and writing, as well as stigma, social justice and raising awareness.
This is a recording of our session on writing, which asked the question: from memoirs to creative fiction, what role can writing play in overcoming mental health issues?
The panel consisted of Gail Porter (writer, TV presenter and health campaigner), Duglas T Stewart(singer-songwriter, BMX Bandits), Michael Rowe(associate professor, department of psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine)and John McCormack (Scottish Recovery Network). The panel was chaired by Mark Brown (editor of 1 in 4 magazine)
On 26 March 2015 the Mental Health Foundation staged The Dust of Everyday Life, a conference at the CCA in Glasgow designed to ask challenging questions about the relationship between mental health and the arts. The findings will help to shape future editions of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, as we prepare for our tenth programme in 2016.
The Dust of Everyday Life consisted of a series of panel discussions touching on film, TV, theatre, photography, and writing, as well as stigma, social justice and raising awareness.
For the closing session, rather than plan anything in advance we invited the audience to direct the discussion, with occasional responses from Lee Knifton (head of Mental Health Foundation Scotland), Judith Robertson (programme director, See Me) and Dr Peter Byrne (consultant psychiatrist and visiting professor at University of Strathclyde). The session was chaired by Andrew Eaton-Lewis from the Mental Health Foundation.
On 26 March 2015 the Mental Health Foundation staged The Dust of Everyday Life, a conference at the CCA in Glasgow designed to ask challenging questions about the relationship between mental health and the arts. The findings will help to shape future editions of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, as we prepare for our tenth programme in 2016.
The Dust of Everyday Life consisted of a series of panel discussions touching on film, TV, theatre, photography, and writing, as well as stigma, social justice and raising awareness.
This is a recording of our session on film, The Myth of the Mad Genius, which explored stigmatising depictions of creatives in cinema, and how filmmakers might move beyond the usual types and tropes.
The panel consisted of Dr Peter Byrne (consultant psychiatrist and visiting professor at University of Strathclyde, Hannah McGill (critic and former director of Edinburgh International Film Festival)and Emma Davie(documentary filmmaker and programme director, Edinburgh College of Art). It was chaired by Richard Warden (filmmaker and film curator at Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival).
On 26 March 2015 the Mental Health Foundation staged The Dust of Everyday Life, a conference at the CCA in Glasgow designed to ask challenging questions about the relationship between mental health and the arts. The findings will help to shape future editions of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, as we prepare for our tenth programme in 2016.
This is a recording of the opening session, in which we marked the tenth anniversary of the Glasgow Girls campaign by looking back at how a group of Drumchapel schoolgirls helped transform perceptions of a stigmatised community, and asking what other campaigners, and storytellers, can learn from them.
The panel consisted of Amal Azzudin (one of the Glasgow Girls, now working for the Mental Health Foundation), Cora Bissett(creator of Glasgow Girls the musical), Brian Welsh (director of Glasgow Girls the TV drama) and Lindsay Hill (director of the Glasgow Girls documentary). The session was chaired by Joyce McMillan (theatre critic and cultural commentator, the Scotsman).