Sound on for solidarity

Speaker 1 00:00

After downloading a 3CR podcast, 3CR is an independent community radio station based in Melbourne, Australia. We need your financial support to keep going. Go to www.3cr.org.au for more information and to donate online. Now stay tuned for your 3CR podcast.

Speaker 2 00:20

Brainwaves. Hear the world differently. Bringing community mental health to you, raising awareness and challenging stigma. Tune in to 3CR Community Radio, Wednesdays at 5pm.

Speaker 3 00:32

A radio program featuring community organisations powerful stories and information. Find us at brainwaves .org .au proudly sponsored by Wellways Australia

Speaker 4 00:46

I would like to begin by paying my respects to the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional custodians of the land on which I am coming to you from today. Land where at brainwaves we tell our stories, and land where the traditional custodians have told their stories for many, many years before us, and continue to tell their stories. I would like to pay my respects to elders past and present, and acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners who are listening today.

Speaker 5 01:18

Hello and welcome to Brainwaves on 3CR 855 AM, 3CR Digital Radio and on 3CR .org .au. My name is Jasmine and I'm a Brainwaves volunteer, a peer recovery worker and a lived experience advocate. I'm passionate about reducing the stigma around mental health and raising awareness of mental illness, neurodiversity and disability. We are a mental health focus show with a lived experience perspective. We will be discussing mental health here today. So if this is a general trigger, this is a general trigger warning that we will be discussing mental health issues and impacts. And just a reminder that Wellways can offer support if you need it via wellways.org and our helpline on 1300 111 500. 

Here with me in the studio are Mark and Ananya who are two of the newest members of Brainwaves and they'll be joining in on the show today for the 3CR Radiothon. Welcome Mark and Ananya.

Speaker 6 02:13

Hey, everyone. Thank you so much for having me attend my first radiothon with you all. And it's really exciting to finally, yeah, be a proper part of the team and yeah, do the show with you all. So thank you very much.

Speaker 5 02:29

Oh, thank you. Welcome.

Speaker 7 02:31

It's a pleasure to be here Jasmine, so nice to be alongside you and Mark running Radiance on with you all. My first time as well, same as Mark, so very keen to see how this goes.

Speaker 5 02:42

Fantastic. We were so happy to have you both on board. And also part of the Brainwaves family are Susie, Flick, Evan, Emma, Nerida and Meg. And Kaylen, our coordinator is here in the background. Hi, Kaylen. She's waving. So Radiothon is happening right now and 3CR is raising funds to go towards the running costs of the station. Welcome back to Brainwaves. Today we're asking for your support in this year's Radiothon. If you appreciate what we do here at Brainwaves, please consider donating by calling us at [Melbourne 03] 9419 8377 or donating online at 3cr.org.au. Our goal this year is to raise 1400. Every dollar counts and helps us continue to bring you diverse and thought-provoking content.

This year's Radiothon theme is Sound On for Solidarity. At 3CR we are proud to be a part of the broadcasting family here. Broadcasters who are passionate about social justice, human rights and environmental issues. We are home to Indigenous freedom fighters, unionists, disability activists and community campaigners who are working hard to make the world a better place. So please support Radiothon and help keep community radio alive. By donating you not only help us stay on the airwaves but you also become a part of the movement to keep Sound On for Solidarity. Thank you for listening and for your generous support. Today we thought we'd share with you what solidarity means to us when we talk about mental health.

For me, solidarity and mental health means understanding that we are all human and thus have a mental health that we must manage. We all have this in common. It is recognising that one in five Australians have a mental illness and that mental illness will touch nearly everyone in some way, whether it's through a loved one, a family member or a colleague. Solidarity means standing together and supporting those of us who are having struggles with our mental health. It's about learning about mental illness and mental health issues and being non-judgmental and accepting of those who are suffering.

It means standing together for systemic change like upholding the recommendations of the Royal Commission to Mental Health which suggests more peer-led spaces, peer roles and more rights for people experiencing distress. It means fighting for more representation of people experiencing mental illness in the media, of nuanced well-rounded accounts of people's lives, remembering that mental illness is not who a person is but just a part of their experience. Together we can make real change happen and cut through the prejudice and stigma so that everyone can feel accepted, understood and supported.

Speaker 6 05:29

You're listening to Brainways on 3CR and this is Radiothon. Pledge a donation to Brainways on 9419 8377 so that we can continue spreading the word on mental health and reducing the stigma. Dralia has one of the most concentrated media landscapes in the world. By donating, you are directly supporting a more equitable community-owned media. Keep those donations coming through. The donation number again is [Melbourne 03] 9419 8377 or donate online at 3cr.org.au .

Speaker 5 06:06

Today, we're sharing our thoughts on what solidarity means to us when we think about mental health. Mark, would you like to share your thoughts on solidarity?

Speaker 6 06:15

Yeah, thanks, Jasmine. Well, for me, solidarity in mental health is just acknowledging other people's struggle. It's pretty common that people who have been struggling with their mental health for quite some time, they might experience some skepticism from family members or partners, bosses, etc. And that could be really hurtful to the person who is struggling, especially when that skepticism is coming from people in their life that they're people that should care for them the most. And usually, it's just a misunderstanding.

But all the same, it can really sort of derail people's attempts to find the help that they need, and the support that they need to learn to manage their mental illness. And this can result in people sometimes really questioning whether they actually are struggling or if they're making it up. And that can also lead to its own set of complications. So I think for me, I always want to be the person that can acknowledge and validate people's struggles. And if needed, give them a space where they can talk about some of the things that they might not be able to talk about anywhere else.

Speaker 5 07:40

Oh, that's so, so interesting. I think about this a lot actually about how mental illness and mental health distress is really this invisible thing. You know, it's not something that is obvious to the outsider. It's not a broken leg. It's not sort of an obvious disability. It's a silent disability or a silent illness. So I think it's sometimes really hard to get that acknowledgement from other people and to be believed and kind of understood and heard. And I think a lot of people who'd be quite dismissive and obviously, you know, there used to be that attitude of like, just, you know, just get over it. Just like, you're not trying hard enough, you know, all this kind of thing.

So I think it just adds another layer of difficulty. I think people who struggle with mental health challenges is that nature of it being invisible.

Speaker 6 08:27

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think that people that when they're first talking about their struggles, and people aren't taking them seriously, or their solutions are very simplistic, because they're not really understanding how difficult it is, because they've never experienced it before, they don't have a reference point for that. And, you know, there's a there's a real sort of danger in the person that is actually struggling with their mental health to sort of gaslight themselves into thinking that, oh, you're right, there is nothing going wrong. And, you know, depending on how long that goes for, it can really consolidate into something much more severe, you know, going forward. So to me, it's always great to sort of grab it before it does get out of control.

And people, you know, don't know how to keep certain, you know, keep track of their lives and whatever that means for them, job, family, you know, partners, hobbies, whatever. So yeah, definitely.

Speaker 5 09:29

And I think, you know, it's interesting, isn't it? Cause I think a lot of it comes down to not understanding like a lack of awareness and understanding. I could, because as you said, they've never experienced it themselves. So how can they kind of fully understand what we're going through? But I think that when that comes, what you have to do in that instance is just ask, you know, ask the person, how is it for you? What's going on for you?
You know, what does it feel like? And, you know, what are you struggling with? I think we, by hearing the experienced voices in the media and in our community, I think that really strengthens this concept of understanding the individual experience of people having and just sort of hopefully diminishing the fear and the ignorance and the prejudice.

I think it's so important. I give lived experience talks to medical students who are in their sort of one of the final years and they're in this hospitals going around to psychiatric wards. And so it's, and they just find it really, I think really valuable and refreshing maybe a little bit as well, to sort of see a human just there in front of them talking about their lives. I can't deny that I'm another human being and it's sort of puts a face to the illness and hopefully just tries to like, you know, minimise their, the stigma, if any stigma they might be carrying as well. So yeah, such, such interesting, interesting ideas. Thank you so much, Mark.

Speaker 6 10:56

Yeah, no problem. Thank you.

Speaker 7 10:59

Welcome back to Brainwaves on 3CR, 855 AM. This week is Radiothon, and the number for donations is [Melbourne 03] 94198377. Help us reach our target, this Radiothon, of $1,400. If you're passionate about mental health and want to support the Brainwaves team in our mission, then please pledge a donation and help us keep producing shows to educate and destigmatize mental health.

Speaker 7 11:24

The number, once again, is [Melbourne 03] 94198377. Remember, you can also donate online at 3cr.org.au. One hour of radio costs $100 to make. You can support community-powered radio by donating.

Speaker 6 11:42

Thanks to everyone who's made a donation. Every single donation makes a difference and helps us bring us closer to our goal. Keep them coming in on [Melbourne 03] 9419 -8377.

Speaker 5 11:57

And lastly, let's hear from Ananya on her thoughts on solidarity when we think about mental health.

Speaker 7 12:03

Thanks, Jasmine. For me, I think conversations are the first step to awareness. Awareness that mental health challenges show up differently in different people. In my own personal experience, a lot of my struggles came from being different from the environment that I grew up in. I constantly felt shame for being different. And when I was vocal about being different and wanting different things, I felt alienated and like I didn't belong. This led me to constantly struggle with my emotional regulation. A few years after that, I had someone explain to me that a lot of my challenges arose from unmet needs and that all it was was that I didn't receive the proper emotional nourishment required for me to grow.

This perspective of not being watered the right way helped my understanding of myself, which in turn helped me accept myself more. And this way of thinking changed a lot of my internal dialogue and the way in the monologue within my own brain as well. And it made me realise that I was wearing a lot of costumes to hide my own pain. And that made me realise that a lot of others were also wearing a lot of costumes that were hiding their own pain in a very socially appropriate way. Over the years, I looked for different support. And when I started finally receiving support that worked for me, I realised that a lot of my personal struggles in the past were amplified by lack of support, empathy and curiosity.

A simple, why do you feel that we would have gone a long way just as Jasmine mentioned previously, that question and that curiosity would have made a lot of changes in my life. Instead, I received alienation and not feeling like I belong because we are conditioned within our society to immediately reject or shun someone who's different from what we're used to seeing. For me, I think a small way to show solidarity towards mental health is allowing a person to just be, just allowing them to be in their sadness, in their discomfort and allowing space for them to show up as they are on any given day.

A lot of masks and costumes, a lot of us wear because we don't want to face the stigma of the fact that we're struggling and a feeling like we're other or different from other people. But only speaking about it can be normalised more and more.

Speaker 5 14:25

I think definitely conversations, as you said, are the first step to awareness. That's a really beautiful, beautiful sentence that you said in the beginning there. And I also agree with you that sometimes people just need to have space held for them, you know, just to let people be as they are and but stay with them, but not try to change anything either and just allow that space for them. I think that's so powerful. And I think looking back at my recovery and my journey, the times when, you know, friends or family members would just turn up and say, you know, let's just go for a walk or let's do some cooking or let's watch a movie.

And we didn't have to talk about anything in particular, but they were just there with me, allowing me to be how I was and show up as I was. I think that was really powerful. So I think you touched on some really good points there.

Speaker 7 15:18

Definitely. I think time is valuable in so many ways, the time that we spend on our recovery, the time that we spend with other people, the time that we spend on ourselves. I think that can make such a difference to our mental health journey and just our daily mental health as well, like how we interact with it. And I think you said the exact perfect thing, that the perfect solution in this case would be just time, time in different ways, time from different people. Yeah, very insightful.

Speaker 5 15:50

Great. Thank you so much Ananya. Well, thank you so much to Mark and Ananya for coming on the show today to share your Radiothon discussions. Really great discussions there. Thank you everyone who's donated towards this year's Radiothon. We still have a fair bit of money to raise. You can keep donating all this week, so please call on [Melbourne 03] 9419 8377. From all the Brainwaves team, we want to say thank you so much. You've been listening to 3CR Community Radio on 855AM.

You can listen to podcasts of our show on the new website, www.brainwaves.org.au or on Spotify or on the 3CR website. We'll be back next Wednesday at 5pm for another episode. Keep those donations coming. I'm Jasmine McLennan and I want to remind you that your mental health is just as important as your physical health. So let's align the two together now by taking a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Please shower yourself in the kindness that you so easily give to others. I look forward to joining you next time on Brainwaves.

Speaker 8 17:02

You've been listening to a 3CR podcast, produced in the studios of independent community radio station 3CR in Melbourne, Australia. For more information, go to allthews.3cr.org.au