A future me problem

This month of November is Men’s Health Month, and so here on The Informed we are going to focus on men’s mental health briefly for this month.

We know in mental health that men account for approximately twice the amount of suicides as women, boys account for 52.5% of reported eating disorders, girls are 80% more likely than boys to seek professional support and in adulthood women 50% more likely than men, and the coping mechanisms men implement such as gambling, drug use, misuse, and abuse are not recognised by society as calls for support.

Therefore, kicking off this small series I had the great pleasure of chatting with leading men’s mental health expert Dr Zac Seidler. Zac holds dual roles as Director of Mental Health Training at Movember and Research Fellow with Orygen at the University of Melbourne.

Zac has dedicated his professional career as an academic and clinical psychologist towards the further understanding of men’s mental health and masculinity. His ultimate goal is to help reduce the staggering rate of male suicide worldwide.

This goal has lead to the fully-funded project, Men in Mind – a world first training program to help mental health clinicians better understand and respond to men’s distress and suicidality.

Over our conversation we traversed a great deal of topics in men’s mental health, from origins, stigma, help-seeking, clinical support, the inseparable role of masculinity, and the need for an approach overhaul. This chat was enlightening from assumption, we often all fall prey to, of how far we have actually come in definitions of masculinity.

In this episode we discuss general mental health and covid 19. If you or someone you know needs help in their mental health journey, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

MUSIC | Sampson

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In this episode I had the chance to speak with A/Prof Louise Freebairn and Dr Ante Prodan, who’s work is contributing to The University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre and BHP Foundation’s research Program 'Right care, first time, where you live'.

Louise is Senior Research Fellow at the Brain and Mind Centre, the Director of Knowledge Translation and Health Outcomes in the Epidemiology Section at ACT Health, and also holds an adjunct associate Professorship with the Research School for Population Health at the Australian National University.⁠⁠

Dr Ante Prodan is an independent director at Computer Simulation & Advanced Research Technologies⁠⁠ (CSART). He’s a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing Engineering and Mathematics at Western Sydney University, teaching computer simulation and is Systems Architect with Decision Analytics for the Sax Institute.

Checking back into this community shaping research Program from The University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre and BHP Foundation, we are hearing in depth about dynamic systems modelling and the key role this is playing within each community – building a decision support tool that will have predictability capabilities for each communities specific needs and challenges faced.

In this episode we discuss general mental health and covid 19. If you or someone you know needs help in their mental health journey, please contact life line on 13 11 14.

MUSIC | Sampson

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This week I spoke with Melbourne based psychologist and educator, Chris Cheers on a subject I’m sure we are all feeling to a degree in this present time; the anxiety of returning to life after lockdown.

Chris is passionate about creating accessible, accepting and safe spaces where people become empowered to live a meaningful life.

Through extensive training and lived experience, Chris has also developed an expertise in providing individual psychology services and workshops to artists and creatives, and the LGBTIQ+ community.

Part of his passion is making psychology accessible and understandable through commentary in media and social media.

Chris is an endorsed Educational and Developmental Psychologist and board-approved Supervisor. He has also developed an expertise and interest in sexuality and gender development, completing specialised training in supporting LGBTQI+ clients across all ages.

Chris is also a member of the Australian Professional Association for Transgender Health (AusPATH) and the Australian Association of Psychologists Incorporated (AAPi).

I know that today’s topic was one requested by many a few months ago when I put out a poll. Since then, here in Australia, we have entered and are, some of us, exiting an arduous lockdown.

With numerous restrictions, health warnings, safety regulations, and 11am press conferences, there has been a subliminal fear instilled within us to the dangerous of sustained, un-masked, face-to-face interaction.

Now, given we have some restrictions eased and there is more to come, it is inevitable that this has created the perfect tinderbox for our over-worked frontal lobes and kicked our over-protective amygdala’s in to drive.

Chris and I chat the reasons why we’re feeling this way, and how we can nurture our anxieties not only individually, but collectively without denying our existence or worth. Note that a key element to this whole process is self-awareness and curiosity.

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I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land from which I am recording, the Wodiwodi people of the Dharawal nation; acknowledging their elders past, present and emerging.

I wish to also acknowledge those listeners with lived experience in mental health and/or suicide. I extend this to those families, friends, and carers who might be bereaving a loss through suicide.

This week I spoke with a national and internationally recognised leader in Indigenous mental health and suicide prevention, Professor Pat Dudgeon. Pat descends from the Bardi people in the Kimberley’s, having been born and raised in Darwin. If you have had the benefit to meet Pat, you will know how infectious she truly is.

Pat is a fellow former National Mental Health Commissioner, an NMHRC chief investigator for the million minds grants: transforming Indigenous mental health and wellbeing, and she is the director of the Centre of Best practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention. Professor Pat Dudgeon’s work has been immensely influential to the aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide prevention and mental health improvement.

This episode is part of the announcement for the university of Sydney’s partnership with the University of Western Australia’s Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention.

The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention was established in 2017 to develop and share evidence about effective suicide prevention approaches for Indigenous people and communities.

Building on the foundation of the earlier Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project, they influence Indigenous suicide prevention policy, practice and research by promoting access to evidence and resources and through advocacy.

The work of the Centre is focused on the rights of Indigenous people and communities to self-determination, and the critical importance of cultural responses to distress alongside clinical approaches.

In this episode we discuss Indigenous mental health and comorbidities. If you or someone you know needs help in their mental health journey, please contact life line on 13 11 14.

MUSIC | SAMSON

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As part of our research partnership with the University of Sydney, and a second instalment to last week's episode with Dr. Haley LaMonica, about the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Centre Youth Model. This week, I spoke with the formidable A/Prof Elizabeth Scott. Her clinical career is as long as Santa's list.

We spoke quality mental health care for young people, particularly what this looks like in this day of COVID.

Remember, if you are aged between 16 and 25, you can participate in this co creation by following the link in the show notes to fill out a 10 minute survey on the personal experiences you may have in mental health care as a young person. In this episode, we talk all things mental health related, particularly during this time of COVID. If you or someone you know needs help in their mental health journey, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

MUSIC | Samson

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