Your “Mental Health Week” Survival Guide
It’s that time of year again.
When train station billboards start asking oddly personal questions. (‘How are you though, how are you *really*??’)
When your newsfeed becomes a stream of well-meaning advice.
When your dog looks at you with an even-more-searching-than-usual gaze, staring deep into your soul as if to say:
‘You look tired Graham. Are you looking after yourself?’
I don't know, Bodie. I genuinely don't know ok are you happy now??
That’s right people, it’s…
*** MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK!!! ***
🚨Wooo!!!!🚨
The thing is, if you’re a sensitive type, all this 'raised awareness' can be a little intense.
We’ve put together a few things for you to check out on the topic of big feelings. None of which will tell you to call your GP.
Read one, read none, read 'em all. Think of this as your big feelings care package, to help you get through Mental Health Week. Use it however you like...
No Feeling Is Final (officially the most popular memoir-podcast-about-suicide out!)
First up, there's our spiffy new ABC podcast, which debuted #4 on iTunes! 👀
(It’s not even a ‘true crime’ show you guys, how did this happen??)
Eps 4, 5, and 6 are out this week (in which things really get interesting, that’s all I’ll say). Listen here or search “No Feeling Is Final” in most podcast apps.
Crymoji rating: 😭😂💗 (you'll sob, you'll belly laugh, you'll believe in love again)
Where do you go when you’re afraid you’ll kill yourself?
Honor wrote this powerful piece for the ABC News page, based on No Feeling Is Final. (Contains minor spoilers for the podcast, so feel free to save it for later.)
"I know how sensitive I am to shame when I’m in this hopeless place, and I know how often the help can exacerbate that shame and leave me feeling more hopeless. This leaves me without many options."
Crymoji rating: 😭🙈 (heavier going, but well worth the effort)
What happens to your relationship when one of you is suicidal?
A wee piece I wrote for ABC Life about the strange, tender, and unexpected things that happen to a relationship when one of you is suicidal.
“You know that moment when an optical illusion 'clicks' for you, and you can finally see the duck (or is it a rabbit?). This is kind of what it felt like, hearing my girlfriend tell me she was suicidal.
I'd known for weeks she was struggling, and I'd been worried, but I thought I'd understood the shape of it. I thought I could see what the problem was.
There was so much I hadn't been seeing. And I had no idea what to do next.”
Full read here. Crymoji rating: 💗😿 (tender, real, but uplifting)
Why Mental Health Week can make you feel like crap (and what to do about it)
A piece I wrote this time last year about Mental Health Week.
Crymoji rating: 🌊🌊 (aka salty language warning. Apparently I was feeling a bit fed up when I wrote this!)
And for our lovely newcomers... hear from other Big Feels Clubbers talkin' bout dem feels
If you’ve checked out our private, members-only Facebook group in the past week, you may have seen that we’ve paused our active discussion threads for the rest of the month.
Honor and I needed to take a little step back and refill our collective feelings tank, as our little podcast baby has grown up unexpectedly fast (and is already driving and going to parties. Eek!)
We’ll be back next month with a new group discussion to dive into.
But! If you’re new here (hi!! 👋) you can check out our past discussions. You won’t be able to comment, but they’ll give you a flavour.
How it works is 1) you listen to a little chat podcast featuring me and Honor gabbin’ about that month’s topic (nothing like the ABC pod, this one is just us two, a mic, and our best terrible feelings-related jokes). Then 2) you join the discussion thread and hear what other Big Feels Clubbers have to say about it all.
Click here for more info and where to start.
(If you've already joined the private Facebook group*, scroll halfway down the page to where it says 'Once you're in'.)
Crymoji rating: 😂🐶 Much lighter than No Feeling Is Final. Significantly more giggling.
*If you've tried joining the group but we haven't approved you yet, double check that you've answered BOTH questions that pop up in your Facebook browser.
