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Mental As Anyone

A podcast to promote and raise awareness of mental health issues in comedians and entertainers by exploring views on mental health (from personal experience, or observations of peers and loved ones, or society in general).
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Now displaying: February, 2020
Feb 22, 2020

Interview with the wonderful Melbourne Comedian Liza Dezfouli, who is on a mission to challenge ageism and sexism with her comedy. Liza is involved with a theatre ensemble featuring older women, who perform a show called Unhoused, which references some of the cast’s genuine experiences of homelessness.

We discuss: The invisibility of older women in society, the experience of long-term depression and techniques to manage it, the importance of reminding herself that the situation always changes, treating mental illness like the flu: give yourself time and space to go to bed, rest and absolve yourself of the responsibility of engaging with the world for a while, the benefits of gardening, the relentless positive images from modern society that falsely imply people’s lives are perfect and how this can wear us down, giving her disordered/depressed thoughts a voice by writing them down, challenging and refuting negative thoughts, the importance of finding a way to not be threatened by negative emotions, the power of gratitude, being gentle and kind to yourself, the shame of showing depressed moods and the difficulty of authenticity and showing people all aspects of yourself, the simplicity and power of comedy and laughter, advice Liza received about recalling the intensity of a great belly laugh for healing, being open to alternative therapies, The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris, the notion of dead person’s goals, it being okay to be grotty and unproductive at times, Liza’s super power, the stages of change model in relation to behaviour, and Liza’s message for women to be good to each other and support the sisterhood.

Feb 8, 2020

Interview with Melbourne-based Comedian Aurelia St Clair, who started comedy around the time of the 2017 RAW competition, where she reached state level and continued from there. Aurelia also began Improv around end of 2018 (mostly at the Improv Conspiracy Theatre). Aurelia has performed at MICF, and in 2020 has her first solo show called Woke, running from 24 Mar to 5 Apr @ 7.10pm at the Pilgrim Bar.

We discuss: Aurelia’s German-Cameroonian background, sharing about her eating disorder on social media, the challenge of eating patterns around Christmas time, negative side effects of eating disorders, tapping into the joy of eating, food being fuel and a way to nourish our bodies, the problems with pro-eating-disorder forums, losing her Mum as a teenager, Aurelia’s experience of grief, the culture change of moving from Germany to Bolivia, the lack of diversity in her German hometown, moving again until settling in Australia in 2014, finding herself and the things she enjoys in life, the power of increasing awareness about eating disorders, body-positive messages from the Nutrition Guru & the Chef and the Kitchen Coach, actively limiting exposure to negative messages on social media, self-care practices, the importance of nurturing and growing friendships, Aurelia’s super power, the value in setting meaningful goals, and Aurelia’s message to trust and confide in your friends.

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