The Mental Health Epidemic within the Pandemic

Last night the unthinkable happened. Theatre in the UK closed its doors. Frustratingly for theatres and producers this came about via a carefully worded recommendation to our audiences as opposed to a directive to them, thereby potentially preventing companies from having a valid insurance claim. Making companies and individuals even more vulnerable than they were already feeling.

I can't be the only one that never thought that we'd see such a day in the UK (or indeed around the world), but here it is and an entire industry is left reeling as each individual tries to work out 'what now?'

Of course we all knew that it was coming. Broadway closed last week so it's been a waiting game since then. The big difference of course is that our American colleagues earn substantially more money than the jobbing actor/techie in the UK. There is more chance that they've saved up for the inevitable rainy day scenario. That said some people just don't have it in them to save regardless of income, so this isn't guaranteed, however the potential to save is there. I don't think that the majority of the UK industry (on and off stage) have this dilemma. We all live in a somewhat hand to mouth environment, and have long since consoled ourselves with the fact that our souls are full even if our bank accounts aren't. The majority of our industry need the next wage packet, which is why you see people closing in a successful show on the Saturday, going to work in their 'crap job' or 'muggle job' by the Monday. In a way it's kept us all grounded for years, it's hard to get 'up yourself' when you know that you'll be back in civvy street within a few weeks.

So suddenly an entire industry faces a very uncertain future. We all go online to tell the world how frightened we are, and we feel the need to let everybody know what our struggle is. Some of us will be resolute, telling our friends that we'll get through this, as after all, a life without hope is no life at all. However now that people have been prevented from going out, the online chatter is at breaking point. Suddenly we're all experts in what the government 'should' have done, we've all understood the logistical variations of this mystery 'virus', we've all researched what every other country has done, and we've all worked out what the solution 'should' have been. More than that, we feel the need to tell everybody about our own discoveries.  Of course the fact of the matter is that none of us have a clue. We're all scared (for ourselves, our loved ones, our industry, even humanity), and are all simply 'acting out' that fear in the only space that's left for us to roam - social media.

We see a 'cure' or a 'prevention' tweet and it becomes our civil duty to share it amongst our friends and followers, as we all attempt to save the world. Of course that's all we've shared is 'fake news', or rather 'fake hope', as hope is the only thing that we have.

I've long blogged about the mental health crises in our industry, and I've always maintained that the industry hasn't created these illnesses, but rather our industry attracts people who are more susceptible to mental illness, as it provides all of us with an altered reality. We can all pretend to live in a different world for a while. A show (ironically given the pressures around doing one), is almost a mental health break. So what now for an entire industry that revels in living in the 'other' now that it's suddenly been catapulted into the here and now, and what's more, the here and now is even more unstable than our industry. To add to the issue nobody amongst us has immunity. For sure there are the wealthy amongst us that can ride this out, but they are few and far between. From graduates to jobbing performers/techies everybody has had the rug pulled from out of them.

People with anxiety who are already trying to make sense of the world have suddenly lost their anchor, people with depression that can see no good in the world can get that view confirmed within seconds on social media, people with OCD desperately trying to control their environment as it is suddenly find themselves in a world that can't control itself. And so the list goes on. The one thing that we can be sure about is that every mental illness will be made worse by this pandemic.  People can no longer run to the theatre to escape their own 'minds'.

So I guess that this is the perfect opportunity to hit these conditions head on. How many people that deliberately keep themselves busy in order not to think have suddenly found themselves in self isolation? As an aside isn't it weird how something like 'self isolation' which sounds like something straight out of a B movie has suddenly become part of our every day language? Anyway I digress.

There are lots of therapies available online - why not check out what's on offer? https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/adults/iapt/ Whilst the NHS is struggling right now there is still free help out there. See the enforced downtime as an opportunity to 'reset' and 'reboot'. How many of you have kept putting it off because you've allegedly been too busy? Well you ain't busy now - get proactive about your mental health.

Limit your online surfing - it'll either make you more worried, more angry, or bizarrely make you feel more isolated. Even in self isolation it's possible to live more in the 'real world'. FaceTime and Skype your friends. I went to pop a post up on one of The MTA groups the other day, and instead opted for a livestream as I was aware that a number of my graduates were either stuck in far away places or stuck in self isolation in the UK. So potentially even 'seeing' and 'hearing' my post was more reassuring than some written thing.  I mean I clearly could have made it worse for some of them, but they had the option to turn me off (and I'm confident that at various times over the years they've yearned to do that - so it was a win/win)

Somehow this will pass, and somehow we will all get through it.
Our industry has an amazing sense of community, and right now we need that community more than ever. As you're checking on your friends to see if they have a cough and a fever, maybe check on how their mental health is doing too? I've long believed that mental illness is at epidemic levels within our industry, and I suspect that the physical pandemic will make those levels raise even higher. Now is a time for actioning help, not living in denial it's a great #time4change

24/7 Equity mental health and well-being helpline: 0800 917 6470

2 birds with one stone AKA the blog that couldn't wait

So I appreciate that I usually only blog once a fortnight, however for the few of you that have followed my blogs over the past few years, you will know that I've had two rather loud bees in my tight fitting bonnet since opening The MTA back in 2009.  The first one is the lack of Mental Health provision in drama colleges - which we're now doing something (hopefully proactive) about, in the form of running a sort of conference on March 16th https://www.facebook.com/events/911328365625354/ in a bid to get Mental Health higher up on the agenda of EVERY college.  So the first bee has been swatted  - and it's a huge congratulations to Actress Laura Darrall for her #itaffectsme campaign in a bid to raise awareness of mental illness and to raise some money at the same time for MIND.   What's interesting is Laura's story (or at least what's known in the public domain)...and that is that she had a history of Mental illness (panic attacks, anxiety, OCD)..which sadly for Laura culminated in a breakdown last year.  Now our campaign is. . . what if Laura's symptoms had been spotted and treated at college, would her story have been different? Now for all I know maybe they were, and the breakdown was heading towards her anyway as she had a susceptibility, that's for Laura to know actually not us, but somewhere in every drama college right now, there will be a Laura (or in our experience around 30% of Laura's). Suffering from an invisible but ever present illness at the more 'manageable' end of the scale, which our consultant is able to hit off at the pass before it builds up and up and heads towards a complete meltdown.  In her blog Laura talks about the 'troop' that are now helping her fight the demons inside her head...but what if that troop had been on standby earlier, and had been able to diffuse the situation before it became a crises?  What if there had been a class at college which had named some of the battles that were going on inside her head - maybe this would have allowed her to 'out' herself much quicker? So many what ifs, and all pointless because I don't know Laura - but here's a great what if...what if every college had Mental Health Awareness as a major topic throughout the course, one which was revisited after Freshers week, after you're told that 'we're here to listen to you', and 'what if' a Mental Health professional was so 'the norm' around the place, you instantly knew where to turn to when the battle was being fought?  We are fighting for that 'what if'. With that in mind The MTA's approach is a little different. I won't bore you with it again...but here's a link that discusses what our take on it all is: http://www.thepublicreviews.com/blog-annemarie-lewis-thomas-mental-health-education-starts-at-college/
Our industry is slightly chicken and egg on this one.  There's research that supports both the fact that the industry can hit on your susceptibility, and there's research that supports the fact that our industry particularly attracts the susceptible (as we have the elusive allure of escapism).  Whichever it is, it doesn't matter - we need to raise awareness of Mental Health in education, so watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOMWvgYlj_M get yourself a post it note, write #itaffectsme on it, upload it, and knock yourself out and donate £3 to MIND.  Then pop along to our discussion in March and lend your voice/support/argument...whatever it is, let's get the conversation started.

Then my other bee has forever been the organisation known as Drama UK.  I first wrote this
http://www.thereviewshub.com/blog-annemarie-lewis-thomasa-stamp-of-approval/ which simply explained why The MTA was going to remain independent.  I then wrote this: http://www.thereviewshub.com/blog-annemarie-lewis-thomas-who-regulates-the-regulators/ as I had been reading things that were beginning to make me question the organisation as a whole.  However nothing could have prepared me for this: https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/2016/susan-elkin-drama-uk-needs-to-sort-out-its-priorities-fast/ 18 months after I'd first blogged about it's value.  Turns out some 6 months later they are down in their membership by just over 38%? What's even worse than that...they've lost their star players. RADA, LAMDA, Bristol Old Vic...and so it continues.  Then it gets even more confusing, some players had left e.g. the RCS and RWCMD but they're no long accredited...but sort of on the side lines incase they're needed? I love how Drama UK always sends me into football analogies, yet the only thing that I know about the great sport is that it involves a round object and 2 nets (and be careful which pubs you go into on the Holloway Road on a match day).

Seemingly the problem is money? People aren't prepared to pay the joining fee and then the 'please keep me affiliated' fee.  Well what a turn up? I've been talking about this for years? My favorite part of the article though (and keep in mind I've already made my opinion known about their U.S. showcases)...is seemingly now Drama UK is working hard to develop the brand in China? Now I am all about the 'one world' philosophy so maybe they should call themselves World Drama and be done with it?

So colleges are paying £6500 to stay in a club that barely has a local ground anymore - but instead you can watch them play in China??  I completely get the excitement of the Eastern market opening up for all aspects of the arts....but China? So those colleges still part of this organisation are what? Funding trips to China, or just the odd phone call? I have students working their finger's to the bone to be able to afford  to train with me, I couldn't spend even one pence of their hard earned cash to support an organisation that wasn't working to support them directly (and efficiently). That said I wonder if Drama UK picked up the tab for the lunch...as I see my students coming in with their packed lunches, in a bid to save money, so once again I'd be uncomfortable asking them to fund my working lunch with a journalist...which seemingly culminates in a 'give us the answer' session (so maybe I'm being harsh, but then pay the journalist a consultancy fee on  top of the lunch).

To tie all of this up nicely, I have been shouting rather loudly on social media for Drama UK to support out call for better mental health provisions in drama colleges.  They told me that it was out of their remit to demand such a thing BUT they are supposed to be coming to the conference, along with Equity and Spotlight.  So this year they might do something really positive for the UK drama student, then maybe they should also look to lower their fees, so that the colleges that are still affiliated to the organisation can put the 'saved money' towards the level of Mental Health provision we think is necessary in a contemporary drama college.  Because Drama UK #itaffectsme/us not the 'brand' in China, which has got nothing to do with my students' training.

Now...go take a selfie. Mr Kellgren and Ms Tisdall....I shall be looking out for yours ;-)