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Mind Media Awards: breaking down barriers
Posted Thursday 12 July 2012
In November 2006 I was diagnosed with depression, I was 16. I wanted to know what was wrong with me? Why had this happened?
With time I grew to accept that depression was a part of my life and a part of me. It took a long time for me to accept this, in fact it wasn’t until very recently that I really came to terms with it and began to move forward in a positive way. I think what helped was making a film Suffering in Silence (below) which won the Mind Student Journalist of the Year in November 2011 - five years after I was diagnosed.
I believe it is really important to recognise mental health issues in the media. It has been a taboo subject for too long, yet statistically one in four people will experience a mental health problem in any given year. So why does it feel like a dirty secret that has to be kept quiet? Or is that just me?
The Mind Media Awards have really helped break down the barriers to media coverage of mental health problems. Tackling stigma in the wider community is key to stopping those who ‘suffer in silence’. Good and responsible media coverage, whether in newspapers, magazines or in dramas, of mental health problems help engage those wider communities and help people to feel supported by their community.
My Mind Media Award is one of my greatest achievements and I am very honoured that the judges who watched my film thought it was good enough to win.
I have a friend who is also a student film maker and for him the Mind Media Awards are the most important awards he could enter this year. When I asked him why, he said: “It’s because they are for people like you and me, who have experiences of mental health problems”. And with that he had hit the nail on the head; these awards, yes, they are nice for those shortlisted and who win, but for those who have had experiences of mental health problems they actually show how people can be positive about mental health and proactive about it as well. It also shows that the media don’t have to portray people with mental health problems as the demons of society. That is no longer an acceptable way to portray any person.
For me the experience of winning the award has helped me grow in confidence. I am more confident now than I ever thought I would be five years ago, in fact, I would go as far as to say, I am a completely different person now to the person I was back then. From my experiences I have learned that life doesn’t always have to be perfect and that sometimes it is better if it isn’t. The flavour of life comes through at times when life is hardest and when things don’t go to plan. For me that has been one of my greatest achievements, I have learned to enjoy life again after so many years in fear thinking something would send me back to those dark days. This story of winning the Mind Media Award is less about that and more about personal development. That I think is the best award of all.
Josh Jackson
Follow @JoshGJacskon on Twitter
Nominate someone for this year's Mind Media awards.
12 Comments
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Absolutely fantastic, very well done, lovely family,. So sorry for anyone with Mental health probs, mainly because of stigma!!, getting there though,.I am Bipolar, mainly depression,.
Good luck to the future n keep talking,,,,,,,,,,,she say's, who ought to practise what i preach!! soooo hard to talk when one is low!!, gotta try though, THANX for sharing xxxxxxxxxxxxx -
Q1, Can someone explain the difference between clinical depression and depression but not clinical?
Q2, Josh, your parents seemed to me to find it difficult to talk about your symptoms and behaviours Have they sought any help over this for themselves?
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Hello @Caroline Cornock
Thanks for your support. I shall keep on trucking. Good luck and best wishes to yourself for the future.
Josh
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Hello @Concerned Citizen
Unfortunately I don't have a medical background in mental health so I can't give you the definition.
in regards to my parents, they did seek help at the time however it is still difficult for them to talk about it. I can only image that for most parents when a child suffers from an illness it is difficult to talk about for some time after.
Thanks for you concern and support, it is much appreciated.
Josh
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Hi Concerned Citizen, do have a read of Understanding depression - http://www.mind.org.uk/help/diagnoses_and_conditions/depression - which goes through the various types and symptoms of depression.
Do you mean depression as in when would you need help because it's affecting your daily life, vs feeling sad or miserable? Usually feeling sad or miserable passes, but if it doesn't and it's affects your day to day life you might start thinking about what you can do to recover or to stop feeling this way (even though may feel impossible to think about it at the time). Clinical depression is a term doctors use when they diagnose you, but we don’t think it’s that helpful to focus as you can still be depressed without having a diagnosis.
Take care,
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Taryn, Thank you for the clarification. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression by the GP many years ago. At the time I didn't find this very helpful as, to me, it felt all encompassing and none encompassing at the same time. I wanted to explore specific symptoms but felt unable to do this with the GP. I kind of intuitively felt the GP at the time was either to busy and the wrong setting or inexperienced. Eventually (after some years) I did get to see a visiting psychiatric nurse at the surgery but our initial meeting was a complete disaster after I felt the nurse to be unsympathetic. I never saw them again. After another couple of years with the help of a mind advocate I forced a meeting with a consultant psychiatrist. By this time I had been complaining for a long time about lack of recognition. I felt this went against me when interviewed by the consultant. I didn't feel I as an individual was taken seriously about how I felt affected by my condition. I had become pretty dysfunctional by this time but felt the system was a lot more interested in risk assessment than me as an individual. regarding symptoms which included some odd behaviour traits, I felt were never really discussed, I felt they were too sensitive a subject to trust the medical profession with after hearing some horrific tales of others experiences. I feel much better these days and many the things I struggled with have receded. However, I do belive that being vocal, speaking out, and campaigning did affect the recognition and care I received. I have found my own coping strategies through friends and kind souls most of which the medical profession no nothing of. Or if they do, its a well kept secret.
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I have dpression probably bi polar but as I am just a woman ia ma bdp which means im scum of the arth
i want recognition for my genius -
Hi @concernedcitizen
It is not difficult to see that I find it incredibly difficult to express my feelings about this on camera, you ask yourself why has this happened and what could we have done differently and it was the most emotionally demanding period of my life so far. My wife and I believe that showing unconditional support and love for Josh is the most important thing that we can do and we did attend family counselling sessions that really helped at the time but we have now moved on.
Whilst we are not so complacent as to believe that this could never happen again we now focus on supporting Josh in his continued success and new career, which has made us incredibly proud. He is a credit to the both of us and he has on more than one occasion in the last couple of years made me feel like my chest is five miles wide, I will always support him in whatever he wants to do in life, this is my role as a father but more importantly I will do it because he is my son and I love him.
Thank you for raising the issue of how it affects family members, it is really difficult but we did get some good support at the time and most importantly Tessa and I had each other.
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Hi Linda, it's sounds like you've been treated really badly by people who perceive your diagnosis rather than you. I've mentioned this before, but please do call our infoline on 0300 123 3393 so they can help you find some support near you. Take care
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Hi Josh's dad.
I appreciate your comments. I can see Josh has a very supportive family. The thing that comes across is that you and your wife take Josh and his past struggles seriously. So often people do struggle to find the loving support (that only a loving family can give really) through the dark times. It is encouraging to know that you support you have and continue to support your son in this way. Best wishes for the future for you all in all your endeavours (;-} -
Concerned Citizen at 13.59 on 13 July.
There is a common misconception about the word 'clinical' and I wish Mind and others would do more to explain. People often refer to 'clinical' depression as if somehow they've got a more serious form than the non-clinical.
Clinical merely refers to the fact that a clinician has decided someone is depressed. This is the same for any medical condition.
A doctor won't say to one person you've got 'clincal depression' and then you've got 'non-clinical depression' to another.
Non-clinical depression means the person hasn't seen a medical professional and has decided themselves that they are depressed.
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Dear Josh,
I read this review of a book written a long time ago and it has always stuck in my memory. It was written by a 16 year old with depression so I thought it might help you too, I hope so. With much love and thoughts for you, Brendan.
From (http://www.worldtransformation.com/general/) "‘Before stumbling upon Free: The End Of The Human Condition that was discreetly shoved in the back of the philosophy section, I was at the end of my road. I had experienced a year of complete and utter pain, confusion, anger and frustration. When I finally took the plunge to seek medical help (as I was suicidal), I was diagnosed with severe depression and put on medication. After reading your book (which I stayed up till 2am reading, I just couldn’t put it down), I have been one of the fastest recovering depressants around. No wonder why. If everyone knew your insights, so much would be resolved. The purpose of this letter is to thank you for your courage in publishing your sure-to-be controversial work, and for basically recovering and saving this 16 year old. Not only is your work the absolute truth and has restored my faith in humanity, it has given me inspiration to help others. I may seem young to know what I’m talking about but, well, I do. I have tested all your work and others and yours always held up.’"
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