Video Transcription
Coping with major change
In year nine, that is where I would pinpoint the essence of mental health issues creeping up on me. I didn’t even realize it. Around year ten, I got involved in theater at school. There was a really great turning point for me, where we could talk openly about our feelings, and there were a lot of people who were going through similar things to me.
After I finished high school, I did theater and film. I then did a study exchange in America, where I worked on massive big television shows, which was so exciting, and movies with celebrities— all that stuff that comes with living in Los Angeles. I had a really great lifestyle. I had heaps of friends, a great apartment, a car—everything was fantastic, and I loved it.
Two years went by, and my visa was up. My money was running out, and I felt like I was ready to go home, so I just came home. But I didn’t have any plan or anything. I stopped being social, I started chain-smoking a lot. I wasn’t going out, I wasn’t visiting my friends. I realized I don’t have a job, I’m not going to uni, I don’t have a boyfriend, so all these things that I once had were gone. I just thought that was it. I thought that was what my life was. If my life is going to change, I’ve got to be the one to do it.
I realized that it would be really great to talk to someone, so I went to my doctor, to my GP, and he gave me a referral for a counsellor, and that was fantastic. I feel like counselling was the first thing that you walk away from, and you’re like, “This is great!” Things were starting to improve. It might have taken like five sessions or something, but we really started the progress toward building my life back up again. I learned mindfulness, a lot of cognitive behavioural therapy. I learned about meditating. Those tools that I got from counselling and talking to a professional really helped me start to improve different parts of my life.
There’s a History Center in my area, and I saw their face at events. I really loved what they did. I loved their philosophy of having a positive mental health experience. Creativity is really important to me because it’s a way to get what’s going on inside out. It’s therapeutic, it feels good, and it’s something that, you know, you get to share with people. I’m really into sharing and communicating and being a part of communities.
You can be creative in your own way. You don’t have to be an artist. You can be creative in the kitchen. I’m creative when I go swimming. I’m creative when I talk to my friends or hang out or anything. I see my mental health the same way I would see any relationship. I really need to nurture it because I’ve gone through dark days and come out of them. Now, I’m able to really be mindful of when they might be sneaking back. So, I might have days when I wake up and I really struggle to get out of bed. The light bulb kind of goes off, and I go, “Hmm, I should be really aware of that.” Write in my journal, go for a walk, go kayaking, go swimming—all of these things always make me feel better.
There’s this really great Steve Jobs quote that I love: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking back.” Back in the past, there’s no way I could have seen where my life could have turned out to be. There were times where I thought my life wouldn’t turn out to be anything. Who I am today is so much better than who I thought I would ever be. Whatever life brings me, I can kind of get through tough times and be a good, positive, happy human. And who knows? I’ll surprise myself.
Video by headspace
