9th-12th May 2014Athens, Greece

International Forum for Psychosis and Bipolarity

Poster session by Carol-Anne Croker, Swinburne University, Australia

IRBD Graduate Bursary Scholar 2014

Performing Arts as therapy tool with Affective Disorders: empowerment or risk?

Presented by Carol-Anne Croker, PhD student, Swinburne University, Australia. IRPB Conference 2014 Bursary Award.

In 2013, I spent eight months as part of a pilot project for persons with a diagnosed mental illness, as part of a Social Inclusion and Education program, Comedy for Change.org.

This initiative, “WISE Stand Up for Mental Health is about comedy for change. It uses the power of comedy to share stories of mental illness, empowering the comedians involved and making a positive impact on those who hear the stories. The comics’ comedy routines aim to inspire people to rethink the stigmatised views society has towards people who have a mental illness and their capacity for living fulfilling lives” .

The program was run by a Disability Employment Agency, WISE Employment in Melbourne Australia as part of their three year targeted initiative; Empowermental.

“WISE Stand Up for Mental Health is part of the Empowermental campaign that runs annually leading up to Mental Health Month (October) in Australia. Empowermental is a three-year campaign to help reduce the stigma surrounding the employment of people who have a mental illness.”http://www.wiseemployment.com.au/en/community/wise-stand-up-for-mental-health/#empowermental

About Stand up for Mental HealthDavid Granirer in Canada in, Stand Up for Mental Health was founded in 2004.Having experienced his first major depression at age 16, then battling substance abuse until a suicide attempt landed him in a psychiatric ward for a six-week period of treatment, he felt “back then no-one talked about mental illness, you just knew it was something terrible and unacceptable”. Being a stand up comedian himself, David looked to sharing his skills with others.

David designed Stand Up For Mental Health based upon his personal experience of using his own experience of having mental illness as fodder for his own comedic routines, resulting in a book entitled The Happy Neurotic (2007). In the book David pokes fun at our habitual quest to solve all our life problems within the pages of a self-help book and the inevitable elision with new age philosophy and therapy culture.

This idea/theme soon transitioned into a structured training program where David introduces the skills of writing and performing Stand Up Comedy to non-performers. David devised a twelve week course to take people from novice comedy writers, to be able to mine their lived experience for material suited to a comic slant, then develop the self-esteem and self assurance to perform these highly individualised gags into sure fire laugh makers. David recognised the power of this type of Comedy for tackling audience and self stigma, hence Stand Up for Mental Health .

Comedy training for mental wellness?Stand Up For Mental Health began as a training program specifically targeted to people living with varying

mental illnesses and run through voluntary and community support groups and formal advocacy groups.

It is based around the idea that by empowering people with mental illness to speak publicly about their experiences and by looking at the humourous side to some events, actions and thinking, it would allow the general public an insight into the lives lived by mentally ill people and that they are not to be ‘feared’ or indeed stigmatised and discriminated against.

David Granirer describes his participants being empowered to try new things and to face their fears. By succeeding in public speaking and performing to strangers, the ‘comics” are encouraged that nothing can hamper their efforts at social inclusion.

With Bipolar Disorder for over 30 years I became involved in the first Melbourne, Australian pilot program of Stand Up for Mental Health, Australia in 2013.

History of SUFMHDavid began teaching Stand Up Comedy to people with mental illness initially in in his home, Vancouver Canada and has now expanded through the use of Skype to running programs in Australia (Melbourne 2013 and Sydney 2014).

Each group optimally comprises 10 ‘comedians’ with mental health diagnoses.The number going through to the performance stage has varied between 5-10.

Canadian & North American Groups:

• Guelph program, (Ontario) 2006 to 2014 (and touring performances to USA)• Halifax program, (Nova Scotia) three groups 2010, 2011, 2012• Ottawa program, (Ontario) 2006.• Victoria program (British Columbia) 2010• Clackamas program, (Oregan) 2012• Phoenix program, (Arizona) 2013• Albuqueque program, (New Mexico) 2012 Funded to run annually for three years• Tacoma program, (Washington) 2012, 2013, 2014.• Norwich program, (Connecticut) 2010 to 2014.

Stand Up for Mental HealthMelbourne , Australia 2013.

Group Partipants :

WISE Employments’ pilot Stand Up for Mental Health, run via Skype with David Granirer from Canada, and facilitated by Australian professional comic and SUGMH Ambassador Steve Bedwell.

Five females aged between 25 and 60.One based in remote South Australia ( gained employment during program) via Skype.Four women Melbourne based, one employed (full-time) three students (part-time), one not in workforce or study.

Five males aged between 25 and 60.One based in Tasmania accessed program via Skype.Two based regional Victoria (attended program in person)Two metropolitan participantsNone in paid employment or studying.

Skype reheasals with David Granirer

My background

• Professional stage debut as actor/singer in Godspell

(the musical in 1976) aged 19.

Worked stage, film, television and cabaret thoughout the 1980s

Completed BA (Performing Arts) 1970s

Completed Grad Dip (Media) Australian Film and TV School 1980s

Lectured in Performing Arts and Drama (1985-1990)

Performing Arts Reviewer Australian Broadcasting Corporation,

Local Radio 774, Melbourne. Australia. 1988-1994

Diagnosed at 33 with Bipolar Disorder in 1989.

PhD Student in Creative Writing 2007 to present.

Press coverage WISE Stand Up for Mental Health, Melbourne Australia

Why is performance background relevant?

I am used to performing in public, and have experience with rehearsals and production plus post production; which all bring certain ‘rushes of adrenaline’, nerves, butterflies and excitement. The actual performance “high” is irreplaceable by anything else in my experience.

Thus, there is always a post-performance “crash” emotionally after performing.

This cycle of “highs” and “lows” deemed typical within many creative arts industries amongst practitioners masked my own mental illness for over two decades at least.

The cycles of BD Type 2, seem very similar in nature with the “lows” becoming depressions and bringing severe lack of self-esteem in both scenarios.

I contend that training people to become performers when they have diagnosed mental illnesses is fraught with danger, for the participants involved.

Research is needed into this type of ‘art-therapy’ intervention urgently.

Performance Venue: The Edge Theatre,Federation Square, Melbourne.

October 25th 2013

Necessary support on the groundNot only did we have WISE (disability) Employment personnel running the program we also had a resident Ambassador and professional Comic and comedy Writer, Steve Bedwell in attendance at every workshop session and rehearsal.

Steve ensured that all the material worked up in class translated across cultures with local references being added when deemed necessary or appropriate.

Steve also went public about his own Mental Health in the press, being a sufferer of Bipolar Disorder. He was the program’s main spokesperson.

Despite this many of us, including me participated in media interviews, blogs and press calls. We were no longer anonymous suffers of mental illness but also activist ambassadors. The responses to this level of coverage matched the varying diagnoses within the group. Some took it in their stride as they were currently employed within the mental health field, or studying it. Others lost sight of the fact they were more than a collection of symptoms and stories to be trotted out at will.

Others saw it as a way to reintegrate or recouperate their damaged reputations.

Concerns: I kept a diary throughout the Stand Up for Mental Health twelve week program and after whilst being part of the group filmed for an unpcoming documentary television production (scheduled for screening SBS network end 2014).

The on-camera interviews forced us to speak honestly about out experience with having a mental illness and any stigma we have encountered. This was not an easy task but was deemed healthy and therapeutic as we embarked on an almost zealotry mission to become Mental Health spokespeople, advocates.

In my journal I noted just how different individuals reacted to becoming what I laughingly describe as “media whores”.

Some indeed saw their recounting of their past experiences as validating them as people with a right to exist without experiencing daily discrimination.

Others safely retreated into a “victim” headspace, where they were defined by their mental illness alone.

There developed a ‘mantra’ that went along the lines of “if you can accomplish this, you can accomplish anything you put your mind too”.

This concerned me as it is patently untrue, as circumstances and other influences determine outcomes of personal choices. To deny these forces offers “false hope” to vulnerable people.

If a person is unemployable in the wider market before participation it is highly unlikely that employment will folllow completion of the program unless very solid clinical and therapeutic and pharmaceutical optimum regimes are integrated.

Participants were encouraged to maintain regular contact with therapists and medical specialists, whilst the host Organisation, WISE Employment arranged for three counselling sessions each should the writing and performing bring bad memories and trigger adverse mental health reactions.

Most (or all based on a show of hands) wanted to remain involved in Stand Up Comedy after the conclusion of the program. Some even thought a paid professional career would be achievable without acknowledging the wisdom of the professional Comedy Ambassador that his career took over ten years to build.

Journal notes from participation ctd

Careers and realistic expectationsAny career in the Creative Industries, particularly in Australia requires years of practice, work on craft and skill plus a range of interdisciplinary skills or performance genre flexibility.

Our Stand Up Comedy Industry is highly competitive with as many as ten regular Open Mic venues every single week in Melbourne and a formal semi-profesional audition program for the RAW Comedy Festival in association with the Melbourne and Edinburgh International Comedy Festivals.

Only the best succeeds.

Comedy audiences are difficult. The shows usually happen in Licensed venues where people often are inebbriated or Simply emboldened to heckle comics.

The WISE comics were booked to perform at variousOrgainsations particularly because they were speaking about Mental illness. These were what is known as “soft rooms” ,(an existing audience with good will towards both cause andComics). This is not the reality in the actual world of Comedy.

Call for more researchI completed my time with the Program very dissatisfied with what was being achieved.

There was no formal assessment of the efficacy of the Program nor formal research on its ability to de-stigmatise mental illness across the broader Community.

Booking for further ‘gigs’ were dependent upon the comics own often limited network of contacts. (Limited given many were outside the workforce).

I felt that unrealistic expectations about future careers and income earning potential for comics was left un-addressed or even analysed with many still of the view they could (and wanted to perform) outside the usual audiences and within the mainstream. This despite a clear lack of professional ability or comedy talent.

I have concerns that by limiting their material to their own experience of mental illness the comics are unable to engage with audiences on a broader level demonstrating that they are not their illness, but it is one component in their lives, and a sometimes humourous one. These comics are NOT THEIR ILLNESS.