SMHAF Podcast

"There was a recurring theme of escaping, escaping in some ways the prison that mental illness can become for some people." In Looking Closer, Nicole and Iain from Support in Mind Scotland travel up and down the country speaking to people involved in exhibitions at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2017. This podcast features interviews with SMHAF Highland partner organisations, who hosted...

In Looking In: Experiences Through the Ages, Nicole and Iain discuss two multi-arts events at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival: Six O'clock in Princes Street and Neu! Reekie! Named after the famous Wilfred Owen poem, Six O'clock in Princes Street was a night of poetry and performance in the stunning setting of Edinburgh Castle's Great Hall. Exploring veterans' experience with trauma and po...

You Matter Always brings young people and professionals together to share ideas on how arts and culture can positively impact mental health and wellbeing. Talking Heads reporter Jo Osborne hosts this discussion after a brainstorming session at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival to develop ideas for the You Matter Always programme for Scotland’s Year of Young People in 2018. The discussion fe...

The focus is firmly on theatre and how the stage acts as a platform for representing mental ill health in this podcast. Nicole Bell and Iain Mitchell of Support in Mind Scotland speak to Andrew Eaton-Lewis, arts lead at the Mental Health Foundation Scotland, Mark Lockyer, writer and performer of Living with the Lights On, and Support in Mind Scotland colleague Laura Gulliver about AJ Taudevin's po...

In this Talking Heads podcast, reporter Michael McEwan interviews some of the filmmakers involved in Dykebar & Me, a short film which screened at St Matthew's in Paisley during this year's festival. They discuss the impact the film has been having in challenging mental health stigma across Renfrewshire, and the effect it has had on their own lives. Michael McEwan has a learning disability and is a...

Talking Heads reporter and freelance journalist Michael McEwan interviews some of the people involved in Making Our Mark, an inclusive event at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, showcasing work from community arts projects in Renfrewshire, including Limelight Music and Dirty Feet Dance company. Michael has a learning disability and is a motivational speaker who talks about challenge, stigm...

Paula McGuire, 'the world's least likely adventurer', shares her experiences at arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017. For more information about Paula visit www.paulamusttryharder.co.uk

Theatre-maker Skye Loneragan performs an extract from her new show Though This Be Madness at The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2017. www.skyeloneragan.com

Founded by psychiatrist Dr Akeem Sule and neuroscientist Dr Becky Inkster, Hip Hop Psych describes itself as ‘the interface that links hip-hop music and culture with mental health’, using its founders’ medical credibility and passion for hip-hop to cultivate awareness, empower others and remove stigma surrounding mental health and hip-hop. This is a recording of Dr Sule's presentation at arts and...

How do we make arts events more accessible to people living with social anxiety? Emma Jayne Park, associate artist for the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, Mental Health Foundation arts lead Andrew Eaton-Lewis, 'unlikely adventurer' Paula McGuire, and Fiona Couper of National Autistic Society Scotland explore some ideas, from Harry Giles’ Chill Out Corner (pictured)to dance performan...

Can the arts and social justice campaigning happily co-exist? Jenny Edwards, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, discusses the issue with filmmaker Fran Higson, Halina Rifai of feminist collective TYCI, and Emma Jayne Park, associate artist for the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. This was the closing session at arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life,...

What does it mean to be mentally healthy in the midst of so much anxiety-inducing political and cultural turmoil? And what can artists do to help? Kevin Williamson of Neu! Reekie!, Linda Irvine of NHS Lothian, playwright Lynda Radley and poet/playwright Tawona Sithole discuss mental health in the age of Brexit and Donald Trump. Chaired by leading cultural critic Hannah McGill. This discussion took...

Is it possible to adopt a more mentally healthy attitude towards our own deaths, and the deaths of those we love? Andrew Eaton-Lewis puts the question to Angie Dight of Mischief La Bas, creator of Festival of Ian Smith: A Celebration of Death, Stephanie Katie Hunter, producer of After Words, a new theatre show about the role 21st century technology plays in the grieving process, and Julie Cameron...

No songwriter has ever described depression with the eloquence and empathy of Leonard Cohen. In tribute to great man, who died in 2016, life-long Cohen fans Adele Bethel (former frontwoman of Scottish band Sons and Daughters), poet Sean Hunt, and Gail Aldam of the Mental Health Foundation compare notes, as part of arts and mental health symposium The Dust of Everyday Life, CCA, Glasgow, 20 April 2...

What happens when close relations are lead characters not only in your private life, but also feature in your work? Award-winning filmmakers Karen Guthrie (pictured on the poster for her film The Closer We Get), Theresa Moerman Ib and Lucie Rachel join Flore Cosquer of the Scottish Documentary Institute to explore the emotional impact of creating a probing family portrait for the public eye. Chair...

Often misunderstood and misrepresented, trigger warnings can be vital for people who have experienced trauma. But is it actually possible to predict what will trigger someone when organising an arts event? Mental Health Foundation film lead Richard Warden, theatre director Jen McGregor and clinical psychologist Dr Simon Stuart share their experiences with cultural critic Hannah McGill, in a discus...

Talking Heads reporter Jamie Goodwin produced this podcast at Strictly Recovery: Time to Dance, a fun participatory event at Recovery Fest in Renfrewshire, demonstrating how dance can contribute to mental health, wellbeing and recovery. Interviews: Colin Turner: Recovery Development Worker, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (RHSCP) Jackie Heron: Day Services Manager, RAMH; Rowan Ande...

Here is a simple song based on my feelings about the grief I have experienced. I hope that if you listen to it you will identify with it in some way, as nearly all of us have been through some kind of grief or loss in our lives. My intention is that if you are thinking of going to watch the Good Grief short films, this song will resonate with you in some way and encourage you to see them. I believ...

The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination. This session from Dust 2016, at the CCA in Glasgow on Wednesday 20 April, asked the question: how does the built environment around us impact on our health, and how should architects t...

The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination. Producer Samuel Goldwyn shot down a proposed social purpose film with "If you want to send a message, use Western Union." Although it's now posts and tweets instead of telegrams, does...

The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination. This session from Dust 2016, at the CCA in Glasgow on Wednesday 20 April, was a discussion around the National Theatre of Scotland's Eve/Adam project, a double bill of theatre shows ex...

The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination. This session from Dust 2016, at the CCA in Glasgow on Wednesday 20 April, was a discussion around the question: ‘how do we talk to children about mental health, and what can artists do...

The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination. This session from Dust 2016, at the CCA in Glasgow on Wednesday 20 April, was a discussion around One Thinks of It All as a Dream, a new play by Alan Bissett about the life of Syd Barr...

The Dust of Everyday Life is an annual conference exploring the arts, mental health and social justice, programmed by the Mental Health Foundation and See Me, Scotland's campaign to end mental health discrimination. This session from Dust 2016, at the CCA in Glasgow on Wednesday 20 April, brought together speakers from three projects that use visual art to address mental health issues – Out of Sig...

DECLARATION took place at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow from 3-6 March. The festival was the result of a unique partnership between NHS Health Scotland, the Mental Health Foundation, the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) and the Centre for Health Policy at the University of Strathclyde. The programme featured 30 events - a mixture of film screenings, perfo...