As seen in the Nov/Dec issue of Retail Pharmacy Assistants e-magazine.
The mission to improve mental health and well-being is a big issue that will require a number of approaches.
Innovation in the mental health space has led to increased awareness of the power of the arts in generating understanding within our communities.
Generating new ways of thinking about mental health has led to an increased call for it to be tackled from a collective cultural position rather than exclusively through a medicalised and clinical system.
With an estimated 45 per cent of people with a mental illness not seeking help for mental health concerns,1 the development of cultural approaches is needed now more than ever.
Blending the arts and mental health enables a broadening of knowledge and an access point for the community to learn more, fostering community understanding.
One initiative in this space is UNSW Sydney’s Big Anxiety Research Centre, which is dedicated to transforming thinking and practice in mental health through creative collaboration and cultural innovation.
It researches lived experience through a combination of trauma-informed psychosocial research and creative practice,
In November 2020, the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into mental health found stigma, a disproportionate focus on clinical services, a narrow view of mental health services, and underinvestment in prevention and early intervention.2
The commission recommended that the mental health system should be people-centred and focused on prevention.
It envisions a system that not only enables people to live well and manage their own mental health where possible but also is extended to include sectors beyond healthcare.
Founded in 2016, the Big Anxiety Research Centre (BARC) researches lived experiences, collaborating with the community, arts and health sectors.
Its major calling card is ‘The Big Anxiety’ festival, created in response to the commission’s identification of the need for a human-centred approach to mental health.
The festival, founded in Sydney in 2017, was staged in both Queensland (Brisbane and Warwick) and Melbourne in 2022, focusing on highlighting ‘lived experiences of mental health, trauma and suicidality’.
Through community attendance, the festival enables ‘bottom-up’ engagement and explores how art and design can provide psychosocial support.3
“The Big Anxiety represents a new cultural approach to mental health, one that can address the deficits of the current medicalised system,” BARC Director Scientia Professor Jill Bennett said.
“We use art and design capacity to reimagine support that is trauma-informed, people-centred and grounded in lived experience.”4
BARC has recently announced funding from the Sydney-based Bridging Hope Charity Foundation with a grant that will help to establish a postdoctoral research fellowship to continue the centre’s mental health research.
“[This] will advance our research into arts-based support for mental health,” Professor Bennett said. “We’re especially excited to be building an important international partnership with [China’s] CAFA [Central Academy of Fine Arts] in Beijing.
“Working closely with communities and people with lived experience, we aim to create transformative projects that can bring about real change.”
Bridging Hope Charity Foundation founder Tina Tian said: “We began our significant support of UNSW’s Big Anxiety festival in 2017. We’re delighted to continue to provide impactful support for such an innovative mental health initiative that focuses on the power of art. It really is wonderful that we can be instrumental in improving mental wellbeing on a broader scale, including internationally.”5
References:
- Black Dog Institute. ‘Facts and figures about mental health’. 2020. blackdoginstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1-facts_figures.pdf [Accessed 24/10/22].
- Productivity Commission. ‘Productivity Commission Inquiry Report’. June 2020. pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/mental-health/report/mental-health.pdf [Accessed 21/10/22].
- The Big Anxiety. ‘About’. 2022. thebiganxiety.org/about/ [Accessed 17/10/22].
- UNSW Sydney. ‘The Big Anxiety festival continues to innovate mental health support’. September 2022. [Accessed 30/9/22]
- UNSW Sydney. ‘The Big Anxiety Research Centre strengthens partnership with Bridging Hope Charity Foundation’. November 2022. unsw.edu.au/news/2022/11/the-big-anxiety-research-centre-strengthens-partnership-with-bri [Accessed 24/10/22].
