Get Booked – A History Of Mental Illness Advocate Duo – Gabrielle Alsop & William Monk

Hello, I'm Hazel Butterfield and this is Get Booked, our lovely radio show here at Women's Radio Station in Covent Garden, supporting women's emotional well-being, opening discussions and offering support by the incredible writers, podcasters and mental advocates there. And we've been running a particular series of chatting to a variety of different people who cover yet again a variety of different topics surrounding mental health. And today I am joined by Gabrielle and William from History of Mental Illness. Hello. Hi. How you doing? I'm doing really well. Thank you for joining us all the way over from the States, which is, which is lovely. It's a little bit early there for you at the moment, isn't it? Yeah, it's 6 AM here, bright and early. And have you loaded up on coffee? Yes. Yeah, I've got my coffee right here with me. So, ahistoryofmentalillness.com. This is a resource and a podcast that you've recently started. Isn't that right? Yes. I have been kind of into podcasts. Podcasts for several years now. I really love to learn. I'm always looking for something new that I can listen to or read. And, um, last year I finished my master's degree in social work, and I have a lot of free time on my hands now that I'm not in school. And I thought, you know, I would love to start a podcast of my own, but I'm not really sure what I want do. And one day it just kind of dawned on me that my— I myself have mental illness. I'm diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and major depressive disorder. And the way that I try to tackle my illness is to learn as much about it as possible. So I talked to William, and he's currently in pharmacy school, and I said, What do you think about starting a podcast about mental illness? And I can talk about my experience and from the social work perspective, and you could talk about the pharmacy perspective. And I think you were pretty open to it. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a good idea. We just started it, so it's more of a passion project right now. But yeah, we're going to build on it. Well, knowledge is power and that is— it's Similarly, one of the reasons why I do get booked, because it's covering lots of different subject matter with lots of people who have different areas of expertise and just opening discussions rather than behind closed doors and in, you know, a therapist's room. And one of the first podcasts you did was actually covering OCD because you have a wealth of experience with that subject. Yeah, it seemed like the most reasonable place to start because of my personal experience. And really, around the time I was 18, so this is about almost 12 years ago, I had really probably my worst experience with it where I did end up in the hospital. I wasn't— I was so afraid of contamination, I wasn't eating things. I was taking so many showers a day that my skin was raw, um, and I really wasn't functioning. I was supposed to be going off to college, and, um, that was postponed because I could barely even leave the house. So, um, after I went into the hospital, which was about a week that I was there, I started new medicine, seeing a new doctor It was the hardest time in my life, and I really didn't talk to people about it for a long time because I was embarrassed of it. But I realized when I kind of owned my story and started sharing that a lot of people had similar experiences or were also struggling with some sort of mental disorder, and that it was more powerful to own my story than to hide my story. And you were about to embark on quite a stressful environment anyway, going to college. So it's kind of coming at you from all different angles. Oh yeah, exactly. And it did, you know, like I said, it was postponed and, um, it took me a little longer to finish college because I kind of took it slow at the beginning. Um, But I do think that going in the hospital ultimately was the best thing for me because I got the help that I had been needing for years, truly. Now, I'm going to ask you a question that might seem— it is quite naive, but I'm just intrigued as to what you would say about this. Before, we said that knowledge is power. Does the— the more you understand your illness, Does it become less powerful over you? I do feel like that. To me, um, and you know, everyone's experience is different, but I felt like I understood what was happening to me. And I also understood, oh, there's these things that I can do about it. I can go to therapy, I can take medicines. And, um, for me, because I don't know a lot about medicines, I really wanted to know how they worked which is why it seemed perfect with Will going into pharmacy school. I was like, let's talk about how the medicines work because I think so many people are scared of taking it. I know I was, that it really made me feel better to just understand what was going on. And you're opening discussions for other people to be able to get in touch with you and ask these questions because you're not a professional talking about it. You're somebody who's living and breathing it. Right. Right. Have you had many people— and I understand that your podcast is at its primary stages. Have you had many people get in touch and say, can I, can I chat to you or thank you for this? Or— Yeah, most of it has been our friends and family so far. I would say primarily it's been our friends and family. We have through our Instagram account, which is @ahistoryofmentalillnesspodcast. Um, there have been some people that have started following us that has sent us messages that are like, this is great, um, I'm glad you're doing it. And a lot of people are struggling, um, with their own mental illness— or not struggling, I should say, because they're fighting the good fight. They're not letting it take over their life, but just appreciating that more people are talking about it. And the, I mean, we're talking about, I mean, podcasting is all about writing as well. You're writing about the topics, you are promoting it on social media, and there's a lot of bloggers now that are predominantly on Instagram and they just write the whole blog on there, don't they? Yeah. Yeah, they definitely do. And so you put a lot of your resources on— I mean, Instagram is probably your most popular one, would you say? Do you use Instagram more than the other social media channels? I do. We have a Twitter and our Twitter handle is @HXMentalIllness, and we've got a Facebook, which is also just History of Mental Illness. But primarily I'm posting everything on Instagram and it's just being shared secondhand to the other websites, just because what I found is there's so many people on Instagram that are looking at the hashtags and a lot of, I would say, mental health advocates on Instagram. So it seemed like the best place to start. Yeah. And you know what? What also is quite interesting, you use hashtags here, there and everywhere, but on Instagram it tells you how many times that hashtag's been used and you put on, you know, mental wellness or mental health awareness, and it's like 42,326,000. Yeah, yeah, it's a lot. It is, and it's a bit, you know, it's visual as well rather than just the words, and sometimes you just need something a little bit punchy to give you that little bit of a mojo injection. Exactly. Yeah, I think Instagram is great for— it's not just pictures anymore. There's a lot of writers out there. And so are there anybody out there? Is there anyone out there that you're loving at the moment that you find quite inspiring? Yes. So the person that I follow who probably every time she posts something, I'm like, yes, I love this. It's actually Jameela Jamil. Hi, Jameela. Yeah, I love her. She— I feel like she's just really on it and very aware of what's going on in the mental health community and the body positive community, which is so related to mental health as well. So I actually find, I follow her and then she posts a lot of things as well that connects me to other people, which I love. Yeah, do you know what I found? There's a great community out there and I'm connected to quite a lot of people out there at the moment. And it's amazing that, you know, people with, 12 followers, 300 followers, and 12,000 followers. She's liking it all. She is commenting on it. She is on it like no one's business. I think it's brilliant. I've asked that question to quite a few people on this show recently, and Jameela Jamil is coming up a lot. She is killing it. Absolutely love it to pieces. I'm sorry, I interrupted you then. No, no, you're fine. Um, so what about you, William? Um, so I don't do too much on social media or anything, but I, uh, somebody I admire is an NFL player, Chris Long. He does a lot of humanitarian work. Oh, okay. Maybe you can get him in on the podcast at some point. You know, he'll be fine. That would be cool. Yeah. I'll get my people to speak to his people and they'll speak to your people. Exactly. Just expect him next week with croissants at your door going, guys, I am ready. That would be— We are very shortly coming up to the end of our first section, but what I want to discuss in the next few other sections are some of the episodes as well that you've already done and some of the potential episodes and where you get your inspiration from. I'm really looking forward to hearing about that. And what else you guys do on a day-to-day basis to kind of hints and tips of what keeps you mentally healthy. Yeah, absolutely. And we're gonna hear a little bit more from William maybe. Do we think? A little bit more. Yeah. Gabby's doing such a good job. Yeah, yeah, I just, you know, I don't wanna put William in the corner, you know? No, I know. Right, we'll be back in a couple of seconds. Here's our ads. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan and welcome to Love Lessons Live on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie May Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy and we're at Women's Radio Station supporting women's well-being and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Tracy Whedon of Brownhill Insurance Group. We are an award-winning family-run insurance broker covering a wide range of insurance products ranging from commercial lines to personal household, high net worth, and fine art. You can contact us on 0208 658 4334 or visit our website www.brownhillgroup.co.uk for your free, no-obligation quotation. At Brown Hills, we've got you covered. Hi, I'm Lauren Mishkon. I'm a birth doula and mum of 3, and I'm passionate about supporting women to have empowering and positive birth experiences. Please join me for my brand new show, From Tummy to Mummy, here on Women's Radio Station. Every week, I'll be here with an expert guest talking about women's reproductive health, everything fertility, pregnancy, birth, and baby related, right through to the menopause and beyond. Please join us for an informative and fun hour. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. Hi, I'm Valentina Barbacci, and I'm the executive director of Media Matters for Women. We're a registered charity operating in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and we produce and share podcasts via Bluetooth on mobile phones. Focusing specifically on women and girls excluded from information due to extreme poverty. We empower those living in rural areas with media that transforms how they access, own, and share information. To find out more and be part of this movement, come check out our website at mediamattersforwomen.org. You're listening to Women's Radio Stations supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Stations creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter at Women's Radio Station, that's Women's Radio STN, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Hello, I'm Hazel. Welcome back to the second section of Get Booked Today. Just squeezing in a little bit more of our track there. I do like my jingle, I think it's very punchy. Uh, we have been chatting away to Gabrielle and William from A History of Mental Illness, the podcast, uh, and he's still there, my lovelies. Yes, brilliant. So we've been talking a little bit about why you started the podcast, um, and a little bit about the first episode, which was on OCD because of your personal experience. I'd like to talk about some of the other episodes now. What is DID? DID is dissociative identity disorder. It's what used to be known as multiple personality disorder, right? Oh, I see. So you've done— so, so this episode, um, I love it how you, you've got a lot of the resources on there as well, so people know where you've got your information from, but where they can go and get further help and information from. Um, how much work goes into podcasts like this? So we spend about 2 weeks between each episode just researching and kind of developing what we want to say about it. Um, it's really fun though because we both have different perspectives. So I teach her a little bit and she teaches me a lot. So, um, going through each episode is really fun. This is— I think this is why the duo element is quite good because I do a podcast on something quite, quite different and my friend, we're very different to each other, but we get on very well, but we have completely— we come from different angles. And it helps give people a bit more of a broader spectrum of, of, of the concept and the issue, the underlying issues. And I guess that's how you guys go as well. Yeah, definitely. Gabby couldn't be more different on how she approaches life to me. So it's very, very opposing views sometimes. Sounded a bit like a backhanded compliment then. Yeah. So on episode 3, you, you discuss ADHD and what— and episode 4 is what's RAD? So that's reactive attachment disorder, which is a childhood disorder that's typically, sadly, the result of severe abuse in childhood. At a very, very early age, like 6 months to 2 years, typically. Wow. That must have been quite hard work to put together. It was very eye-opening, that's for sure. That's, uh, yeah. And do you get guests on your show too? Maybe somebody who's an expert in the field, or is it just about the way that you two, um, attack these subjects? We've been trying to get more and more guests on, uh, on our shows, but so far we have not had one. We are planning to have one in episode 6, I believe. Um, and we're doing bipolar this week, coming out today actually, and then bipolar 2 will be next week. And we'll have a guest from the International Association of Peer Supporters, and it's just a connection we made through doing the podcast actually. So we're hoping to have more and more Hello, come on board with us. And so how many episodes will you have in the first series? Are you going to do a series? Is it going to be like that or just continuous? So we plan to cover, uh, the whole DSM. So the first series will be all the mental illnesses and the DSM, and then after that we're going to go over some psychological phenomenon like déjà vu or just different items that weren't covered in the DSM that may may be interesting, you know. So, but déjà vu, we just know that déjà vu is a glitch in the matrix, isn't it? Right. They're redoing that film, I think. Sorry, that was just— I couldn't resist that. I do. So obviously you get to do a lot of research. You both have strong links in the field. What would— 3 tips would you give to anybody just on general mental well-being and mental health? Things that maybe you do yourself or just that you like to promote? Um, I would say the first one is you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. You know, self-care is a word that is used a lot, but I think it is actually really important. Yeah, and then don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Goes without saying, but at the same time, it needs to be said because people are afraid to ask for help all the time. The thing is, yeah, people are scared to ask for help, but it's that thing of opening Pandora's box. You know, once you ask, it's out there. Mm-hmm. You're right. And it's tough. And once it's done, you know, you're glad that it's been done. But it is tough. It's not just as simple as saying, I need help, I must ask for it. It's, it's a hard thing to accept. And then all the stigma around it, which is sad that's there. But over the, over the years, I mean, we've talked about history on our podcast, and it's how much stigma surrounding mental illness is amazing that anybody ever asked for help. So, and the third one, um, I would say it's okay and healthy to set boundaries. Which was important for me to learn in my struggle with mental health. It, it's really going to improve the quality of your life and your relationships. Sometimes it's hard, though, and I think it's important to have boundaries with friends and family and so much, especially if you are kind of working on your mental health. It's easy to let other people in and kind of tell you what to do, which again, it is important to ask for help, but also to say, you know, this is my space and my time, and to learn to say no to some things instead of feeling like you have to agree to do everything. I mean, this limited to 3 is so hard too, so a 4th one maybe would be like setting time for yourself to decompress, whether it's like planning your day or just cleaning around the house, just something you can do to decompress and reset your mind, kind of. Meditation, maybe. It's quite funny, actually, because quite a few of my friends will know that there's certain issues that I have, and they know that if I've been, you know, cleaning out my cleaning cupboard and I've cooked about 8 different meals, they know that I'm decompressing and that I'm reordering my brain. That is my thing. It is— I need order. And something that's going to bring me joy. Food brings me joy, but the order of cleaning things and— Yeah. And it's, there's, my children and I, we kind of eat slightly different food and the idea of making 3 or 4 different meals at the same time that are slightly varied, but making sure that they're all ready at the same time, that order kind of is a Control+Alt+Delete for me. Mm-hmm. That's good. Yeah, I absolutely love it. And it's knowing what that is for you, right? Finding out what's your thing is always important. Yes, I did. It was interesting what you said about understanding your boundaries. And I was telling somebody about this fantastic blog that I read. It's actually a couple of years old, and it was in an English paper that is normally known for being quite rubbish, but it was still brilliantly written, and it was entitled 'I'm sorry that my mental illness sometimes made me a rubbish friend.' Now, what she was referring to was the fact that she had to put up her boundaries, she had to say no, she had to close off from people sometimes, and it was just a case of self-preservation, and she was just kind of explaining it, and it was Brilliantly done. I'll see if I can dig out the link. It's somewhere on my Twitter, but I will, I will send it over to you. And it was just great about how you sometimes— it is self-care. You've got to look after yourself and not always say yes to everybody else. Exactly. And I am especially very bad at that. I will agree to do 10 things when I only really have time for 5 things. And one day it was actually in therapy. My therapist kind of said, you know, who are you doing this for? Are you doing these things for yourself because they're going to make you happy? Are you doing it for other people? Because right now it seems like it's making you miserable. And I think about that. No exaggeration. Every single time I am thinking about agreeing to do something, who am I doing this for? But the options that are out there as well, we're constantly faced with things. We could be doing something every minute of the day, every single evening. I've actually, I've just had something just before we started this show. A friend of mine wants me to go to this incredible party. It would be so much fun, but I've already agreed to go out this evening. So it would mean that it'd be 2 evenings out, which I know I'll be tired from. 2 evenings where I've got to get a babysitter, so I know I'll be skint from, but I know that also it's the kind of party which would help in my industry and it'd be sociable and she's asked me to go to accompany her and I'm sitting there going, I kind of know I don't want to do it, but I really do want to do it, but then I'll feel guilty if I don't and I'll kind of feel like I'm not putting the effort in if I don't. Yeah. Right, exactly. Do you see what I mean? It's not always about pleasing other people, it's just going, It's kind of FOMO, but you kind of know that you should be socialising and networking and everything and you just like, when does it stop? Yeah, exactly. Because you do need a break sometimes. And there isn't necessarily a right or wrong answer. Yeah, I probably should just stay at home and decompress and chill and get to know, you know, even just look at my emails and make sure that everything's sorted for the next 'But then I'll just—' But there could be something incredible that would happen from doing the networking. And this is what we're all faced with every single day. And, you know, well, not necessarily everybody's got amazing parties to go to, but I think— Do you know what I mean? There's always something. Yes. You might have met somebody at that book event, or you might have, you know, there's just so much going on. Yeah, yeah, there will always be something going on. So it's kind of deciding, and like you said, the answer is different for everybody. So what's going to work for you and just make sure you're being authentic with yourself. And checking in every now and again. But you know, when we are faced with decisions on a, on a daily, hourly, minute, minute-by-minute basis, it's tiring, isn't it? Yeah, it's definitely tiring. So the best thing we can ever do for ourselves is to make sure that we understand ourselves and we know our limits. So that can help us be informed to make better decisions. Absolutely. I would say Will and I are definitely very different in our limits. And we kind of understand that. Sorry, Gabrielle, just going to quickly go off to the ads and we'll be back in a second. Oh, sure. Welcome to the Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station is all about diversity, from opinions, career, ethnicity, education, and most importantly, women's well-being. We aim to celebrate the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and the platform for your voice. Visit our website, www.millionsradiostation.com for more information. I'm Tamina Zaman, founder of Empower and Enrich. When it comes to money, do you clam up or get confused? 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For more information on how you can sponsor a show, go to womensradiostation.com. Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Welcome back to the second half of today's Get Booked. I'm chatting away to Gabrielle and William from A History of Mental Illness podcast, who I very rudely cut off towards the end because we had to pop over to the ads. Please, I'm so sorry. I was like, if my producer was going, you've got like 2 seconds, I'm like, oh no, but I want to listen to what you're saying. That's okay. Please do carry on. Um, I was saying, I think, um, Will and I— and he can talk a little bit more to this— are very different with our limits. Like he said, we're pretty different people, but we work well together. Um, I'm definitely more— yeah, social person. Yeah, she goes out a lot more than I do, and I, I don't need that. So yeah, she has to get recharged with meeting people and having her friends around, and I recharge from Netflix usually. That's exactly what I was going to say, actually. I mean, I kind of recharge from meeting people and Netflix, so, you know, I like to combine the two. What are you watching on Netflix at the moment? What's floating your boat? Oh, uh, goodness. Uh, I watched Luther recently because my man Idris Elba's on there, but that's the only thing I can think of recently. I watched— I see somebody said it was incredible in the final, and the latest series came out, and I'd never seen any of it, and I binge-watched like all 4 or 5 series. Yeah, they're great. Oh, he's brilliant. Do we think he's going to be the next Bond? So I hope so, because I don't know who else would do it better, but I think he's Moving on from that, last thing I read, he was not interested anymore, but we'll see. We'll keep our fingers crossed. We will indeed. So you're still in the middle of Luther. You haven't— what else are you using to decompress at the moment in terms of TV? There's one called Magicians. It's a sci-fi channel series. It's really good. Yeah, we watch That one we watch together. Yeah, I'm not allowed to progress through it without her. I see. That's quite interesting because, you know, I have a man thing who likes to watch things with me, but he likes to do one episode at a time and I can do six at once. I mean, I'm cool with that. Yeah, I think I'm the like one or two at a time. And yeah, if it were me, this series would already be over. But so that's the difference. The difference in styles, I guess. Exactly. I just can't stop myself. The thing is, it is time to— it's with Netflix, it's a little bit like books in that it can kind of give you something to kind of, to move away from, to just absorb yourself in something else. It's a little bit of escape, especially with things like Stranger Things where people are just going a little bit crazy for at the moment. Mm-hmm. Exactly. And I wrote a blog. Sorry, what was that? Oh, I forgot about that one, the Stranger Things. Oh, I know. My son's asking for the Lego. I'm like, "No, that's like 100 pounds." Oh. But I wrote a blog recently regarding the different things that you could watch on Netflix for whatever you were wanting to achieve in your life. And if it was escape or if you wanted to giggle, and there's My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Have you, have you heard of that? No, I don't think so. Okay, you need to watch it because basically she has a plethora of mental issues. She does have DID, as we were talking about before, and it's how she works her way through it. And it's about body positivity and obsession and things like that. And they— and it's done with, it's done with fantastic humour. But they really do actually discuss these issues ridiculously well with like a kind of musical undertone. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Go and check it out. But I will warn you, some of the songs are a little bit risqué. I mean, they're just— Oh, yeah. They're all Broadway stars and they're fantastic. Yeah. And they're covering all these issues, but they kind of, oh, I can't really say them, but maybe I can say, okay, no, I can't do it. I'm gonna get in so much trouble. But really ridiculous songs, very funny, very talented, and it manages to just have some sweet humility in it as well as the main person being, yep, she gets hospitalised a few times and she crashes and burns. And yeah, it's interesting. And the blog I did was many different series that I use to either just help me escape or when I want a giggle or when I want a bit of sass. There's The Bitch in Apartment 23. And I don't know if you've heard of that one, but whenever— That one. Yeah. Yeah. It always makes me feel like, you know, makes me feel a little bit more gutsy when I watch that. And it's funny. And I kind of wrote the different themes as to what you possibly needed and which series to watch. Yeah. But have you seen The Bitch in Apartment 23? Yes, I love that show. I thought it was very smart and clever, and the acting was perfect. Just kind of over-the-top ridiculous, but so funny. And I'm sad that it was, uh, cut short. Basically, I felt like, oh, I want more of this show. It's just— it was incredible. Did you find afterwards that you were getting a little bit more rude and sassy with your comebacks to people? Yeah. Gabby always tells me now, I almost just lost control. I almost hit you. Yeah. Which is from the show. Yeah. Brilliant. And it has Van Der Beek. What's it called? Oh, yes. James Van Der Beek. Yeah. From Dawson's Creek. And he plays himself. Yes. Which I was not expecting that at all. Because I do follow him on Instagram from Dawson's Creek days. I was obsessed with that show. And he's this sweet family man. And in the show, he's the total opposite of that. But he's still playing himself, which is hilarious. Especially when she comes into the apartment and he's playing "I don't want to wait for us." Yeah. I think he's got a date. He's trying to make sure he's sealing the deal. Right. But there are a place for all these Netflix programmes. Sometimes they are just for comedy and sometimes they are to just decompress or give us something that we need, and which is why we obsess about them so much, because they do give us something that we need. And as much as I'd love to chat to you about Netflix series for the next 20 minutes or so, we are a book show as well, and I'd like to know what kind of books you've been loving at the moment? Who are the authors that you love? So right now, a book that I'm reading is called The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown. She's actually a social worker and a researcher, and she looks a lot at things like shame and fear and why we feel those things. So she's also looking at the opposite and kind of how to live a joy-filled life. So The Gifts of Imperfection, the chapters are short, easily readable, and every time I'm like, wow, I've never identified more with anything that she's talking about. Um, wow. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Brené Brown. She is absolutely fantastic. Um, And she, you can tell she's a person who's always kind of trying to be the best version of herself, which I feel like that's what we're all doing. You know, we're constantly trying to improve. So it's very relatable. I've just checked it out on here as well. She does some chats on YouTube, doesn't she? Yes. Yeah. You can find, I think she's done some of the TED Talks that are on YouTube. Oh, and she does. Speaking of Netflix, she does have a Netflix one out, but I cannot remember the name of it. Well, I'm looking here. One of her talks, which are only 4 and a half minutes long, has got 143,000 views. So she's kind of good. Right, exactly. Wow. Yeah, that's great. I'd love to get on board with that one, actually. I've just put it on my list as we're chatting. You know, multitasking, it's what we do. Exactly. Sorry, carry on. Um, the other one that I was going to say, it's— the author is Pema Chödrön. She's actually a Buddhist nun. My favorite book by her is The Places That Scare You, but really any of her books would be, um, amazing. They're definitely from kind of a Buddhist philosophy, but I feel like that translates really well to mental health and mental health awareness and how to kind of take care of yourself. So, so what is she referring to when, when, with the title The Places That Scare Us? It's about tackling the hard things in life. And this book I actually read, I would say, within a year after getting out of the and a lot of it is about kind of centering yourself. And instead of, you know, focusing on the things that we can't control, like the future, or the things that we can't change, like the past, really being centered in today so that you're enjoying your life and being in the now. That is the thing, just Being in the now, if somebody can create something to just make it so much easier where we could just flip a switch and be in the now. It's like I was sitting on the sofa last night and there was something that my son said to me and I realised that I was halfway through doing something for work and didn't actually properly acknowledge what he'd said until about an hour later. Even though I know he'd said it and I'd responded quite coherently. And we're constantly not in the now. It's terrible. You're kind of laughing. No, I mean, I think that we're both looking at each other because I think we're, we're both guilty of that for sure. Sometimes I'll be like, you know, are you listening to me? Did you hear what I said? Yeah. And like focusing on the future. I mean, I'm always trying to plan for my future and whatever, and, uh, sometimes I do forget just to— I had to— I mean, I'll be in so much more debt if I really enjoy the now, but I have to. Exactly. Well, we're gonna have another quick break and we'll be back with our final section in just a few minutes. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan, and welcome to Love Lessons Live on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie May Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy, and we're at Women's Radio Station supporting women's well-being, and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Tracy Whedon of Brownhill Insurance Group. We are an award-winning family-run insurance broker covering a wide range of insurance products ranging from commercial lines to personal household, high net worth, and fine art. You can contact us on 0208 658 4334 or visit our website www.brownhillgroup.co.uk for your free no-obligation quotation. At Brownhill We've got you covered. Hi, I'm Lauren Mishkon. I'm a birth doula and mum of 3, and I'm passionate about supporting women to have empowering and positive birth experiences. Please join me for my brand new show, From Tummy to Mummy, here on Women's Radio Station. Every week I'll be here with an expert guest talking about women's reproductive health, everything fertility, pregnancy, birth, and baby related. Right through to the menopause and beyond. Please join us for an informative and fun hour. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. Hi, I'm Valentina Barbacci, and I'm the executive director of Media Matters for Women. We're a registered charity operating in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and we produce and share podcasts via Bluetooth on mobile phones, focusing specifically on women and girls girls excluded from information due to extreme poverty. We empower those living in rural areas with media that transforms how they access, own, and share information. To find out more and be part of this movement, come check out our website at mediamattersforwomen.org. You're listening to Women's Radio Stations supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Stations creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter at Women's Radio Station, that's Women's Radio STN, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Oh, I do love the ads. Welcome back to our final section of Get Booked, here with Gabrielle and William from A History of Mental Illness podcast. We have been chatting away, shooting the breeze, and covering a plethora of subjects, and I'm sure we could keep on chatting for another couple of hours. What do you think? Oh, definitely. Yeah, we're down. Thanks again for having us on. You're very, very welcome. We just didn't want to do a quick plug, make sure that everybody else is listening to your podcast and checking out your website. It is ahistoryofmentalillness.com. And just let us know all your other bits and pieces. Our, um, Twitter handle is @hxmentalillness. Our Instagram is @ahistoryofmentalillnesspodcast. And the Facebook, you just search in Facebook for A History of Mental Illness. Brilliant. And those that are listening right now, if you've only just joined us and you've missed out on the other 3 sections of today's show, you can go on to womensradiostation.com www.podcastpodcast.co.uk/shows and get booked as of next week, and you can listen to the whole show again and share it. We have been talking about your backstory, what you do, future topics, favourite books, authors, who you admire in the public eye, and some very important hints and tips on mental well-being. And, and, and, Jen, we've been chatting about Netflix as well, haven't we? Yes. I've got a list now of things I need to check out. Yeah. Oh, there's another one as well. If you do like a little bit of philosophy, The Good Place. Yes. We are obsessed with The Good Place. Oh, so you are watching it? Yes. That's how you met or found Jameela Jamil, right? Yeah, I think so. She's brilliant. She's so fantastic. She really is. And the show is so smart, um, and the different characters. And, um, it took a little while for Will to get into it because I think he thought it was just silly. And I was like, no, you know, they're wrapping in a lot of really kind of philosophical stuff into it. You have to check it out. Yeah, it's interesting, the, the, the philosophical debates that he comes out with, uh, what's his name again, uh, the Cheaty. Cheaty. Oh, the thing is, you kind of think, oh, philosophy just sounds like it's completely blowing your mind, and then she just comes in and kind of simplifies it and makes you understand it a little bit more. Exactly. But there was a bit where they were deciding the factors that put you in the bad place. Now, have you listened to all the series? Have you watched all the series? Sorry. No, we haven't had cable, like proper cable television. So we've been watching it as it comes out. So I think we haven't seen the last season. So you're a full season behind. Yeah, just one season behind. Okay. I won't mention anything on the final series because I'm completely up to scratch because I just love it. As soon as it's released, that's it. I'm on it. Ignore the kids, ignore the dog, the cat. They know that they just need to go. But it's just silly things like, you know, what can put you in the bad place and how many points you can lose for doing this, that, and whatever, and the knock-on effect of what you do. And sometimes they're like, "All I did was said that to that person." Yeah, but that spiralled her out of control. Right. And then there was somebody else who they said, "Yeah, but you ate that egg salad sandwich on a really busy, warm train." Nobody should talk to anyone. But it's, it is brilliant and it kind of just, just get you thinking that sometimes the little things can be incredible and the little things sometimes can ruin people's day. Oh yeah, every, everything matters even if it doesn't feel like it doesn't. Even with those little red boots, right? Yeah, those little red boots. And although it is serious, there are, you know, 6-foot butterflies flying around and devils causing problems. Mm-hmm. Exactly. Yeah. I feel like the show is just brilliant in there. Like you said, kind of making you think about the little things and making it easy to understand. And actually, what was quite interesting is the point where someone said, yeah, but I was good to everybody. I did this and I did that. And, you know, I made everybody's life easy. Like, no, no, no, you got minus points for that because you never let anybody think for themselves. You did everything for everybody else. And that's not good, right? And especially with Tahani's character, kind of her motive, her motivation behind what she was doing. Yeah. You know, she made, you know, for those people that haven't watched this programme yet, she's like a London aristocratic princess who basically went round raising lots of money and she only ever did it to, you know, hang out with people and to be supposedly better than her sister or to compete with her, which, you know, her intentions were not pure. Exactly. But she's very funny and, you know, she's— Yes. Yeah. Her and Kristen Bell in that show, their dynamic is so funny. Yeah, they're just absolutely brilliant. But, you know, there's some brilliant people out there writing clever works that help everybody in a variety of different ways. Now, as much as it was so much easier for me to go back onto Netflix again, What do you think, from, from coming out with A History of Mental Illness, um, how long did it take you from the idea, from coming up with the idea, to actually getting out there and having something that was ready to be issued to the world? You know, we're not sure if it's really the greatest thing as, as we're doing it, you know, we're still progressing, uh, every episode we do, we do something different. To put it, it took about 2 or 3 months before we actually made our first episode, and it's really just kind of evolved as we're going. And have you seen any common trends with what— with actually producing the work, doing the research that you need to do for each different topic? Have you kind of sat there and gone, this is what keeps on coming up? Are there any trends that you've noticed? Um, I think the biggest trend is like when I'm looking at the history of things, seems like melancholia is in every backstory for every disease. That's what they called everything back in the day. So. Right. Oh, I see. It is quite a history lesson for everybody as well, as well as discussing the issues themselves and giving them a current update on what's going on, the history behind it. Yeah, we thought that would be interesting. And then meeting the whole, uh, we're teaching, trying to teach everybody more about pharmacotherapy as well, and trying to kind of delve into that but also make it understandable. Trying to meet people where they are, um, is, is hard as well, but we're figuring it out. So you say that you're trying to help people understand it a bit more Tell me a little bit more about, about it. What, what are the elements that you discuss? So first we talk about the history of whatever the mental illness is, and then we talk about, um, pop culture examples, and then we talk about how it's diagnosed and treatment. And in the treatment section, we break it down into both, um, therapy and then drug therapy as well. And since I'm a pharmacist, I kind of know more about the mechanism of action of drugs and that we try to break down into easy to understand little bits. And are you an advocate of taking medicine? I mean, I know that you supply it, so it's kind of a silly question, but are you a kind of always take the medicine, always do this, or are you— do you think there should be— there are situations? There's an adage somewhere around there that pharmacists are the worst at taking medicines, and it's so true because I don't take anything. It's not that I don't need to, it's just that I, you know, haven't. But there must be a reason for that though. I mean, is it just because you don't want to take your own advice, or because you know the side effects and sometimes knowledge is not power, or No, um, I think it's more just I haven't, haven't seen anybody about, uh, therapy in a long time, and I, I don't have a current prescription. So we, uh, maybe we'll diagnose me one day on the episodes. I'd like to be involved with that. I think that'd be a really fun episode. I wanna— I kind of just want to sit at the side kind of drinking a glass of Chablis or something while Gabrielle kind of just goes Right, Will goes in on me. Yeah, well, and he's very— of course, since— I mean, we've been together almost 10 years now. What? Yeah. Um, and so I was very open when we started dating that I had, um, a mental illness. And since he started pharmacy school, he's been teaching me a lot about the medicine and talking about how it works. And of course, he's, you know, an advocate of me taking medicine because he knows it works. So it's— it is interesting that, like you said, pharmacists are the worst at taking medicine, which is just true. I don't know why, but he's not opposed to it, I wouldn't say. Yeah, medicine can't work if you don't take it. And I definitely advocate taking your meds. Meds. That's, that's one of the things that people end up in the hospital for is not taking their meds, whether it be mental illness or like heart failure, hypertension, whatever. If you have meds that your doctor recommends take, you should take it. If you have concerns about it, raise it with him. But there are a lot of kind of physically mental issues that taking medicine for is just a little bit of a no-brainer. But with, with certain mental health issues. I mean, it's scary knowing that a tablet is messing with what's going on in your head. And I think that is where the knowledge is power. So obviously, as you said, that Will's turned around to you and said, "This is what it's actually doing." And you're like, "Oh, okay, I get it. And I'm happy with that." And to be honest, you're probably happy with it anyway, but you just wanna know. You just wanna know what's actually happening inside your head to make you feel better. 'Cause that's quite scary, isn't it? Yeah, and I think if you see— I don't know how the commercials on TV are there for drugs, but here in America it's like totally non-related to the medicine. It's just like people happy running through fields. We don't even have those kind of ads, unfortunately. But, um, uh, sorry, I'm just gonna have to cut you off there. We're just coming to the end of today's show now. I could have done so much longer, but I really, really appreciate you spending the time to chat to us here at Get Muked on Women's Radio Station. Thank you so much. Thank you for having us. Welcome to the Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station is all about diversity, from opinions, career, ethnicity, education, and most importantly, women's well-being. We aim to celebrate the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and the platform for your voice. Visit our website womensradiostation.com for more information. I'm Tamina Zaman, founder of Empower and Enrich. When it comes to money, do you clam up or get confused? Do you wish you could save more money, or are you hoping you have enough for retirement? You are not alone. Many women women want to be smarter with their cash but just don't know where to start. At empowerandenrich.org, you will find a host of options to help you take charge of your finances and learn how to put your money to work for you in an easy, affordable way. Get in touch with me at empowerandenrich.org and let's change your future together. Hello, my name is Natasha Anne Callaghan. Welcome to you lovely lady listeners of your very own women's radio Station. Over the coming months, I'll be doing a survey in big brand coffee shops interviewing customers asking why they like to drink coffee and if they would like to give us a health tip for our listeners. The most shared and liked post will be the winner of a prize. Stay tuned for further details. Hi, I'm Carolyn Van Beers. 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