Giving mental illness a new face
Brent Seal, 604.803.6073, brents@sfmw.ca, smw-execs@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, PAMR, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
What do a passionate outdoor enthusiast, a talented public speaker and an avid chess player have in common, besides being well-respected students at Simon Fraser University?
Brent Seal, Taylor Kagel and Joe Roback each live with a medically diagnosed mental illness that could destroy their lives if they weren’t being treated effectively.
The three hope that their daring decision to go public about their experiences of mental illness in personal video testimonials on YouTube will help improve the public face of the disease.
The students earnestly offer themselves up as examples of what living with mental illness can be like if it is diagnosed early, treated effectively and accepted socially.
“These are cutting edge videos because they give a new, authentic face to mental illness—not the depressing ‘feel sorry for me’ status quo that people usually hear,” says Seal, who has schizophrenia.
The fourth-year SFU business student is well known within and outside of the campus community as a mental health advocate who founded Students for Mental Wellness (SMW) in 2008.
Seal, Kagel and Roback, fellow SMW executive members, capitalized on the occurrence of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Week 2010 (May 3-9) as a good time to post their videos.
Surrounded by trees, Seal, the lead guide for SMW’s Hiking for Mental Wellness program, says in his video, “I just hope that people with mental illness aren’t seen as lazy, crazy, violent or weird. I hope they’re seen as strong and courageous and valuable members of society and loving people because that’s what they truly are. That’s the face of mental illness that I see.”
Kagel, a 2009 SFU computing science graduate, lives with severe depression and anxiety. But that hasn’t stopped him from becoming a successful public speaker and fundraiser for charity.
In his video Kagel says, “By opening up dialogue about mental illness we can remove some of the stigma. We need a positive representative, such as an MP with a serious mental illness to come forward. That would be a huge milestone.”
Roback, a psychology student who has bipolar disorder, is a recognized musician and president of the SFU Chess Club. He attributes his creative abilities partially to his mental illness. Under images of him playing chess and his guitar, Roback says, “There’s a fascinating link between chess, music and mental health. For me, chess is a distraction from stress in my life and music is an important creative outlet and means of recovery.”
The three students say they’re receiving mostly positive reaction and support to their YouTube videos.
Seal and Kagel live in Burnaby. Roback is an East Vancouver resident.
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Comments
Comment GuidelinesGreat videos! Totally supporting your cause, it definitely needs to be addressed more!
I just completed my BA in Communications a few weeks ago, and it has taken me almost 10 years to finish a 4 year degree. I have Bipolar Disorder, and was diagnosed while studying at SFU...my SFU councilor saw a pattern and referred me to a psychiatrist.
Changing my major, picking up and moving to Europe, coming back to school, transferring into SFU in 2005, being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, and being hospitalized for a manic episode all occurred before I finally realized that one of my main triggers at school was deadlines. This of course is only one of SO many triggers, triggers that can often be avoided if I am aware of them.
The Health and Counseling Centre was there to keep me together. If I didn't utilize the services through out my degree I most likely wouldn't have graduated. The few withdrawals under extrenuating circumstances (WE) on my transcripts didn't affect my GPA and I finished with a 3.0 even with all my ups and downs over the years.
Some professors are very understanding, others try to understand, TA's are sometimes helpful, while others completely disregarded the seriousness of my illness. Missing a tutorial on occasion needed to be done if I was to continue in the course, but to some TA's that was not a good reason. How many times should they expect me to see my psychiatrist to get notes all the time? It's not like walking into a clinic.
The CSD did help at times, but I had to be proactive with my psychiatrist to prepare for extensions if I felt an episode coming when an assignment was due.
Being in a bipolar depression is, in my opinion, so hard to explain unless the person has also experienced clinical depression.
The stigma felt most for me was when I was hypomanic. Don't get me wrong, I was elated and quite confident during those times, but I often spoke so fast or told people a bit too much information...I was and still am second guessing myself after I speak about my illness to someone. I don't know how much is too much to say, or how much people want
These videos are really incredible. I would love to see them all over the place, and to have more understanding around these issues. The key is in the face to face interactions, not the statistics, and I relate wholeheartedly to the feelings here. That mental illness is something that is debilitating, that suffering from a mental illness and not being able to overcome it alone was a sign of weakness, and that only by the support of the people around me was it possible for me to get better. Thank you.
I am currently struggling to complete my degree while struggling to understand and control my mental illness. These videos and the comments to them are encouraging and I applaud that there is a growing voice in the fight to erase the stigma around mental illness. Bravo
hang in there guys. I finished my degree in 2009 and it was HARD. I always felt really bad because it took me longer than everyone else--struggled so much, and beat myself up over it. What helps is realizing that you cannot compare yourself to others, and you have to accept what you have, and who you are. I am glad there is now a group at sfu for it.
Good going guys! I was at SFU from 2000 to 2006 and graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy. I was diagnosed with the bipolar disorder in 2004. I wish I had a group like yours when I was there. I hope that this support group will become a permanent feature at SFU.
Thank you all for sharing YOUR stories on here. One of the main motivations for starting SMW was the fact that when I was diagnosed with schizophrenia, there was no way to connect with anyone else who was suffering, or who had suffered. Connecting and opening up has been one of the best therapies, so I encourage everyone to first accept their illness and second, create a support network built on trust and encouragement.
Thank you all for your kind words, it's a great feeling to hear that people appreciate SMW and what we do!
Benjamin Lee
Although SMW is a young club, it has achieved remarkable success and progress.
Keep up the meaningful pursuit!