Ending Mental Health Stigma with Perspective Project
Written by Oliver Squirrell
In anticipation of our upcoming event, the Virtual Private View, we take the time to get to know our charity partner a little better, and in the process gain a deeper understanding of how art and creativity can help alleviate pressures amid the mental health crisis.
We first met Perspective Project’s founder, Mark Anscombe in early 2019 when artist Siris Hill first participated in one of their events and subsequently became a trustee of the charity. What continues to inspire us most about the organisation is their relentless dedication to challenging and ultimately ending the stigma around mental health by utilising visual art, poetry and other creative outlets in a community-driven movement. Mark has subsequently also become the co-founder How Mental, a revolution making mental well-being a global priority.
Centre: Davina Morgan - Co-Founder of Perspective Project
Right: Mark Anscombe - Founder of Perspective Project
We caught up with Mark to find out more about his organisations and to ask what still needs to be done to slay the stigma.
OS: Thank you for taking the time to chat with us Mark. Firstly, I’m curious to ask what gave you the personal drive to help end the stigma around mental health?
MA: Mental health made a sudden entrance into my life around the time I left school. Two of my sixth form classmates passed away in a short period of time due to mental health, and I was becoming far more aware of the prevalence of depression and anxiety. At University, I volunteered for a wonderful organisation called Nightline. We provided an anonymous and confidential listening and support service to people, many of whom were experiencing a mental health crisis. My firsthand experience of the devastating impact of mental health, and how it affects people indiscriminately, reinforced to me that the stigma needs to end. Personally, I have experienced depression – for which I received medication, a necessary and thankfully successful intervention. Even in my position running a mental health charity, it isn’t always easy to talk openly about mental health. This pervasive stigma is a significant barrier to prevention and treatment.
OS: What do you feel is at the heart of mental health stigma currently?
MA: For me, stigma can be attributed to two main factors. A lack of knowledge, and a lack of empathy. We are not teaching people from an early age what mental health is, and how it will affect their lives. We learn so much in school about our body and health, but it’s largely below the neck. The fact is, everyone will be affected by mental health in their lifetime – whether it is directly, or indirectly through a close family member or loved one. Our curriculum needs to include comprehensive coverage of mental health, from self-care, symptoms and prevention, to intervention methods, treatment and ongoing care. Tackling a lack of empathy is less easy to quantify. Partly, increasing understanding and awareness will inherently increase empathy. Once people understand that depression is not sadness, eating disorders are not just about being skinny, and that you can’t ‘just snap out of’ a mental illness or an episode of poor mental health, we will see greater support for individuals who need it. There is a huge role to play for public-facing organisations, public figures and the media. We need more role models across media and culture to step forward and be open about mental health. Thankfully, an increasing number are.
OS: Mental health can be complex and extremely personal to an individual, and there's a lot of advice, resources and noise out there, how does one best begin the journey of improving their own mental health or gaining an understanding of what others are going through?
MA: A great first step is to go out there and listen to the noise. To consume the resources, broaden your understanding by taking on and getting to grips with a wide range of viewpoints and experiences. There are some phenomenal authors such as Matt Haig who approaches mental health with honesty, power and emotion. Literature can be a great place to start to understand the human side of mental health. Social media, although a complex issue, can be a really positive tool for sharing perspectives on mental health. Through Perspective Project (@perspectiveartproject) and How Mental (@howmental) we want to engage in an open, honest and positive discourse on what mental health means to different people.
OS: What have been some of the personal highlights of Perspective Project and How Mental to date?
MA: It has been a fantastic journey since I started working in the mental health sector. Perspective Project has given me some wonderful memories. Our first big event ‘Stigma’ at Pop Brixton really stands out for me. We had so much phenomenal art, poetry, spoken word and theatrical performances – all coming together to understand, respond to and overcome the stigma around mental health. We have also really loved our open mic nights ‘Unfiltered’, the brainchild of my co-founder Davina, which we had been running monthly in London and Norwich up until lockdown. We are really excited to get back to our growing community, and hopefully branching out to more cities across the UK. My involvement with How Mental is still relatively new. My co-founder George has been working tirelessly for 3 years building a wonderful community. For me, a big highlight has been the opportunity to meet with so many caring and talented individuals working across the mental health space. We are building a community of organisations committed to making mental health a global priority, and every day brings new wonderful perspectives.
'Stigma' event at Pop Brixton (image credit: Tom Hall)
OS: How far do we still need to go as a society for creating greater empathy and understanding around mental health and how can we get there?
MA: There is still a long way to go. I think it would be a mistake to think that mental health stigma is no longer an issue, or that the mental health crisis is under a control. Make no mistake, we are in a mental health crisis. Mental health is substantially underfunded. Suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50. I come across that statistic a lot, and even now it never fails to horrify me. We are not preparing our young people for the reality of mental health. We are not providing adequate treatment for people in crisis, or people heading towards a mental health crisis. We are not spending enough money on prevention, and we are not doing enough research into treatment. Understanding and empathy is growing, but we are a long way from seeing the issue for what it is – a crisis.
OS: What are the longer term ambitions for The Perspective Project and How Mental?
MA: Many people working in the mental health sector that I speak to share the same broad ambition; a world in which self-care and care for others is the default setting. A society that treats mental health seriously. A society in which people are not afraid to speak out about their mental health, and when they do they are able to find treatment that is affordable and accessible. Perspective Project is all about creating better understanding and empathy, and eradicating self-stigma and societal stigma. Art is a fantastic tool for conveying emotion and sharing stories – and therefore can be a powerful tool for tackling stigma. How Mental is all about building a system that connects people in need to solutions that work. It is inevitable that people will experience mental health problems, regardless of how far we come in encouraging self-care and prevention. When the inevitable happens, we want to give people quick, easy and affordable access to the solution right for them. We also want to support the organisations providing the solutions, often startups or small non-profit organisations, to connect & collaborate – and in doing so, improve the provision of their services for all.
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Visit Perspective Project’s website & Follow: theperspectiveproject.co.uk | @perspectiveartproject
Visit How Mental’s website & Follow: howmental.com | @howmental