Raising Mental Health Awareness with… Giant Brains, Of Course.

How could making giant communal brain sculptures help open up the conversation around mental health?

The Idea Behind the Brains

I’ve been thinking about the next phase of Ministry of Change, and how to continue the mission to make the conversation around mental health more accessible.

The answer this time seems to have arrived in the form of giant brain sculptures.

I’m planning on traveling around the UK running a workshop where people come together to communally make big papier-mâché brains.

I figure it will be a great way to open up the conversation around mental health in a fun and accessible way, in a workshop that I could take to festivals, schools, universities, and other events.

That’s not to say that the discussions that will arise from it will always be fun. That’s not the point. The brains will be a gateway into going deeper.

The brain making will be a center point around which other happenings will revolve, such as talks, poetry readings, crafts, discussions and storytelling to facilitate a deeper dive.

At each place I’ll leave the brains behind to act as a continued conversation point around mental health. Eventually I’ll gather the brains together for an exhibition that will showcase the people and the stories that have been collected and made along the way.

Why is talking opening up the discussion around mental health important?

Looking after our mental health is really important, yet it is something that can be incredibly hard to talk about. While we do seem to be getting better at talking about what is going on under the surface, there is definitely a long way to go.

Over the past few months I’ve been traveling around the UK in my van exploring my own experiences with anxiety and depression and talking to others about theirs. Already in these few short months I’ve met lots of inspiring people. I’ve learned a lot about myself, and a lot about the difficulties of sharing our often quite traumatic experiences with our mental health.

There is a real need for deeper discussion. I’m particularly interested in anxiety and depression as these are things I have direct experience of. It’s a massive problem and it saddens and alarms me that so many people end up taking their own life because of these issues. According to the Samaritans there were 6,639 suicides reported in the UK and ROI in 2015. A number which continues to increase. Ending stigma around talking about the difficulties we experience in our lives could go a long way to bringing those numbers down.

Opening up the conversation around mental health can be daunting, but some of the most successful approaches I’ve seen have involved getting people involved in a hands on project, something that takes them away from their mind and enables discussion to naturally arise through conversation. A good example of this is in some of the community gardening projects I’ve seen.

I think mental health is a serious issue, but I believe exploring it in a fun way can make it easier to make connections with other people and go deeper.

What would the brain project look like?

The project is about getting people together, to make connections and share stories and experiences.

The centrepiece will be to get groups of people together to make the big brains. The idea is to create a fun, communal project to involve people in that will work as a gateway to deeper discussions around mental health.

I’d also run workshops to make smaller brains. This I can imagine being particularly good in a school context.

I’m a strong believer in creating space for things to emerge. To create the fertile ground for the seed to grow naturally, rather than trying to be the seed and worrying about the rain.

I plan to borrow or buy a second hand bell tent to act as that space. This would be the main space to do the brain making, and also to hold the satellite events that will happen around it. Some of the workshops would be run by me, but I want this to be a space that I can invite others into to share their passions and skills as well, be that storytelling, poetry, film screenings, alternative therapies, craftivist workshops… the sky really is the limit.

I’ll travel to events, pop up the tent and invite people in to explore mental health in a fun and accessible way.

How will I fund it?

Initial costs will most likely come from myself and crowdfunding. I’d also run a ‘pay-as-you-feel’ system for people attending the events and workshops. In the longer term, once the model is proven to be of value, I would get paid to bring the traveling workshop to events to highlight the conversation around mental health in a model that would be financially sustainable. I’m open to other ideas and suggestions as well if you have any?

My Fears:

• That it will be a lot of work for me to do alone, but finding the right person/ people to help out may be difficult.
• That my experience with mental health mostly comes from lived experience, not professional experience
• How the hell do you make giant papier-mache brains? Will it take too long to dry etc?
• I don’t have many contacts in the festival / school / events world.
• Where can I buy / borrow a bell tent
• Will I make enough money to eat?

How could you help?

• Can you put me in contact with festival organisers, schools, universities, and other events that could host my traveling workshop?
• Offer me advice if you’ve attempted something similar.
• Guide me with your knowledge of funding / sponsorship for projects like this.
• If you’re an expert at making papier-mache things and can show me how to do it that would be amazing. Maybe you know of a more suitable material to make them out of?
• Can you lend or sell me a bell tent?
• Add to my ideas with your wonderful ideas.
• Most important: Help me share this post in your networks.

Let’s Attempt the Absurd

I feel really excited about this. I can’t think of anything more valuable that I need to be doing right now than creating the conditions for people to be able to talk about their mental health more. I’m just one person, but I know that if I can combine my skills with the skills and knowhow of you beautiful people, we can continue to create real positive change in the world.

This may seem completely bonkers… probably because it is. But in the words of M.C.Escher,

“Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible”.

I’d like to invite you to attempt the absurd with me.