Mental Health Education – Our Contribution

1. Mental Health Education – Our Contribution About us At Mental Health TV, we provide mental health education to the general public, as well as medical students, or professionals looking for CPD. We believe mental health education is extremely important for those dealing with mental health problems, but also a key to becoming more aware of when there really is a problem. Mental Health TV was founded by Dr Andrew Macaulay, MD, MSc., MRCPsych. He has been a practising Psychiatrist for over 30 years, and is passionate about mental health education. Our Programmes We make lots of different programmes, ranging from Insights on Depression, to The Medicated Misadventures of Sarah Tonin. The Medicated Misadventures of Sarah Tonin is an animated short series that we are working on to show how serotonin, adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine work together to affect our moods. The aim for this programme is to provide mental health education to a broad audience and simply explain the way these neurotransmitters can work. This will help with awareness on how SSRI anti-depressants work as well. The Medicated Misadventures of Sarah Tonin What we are aiming to achieve with this programme is mental health education that is eye catching and interesting. Many sources of mental health education, while good, are in the familiar format of talking heads. We decided to change serotonin into a character called Sarah, and

2. demonstrate simply what her tasks were when it came to regulating mood. The catecholamines (noradrenaline, adrenaline, and dopamine), we turned into cats named Nora, Addy and Dopey. They all live in in the brain of a 20-something party animal. Nora is fitness obsessed and keeps the body ready to move, Addy is always on watch for things that make Mac anxious, and Dopey encourages Mac to do the things that he enjoys – though this isn’t always helpful. Sarah sends messages to the nerve cells every day, but if she slacks, Mac’s mood can dip as things go out of balance. The second episode will demonstrate the function of SSRI anti- depressants. This is important, as there are a lot of misconceptions about anti-depressants and sometimes this prevents people from seeking treatment for their mental health problems. Matters of the Mind Matters of the Mind is a YouTube series that we regularly update. It’s bite- size mental health education, covering a variety of topics, with our most recent one being caffeine and mental health. We’ve also covered schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, trichotillomania and more. These are short and snappy, in the hope they can make mental health education appeal to a broader audience.

3. Works in Progress We’re working on a short film called ‘The Party Hat’, about a veteran who is experiencing PTSD symptoms, and how they affect him at a family party. The aim is to show how the PTSD can affect him, as well as the others around him and his relationship with them. Another project in progress is about the experiences people have getting appointments with their GP, the good and the bad. During a time that services are stretched, I think this will be ideal for mental health education.