Cummins & Partners work with the ABC to promote ‘Mental As’ week of programming
The ABC partnered with Cummins & Partners to raise awareness of its ‘Mental As…’ week of programming in early October which aims to kick-start a national conversation about mental health.
To do so, the agency recruited a number of artists, each of whom lives with various mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression and schizophrenia, who were asked to interpret the ABC logo through the eyes of their illness.
Head of ABC TV marketing Diana Costantini said: “Mental illness impacts nearly half of all Australians. The Australian Public Broadcaster has an opportunity to make a difference. We set out to create branding that was authentic, challenging the norm and providing a stage (or the back of a bus) for artists suffering mental illness.
“Our week long initiative is called Mental As… It’s a provocative name, for some, but from the outset we wanted to bolt towards this issue – owning it with pride, a whole lot of passion and a dogged determination to get people talking and acting on mental illness”.
Love it! Keep up the good work C&P
The byline, “through the eves of schizophrenia” etc is very wrong. Please change to ” through the eyes of Heidi who has schizophrenia” Our eyes are our own not the ilnesses.
I agree with Tim, schizophrenia is an illness not an identity. The project is wonderful but don’t negate the good work by using language which contributes to stereotypes.
Hi Tim and Anne,
We appreciate your concerns. We spent a lot of time with the artists trying to get the wording right. We wanted to express it was the artists particular mental health condition that informed their work. With for example, ‘Art by Heidi – through the eyes of schizophrenia’ we were collectively happy with the balance of the message. However, we take your concerns on board – it’s challenging to talk about, and raise awareness of mental health issues without labelling or further stigmatisation.
Adam Ferrier
Thanks Adam.
Many of us disagree with our psychiatric labels and they are fluid.
I have bipolar 1 mood disorder and I publish poetry. I write the poems – my disorder does not write them.
To say I write, “Though the eyes of bipolar” would diminish me. And my poems.
I think Heidi is a very foxy lady, with foxy eyes.
See you Tim
In the end though Adam the stunning beauty and meaning communicated in these logos far outweighs my concern about words. Congratulations to you and the artists on this wonderful project!
Thanks Tim,
That’s very nice of you to mention.
Thanks too for getting involved. This kind of discussion is exactly what it’s all about.
Adam
A BIG congrats to Cummins & partners for giving a helping hand to the ABC with Mental As. Let’s hope we can all find a little more understanding about the issues and put our differences to one side. We’re getting behind Mental As – We’re Going mental as with SPOTs. So Mental As we’ve created http://www.spotathon.org to spot the early signs of depression and anxiety.
Be BOLD out there and Enjoy Life!!
David L Wright – SPOTa Crew Chief
What I have just read made me cry, because it brought back to me how creative my son was before and during his early schizophrenia. The most wonderful poems poured from his pen in an unending flow. He is now, at 48, a sad victim of the lack of opportunity due to unimaginative medical decisions.
To my delight, he has improved remarkably over the last year but my fear is that now he has the chance to regain some of his lost opportunities, he has lost contact with those who can make him laugh and love. He loves animals, so I have put him on the list of volunteers at the RSPCA, hoping that he could make a human friend, but I would love him to mix with creative people to find out if he is capable of awakening his creative side as well.
As he lives in Ballarat, I wondered if someone knows of an amateur acting group which may help him to relax with people and remind him of his abilities before he became ill.
I would be so grateful. He is such a nice person and I know that people who understand his illness get on well with him when they meet him.
Thank you, Billie Lewington.
my wife is a chronic pain sufferer and is currently taking medication for depression and anxiety as well as medication for her pain. the pbs are in the process of not allowing her gp authorization for the medication.this has happened to several of her gps patients.for a govt. entity which the abc is to promote better mental health and at the same time withdraw the only medication that stops her from committing suicide is hypocrisy of the highest order.!! the pbs have accused my wifes gp of lazy practice . he has over40 yrs experienceas agp and is a pharmacologist as well.it all looks and sounds wonderful on the tv but when the rubber hits the road it remains hot air.the pbs will not accept any correspondence from those affected by their decisions.having never met my wife nor seen her medical history. we have an oligarchy in our health system that is not answerable to anyone. so much for democracy!!!.