Mental Illness and Higher Education

Recently, Kristen and Lisa discussed a whole lot about mental illness. They talked being public about it, as well as social media and celebrity status related to mental illness. Anyway, we hope you’ll take a listen and find out more about their discussion about mental illness and higher education.

I feel like Kristen has always been a part of my life, and my daily routine. But I think our friendship goes back at least four – five years, springing from 140 characters of authenticity at a time. I was excited and honoured to have the chance to chat with Kristen about our friendship and the interesting intersections of mental health and higher education in our relationship. So much of our friendship has been a lesson in vulnerability, authenticity and support. We have shared our challenges and success in navigating the complicated external world through the lens of our even more complex internal world. I am a strong advocate for wanting to both publicly talk about and create a narrative around mental health that is just as ‘normal’ as talking about daily life with a good friend. And I think that’s exactly what we’ve done here.

Kristen and Lisa talk mental illness in higher education

 

Transcript of podcast – apologies, Kristen is new to podcasting and didn’t do a great job picking up Lisa’s microphone, so this might be helpful.

Show notes

In our conversation, we talk about a lot of stuff. We hope some of the following resources will help translate the Kristen-Lisa speak:

You Are Welcome Here

by Kristen Abell

Over the past few weeks, I have felt a sadness welling in me – not necessarily a depression, but more of an overwhelming fear and frustration with my place in the world as someone who experiences mental illness. Several things contributed to this, but the death of a fierce mental health advocate, Carrie Fisher, has definitely pushed it to the brink. Continue reading