Five minute magic pt. 46 - How we’ve changed our minds about our minds - Daring Creativity

Summary

Summary of “Five Minute Magic Pt. 46 - How We’ve Changed Our Minds About Our Minds”

Podcast Information:

Title: Mindful Creative with Radim Malinic
Host/Author: Radim Malinic
Episode: Five Minute Magic Pt. 46 - How We’ve Changed Our Minds About Our Minds
Release Date: January 2, 2025

Introduction to the Episode

In this episode of Five Minute Magic, Radim Malinic transitions from the "Define" section of his book to the "Help" section, delving into practical strategies for overcoming obstacles that stifle creativity and personal growth. The focus is on seeking help, particularly through therapy, and how societal perceptions of mental health have evolved over time.

The Importance of Therapy

Radim opens the discussion by emphasizing his belief in the transformative power of therapy. He states, “I’m a big believer in therapy. It has done more for me for my career and for my personal development than every book on graphic design I’ve ever read” (00:45). This strong endorsement sets the stage for a candid exploration of mental health.

Societal Attitudes Toward Mental Health

Radim provides a poignant reflection on growing up in a society where claiming to be "normal" was the norm. He shares, “Everyone claimed to be normal... but life was rarely simple. The struggle to cope and to maintain a veneer of ordinariness left many craving some kind of vice” (01:55). This backdrop highlights the pervasive stigma surrounding mental health issues and therapy.

The Evolution of Mental Health Stigmas

The conversation shifts to the historical treatment of mental health, where Radim notes, “For centuries, many serious forms of mental issues and diseases were treated appallingly... ill people would often find themselves banished to the fringes of society” (02:30). He contrasts this with the present-day increased awareness and acceptance, attributing improvements to movements like mindfulness and the mainstreaming of self-care practices.

Personal Journey with Therapy

Radim candidly shares his own experiences with therapy, emphasizing its unpredictable yet profoundly impactful nature. He remarks, “It will take years, maybe even decades, for mental health therapy to become an accepted part of everyday life” (04:15), underscoring the ongoing struggle to destigmatize therapy despite positive societal shifts.

Accessibility and Modern Challenges

Addressing the current landscape, Radim discusses the challenges in accessing mental health services. He points out, “Services to help us look after our minds are either unaffordable to the majority or, where available on public health services, have enormous waiting lists” (05:40). This highlights the disparity between the growing recognition of mental health’s importance and the practical means to address it.

The Persistent Taboo of Therapy

Despite advances, Radim identifies therapy—the "T word"—as still carrying a significant taboo. He observes, “But there is one word that is still strangely taboo. The T word. Yes, that taboo T word is therapy” (03:05). This lingering stigma prevents many from seeking the help they need, perpetuating cycles of self-medication and unresolved emotional issues.

Conclusion: A Call to Embrace Therapy

Radim concludes by encouraging listeners to reconsider their perceptions of therapy. He emphasizes that while he is not a clinical expert, sharing his personal journey can inspire others to seek professional help if needed. He asserts, “If you’re in a situation that is impacting your life and your health, then I urge you to seek professional help” (06:20), reinforcing the episode’s central message of embracing therapy as a valuable tool for personal and professional growth.

Notable Quotes

Radim Malinic (00:45): “I’m a big believer in therapy. It has done more for me for my career and for my personal development than every book on graphic design I’ve ever read.”
Radim Malinic (01:55): “Everyone claimed to be normal... but life was rarely simple. The struggle to cope and to maintain a veneer of ordinariness left many craving some kind of vice.”
Radim Malinic (02:30): “For centuries, many serious forms of mental issues and diseases were treated appallingly... ill people would often find themselves banished to the fringes of society.”
Radim Malinic (03:05): “But there is one word that is still strangely taboo. The T word. Yes, that taboo T word is therapy.”
Radim Malinic (04:15): “It will take years, maybe even decades, for mental health therapy to become an accepted part of everyday life.”
Radim Malinic (05:40): “Services to help us look after our minds are either unaffordable to the majority or, where available on public health services, have enormous waiting lists.”
Radim Malinic (06:20): “If you’re in a situation that is impacting your life and your health, then I urge you to seek professional help.”

Key Takeaways

Therapy as a Catalyst for Growth: Radim underscores the profound impact therapy has had on his personal and professional life, advocating for its benefits despite societal stigmas.
Evolving Mental Health Awareness: There has been significant progress in how mental health is perceived, moving from ostracization to a more informed and prioritized issue.
Persistent Stigmas: Despite advancements, therapy remains stigmatized, acting as a barrier for many who might benefit from professional help.
Accessibility Issues: Practical barriers such as cost and availability of mental health services continue to impede widespread acceptance and utilization of therapy.
Encouragement to Seek Help: Radim’s personal narrative serves as a powerful encouragement for listeners to pursue therapy if they are facing challenges, highlighting its essential role in fostering well-being.

Conclusion

In "Five Minute Magic Pt. 46 - How We’ve Changed Our Minds About Our Minds," Radim Malinic offers a thoughtful examination of the shifting landscape of mental health awareness and the enduring stigmas surrounding therapy. Through personal anecdotes and insightful commentary, he advocates for embracing therapy as a fundamental component of personal and creative development. This episode serves as both a reflection on past societal attitudes and a call to action for continued progress in mental health acceptance and accessibility.

Transcript

Host Name (0:01)

Welcome to five Minute Magic from the Mindful Creative Podcast, a short bonus episode sharing tips and insights from the pages of the book of the same title. Every week, I'll be sharing one or two ideas that can give you an actionable takeaway for your creative process, your work, your business, or just food for thought for the weekend ahead. These episodes share content from the audiobook, and you can find the link to the full version in the show Notes below. Life after spending the last two episodes in the section Define, we find ourselves in the next section of the book, which is titled Help. And the section goes into a practical and valuable advice, how to get unstuck, how to get actual help and assistance with the problems that might be holding us back. So in a previous chapter and section we talked about, you know, things that might be holding us back. Denial, lack of focus, all of that stuff. And in this section, how I'm quite openly talking about the T word, the topic that is mentioned quite a lot on this podcast from various guests and the T word stands for therapy. I'm a big believer in therapy. I'm not heart sending it to anyone, but it has done to me for my career and for my personal development a lot more than, you know, every book on graphic design that I've ever read. So we will look into a bit of a backstory, and that's about my experience of what it felt like growing up in a place that everyone felt normal. Everyone claims to be normal. We still live in a place with the people who should be looking in therapy or getting professional help are happily walking around and the people who are totally fine kind of feel that the people who like go be mad and need therapy. And if not more so, we'll talk about the societal way of our approach to mental health and our minds. Talk about therapy. And I'll tell you a kind of story about how an equine therapy session opened my eyes to my development as a person.

Guest Name (1:55)

Chapter 5 Help Growing Up Normal welcome to a world where everyone is doing great and most of all, normal. I grew up in a world just like that. I know this because everyone assured me and themselves that they were nothing out of the ordinary, just regular members of society. No one's actions stood out. No one ever complained or asked for help with anything, let alone their state of mind. But whatever they said and however rose tinted the past can seem, people were seldom genuinely happy and life was rarely simple. The struggle to cope and to maintain a veneer of ordinariness left many craving some kind of vice to make it from one relentlessly normal day to the next. Booze, cigarettes, dope, abusing painkillers and skating white rails being the easiest props. If you admitted you were struggling and sought professional help, you ran the risk of being diagnosed as crazy or mad. There was little of the nuanced understanding that we have around mental health today. It was that cold and that black and white. You either kept your head down and muddled through, or you were ripe for locking up and analysis by clinical psychiatrists with little hope of being let loose in society ever again. It sounds like something from a dystopian thriller set in a terrifying future, but this was the atmosphere of my childhood and adolescence, and it's still a worryingly prevalent attitude across many societies today. How we've changed our minds about our minds. The further back in time we look, the worse the stigmas around mental health seem to us. For centuries, many serious forms of mental issues and diseases were, by today's standards, treated appallingly. With some obvious exceptions, this was due to a lack of understanding rather than evil intent. But ill people would often find themselves not only banished to the fringes of society, but also labelled contagious, like the old laws that made suicide illegal. I don't think it really helped. We know now that you can't catch mental health problems in the same way you catch a cold. Although there are studies looking at whether trauma can be genetically inherited, on top of the foundations laid by our upbringing, our environment clearly plays a part in how we feel and how we experience our surroundings today. The pendulum has, or at least appears to have swung to the other side. We're now far more aware, informed and educated about mental health. It's far higher up our list of priorities. The emergence of mindfulness and our increased awareness of mental health in recent years have played a major part in this. Apps such as Headspace and calm yoga on YouTube, hygge and self care titles, even coloring books for adults have helped to bring the idea of non toxic self care away from the new age Woo woo. And into the mainstream. Normal people are now at least a little more likely to find moments of quiet and solitude and spend some time on themselves. But there is one word that is still strangely taboo. The T word. Yes, that taboo T word is therapy. And we're going to talk about it. When I was a child, conditioned by the normal attitudes of a mid sized Central European city in person, therapy was something that only happened in Hollywood movies for years afterwards. Even long after I moved to the UK in my early twenties, it still seemed exotic and more than a little eccentric. Only more recently have I realised that even those who grew up at the wealthiest epicenters of Western culture saw therapy as the preserve of the rich and famous. So if therapy was a thing, how and where did it happen? Growing up, no one I knew ever talked about therapy. If they had sessions, which I doubt, it would have been easier for them to come out as gay than to admit they were working through difficult emotions. And that's saying something about their feelings. Things are a little different now. But such attitudes weren't confined to the time and place I was raised in. And they still aren't. It will take years, maybe even decades, for mental health therapy and to become an accepted part of everyday life. Yet there's no reason why therapy should have been a taboo in the first place, let alone for the stigma to linger. We go to the gym to help our bodies become healthier and stronger. We take our car to be serviced. We even test plug sockets every so often to make sure they won't electrocute us the next time we charge our phone. But services to help us look after our minds are either unaffordable to the majority or, where available on public health services such as the NHS in the UK have enormous waiting lists, which in itself is very telling. As a result, so many of us self medicate and or find small issues eventually ballooning into huge complexes that are more deeply entrenched and much harder to fix. Now, I stress that I'm no expert on clinical therapy, nor is this book in any way intended as therapy. If you're in a situation that is impacting your life and your health, then I urge you to seek professional help. What I want to do here is to share my experience and my journey through therapy. A journey that has now lasted for more than a decade and been far more unpredictable than I could ever have predicted.