Books & Mental Health | Bigger Boat Podcast #005

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Welcome to the Bigger Boat Podcast, where we talk about
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big things with even bigger emotions.
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I'm Ashley, I'm Josh, and today we're discussing Coldpepercawn.
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The majority of what you guys are going to hear
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is on this episode is going to be our books
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and mental health panel that we performed at the second
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day of the convention. But this was my first time
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at Colpeper Kahn and I remember when we started kind
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of becoming a little bit closer. This was a convention
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that you were like victims and villains has to be
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here so much so that you're like, you know what.
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And I remember, I don't remember where we were going,
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but we were on the way to somewhere, and the
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moment you said that, you literally pulled out your phone
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and emailed the convention director.
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Yeah, Colepepper con is really special. Like they've given me everything.
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They gave me a platform to promote panels and you
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know this year with mental working with you in mental health.
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And then they've also always let me be a cosplay judge,
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which is like really nice. I really enjoy that and
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I'm really thankful because it helps me become a better judge.
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As well, So like I owe Culpepper con everything, So
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anytime I can give them anything to help the library,
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help the community, just help them grow, it is like
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a no brainer. So like pulling up that email at
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the same time as talking about why victims needed to
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be there was no big deal. Like to me, I
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know the impact we make, I see it firsthand, and
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bringing on victims to a con like Culpepper just made
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complete sense.
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And remember like every time we've done a family friendly event,
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they've been like hit or go like there have been
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when you talk about mental health, there are some topics
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that parents where like teachers or volunteers, don't necessarily want
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you to address with the audience, and suicide is often
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one of them, right, like we don't want you us
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to talk about suicide. And you know sometimes when you
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talk about depression use the word sadness, and everyone has
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been different and victims has never been this like exclusively
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family friendly event.
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We talk about hard topics. We talk about hard subjects.
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I mean even the tagline of our podcast is where
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we talk about big things with even bigger emotions. And
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I remember Colpeper's set up a really unique way to
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where if you've ever attended a con you know that
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the moment that the cosplay contest kicks in for a
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convention is kind of like the Reckoning hour where it
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just feels like everything shuts down and Colpeber places theirs
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Friday night, Like it's it's kind of the thing that
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kicks it off.
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Yeah, it is.
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It's the first thing we do.
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It's this just incredible sense of community when you first
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walk into where like you had you were like, no,
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like the entire town comes. I was like, surely the
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entire town is not gonna I walked in maybe like
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ten minutes, like because I hit traffic, and it's like
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you could not get a seat, Like it's this tiny
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space and there was probably well over a couple hundred
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people there, Like I was just like, holy crap. And
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although costumes were like legit fantastic, there was like a
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legitimate celebration of fandoms and community, which is something that
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I think more cons should take note of.
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Well.
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And on the note of doing things differently, I'll just
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say one of the things that I have never ever
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seen in a contest anywhere is our Cosplay showcase walk,
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which is in the middle of the competition anyone who's
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not in the competition and who's not participating, anyone who
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would like to walk all together, whether you're in costume
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or not. We walk, we parayed down the runway through
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the library and it's just this like whole special moment
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that anyone can participate in, no matter your skill level.
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And I was blown away looking at how many people
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we had to kind of run to join because I
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was a little late with pre judging. But it's always like,
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it's my favorite thing. It's something that they will never ever,
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ever ever get rid of, and it's something that if
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you want to hear the story behind that, definitely reach.
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Out to.
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The Culpeper Library and reach out to Andrew di Nikola,
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because that community is why we specifically have that special
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moment in there. But I'll let you you contendue.
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I was gonna say, like I've done all, I've done
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a few I've done a handful of library conventions, and
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you know a lot of those conventions, they look at
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larger cons and they say this has to be the
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way that it has to be run, whereas I feel
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like Culpepper is like, no, like, how can we bring
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in the community and emphasize really important topics alongside of it,
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where yeah, you still had those fandoms, like there was
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an emphasis on cosplay there. There's a couple of local
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filmmakers that had come set up.
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You had Bryant Cox was.
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There, we had I mean, the guest of honor was
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a children's like graphic novel author, and he was signing
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books for people too.
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But I think the thing kind of like really solidified
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this as kind of this like this con is special
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was the fact that we typically are the only nonprofit
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that is there giving up mental health resources. And not
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only did they have great other groups like Encompass and
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Mighty Morphine Therapy Rangers who and that in that group
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in and of itself was just remarkable to hear the
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story that they use and kind of specifically how they
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use power Rangers as a form of therapy, which I loved.
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He was such a cool dude to kind of get
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to talk to.
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But they also had like an entire like calm space,
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which I've never seen another convention do. And then you
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know you got like D and D groups that and
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like gaming groups, and it's like they kind of just
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asked this question of like how can we bring people
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together and how can we bring this remarkable sense of
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community And it was positive.
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You didn't get to really see it because you were
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working the table a lot, but there was a whole
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separate section like all the way on the other side
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of the library where it was kids. It was essentially
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like kind of you know, just arts and craft space,
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and a lot of the local businesses donate, you know,
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the supplies for that. I mean, it's incredible just how
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much Culpepper Con is not a con for celebrities or vendors.
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It is a con for the community.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, which I think is a great segue into this
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panel that we did on books and mental health, where
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it kind.
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Of started out as this.
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Area to kind of talk about books that have impacted
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our mental health, but kind of blossomed into this really
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organic conversation about books that have had and are positively
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demonstrating mental health, mental illness, suicide prevention, depression, addiction, a
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lot of those books.
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Yeah.
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I think the really cool thing is they actually had
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one of their staff members in there who was interested
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and wanted to know because they were putting together a
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like list of mental health books that would be good
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to run in their you know, normal monthly programming to
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have those important conversations, so like for me to have
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someone sitting there actually like taking notes in a panel,
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like genuinely wanting to know our opinions and you know,
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listen to how we felt like expertise wise in the
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mental health department. But that felt incredible to me. I
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felt like I was actually making a difference. And I
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can't say that every time we, you know, have a table,
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we're necessarily making a difference or not.
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But this was one of those moments.
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Where I was like, wow, like we're doing something very
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like special and Culpepper's giving us this platform to help
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make everything that more accessible.
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Panels are hard in terms of like outreach kind of
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events sometimes where you can provide the resources, the education
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and the conversations to kind of be done in a
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really safe space, but at the end of the day,
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it's really on the people that are there, and sometimes
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you have engagement. I mean we had engagement afterwards, and
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I think the engagement that you know was kind of like, oh,
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like this is not just swelling on deaf ears, but
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this is like going and we're going to get to see.
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The fruits of this come to fruition, I think is.
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Really rewarding, and there being a nonprofit that does also
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create content is something that you don't really get a
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lot of those moments of I really wish I could
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like sit here and say that, Yeah, like every time
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we put a podcast out, like we get like comments
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or you know, I think people that will hit us
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something with so media telling us about like the impact
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that you know, this episode had, or the viewpoints that
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we have when it comes to movies that we've covered
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in the past, like the drama or Indiana Jones. And
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for us, it's not the reason we do this, but
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you know, I cherish those moments and it reminds me
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of like, you know, one of those days that I
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feel defeated, like I'm not making an impact. It is
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those moments where it's like, no, you are.
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When it makes me feel more human. And then you know,
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you mentioned the harder days.
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I will on some of those harder days, I'll go
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back and like listen to the podcast and just remind
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myself like, you know, you're not alone in your feelings.
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And then you mentioned the comments, and it is in
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how rewarding that is. But it's also like, you know,
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just a reminder of like people care and you're making
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a difference, and it just makes you want to come
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back even stronger and persevere even harder, which I think
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Colepeperkahn is doing as well.
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Every single year it's gotten bigger.
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I've been this is my third year with them, and
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every single year it's bigger. And every single year the
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community turns out time and time again, whether it be sponsorships,
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whether it be just members of the community coming out
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to help volunteer.
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It's just absolutely unique.
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I mean, I will hands down and say this and
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it will never change for the rest of my life.
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Colepeperkahn is the best library con like anywhere thus far.
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I really want to have, like an image if this
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was a visual podcast, you'd have this would be the
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part of the show where you have a visual podcast
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and like he would spin it on like you know,
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the end of the like Marvel movies, where they'll be
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like such and such character will return in Avengers whatever.
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That's kind of what I'm like.
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Victims and villains will return for Colpeper twenty twenty seven
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if they would have us back.
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I think so. I think so. I hope so.
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I will say, Colpeper Cohn is the only convention like
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we've been to that we got a letter after the
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con was done, just a thank you letter, and you
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know that was so unexpected and so rewarding as well,
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but also it did say like we look forward to
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working together in the future.
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Yeah, And I mean I go back to some of
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the things that you know, we've talked about in terms
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of you know, mental health and the positive impacts that
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it can have, and gratitude is one that I feel
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like we don't really talk about enough. So like that
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really made an impact on my mental health, and you know,
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just kind of in terms of like again, gratitude has
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this ability to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and while also
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increasing the happiness, the joy, and the life status, the
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overall life satisfaction that you have.
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And so.
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I just want to turn it over to the panel
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now and just want to encourage anyone. If you're listening
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to this and you are, you are someone you know
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who's struggling with suicide, addiction, stelf harm, or depression, please
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reach out and check out our mental health resource the
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Library Culpeper Kahn Andrew, thank you, guys, Thank you to
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everyone who attended our panel. Thank you to everyone to
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stop by voted for our contests, which.
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He has yet to do.
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It'll happen, but without further ado, this is our panel
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on books and mental health and we hope you guys
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enjoy it.
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All right, so welcome to Books and mental Health.
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My name is Josh and I'm Ashley, or most of
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you at the library know me as Sketchy.
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So before we kind of so today we're gonna talk
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about books and mental health. We're gonna talk about a
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couple of different titles that discuss mental health, how they
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kind of dissect and kind of embrace the subjects of
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mental health and the things that come with it, ranging
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from depression, suicide to anxiety. I'm also gonna plug some
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of my favorite books that have helped my mental health
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over the years. And but before we get there, I
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will just kind of give a brief overview because I'm
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pretty sure none of you guys have ever heard of
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Victims and Villains, which is cool. I always love opportunities
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like this. We're a multimedia nonprofit out of Richmond, and
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essentially what we do is we create content and we
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do cons like this to really we raise awareness of
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suicide prevention, mental health education. But basically we do content
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creation is a mental health through pop culture. It's kind
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of how it is. We were telling you guys a
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little bit about before we got started, where it's essentially
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we used fandoms as a launching point to kind of engage,
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meet and kind of really start kind of that conversation
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to destigmatize mental health.
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I was gonna say as well.
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And then we, like, like Josh mentioned, it is a
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multi media platform, so we have podcasts, we do short
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term content, we do long form content. Well Boy host panels,
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we run metal shows for fundraising. We are at cons,
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but again it's mostly advocacy and he comes in on
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like the mental health music level.
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I come in on the mental health cosplay level, and
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there's a lot with cons.
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There's a lot of stigma about around mental health and
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cons and it's for me I got involved to kind
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of eliminate that stigma, and just my own personal growth
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journey kind of led me more away from the like
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typical spotlight career of cost players and into the more
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like what's important, what needs to be talked about, And
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when Andrew graciously gave us a panel, we were.
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Like books and mental health. Guess I'm going.
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To actually think of I'm very excited, so just.
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Kind of give you guys a little bit of perspective
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on kind of how victims and villains we started. Essentially,
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when I was seventeen, I became a suicide law survivor.
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And if you guys have ever known what that's like,
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it's a.
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It's a life changing event. Essentially, that happens. You are
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now cursed with knowledge that you didn't wish to have.
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You now belong to a secret club that no one
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should really ever belong to. But one of the things
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that I was seventeen, like I said, I was a
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senior in high school.
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I was four months shot of graduating.
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And there are two there are two pieces of media
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that have kind of garnered me through that, and one
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of them is indeed a book, and it is probably
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the only comic book we will talk about today, but
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it is.
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Yeah, I guess there's there's two books. There's two books.
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One of them we disagreed on the other it's fine,
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But one of them is is Watchmen, which is Alan Moore,
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Dave Gibbons.
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It also is the only graphic.
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Novel to be recognized as Time Magazines one hundred books
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that you should read everyone. But it's essentially take everything
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that you know if you think you know or understand
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about the superhero genre or the comic book medium, and
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basically what they do is they kind of deconstruct it
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really kind of bring these larger than life characters down
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to their human flaws and everything. And it's this murder
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mystery that kind of evolves into this like conspiracy theory,
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but also at the end of the day, it kind
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of asked this question of ultimately like who are we
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as humans? And you know, I feel like that's kind
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of one of those things that when you talk about
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mental health, not just from a this book helped me
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get through a really difficult time in my life, but
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the subject of identity, I think it's something we don't
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talk nearly enough about, or if we talk about it,
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we talk about it from a perspective of I am
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whatever my job entails, or I am this thing.
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And it's something that even now being.
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Nearly twenty years from the first time that I ever
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picked up that book, I've read it countless times over
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the years. I read it at least once a year
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around the time of Adam's anniversary, I am constantly kind
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of plagued with that question of identity of who am
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I really?
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For me, I'm going to talk about like the main
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book that kind of awakened everything for.
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Me, And funny enough, it is called The Awakening Hits
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by Kate Chopin.
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At the time, I was in an ape literature.
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Course and my grandmother had just passed away from chemotherapy
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well or radiation and oban cancer and it was very
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sudden and abrupt, and she had practically raised me, it
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felt like. And at the time we were reading Kate Chopin,
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and it was the first time I, like, I was
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feeling these really big feelings and we were reading it
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and it was the first time I had ever been
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exposed to suicide or suicide ideations. And I had had
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an ideation and not even known.
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That was what it was.
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And it kind of very quickly I sort of started
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using books as a way to like explain away my feelings.
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I guess in a way because at the time, like
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the way I grew up, you didn't really talk about
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your feelings, and it was very hidden and there was
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it was very very stigmatized in my house.
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So I had to.
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Use books to kind of help navigate that world. So
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I was I was sixteen seventeen reading that book, so
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about the same age as Josh. But it's different now
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as an adult and reading it and realizing like kind
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of the severity and the heavy hitters. But then I
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realized now later in life, a lot of the YA
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adult or YA books I was reading, we're also dealing
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with difficult topics and like everything from like learning disabilities
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to depression, to isolation to being ostracized, you know, all
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of those, all of those fall under mental health because
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it's not just you know, it's not just the classic
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things that we think about, like suicide, depression, anxiety. It's
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also can sometimes present itself as like a obsessive compulsive behavior.
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Or my favorite term, but being wishy washy.
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You know, it's it's all those or like this persona
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like always being on all of the time, that that
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messes with mental health.
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And it's so it's it's a lot of.
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Some things we can see sometimes we can see the
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warning signs, but other times it's a little.
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More masked and mirrored. And having you know, literature.
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That like you can relate to, especially at a younger
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age for both for both of us, it really really helps.
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But that's nice to say. There aren't still adults, but
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we are. I primarily for this panel will focus on
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YA novels.
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I'll jump into that.
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My title is also The Next Time I'm Gonna Recommend
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is also a YA novel. It's not your favorite, but
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six months before Adam had died by suicide, I also
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face my own suicidation.
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My father is a recovering alcoholic or sorry addict.
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And.
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That was something that I never thought that I'd ever
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have to deal with.
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And so the subject of addiction is something that is
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extremely personal to me. And you know, when you kind
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of see someone that you care about kind of going through.
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All of that stuff, it is really hard.
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It does eventually kind of take your tone your mental health,
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because you're kind of left with these questions, especially as
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a teenager, like you know, what could I Why was.
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00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:15.920
Your family not enough? Or you know why it wasn't
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your job or your career.
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You know, this life that you chose enough to where
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you had to kind of go to alternatives.
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But I digress. The second book that I'm gonna mention
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and kind of talk about is was later turned into
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a Netflix series.
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Should not have gone past the very first season because
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I was all the source material provided. But it's Thirteen
400
00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:45.400
Reasons Why. Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why was the ironically
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00:23:46.200 --> 00:23:51.359
second book I picked up after Adam died, and it
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00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:53.160
is kind of this character journey. If you guys don't
403
00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:56.680
know anything about it, is this character. I don't remember
404
00:23:56.680 --> 00:24:01.440
the kid's name, but essentially he gets these this box
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00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:06.720
of thirteen tapes and the book. The book series is
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00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:11.440
this girl named Hannah has just recently died by suicide
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00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:16.000
and she leaves these to thirteen or thirteen there are
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00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:18.480
thirteen people within the school that are the reasons that
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00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:22.119
she died by suicide or chose to end her life essentially,
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00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:26.039
and as you kind of go throughout this book, there's
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00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:28.720
a put a massive trigger warning. It's kind of weird
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00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:33.759
that this is the Young Young Ya novel there, but
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you kind of learn that this girl is.
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A product of bullying, rape gossip.
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You really kind of see the toll that it eventually
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takes on her to where she eventually looks at her
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circumstances and says that I'd be better off if I
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didn't exist. And so the ultimate while while the book
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00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:59.839
kind of does end with the characters kind of die
420
00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:05.359
into final breath, so much of that is exploring these
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things of like the actions that we take and how
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00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:10.920
they have effects on mental health, and the actions that
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you know, something like bullying or gossip definitely have these
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big impacts on mental health. And I'm honestly going to
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00:25:20.359 --> 00:25:25.759
surprise that there haven't been thirteen reasons why it wasn't
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more of a homenon, not necessarily a phenomenon, but like
427
00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:34.920
a kind of a conversational piece for schools to have,
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especially you know, when the two biggest things that I
429
00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:41.599
think were the schools that mess up Again this is
430
00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:44.960
this is my opinion, is the way that we handle
431
00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:50.079
mental health and sexual education. We're not gonna talk about
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00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:52.680
sexual education today. We have a whole podcast for that.
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I'm currently hosting one. It's a limited series on our
434
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YouTube channel called Sex and Mental Health, but the mental
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00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:08.079
health aspects of it, honestly, in my opinion, as children
436
00:26:08.119 --> 00:26:10.599
are kind of going through the changes of puberty, those
437
00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:14.799
are conversations that you need to have because ultimately, as
438
00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:18.359
your body is changing, also psychologically, the way that your
439
00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:20.599
mind is developing is also.
440
00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:23.319
Changing, and the hormones that you're exposed to while going
441
00:26:23.319 --> 00:26:26.880
through it. It completely afters your brain chemistry. For women,
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00:26:26.920 --> 00:26:29.519
I try and especially anyone who's been a mom, I
443
00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:31.279
try and attribute it to the same.
444
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Hormones you would get after having a baby.
445
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And then some people like myself who go through postpartum depression.
446
00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:41.119
Essentially you know as a child.
447
00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:45.759
You're going through all of those hormones at once. And
448
00:26:45.799 --> 00:26:50.240
then for little boys, it's like, essentially it's like injecting
449
00:26:50.279 --> 00:26:54.240
them with testosterone every single day for like a year,
450
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and that that takes a toll on your mental health
451
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as well.
452
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To reasons why, I.
453
00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:04.400
Kind of it feels like this cautionary tale of the
454
00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:07.599
things that go because no one essentially wakes up one
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00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:10.319
day and says, I think today would be.
456
00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:12.839
A good day if I just was not here anymore.
457
00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:20.640
Because statistically, when we read about when we read about it,
458
00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:24.920
there are over there's over a million people that attempt
459
00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:30.920
at suicide, and it's a larger problem than we care
460
00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:33.519
to admit because there are twelve point I think it's
461
00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:36.400
the statistic is twelve point three million people.
462
00:27:36.519 --> 00:27:37.599
In twenty twenty three.
463
00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:39.599
Which is the last time that the CDC kind of
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00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:41.759
took these statistics.
465
00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:43.839
Thought about suicide at least once a day.
466
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There are three point six million people that made a
467
00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:51.880
plan for suicide, and there's another one point one million
468
00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:55.480
people that actually attempt at suicide, and that actually averages
469
00:27:55.599 --> 00:27:59.000
out to be roughly around twenty five people a day
470
00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:02.240
that are attempting suicide. Now, as people don't wake up
471
00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:06.160
one day and have the idea to just kind of
472
00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:09.279
commit suicide, usually it's a premeditated thing, you know.
473
00:28:09.400 --> 00:28:11.119
For me, this suicidation that I.
474
00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:14.599
Had was a bunch of factors that kind of came in.
475
00:28:14.839 --> 00:28:18.039
And so I think a book like Thirteen Reasons Why
476
00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:22.119
is a great kind of conversational piece because it is
477
00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:24.839
all of these factors, it's these these people, it's these
478
00:28:24.839 --> 00:28:29.160
different moving parts that ultimately kind of drives Hannah to
479
00:28:29.240 --> 00:28:32.559
be here. It's also with this cautionary tale, and it
480
00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:34.079
raises awareness that.
481
00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:35.279
We need help.
482
00:28:35.319 --> 00:28:39.880
We need to have conversations like this, you know, because
483
00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:43.079
we all have value and we all have worth, and
484
00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:45.640
sometimes when you get in the thick of those seasons,
485
00:28:45.720 --> 00:28:49.039
you yourself don't see your own value or your own worth,
486
00:28:49.160 --> 00:28:50.839
or it's really hard to love yourself.
487
00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:58.759
Mine is it's not the next one I'm gonna mention
488
00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:02.319
and I'm sorry, I'm horrible, horrible remembering author names.
489
00:29:02.839 --> 00:29:04.519
It's technically.
490
00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:10.880
Nonfiction, but it's it's not necessarily a why I highly
491
00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:14.200
recommend anyone with children read it with their older kids
492
00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:15.480
anyone I would.
493
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:17.039
Say twelve and over.
494
00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:20.960
But then the book is called boys Will Put You
495
00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:24.759
on a pedestal just so they can just so, and
496
00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:27.200
then in parentheses, just so they can look up your skirt.
497
00:29:27.799 --> 00:29:32.319
And it like it was on Katie Kuric, like she
498
00:29:33.559 --> 00:29:34.559
late night top shows.
499
00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:37.759
It was like one of the best sellers. But it's it's.
500
00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:42.799
Written by a father to two daughters, and he talks
501
00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:46.480
about his life journey like as a like just all
502
00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:50.200
the feelings, the emotions, everything being a teenage boy and
503
00:29:50.279 --> 00:29:53.599
like the things he would do and like his first
504
00:29:54.039 --> 00:29:59.799
like sexual encounters and like mental health aspects and like bullying,
505
00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:03.880
and it's because it's like real life stories. And then
506
00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:07.359
it's like this is how you approach this conversation. This
507
00:30:07.480 --> 00:30:08.559
is there's there's.
508
00:30:08.359 --> 00:30:10.680
So many and it definitely is a little more on
509
00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:12.799
like I would say.
510
00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:17.839
It's more heavy emphasis on like physical things versus like
511
00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:24.079
four like full on mental health. But there's there's so
512
00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:28.960
many moments where it definitely like it's it's talking about
513
00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:31.880
mental health without being like very frank and direct, because
514
00:30:31.960 --> 00:30:39.880
sometimes mental health is a little daunting and especially oh
515
00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:43.000
my gosh, you say the statistic all the time at shows.
516
00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:48.039
But what a lot of people don't realize is kids
517
00:30:48.200 --> 00:30:52.759
between the ages of five and twelve are are some
518
00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:56.920
of the highest second second highest, second leading.
519
00:30:56.680 --> 00:30:58.279
Cause of death for that age group.
520
00:30:58.359 --> 00:31:03.440
There are over five hundred children that also will take
521
00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:04.599
their own lives.
522
00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:07.279
The teenagees of five and twelve, And that was something
523
00:31:07.319 --> 00:31:09.720
that I was not aware of. You know, it's prevalent,
524
00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:14.839
and teenagers were bullying, social media, everything like that. Pretty
525
00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:17.920
much anything you're exposed to in the world today, kennon
526
00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:21.160
will be triggering at a certain age. But when I
527
00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:25.039
learned about five to twelve year olds and then I
528
00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:26.759
unfortunately have had.
529
00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:29.920
A my middle.
530
00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:35.079
Child express certain feelings, it was a very abrupt wake
531
00:31:35.160 --> 00:31:37.640
up call because I said, you're six, like, you shouldn't
532
00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:39.960
feel these things, you shouldn't have this hardship. And then
533
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.400
we realized very quickly this was her asking for help.
534
00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:48.440
And luckily I come from a fantastic school system who
535
00:31:48.519 --> 00:31:51.880
has a therapist in the school, so she can see
536
00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:55.200
one every week as well as monthly.
537
00:31:55.440 --> 00:32:00.039
But you I didn't know what to do. And there aren't.
538
00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:04.680
Very many younger books, like there really aren't any for
539
00:32:04.839 --> 00:32:08.279
that age and younger that cover mental health.
540
00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:10.400
You know, there's a lot that talk about feelings.
541
00:32:10.440 --> 00:32:14.200
There's a lot that talk about like there's one that's
542
00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:19.759
called Bye by Binary and it's just about like being
543
00:32:19.799 --> 00:32:23.480
yourself and not really fitting into a certain conforming into
544
00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:24.160
a certain thing.
545
00:32:25.559 --> 00:32:26.799
But as far as mental.
546
00:32:26.519 --> 00:32:30.119
Health, you really don't even get into or touch that
547
00:32:30.279 --> 00:32:35.480
aspect until you get the young adult like the Hunger Games,
548
00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:39.920
the Twilight books, everything like that. I would say the
549
00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:43.039
only thing that's really close would be like Rick Reordan books,
550
00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:47.440
especially if you're a mythology fan. There's a lot of
551
00:32:47.960 --> 00:32:51.200
different even though it's kind of like the retelling of
552
00:32:51.240 --> 00:32:54.960
all the Greek stories, there's a lot of mental health.
553
00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:55.599
Aspects to it too.
554
00:32:55.680 --> 00:32:59.440
There's isolationism, there's and that's kind of the that's gonna
555
00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:01.359
be your young that's going to be like the eight
556
00:33:01.559 --> 00:33:06.599
to twelve age bracket. And because it you know, say
557
00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:09.920
you don't like Greek mythology, he's got Egyptian culture he's
558
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:12.599
got Norse culture, he's.
559
00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:14.519
Got Roman that ties to the Greeks.
560
00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:18.519
And then I always say start with the books obviously
561
00:33:18.680 --> 00:33:21.680
not the not the movies or the TV series, but
562
00:33:22.680 --> 00:33:27.640
some of the trials they even go through. One of
563
00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:30.720
the things that happens in the book with Percy is
564
00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:36.039
he has to choose between saving the world or saving
565
00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:40.720
his mother from Hades. And as a at the time
566
00:33:40.759 --> 00:33:43.680
in the book, he is a thirteen year old boy
567
00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:48.160
who's just discovered that he is half Demigot.
568
00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:51.880
He is half he is son of Poseidon, an immortal woman.
569
00:33:52.559 --> 00:33:55.200
But he goes through a lot of trials and tribulations
570
00:33:55.920 --> 00:33:59.400
with mental health and just having to kind of the
571
00:33:59.559 --> 00:34:00.680
make the ultimatum.
572
00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:03.519
And on top of that learning.
573
00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:08.079
You are the son of a powerful Greek god and
574
00:34:08.119 --> 00:34:13.039
how basically his entire life he wasn't supposed to exist.
575
00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:15.199
And so then you get into the concepts of like
576
00:34:15.400 --> 00:34:18.800
there are people who will remind their children, like, hey,
577
00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:22.760
I didn't have to have you, and we see now
578
00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:26.800
like how that was primarily it happened.
579
00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:27.880
It was seen a lot in.
580
00:34:27.880 --> 00:34:30.960
Like my generation, the parents of the that had the
581
00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:37.360
babies in the nineties where they weren't necessarily like their
582
00:34:37.480 --> 00:34:39.280
parents raised them and us.
583
00:34:39.880 --> 00:34:41.960
So we're seeing it now where they're like, oh, yeah,
584
00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:43.119
I had.
585
00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:46.119
The option, you know, but I chose to have you instead,
586
00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:49.800
And we're seeing now in those of us who are
587
00:34:49.800 --> 00:34:54.199
in our thirties the impact that some of those statements
588
00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:58.159
have had later on in life. And so finding the
589
00:34:58.239 --> 00:35:02.360
right literature to speak to every age is definitely a challenge.
590
00:35:02.360 --> 00:35:04.199
But that doesn't mean there's they're not there.
591
00:35:04.280 --> 00:35:07.400
There's just it's kind of gonna be more about your
592
00:35:07.480 --> 00:35:13.519
level of comfort, whether you want to be front on
593
00:35:13.519 --> 00:35:15.400
on it or you know.
594
00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:17.639
Choose a little more conservative approach.
595
00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:21.400
You will never hear either of us use when talking
596
00:35:21.400 --> 00:35:24.000
about suicide or death by suicide unliving.
597
00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:27.360
We just refuse to use the term because.
598
00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:30.519
Again, when we're not using the proper terminology and we're
599
00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:35.960
letting that stigma stick and stay, and we want to
600
00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:38.760
destigmatize it. We want to keep having these conversations. We
601
00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:41.880
want to make sure that everyone feels loved and supported.
602
00:35:42.800 --> 00:35:45.320
Yeah, there's a lot to respond to, a lot of
603
00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:48.440
the things that you can talk about. So the concept
604
00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:53.119
of parenting for me has been something that's been relatively newer,
605
00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:56.159
and uh.
606
00:35:57.360 --> 00:35:57.760
I'm.
607
00:35:59.239 --> 00:36:00.639
Stuck that have death, So.
608
00:36:02.159 --> 00:36:03.480
It's not like it's new.
609
00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:05.920
It's new. Yeah he hasn't quite.
610
00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:11.440
Yea, I do love them.
611
00:36:11.559 --> 00:36:14.000
But one of the very first that was one of
612
00:36:14.039 --> 00:36:16.119
the very first things you said was like, I remember
613
00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:17.920
we were just kind of hanging out and you walked
614
00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:20.000
out of the bookshelf and you picked up the book
615
00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:23.719
and like you should read this, and I blew through it.
616
00:36:23.599 --> 00:36:28.119
In uh, probably two days, and.
617
00:36:28.039 --> 00:36:30.559
It affected your mental health. This is the when the
618
00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:33.360
boys boys will put you in a pedal book.
619
00:36:33.199 --> 00:36:35.519
That I think for me, that's one of the things
620
00:36:35.559 --> 00:36:38.840
that like it affected me because I always wanted to
621
00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:42.079
be a girl dad and so kind of hearing it
622
00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:44.760
from the perspective of like this guy is kind of
623
00:36:44.760 --> 00:36:48.519
taking all of his like life knowledge and going through
624
00:36:48.559 --> 00:36:50.880
it and kind of pouring it into the next generation.
625
00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:51.320
I think.
626
00:36:52.639 --> 00:36:54.199
I think a lot of stuff that even though it's
627
00:36:54.239 --> 00:36:58.320
not necessarily addressing the subject of mental health straight on,
628
00:36:58.559 --> 00:37:00.679
you have all of these other facts there is whether
629
00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:02.440
you're I mean, I think one of the things that
630
00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:04.440
stood out to me was dating.
631
00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:08.320
And sex, both of which have a huge impact on
632
00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:09.760
our mental health because.
633
00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:13.880
You know, we can have a tendency when you're dating
634
00:37:13.960 --> 00:37:17.440
to kind of really be engrossed within that.
635
00:37:18.719 --> 00:37:19.880
Person, or.
636
00:37:21.679 --> 00:37:24.440
You know, if you get into a toxic relationship that
637
00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:28.119
affects your mood, that affects your behavior, that affects your
638
00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:32.079
eating habits, that affects your pretty much everything that you do.
639
00:37:33.239 --> 00:37:34.079
Starts real quick.
640
00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:35.639
That's my sign. I've got to take it down. You
641
00:37:35.639 --> 00:37:38.360
don't forgret it real quick. Sure, awesome, thank you so much.
642
00:37:39.119 --> 00:37:41.880
So you really have all of these these factors that
643
00:37:41.920 --> 00:37:44.480
really affect it, and so I think that kind of
644
00:37:44.599 --> 00:37:51.159
it also feels like it's like this preparation for you know,
645
00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:54.519
these things as they kind of come up, because you know,
646
00:37:54.559 --> 00:37:55.320
I think when.
647
00:37:56.920 --> 00:37:58.480
We're not we're not quite there yet.
648
00:37:58.599 --> 00:38:03.000
But I know from iota experience with my parents, you know,
649
00:38:03.039 --> 00:38:06.400
when the subject of dating kind of got brought up
650
00:38:06.440 --> 00:38:09.599
and kind of got started, it was this whole boy
651
00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:12.519
like we're gonna have this conversation nowt like we're gonna
652
00:38:12.519 --> 00:38:16.920
do this like okay, like you know kind of kind
653
00:38:16.920 --> 00:38:20.639
of deal. And I think that's something that, you know,
654
00:38:21.039 --> 00:38:23.400
while it's not necessarily addressing it, there are so many
655
00:38:23.400 --> 00:38:24.199
different factors.
656
00:38:24.199 --> 00:38:26.679
And I think that's why when we talk about pop.
657
00:38:26.519 --> 00:38:30.039
Culture, whether you're a fan of books or you're like me,
658
00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:33.559
then you're a fan of movies and video games and
659
00:38:33.719 --> 00:38:36.400
TV shows and just all the other kind of media.
660
00:38:36.679 --> 00:38:40.159
They're every piece of media that we encounter affects ours
661
00:38:40.199 --> 00:38:43.960
mental health. Whether it is is a coping mechanism.
662
00:38:43.800 --> 00:38:47.320
Or it's a trigger device. Everything has the power to
663
00:38:47.400 --> 00:38:53.159
affect your mental health. You don't know about that.
664
00:38:53.679 --> 00:38:57.559
I mean for me, I like I said, I used
665
00:38:57.679 --> 00:39:02.599
books to try and help explain away my feelings. So
666
00:39:03.719 --> 00:39:08.840
I just I mean why novel wise like Hunger Games
667
00:39:09.280 --> 00:39:12.519
that everyone looks at it as like dystopian or what
668
00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:17.400
oh oh yeah, Hunger Games, But like for me, like
669
00:39:17.559 --> 00:39:22.719
obviously today I'm dressed as Efie Efie in my opinion
670
00:39:22.760 --> 00:39:27.280
when you look at like because the books you get
671
00:39:27.519 --> 00:39:31.159
so much of the character, backstory and stuff. Hers was
672
00:39:31.239 --> 00:39:34.840
really her whole story was kind of like intriguing to me.
673
00:39:34.920 --> 00:39:36.920
And how like the capital made her.
674
00:39:37.159 --> 00:39:40.679
And even like I say, if you haven't read the books,
675
00:39:40.719 --> 00:39:43.880
if you watch the movies, you see that shift from
676
00:39:43.920 --> 00:39:47.000
like capital Fie all the way to rebellion e Fie,
677
00:39:47.079 --> 00:39:49.239
and like just the evolution of the mental health and
678
00:39:49.320 --> 00:39:53.440
have you want to be something for someone and you
679
00:39:53.480 --> 00:39:54.039
want to fit.
680
00:39:53.960 --> 00:39:55.599
In and you want to. So that's why I always
681
00:39:55.679 --> 00:40:04.599
use because personally for young adults. For our teams, two the.
682
00:40:04.199 --> 00:40:11.320
Biggest causes of mental health breakdowns are social media as
683
00:40:11.480 --> 00:40:15.840
well as bullying, and those are things you know you
684
00:40:17.199 --> 00:40:18.079
can talk about it.
685
00:40:18.159 --> 00:40:19.239
The school can give you so.
686
00:40:19.239 --> 00:40:24.360
Much information, but actually reading and learning and relating to
687
00:40:24.400 --> 00:40:27.360
these characters. Like last night with the cosplay contest, everyone
688
00:40:27.440 --> 00:40:30.159
was telling us why they were their character, why they
689
00:40:30.199 --> 00:40:33.559
chose their character, what was important, and a lot of
690
00:40:33.599 --> 00:40:36.079
what we were hearing was like, well, this helps me
691
00:40:36.440 --> 00:40:39.119
recover from this. This character I liked because they were
692
00:40:39.119 --> 00:40:40.239
going through this and I.
693
00:40:40.199 --> 00:40:41.840
Was going through this part of my life.
694
00:40:42.199 --> 00:40:45.159
So any books like that that where you know there's
695
00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:49.239
a multitude of characters, but they're all going through interpersonal struggles.
696
00:40:49.679 --> 00:40:52.079
That is kind of my way of opening the door
697
00:40:52.880 --> 00:40:57.039
with mental health talks as well as I'm trying to
698
00:40:57.079 --> 00:41:03.119
think if there's any books specific, I always kind of
699
00:41:03.199 --> 00:41:08.960
recommend staying away from any of the like new upcoming
700
00:41:09.440 --> 00:41:16.119
like fun easy to digest ya novels. All the novels
701
00:41:16.159 --> 00:41:21.039
I'm suggesting are from like twenty ten to like late
702
00:41:21.119 --> 00:41:25.960
nineties of publication, So you didn't I just find that
703
00:41:26.679 --> 00:41:30.079
any of the books that mentioned social media, they don't
704
00:41:30.360 --> 00:41:34.079
necessarily portray it in the light that it actually is,
705
00:41:34.159 --> 00:41:36.480
and they're using it as more of like a oh,
706
00:41:36.559 --> 00:41:39.239
you can just turn to social media and turn into
707
00:41:39.400 --> 00:41:45.639
fake friends, and it's a whole other ballgame that doesn't
708
00:41:45.679 --> 00:41:47.400
need to be gotten into today.
709
00:41:48.760 --> 00:41:52.559
Yeah, social media has a huge impact on when we talk.
710
00:41:52.760 --> 00:41:54.400
We have the conversation around mental health.
711
00:41:55.760 --> 00:41:59.239
You know, we've been seeing it for years, right, Like
712
00:41:59.440 --> 00:42:02.639
I think about George Orwell's nineteen eighty four. I think
713
00:42:02.639 --> 00:42:04.840
about something like that in terms of you know, Big
714
00:42:04.880 --> 00:42:09.000
Brother and surveillance, and you know, the way that we
715
00:42:09.119 --> 00:42:13.480
are kind of all of disconnected but disconnected, and you know,
716
00:42:13.519 --> 00:42:16.360
I think it's I think the statistic is we're the
717
00:42:16.360 --> 00:42:21.840
most connected generation. But because you have so much disconnect
718
00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:25.599
with social media and all of those cracks that kind
719
00:42:25.639 --> 00:42:28.599
of come in, you have something like nineteen eighty four
720
00:42:28.679 --> 00:42:31.360
that really also again feels like this warning sign, but
721
00:42:31.400 --> 00:42:33.480
it's again, at the end of the day, it is
722
00:42:33.519 --> 00:42:39.320
also the impacts that meant that it has on mental health.
723
00:42:41.400 --> 00:42:45.679
Another one, Do androids dream of Electric Sheep?
724
00:42:46.039 --> 00:42:48.360
A little bit of a older one out there, But
725
00:42:48.440 --> 00:42:50.280
if you guys are not familiar with it.
726
00:42:50.280 --> 00:42:51.440
It's Philip K.
727
00:42:51.639 --> 00:42:57.800
Dick. It's the book that inspired Blade Runners. It's a
728
00:42:57.840 --> 00:43:00.880
little slow, but it's worth it.
729
00:43:00.960 --> 00:43:01.840
Yeah, stay with it.
730
00:43:03.079 --> 00:43:07.000
But it does ask this question of, you know, emotions
731
00:43:07.119 --> 00:43:10.119
and especially in the age of technology, do we still
732
00:43:10.440 --> 00:43:13.559
engage do we still have these conversations around mental health
733
00:43:13.559 --> 00:43:17.400
the way that we should? And you know, we're victims
734
00:43:17.480 --> 00:43:20.679
and villains to celebrate ten years this year of mental
735
00:43:20.719 --> 00:43:22.679
health awareness, and that's kind of one of those things
736
00:43:22.679 --> 00:43:26.320
that it's like in the past ten years, while we've
737
00:43:26.719 --> 00:43:29.280
I feel they've gotten more comfortable as a culture talking
738
00:43:29.280 --> 00:43:33.639
about mental health, like we don't necessarily quite have the
739
00:43:33.760 --> 00:43:35.280
resources the way that we do.
740
00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:39.199
I think the statistic here in Virginia is that fifty.
741
00:43:38.840 --> 00:43:45.639
Five percent of all communities are actually under resourced.
742
00:43:43.960 --> 00:43:45.480
Meaning that they don't have it.
743
00:43:45.639 --> 00:43:49.199
So when you have in Virginia there are over I
744
00:43:49.239 --> 00:43:52.480
think it's over twelve hundred if I remember correctly, people
745
00:43:52.519 --> 00:43:57.400
that died by suicide, and again we call back, that's
746
00:43:57.559 --> 00:44:00.679
for every one person that dies by suicide, twenty five
747
00:44:00.719 --> 00:44:01.320
more that are.
748
00:44:01.480 --> 00:44:05.360
Being attempted to take their own lives, and.
749
00:44:05.280 --> 00:44:12.239
So you have forty five percent that's left on the
750
00:44:12.280 --> 00:44:16.079
table for communities that should be able to have places
751
00:44:16.119 --> 00:44:20.360
to you know, do things like AA or NA or
752
00:44:21.639 --> 00:44:27.719
you know, have therapy or have access to psychologists or
753
00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:30.000
any type of medication that they need.
754
00:44:30.079 --> 00:44:34.840
But again, you got to get creative in this economy,
755
00:44:34.920 --> 00:44:35.320
so you.
756
00:44:35.320 --> 00:44:37.480
Do, and Josh said, you have to get creative.
757
00:44:38.039 --> 00:44:41.840
I currently live in Caroline County, and while we have
758
00:44:42.199 --> 00:44:47.840
fantastic schools, our library curriculum definitely tends to err on
759
00:44:47.880 --> 00:44:51.760
the side of conservative and very much follows the band
760
00:44:51.800 --> 00:44:55.079
book list, so like they do not even have thirteen
761
00:44:55.119 --> 00:44:59.440
Reasons Why in stock at our local library. That being said,
762
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:04.599
in more rural communities where it is not talked about.
763
00:45:05.039 --> 00:45:06.119
I like to do a trick.
764
00:45:06.320 --> 00:45:10.400
So Hyperion and Disney came out with these new novels
765
00:45:11.000 --> 00:45:14.480
that are basically twisted fairy tales, so it's like the
766
00:45:14.519 --> 00:45:19.159
alternative ending to the Disney Tales.
767
00:45:19.440 --> 00:45:21.400
There's a Beauty in the Beast one. I'm currently in
768
00:45:21.400 --> 00:45:22.119
the middle.
769
00:45:21.920 --> 00:45:26.559
Of a U Tiana Princess and the Frog one, and
770
00:45:26.800 --> 00:45:29.760
I like to use that because in this version she
771
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:30.800
takes a deal.
772
00:45:30.599 --> 00:45:32.599
With the shadow Man and it talks about kind of
773
00:45:33.760 --> 00:45:35.840
in a round about way.
774
00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:39.079
You're seeing the character development and you're seeing the mental
775
00:45:39.119 --> 00:45:43.960
stability break within this character without actually saying like, hey,
776
00:45:43.960 --> 00:45:47.920
Tiana's having an anxiety attack. Hey, Tiana's really really depressed
777
00:45:47.960 --> 00:45:50.239
and that's why she took this deal in the first place.
778
00:45:50.360 --> 00:45:55.000
Like it it showcases it without it being like in.
779
00:45:54.920 --> 00:45:57.679
Your face, like yeah, this this is what we're doing.
780
00:45:57.719 --> 00:46:04.039
This is It's a nice call. It's a there. But
781
00:46:04.199 --> 00:46:06.639
you also don't have to read between the lines.
782
00:46:06.679 --> 00:46:09.320
So I like using those because, like I said, there's
783
00:46:09.440 --> 00:46:11.639
Beauty in the Beast, There's Princess and the Frog. I
784
00:46:11.679 --> 00:46:13.920
believe they have a little Mermaid one, they have Aladdin
785
00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:17.719
one Aladdin. Yeah, So I don't know if all of
786
00:46:17.760 --> 00:46:19.679
them are like that, but I know Princess and the
787
00:46:19.679 --> 00:46:21.000
Frog is a little bit better.
788
00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:24.239
In The Beauty and the Beast one definitely covers mental
789
00:46:24.320 --> 00:46:25.199
health a little heavier.
790
00:46:26.079 --> 00:46:29.840
But it's like Josha, it's about ways of getting creative
791
00:46:29.960 --> 00:46:34.719
and having those difficult conversations and those difficult talks, even
792
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:37.599
even in times where like you don't think you can
793
00:46:37.679 --> 00:46:39.639
have those cops, There's always a way to connect.
794
00:46:39.639 --> 00:46:41.199
There's always a way to have those talks.
795
00:46:41.239 --> 00:46:44.519
There's always a book or a character that you can
796
00:46:44.559 --> 00:46:47.639
connect to, or a character that's going through some of
797
00:46:47.639 --> 00:46:48.400
the things you do.
798
00:46:48.440 --> 00:46:49.000
This is a.
799
00:46:49.079 --> 00:46:56.480
Very very very very old children's novel. It's called Olive's
800
00:46:56.480 --> 00:46:59.960
Ocean and it's about a young girl who she always
801
00:47:00.119 --> 00:47:03.159
vacations with her grandmother every.
802
00:47:03.039 --> 00:47:05.199
Year at the beach and goes through a traumatic event.
803
00:47:06.000 --> 00:47:08.599
And I think I read it for the first time
804
00:47:08.639 --> 00:47:10.639
when I was ten, and it was the first time
805
00:47:10.800 --> 00:47:15.639
I kind of understood like, oh it is it is
806
00:47:15.679 --> 00:47:17.639
okay to be really sad, it is okay to feel
807
00:47:17.639 --> 00:47:23.840
these impressive feelings. It's okay to like not know what
808
00:47:23.880 --> 00:47:26.800
to do or what to feel, and then to have
809
00:47:27.280 --> 00:47:28.679
like not know, well, who do.
810
00:47:28.639 --> 00:47:30.360
I trust, who do I talk to? Who do I
811
00:47:30.400 --> 00:47:33.280
confide in? Because again there's stigma around this.
812
00:47:33.360 --> 00:47:35.280
And I think the little girl in the book is
813
00:47:35.320 --> 00:47:38.320
like eight or nine at the time, so it's it's
814
00:47:38.360 --> 00:47:40.119
presenting itself to.
815
00:47:40.159 --> 00:47:42.360
A very very very young age.
816
00:47:42.679 --> 00:47:45.559
But it's also something that like I said, there's no
817
00:47:45.679 --> 00:47:48.119
social media, there's these are back when you rode your
818
00:47:48.119 --> 00:47:52.679
bikes everywhere and like picked up picked up a magazine
819
00:47:52.719 --> 00:47:56.480
at this at this store. But but books like that
820
00:47:56.559 --> 00:48:01.119
where it just it's it's showcase seeing these.
821
00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:07.559
Highly I don't want.
822
00:48:07.400 --> 00:48:13.039
To say controversial, but I guess like highly stigmatized and
823
00:48:13.360 --> 00:48:19.960
under talked about concepts while still being you know, geared
824
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:26.239
towards a younger audience and getting them to personally, in
825
00:48:26.280 --> 00:48:30.039
my opinion, think a little analytically for themselves and to
826
00:48:30.960 --> 00:48:34.639
be able to look within themselves within those novels as well.
827
00:48:35.960 --> 00:48:39.199
So one of the things that I've found in doing
828
00:48:39.400 --> 00:48:43.920
conventions like this is when you have mental health organizations
829
00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:47.719
very similarly to ours, what we often find is it's
830
00:48:47.760 --> 00:48:50.960
not it's kind of done outside of the traditional palblem what.
831
00:48:50.880 --> 00:48:53.440
We think about therapy, and a lot of them.
832
00:48:53.320 --> 00:48:57.239
That I love is kind of these alternative or art
833
00:48:57.280 --> 00:49:00.519
based therapies to kind of talk about how like if
834
00:49:00.519 --> 00:49:04.039
you can't exactly get in or you know, insurance, or
835
00:49:04.079 --> 00:49:04.960
you're waiting too long.
836
00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:08.519
I mean, our mental health system is flawed to say
837
00:49:08.559 --> 00:49:08.960
the least.
838
00:49:11.360 --> 00:49:14.079
But one of the things that I think about is
839
00:49:14.199 --> 00:49:19.679
kind of that creative outlet of creative writing. And I
840
00:49:19.719 --> 00:49:21.679
know I was only gonna say one, but I'm gonna
841
00:49:21.679 --> 00:49:25.320
throw a second comic title in there because we're at
842
00:49:25.320 --> 00:49:26.000
a comic con.
843
00:49:27.039 --> 00:49:30.320
And but if you guys have never heard of the.
844
00:49:30.360 --> 00:49:34.199
Name Paul Dano, he was one of the He's a
845
00:49:34.239 --> 00:49:36.199
comic book writer, but he was also one of the
846
00:49:36.239 --> 00:49:41.440
writers on Batman, the animated series, and one of the
847
00:49:41.440 --> 00:49:43.880
worst events that it was in his life that he
848
00:49:43.920 --> 00:49:47.320
ever talked about was he had actually gotten jumped and
849
00:49:47.519 --> 00:49:50.960
been hospitalized as a result of it. And part of
850
00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:54.159
that experience.
851
00:49:53.639 --> 00:49:56.239
Of kind of that mental health journey of being broken
852
00:49:56.320 --> 00:49:58.400
is he actually wrote a book called The Dark.
853
00:49:58.280 --> 00:50:04.840
Knight where he actually re envisioned that entire ordeal, but
854
00:50:04.920 --> 00:50:09.400
did it through the lens of what would happen if Batman.
855
00:50:09.119 --> 00:50:12.599
Was there to stop it. And so it.
856
00:50:12.960 --> 00:50:15.559
Does beg this question, but it also opens up this
857
00:50:15.599 --> 00:50:21.280
conversation of this the importance of art therapy not just
858
00:50:21.320 --> 00:50:25.039
necessarily looking at the traditional means, whether we talk about
859
00:50:25.239 --> 00:50:31.199
talk therapy or psychology or medication or group therapy or
860
00:50:31.199 --> 00:50:34.480
anything along those lines, but also kind of embracing and
861
00:50:34.519 --> 00:50:37.039
saying like art can have art can be an outlet
862
00:50:37.119 --> 00:50:39.679
for it as well. I think that's kind of one
863
00:50:39.719 --> 00:50:43.320
of those things that I've definitely it's definitely helped me
864
00:50:43.320 --> 00:50:44.840
in my life and in my mental health.
865
00:50:45.719 --> 00:50:48.000
Some of my darkest times have been guided to.
866
00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:51.239
Go through you know, picking up a book or watching
867
00:50:51.239 --> 00:50:55.800
a movie or turning to things like poetry, creative writing,
868
00:50:56.760 --> 00:50:58.239
and so you have a story like that that it
869
00:50:58.320 --> 00:51:00.320
really proves that can be an outlift you.
870
00:51:01.880 --> 00:51:04.280
And since we're running out of time, the last title
871
00:51:04.320 --> 00:51:07.480
that I will throw out there is Twilight.
872
00:51:08.920 --> 00:51:13.800
Is Twilight, And specifically because we're tying it in, we're
873
00:51:13.840 --> 00:51:16.679
doing a contest with our table right now to see
874
00:51:16.679 --> 00:51:18.679
which team everyone likes better.
875
00:51:19.119 --> 00:51:21.199
So stop buy our booth. We're in the corner over there.
876
00:51:21.800 --> 00:51:29.280
You can vote for Team Charlie, Team Edward, or Team Jacob. Yeah,
877
00:51:29.440 --> 00:51:31.920
you guys, vote for Charlie. I have to.
878
00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:33.920
I have to do Charlie at our next con so
879
00:51:34.639 --> 00:51:36.719
cosplay wise, but you.
880
00:51:36.719 --> 00:51:39.199
Know, I think about the character journey of Bella.
881
00:51:39.440 --> 00:51:43.639
I think about specifically about how when we think about community,
882
00:51:43.679 --> 00:51:45.440
we kind of think or when we think about the
883
00:51:45.480 --> 00:51:48.960
things that kind of pull us through this season of
884
00:51:49.000 --> 00:51:52.760
depression or anxiety, and the outlets that we really find
885
00:51:52.760 --> 00:51:55.559
ourselves in. Sometimes those outlets are really surprising.
886
00:51:56.519 --> 00:52:00.960
Sometimes they are even shocked to us, Like we were
887
00:52:01.000 --> 00:52:01.840
talking about.
888
00:52:01.599 --> 00:52:03.559
Some things before we kind of start it, and it's
889
00:52:03.599 --> 00:52:06.159
like wow, Like God, the who.
890
00:52:06.000 --> 00:52:08.199
I was two years ago saying some of these things now,
891
00:52:08.280 --> 00:52:11.079
like I never would have envisioned myself in this way.
892
00:52:11.320 --> 00:52:14.159
So when you read the journey of her throughout the
893
00:52:14.159 --> 00:52:16.519
course of this, Stephanie Myers really paints there as this
894
00:52:16.639 --> 00:52:22.760
really kind of depressed, isolated individual and ultimately kind of
895
00:52:22.960 --> 00:52:24.000
the embrace of.
896
00:52:24.079 --> 00:52:25.719
The Cullens and.
897
00:52:27.639 --> 00:52:31.719
Weird war that wages throughout the throughout the remainder of
898
00:52:31.760 --> 00:52:34.639
the books. But you know, she kind of ends up
899
00:52:34.679 --> 00:52:37.519
finding the love of her life, the you know, this
900
00:52:37.639 --> 00:52:40.719
family that she had always wanted, and it's kind of
901
00:52:40.760 --> 00:52:44.360
this reminder of the things that really impact our mental
902
00:52:44.440 --> 00:52:46.079
health in a positive.
903
00:52:45.679 --> 00:52:48.480
Manner don't always come from the traditional methods.
904
00:52:48.519 --> 00:52:50.760
Don't always come from the places that we think are
905
00:52:50.800 --> 00:52:53.480
going to be impactful, or the things that we're passionate
906
00:52:53.519 --> 00:52:54.360
about we don't think.
907
00:52:54.719 --> 00:52:58.000
So, you know, there are several things.
908
00:52:57.719 --> 00:53:00.920
That I'm I love and I'm I'm passionate and I
909
00:53:00.920 --> 00:53:02.679
wanted to devote my life to now.
910
00:53:02.800 --> 00:53:06.079
That a year ago I never would have imagined possible.
911
00:53:08.199 --> 00:53:14.000
My last title is it is a ya novel. It
912
00:53:14.119 --> 00:53:16.920
is a little on the older side.
913
00:53:17.360 --> 00:53:21.320
It's called Speak. I think it's by Laurie Anderson.
914
00:53:22.079 --> 00:53:25.440
So, yeah, there's a lot of mental health themes without
915
00:53:25.480 --> 00:53:29.519
getting into like too much that is definitely one of
916
00:53:29.599 --> 00:53:30.480
the ones we use.
917
00:53:30.559 --> 00:53:32.360
We also, I wasn't introduced to.
918
00:53:32.320 --> 00:53:35.800
It till I was working with a rape crisis center
919
00:53:36.000 --> 00:53:36.880
in Harrisonburg.
920
00:53:37.000 --> 00:53:39.599
I wasn't aware of it, had never read it, had
921
00:53:39.639 --> 00:53:40.199
never read it.
922
00:53:40.239 --> 00:53:43.800
Someone was like, you need to read this. It is
923
00:53:43.880 --> 00:53:47.960
powerful for mental health. It is technically, I think, still
924
00:53:49.000 --> 00:53:55.360
a very highly controversial book, much like Thirteen Reasons, especially.
925
00:53:55.039 --> 00:53:59.000
In librarries, schools, everything like that. But I highly encourage it.
926
00:53:59.159 --> 00:54:01.679
That one. I'm won't especially since you've read it.
927
00:54:01.760 --> 00:54:04.119
That one, I won't go too much detailing, but if
928
00:54:04.119 --> 00:54:06.519
you are looking to use it for the curriculum here,
929
00:54:07.880 --> 00:54:13.639
definitely read it first. Lots of trigger warnings, I would say, yeah,
930
00:54:13.639 --> 00:54:18.920
a lot of people, yeah, but that one, that one
931
00:54:19.039 --> 00:54:23.039
was the big kind of like mental health shift. At
932
00:54:23.039 --> 00:54:27.119
anytime I'm like, okay, going through something, I will pick
933
00:54:27.199 --> 00:54:27.920
up that book.
934
00:54:28.000 --> 00:54:33.239
Even as as interesting of a book as it is,
935
00:54:33.800 --> 00:54:35.840
and how it can be triggering and how it can
936
00:54:35.960 --> 00:54:37.840
it almost in a way like I use it to
937
00:54:37.920 --> 00:54:39.119
kind of overcome some of the.
938
00:54:39.039 --> 00:54:40.000
Things that I went through.
939
00:54:40.360 --> 00:54:44.239
Not necessarily that I'm like identifying with or anything like that,
940
00:54:44.320 --> 00:54:49.840
but having those books are so important, especially like I was,
941
00:54:50.079 --> 00:54:53.400
I was someone reading this as a twenty two.
942
00:54:53.239 --> 00:54:58.639
Year old college student like a young adult novel and saying, wow,
943
00:54:58.760 --> 00:55:03.440
this applies hands down to everything I'm currently trying to
944
00:55:03.480 --> 00:55:03.920
work through.
945
00:55:04.039 --> 00:55:08.079
So that is another one, and that's that's my last one.
946
00:55:08.599 --> 00:55:11.519
So thank you guys for hanging out with us. Like
947
00:55:11.559 --> 00:55:13.760
I said, I'm Josh Ashley.
948
00:55:14.320 --> 00:55:17.480
We're from a if you guys, we're from an organization
949
00:55:17.519 --> 00:55:18.719
of all victims and villains.
950
00:55:19.559 --> 00:55:22.000
We do mental health education through pop culture.
951
00:55:22.480 --> 00:55:26.320
We do content creation, we do host our own events.
952
00:55:27.440 --> 00:55:29.480
We set up it at cons like this that you
953
00:55:29.519 --> 00:55:33.639
know graciously allow us to bring the conversation of mental health,
954
00:55:34.079 --> 00:55:37.440
mental health and statistics and suicide prevention into platforms like this.
955
00:55:37.760 --> 00:55:41.159
Very grateful for Coulpepper Con for giving us this platform.
956
00:55:41.280 --> 00:55:44.519
But the last thing we were gonna say is that
957
00:55:44.599 --> 00:55:47.840
if if you guys know anyone that could benefit from
958
00:55:48.079 --> 00:55:51.079
any of our resources, we have a table, come by this,
959
00:55:51.159 --> 00:55:53.679
come stop by and pick them up.
960
00:55:54.480 --> 00:55:54.760
That's it.
961
00:55:55.239 --> 00:55:58.000
Yes, thank you, any.
962
00:55:58.239 --> 00:56:00.000
Thank you for listening to the Bigger Book Podcast.
963
00:56:00.079 --> 00:56:02.199
My name is Josh and I'm Ashley.
964
00:56:02.440 --> 00:56:06.320
And just remember, for life's big events, big feelings, and
965
00:56:06.480 --> 00:56:10.920
even bigger emotions, you're gonna need a bigger boat,