The Art of Mental Health Advocacy | Matilda (crazyheadcomics) | TEDxKI
How many people do you know who live with mental illness? With the ever increasing prevalence of mental illness come questions of what we can do to curb the growth of this global health crisis.
In this talk, Matilda walks us through growing up with the weight of mental health stigma on her shoulders, and how she found healing and advocacy through art.
Matilda is a visual artist and mental health advocate based in Stockholm. In the last three years, her Instagram account crazyheadcomics has reached over 500 thousand followers. Matilda draws from lived experience and creates colorful art, infographics, writing, and comics about her mental health journey with the intention of spreading awareness, breaking the stigma, and helping other people feel seen and validated. Matilda is a visual artist and mental health advocate based in Stockholm. In 2018, she created crazyheadcomics, an Instagram account that strives to destigmatize and spread awareness about mental health issues through art.
In the last three years, crazyheadcomics has grown at an astounding speed, now reaching nearly 500 thousand followers. Matilda draws from lived experience and creates colorful art, infographics, writing, and comics about her mental health journey with the intention of spreading awareness, breaking the stigma, and helping other people feel seen and validated. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
34 Comments
Thanks for great speech, Everything is right, but you skipped physical exercise, which produce Dopamine in mind, which is necessary for Happiness.
Thanks for talking about the need to tell kids that it's ok to ask for help! And to underline that social and economic issues have a role in mental health practices and care.
Great speech
Amazing! Well done! I have followed you on Instagram for a while now. So proud of you 🎊
amazing! i love your instagram account – thank you so much for everything x
Thank you for sharing 😍
The way you ended this was FLAWLESS. Thank you for that!
great talk, thank you 🙂
Wow this was beautifully stated and really hit every point !!
Yessss 😍
THANK YOU we need this message given to those in power, it's awful here in the UK for the reasons you explained
I love your Instagram, I always share it!
I will continue to be open about mental health on social media to reduce the stigma and increase awareness and you've reminded me why I do
Thank you💝
Such a great talk! Thank you for talking about the need to make mental healthcare more accessible! Leaders need to make this a priority
Beautifully said! Thank you for being a voice and advocate for so many 💚
The points you raise are really important. My 17 year old Nephew is aware of mental health and wasnt too ashamed to discuss the issue with my girlfriend and I, so that was really encouraging to see. Maybe younger people will be better prepared to approach these issues. Still, we can never disccuss mental illness too much. Thanks
Thank you so much!
thank you for talking about this! i follow you on insta and always appreciate how open and real you are about your struggles❤
i agree with everything you said. i only got help for my anxiety and depression 8 years after i developed them. and im just now learning that i have adhd and that it is what caused my depression and anxiety. i am 20 years old. i am seen as "high-functioning" because i can hold down a job, but i am only able to do that through intense masking and being in a constant state of burnout
therapy that is actually helpful for me costs hundreds of dollars a month, and im one of the lucky ones because my parents insurance still covers me. (edit: it doesnt cover me anymore cuz i work over 30hrs a week…)
the mental health system in Canada is so underequipped and underfunded. there arent any options between a couple therapy sessions thru the healthcare system and psychiatric hospitalisation. there are hundreds of thousands of people falling through the cracks and no one seems to care
Me
Hello, Matilda and the rest of the global community that expressed their need for support for mental health. I actually have some good news. While the politicians fight over more funding there are new concepts, theories and tools, that every individual can get hold of. It is a game changer for most people. First of all it gives everyone permission to take a breath, even when they make a mistake, when they don't like themselves, or have been hurt by others. It also gives people permission to eat when hungry and drink when thirsty. If this sound a bit obvious, it's because a lack of nurturing love, perhaps from family and friends, but most of all from ourselves is one fundamental cause of many of the symptoms of mental illness. And the reason is because science has now discovered that "Love is nourishment like air, food, and water" – therefore we each have permission to 'feed' ourselves and become self-sufficient, like we are with other nourishments. Imagine being deprived of air, food or water when you don't behave, don't please another. Would that cause you stress, anxiety, depression? Human beings believe that love, this most important nourishment, can only be gotten from others, their environment – family, friends. But like with all nourishments we need this one unconditionally as well. And we don't get this unconditionally. We get conditionally!!!! When we please others. We realize we are dependent on others who may not be able to give it unconditionally. That's about 95% of the human population. So, as Erich Fromm stated so brilliantly: "Human beings are starved for love" and don't know what to do about it.
The answer is not self-care, because until you learn to love yourself, you will not take care of yourself. Or you will do it in an obsessive, unhealthy way. The answer for now is to not listen to your self-talk unless it is supportive, loving, patient and kind to you. Like you would not want to listen to somebody who was constantly criticizing you. Tune in to that inner voice and have a conversation with it. Write a list of your lovable qualities and explain to yourself that you have a lot to feel good about. DO this exercise with friends and family. Reach out and have them join you. Their issue might be more or less severe, but they can always use a little help themselves. Create you own loving community. And let them know you need love unconditionally – so they should all try a little harder to be nice to Self and others – and you. Good Luck and wish you lots of love in your life. Stefan
Took the words right out of my mouth . xxxx
i want to like this talk 100 times! you are amazing <3
Great message.
That was amazing. Thank you so much for this.
Beautiful i agree i was saying to a friend that school disregards the seriousness of emotional intelligence and its sad.
The fact THT ths video only had 5k views is a reflection of the points made in this video about how seriously we need DONT take mental health,collectively! I pray for all of us suffering with mental health issues, especially the ones whom ppl overlook becuz they appear to always have things under control! Bless
YESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amazing talk, you made tons of insightful points
"Modern society is incompatible with our mental healthcare needs" This sentence holds so much weight and I hope that we can begin to grasp this and make the necessary cultural adjustments. Thanks for sharing your voice Matilda! You've definitely inspired me!
This hits different…
End the stigma ! ;
Good job! Excellent message!
wow….VERY well written and i am proud to be fighting alongside people like you. let’s continue to speak out and make the world a safer, loving place for ALL
What was the primary concept conveyed in this video?
This was awesome:] Thank you for advocating for mental health!
Just to clarify, adults over the age of 55 have the highest rates of completed suicide, especially men over 65. The over 55 demographic is invisible, and that is unacceptable.