Becoming a mother has made me even more aware and more passionate about nutrition and wellness. So much so that I am now a certified health coach practitioner.
The point of a mental health first aider is to be a champion for good mental health in the workplace, to provide a safe port-of-call for anyone wanting to talk about their mental health, and to offer signposting to available expert advice and professional services.
I've obviously come from a health background. I was a doctor before I became a pollie and one of the things I'd like to do is to really build on the world-class health system we've got. I'm passionate about climate change because it's also a health issue. Things like extreme weather impact on people's health, the ability of our hospitals to cope, the impact on mental health, on farmers in regional areas - they're all serious health concerns.
Mental health isn't all of me, but it's a massive part of my journey and a massive part of my whole being.
I attribute the black tones in my films to Stephen King, Tim Burton, Joe Hill and Richard Matheson. However, most of my writing is influenced by mental health. I'm incredibly passionate about shedding light on the stigmas associated with mental illnesses.
There is no health without mental health; mental health is too important to be left to the professionals alone, and mental health is everyone's business.
Why aren't we talking about it in health classes in school? That's just as important as learning about physical health and nutrition. Why aren't we learning about our minds and our mental health and mental illnesses? I just think that it's something that very much needs to go hand in hand.
One of the issues I think is very important, in many communities of color, there's a stigma about mental health. We find that the shaming that comes from acknowledging that one may have some issues that may relate to mental health, often people are not willing to go and seek additional help because of that shaming or that cultural stigma that's associated with it. And I think that we need to make this change in how people approach mental health.
I personally think fitness is a very important part of skincare and overall health and wellness and beauty. I think that the skin is our largest organ.
Even with mental health as well as physical health, it's about taking responsibility and knowing that you're part of the solution always.
One of the things we need to do is address mental health care as an integral part of primary care. People often aren't able to navigate a separate system, so you see successful models where a primary care physician is able to identify, diagnose, and concurrently help people get mental health treatment who have mental health issues.
I do a lot of work with mental health and wellness, which I also believe has a lot to do with your lifestyle as well - what you're eating, how you're living, what you're thinking. How you live your life can affect your mental state.
A more holistic view encompassing mental, emotional, financial, social and spiritual wellness is as important as physical health, is now defined, understood, and aspirational.
Part of abandoning the all-or-nothing mentality is allowing yourself room for setbacks. We are bound to have lapses on the road to health and wellness, but it is critical that we learn how to handle small failures positively so that we can minimize their long-term destructive effects. One setback is one setback—it is not the end of the world, nor is it the end of your journey toward a better you.
I learned so much in Zimbabwe, in particular about the need for humility in our ambition to extend mental health care in countries where there were very few psychiatrists and where the local culture harboured very different views about mental illness and healing. These experiences have profoundly influenced my thinking.
In my view, prescribing antidepressant drugs is too often a quick and easy substitute for developing treatment plans that address the totality of health concerns and lifestyle factors that have an impact on wellness, including emotional wellness.