mostly david ephgrave

After much mulling over, I set up a Just Giving page yesterday, in the hope of pulling together some of the money needed for this year's Edinburgh show. I'm still torn about what to do in the wake of all the difficult family stuff that's been going on, which is magnified by my Edinburgh stress, the loss of my dad and my PIP having stopped. If I'm honest, I don't feel I've picked myself up since my mood dropped soon after last year's Fringe and I haven't written anything of note since; I don't really know why that happened, other than potentially being a symbol of my frustration that I'd put together the show I was proudest of for it to sink without a trace (although this was more to do with the time of day I was on and the oversaturation of the Fringe than anything. After much internal and external debate, I set up the crowd-funding page yesterday afternoon; a number of people on Twitter suggested it as a possibility - something I'd alway...

Tonight’s Mostly Comedy was a great way to kick off the New Year for the club, particularly thanks to the amount we raised on the door for the charity Mind , to mark Time to Change’s Time To Talk Day , which takes place on 1 st February.   I think a comedy club’s the perfect place to spread word of the importance of not shying away from the topic of mental health, nor dismissing clinical conditions such as depression as some kind of active choice, or weakness. It doesn’t seem to matter how much publicity there is for the subject - it’s certainly in vogue for political parties to promise to devote more money to tackle the lack of parity between mental and physical health - the misconceptions (and lack of actual funding) are rife. The statistic that’s often bandied around is how 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem in any given year, yet despite everyone knowing this, so much still has to happen for the stigma attached to be lifted; one of the bigg...

It’s a common misconception that suffering a mental health problem is a sign of weakness, when combating it takes real strength. One of the cruelest aspects to depression or anxiety is you’re often made to feel you’re to blame, by tactless others, or by you; that isn’t true. I find it endlessly frustrating that despite it being fashionable for MPs and health professionals to express the need for things to change and for the stigma to end, in reality, we’re still at square one. The lack of resources available to people with mental health conditions is shocking; you often have to fight for help, and if you don’t, you fall by the wayside. Anyone who doesn’t think the situation is this serious should take a look at the statistics. ·       1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem each year. ·       3 out of 4 people fear the reactions of friends and family on discussing their mental he...