mostly david ephgrave

Today, I sorted out and donated the money we collected for the charity Mind in exchange for the Mostly Comedy badges we gave away at our Festival last week. Delicate mathematics. As with our collection to mark Time to Talk Day at January’s show, it was great to see how generous people can be, with a fair few fivers, tenners and even twenty pound notes (twenters?) thrown into the bucket. This time we made £204.73, which was a pleasing byproduct of a festival that was a resounding success, and an encouraging sign of solidarity and understanding for a topic that’s often much-maligned and misunderstood; somehow, a comedy club is the perfect place to raise awareness of the subject of mental health. It makes me wish I had something I could give away in Edinburgh so I could take a similar collection at my show; I’m not sure what my venue’s policy would be, but it would be great if I could, particularly as my own experience of mental illness features heavily in it. When I p...

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...