Hear Myself Think: An Interview with Kaleya Baxe
Kaleya Baxe, dramaturg for Hear Myself Think
Mental health care is talked about more and more in our everyday lives. From mindfulness and meditation to medication and therapy, we are becoming more informed on how best to care for our mental health. Our knowledge of self-care couldn’t come at a better time: Black people are 4 times likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act with Black men being more likely to experience a psychotic disorder compared to their White counterparts. Even though Black people are more likely to experience a mental health difficulty in a given week, we have the lowest access to treatment of any ethnic group and are less likely to access GP services to begin receiving treatment (MIND, 2022).
Clearly, there are deep rooted issues that prevent us from accessing treatment and that also stop treatment from being relevant. But on a more individual level, where can we begin to go to for support? From sharing more with friends, meditating, escaping into nature, doing a task you enjoy for pleasure (and not because it’s your side hustle!), there are plenty of opportunities to take care of your mental health in both active and passive ways.
Hear Myself Think is an audio-theatre podcast experience that encourages people to take 10 to 15 minutes out of their day to relax and engage with the stories of the different characters. The short episodes offer opportunities to reflect, be comforted and simply be with the characters as they go through their activities. The latest series has been developed with mental health advisors and focuses on characters with various minorities identities in a bid to help reduce the mental health support gap.
We interviewed Kaleya Baxe, dramaturg for the latest season of the podcast to find out more about Hear Myself Think, her role within the creative process, and her thoughts on how we can continue to be supported by services and by each other to improve our mental health wellbeing.
Hi Kaleya! Thanks so much for taking part in this interview to speak about ‘Hear Myself Think’ and the work being done to narrow the mental health support gap. Could you tell us some more about Hear Myself Think and your involvement in the podcast?
Hear Myself Think is a podcast that invites listeners to complete a short easy task with a character that can improve their mental health. It’s essentially a series of loads of short stories told by these characters varying in age and experience, but also interactive where the listener has the opportunity to do something that might make them feel better! The founder Olly Gully used a creative way to make this topic accessible, and more fun! In the first series I directed all the episodes and worked with Olly (then the sole writer) as dramaturg, which essentially means supporting him to write the episodes! This series I have stayed in my role as dramaturg to work with 5 new writers and directors, which has been very exciting.
How do you feel your role as dramaturg developed the stories of the characters we hear from in the episodes?
Being a dramaturg, the process with each writer and episode is completely different, so during my first session I always ask what the writer might think I can support them in. Essentially, I am the first audience, the first person who reports back on where I was affected by the piece and where I was lost. Sometimes it was about bringing out the drama in the storyline of the episode, others were about digging deeper into the character and understanding what they’re going through, what emotions they’re experiencing so their story feels more real to us. Overall, I hope I did my part in boosting the writers’ confidence, creativity and bringing out their individual voices and styles. I definitely enjoyed each collaboration very much!
Your work has touched on very sensitive topics (such as Patricia Gets Ready (for a date with the man who used to hit her)). This focus on minoritised ethnic groups in this new season of the podcast brings their experiences to the forefront. Why is it important to you that minoritised voices are heard and represented within mental health spaces?
To be honest, minoritised voices wasn’t an initial intentional focus, but as a team the importance of including these voices in conversations about mental health are at the core of our values. This is one of the reasons we decided to open up the opportunity to 5 new writers and directors, so naturally those chosen ended up being from all around the world with very different backgrounds! Because historically a white cis able-bodied person’s experience has been used to judge what’s ‘normal’, there is a lack of representation in what mental health challenges minoritised individuals face. So, it is essential we do not make the mistake of forgetting these experiences when having these very important conversations!
Black people in particular, have low access to mental health support though they are often over-represented in mental health settings (Black people are almost 4 times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act). What do you think explains why Black people do not often reach out to mental health services?
This is such a heart-breaking statistic, especially when we look more deeply into the reasons why. For one, we are burdened with detrimental stereotypes that we are stronger and more resilient, as if being born black somehow makes us superhuman in facing adversity just because our ancestors were treated with such unimaginable cruelty. This is an internalised idea in our community that can make a Black person not recognise that they need help, feel guilty or ashamed for reaching out for mental health support, or have their families discourage them.
On top of that, historically Black people don’t have a great relationship with the medical system where they are often disbelieved or dismissed for these same stereotypes (remember the recent study revealing Black women are 5 times more likely to die of childbirth). Then as you mentioned, the lack of representation adds to all this. I could go on about how Black people are more likely to be in poverty or how other factors of structural racism create trickier access but I think the point is that there is a real problem here that we can only tackle by continuing to advocate for the importance of our involvement in this topic, like you are!
What do you think needs to be done by services to encourage more Black people to access them at earlier stages of mental distress?
That’s a difficult question as someone who doesn’t directly work in these services, but firstly for Black people to be involved in higher roles in these services to help shape them. Too often I have seen Black people being left out, forgotten, or completely misunderstood simply because no one was present to correct these errors. I also think in-depth training for professionals on the specific issues Black people face as well as making them aware of professional bias from said harmful stereotypes is essential in trying to make these spaces safer us, although I believe this is already something being practiced more.
We need more funding for these services so they can operate in the places that need them most as it’s always the people with the least that suffer first when more money is cut. And actually, I think more specialised services specifically for Black and/or minoritised people would be a great and easy way to create spaces where Black people feel comfortable to reach out to and where they are treated as they deserve. That being said, I don’t want to sound like I’m hating on the mental health services that do exist already, although they have problems I know there is a lot of amazing work being done with people trying their best and I am super grateful to them all! But it is essential we continue to tackle these statistics.
The podcast walks us through some small tasks that can help to improve mental wellbeing. What are some things you like to take part in yourself?
I love this question! Actually, meditating is a practice I haven’t managed to completely incorporate into my life but I really notice the difference in my moods and overthinking when I do it regularly. I love switching my phone off for a bit before bed and reading until I fall asleep or playing guitar just for myself in the evenings to have something that allows me to focus on a task completely and take my brain away from work or personal life. It’s not something I do in front of other people (haha) but it’s nice to have a thing to practice and improve on just for me!
What do you hope people will gain from listening to the podcast?
I honestly just hope it gives them 10 or 15 minutes of being engaged in someone else’s world and be present in what they’re experiencing. Saying that now makes me realise something: that perhaps another aim of the podcast is to allow us all to be a little better at listening and a little better at empathising, not just with our own emotions but others too. And isn’t being there for each other at the core of how we improve all mental health anyway?