“You have mental health challenges, but you are still who you are.”

Peta Hooke interviews Joshua about Mental Health and Tourette’s Syndrome. Joshua discusses challenges in public places that cause severe anxiety, and how the Sunflower can help. Joshua would like to see stronger support across essential services such as public transport networks and supermarkets.

Mental Health: If you’re going through a hard time right now, the Beyond Blue Support Service is available 24/7 for brief counselling. Call a counsellor on 1300 22 4636 or chat to a counsellor online here www.beyondblue.org.au

The Sunflower Conversations is a Podcast where we explore the experiences of people living with hidden disabilities and what the Sunflower means to them. It’s a space to share your experience and to empower and encourage more people to support invisible disabilities. 

A big thank you to Peta Hooke for conducting the interviews with compassion and respect and to Sandee Facy for the beautiful Sunflower song. You can follow Peta's I can't stand podcast here and Sandee Facy's music here.

If you want to share your experience, get in touch with us by emailing us here.  

Transcript:

Peta [00:00:00] I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of land and waters of which this podcast is recorded, especially to those with a disability themselves. Hello and welcome to Sunflower Conversations, a podcast where we explore the experiences of people with hidden disabilities and what the sunflower means to them. My name is Peta Hooke. I'm your host. I have cerebral palsy as well as other non visible disabilities. Every episode we're going to be chatting with a different sunflower wearer to understand what it's like for them to identify as somebody with a hidden disability and how people can best support them in different circumstances. Let's add a little bit of sunflower sunshine to your day and get started.

Josh [00:01:04] Hi, Peta, and thank you for having me. My name is Josh. I have blue eyes, and blonde hair. And I've been diagnosed with a few different mental health challenges.

Peta [00:01:17] Thank you for being here. Josh, it's a pleasure to talk to you. And I'm interested to hear your perspective. So first and foremost, what do you think people misunderstand about your disabilities?

Josh [00:01:29] From interactions I've had with places like Centrelink, Service New South Wales and even some general public public transport staff. It's the people who have mental health challenges, dangerous. That is something that is, I guess, unintentionally advertised sometimes on the news that someone's done something and they've got mental health problems. We're not dangerous, we're just struggling. They don't define someone. You have mental health challenges. You have mental health challenges but you are still who you are. You have depression and fear of the things. So, being at home alone. Can bring me down. But then on the other side, when I'm out in public, I face a bit of social anxiety and things like going into shops and stuff like that. I can, I can do it, but it's just a personal challenge like, oh, I have to be around people. I have to interact in some form or another. That can be really anxiety provoking and, at times debilitating.

Peta [00:02:38] When do you choose to wear the Hidden Disability Sunflower? And why do you choose to?

Josh [00:02:45] I choose to wear that pretty much all the time. As you can see, mostly, on public transport, I use it. I wear it mostly for public transport, because I know in my area, the northern beaches of Sydney, there's quite a few trained bus drivers who know what the sunflower means. Not necessarily the set of challenges you might have, but they know what it means. So that makes it a bit easier for me, knowing that some people know that I'm wearing this because I have something going on. Not that I'm necessarily going to have a problem, or have an episode on bus or public transport or something that. But it's sort of like a comfort and a bit of a relief. In 2023. Early 2023, I was catching a train from Sydney Central, up mid-north coast of New South Wales to visit family around Port Macquarie area. And first of all, I got onto the train and sat down. The carriage was quite busy. There was a lot of people around, and then one of the train attendants came up to me and was like, hey, I can see  you are wearing the lanyard. Can I help you in any way? So I just quietly pulled him aside and was like, hey mate, I don't feel comfortable sitting in this busy area. Is it is it possible to sit somewhere else? I understand if it's not and fortunately for me, it was. So I was, promptly moved to another seat, and this particular train attendant came back and checked on me from time to time. It was a I think it was like ended up being an eight hour train trip. So at times he just came back and was like, hey, how are you going?  I know that doesn't sound super significant in a way, but for me that was really significant because I was in an environment where I felt uncomfortable, because of my anxiety and. Being assisted somewhere else. That was that was really helpful for me at the time because I. Yeah. I was able to calm down and, be in a quieter space.

Peta [00:04:56] These conversations, I think primarily will be listened to by people that don't understand what it's like to have a hidden disability and want to better understand people who do. So for those who are listening. Do you have any advice on the best way to approach? Just talk from your perspective. How to approach you?

Josh [00:05:18] If you can see I'm struggling. When I say struggling, I mean, it would probably look a bit like a panic attack. Anxiety attack, something like that. Which, has happened, unfortunately, but it happens. I would first try and make sure that you yourself are in a good place to actually offer your assistance. If you're if you are not in a good place yourself, like you're stressed or in a rush or something like that, that's not going to be useful for anyone. But if you are, come up to me and just say, hey, I can see you're struggling a bit. If you can see that I'm wearing this sunflower hidden disability thing mention that, so I can see you wearing that. Are you okay? It's generally just. Yeah. Coming up, saying hi. Asking me if I'm okay. And, being cool, calm and collected.

Peta [00:06:12] Tell me about how you feel when you wear the lanyard.

Josh [00:06:16] Knowing that I can be noticed and if really need it, I can be offered assistance by the certain people is a it's definitely a comfort.

Peta [00:06:28] Is it? Is there any environments where you don't wear the sunflower lanyard or you think you wouldn't feel comfortable? Or is it something that feels very akin to your identity?

Josh [00:06:41] There is a few places where I wear  the lanyard. When I'm out with friends. Maybe grabbing a few drinks or something. Sometimes I don't wear it just purely by the fact that I know that people aren't going to understand what it is. I have once worn my lanyard into a bar, and the bartender was like, why are you wearing that? That's. It looks a bit weird. I was like, oh, it's okay. It's just the sunflower lanyard thing. And they got, I don't know, they it seemed as if they're a little bit judgy. So in some environments, like, I know bars, clubs that sort place I don't wear them.

Peta [00:07:23] So considering that you possibly haven't felt comfortable in the past in bar environments and the like. Where would you like to see the sunflower program adopted or better understood?

Josh [00:07:37] I would really love to see it primarily adopted. In supermarkets. Wollies Coles, those sort of places because. I myself go into them a lot, and always feel a little bit edgy. I don't exactly want to... me myself to be noticed. I just wanted to be. I know for other people, though, it would be more crucial. So definitely supermarkets. I guess some bars and clubs as well. I don't mind occasionally going out and getting a little tipsy. In those places as well. I think that would also be beneficial.

Peta [00:08:23] And that's another episode for Sunflower Conversations. Don't forget, you can always connect with the sunflower between episodes either via our website HD sunflower.com/au via our Facebook Hidden disabilities ANZ or via Instagram hidden disabilities_ANZ. Those links will also be in the description. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time, have a lovely sunflower day.