MY JOURNEY WITH MENTAL HEALTH By Tim Bassett
It can sometimes seem crazy how fast time flies, and while scrolling through my Snapchat memories this week I came to realise that it has been a year, since I worked with UTV in Belfast to investigate the stigma of male mental health.
For a quick little bit of background, I basically wrote a pitch for a topic that I was passionate about and a topic that isn’t widely reported on. I then submitted this to the ‘Breaking Into News’ 2020 competition, this initiative is run by the Media Trust in partnership with ITN and other media partners.
I was selected as the Northern Irish finalist for the competition and got the opportunity to be mentored by reporter Barbara McCann and produce my report for broadcast! Which was amazing btw...getting to do the whole “TimBassett, UTV Live Belfast” was just a whole dream come true!
I will link the report below.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtrSj1qefVI&t=35s
One year on, and while I do think we’ve moved on slightly when it comes to mental health stigma...I believe we've still got a pretty long road ahead.
Ask yourself... ” When did I last see or hear something on tv about male mental health?”
Chances are you're going to have to sit and think for a very long time or you won’t be able to think of a single advertisement, news article, documentary or report...simply, because it isn’t widely reported. Even the A-list drama with Kanye West has been eclipsed by his fame and the importance to his fans about his upcoming album release.
I want to talk about why I wanted to do this report and why I choose the topic I did. I just want to start by saying that everyone’s journey with mental health is different...doesn’t matter what gender you are, age, race, sexuality...the list goes on. People deal with things in completely different ways, the same with physical health. If two people had a sore head, the prognosis is not the same and it’s the same for mental health.
I learned a lot from the people I spoke too, and you could feel their passion for the subject. My mental health trigger is anxiety...and it always has been. And up until recently I don’t know when I haven’t felt anxious, and in the moment it’s nothing in particular that triggers it but it’s always loomed over me. Whether it’s related to fraught family relationships or self-doubt, for years I have never been able to totally shake it.
I first noticed that my anxiety was becoming a huge roadblock in my life, when I started to study my HND in broadcast journalism. Obviously, my course had huge elements of practical work because it’s a broadcast-based course and it’s natural to get nervous or feel anxious when talking on camera or interviewing various people at important events. But how I felt wasn’t nerves...it was like an overwhelming sense of panic and then because I was panicking and feeling anxious I would stress even more, so much so that I would break out in rashes from the top of my neck below my chin to just above my belly button.
And I’m not talking, in 20/30 minutes...I mean sitting down 5 minutes in and being like a lobster almost instantly. I’m going to insert a picture below...I’ve never shared this with anyone publicly before, but I do think it’s important for many to realise that while I’m confident and wanna look cool, calm and collected 24/7 that’s not always the case.
NGL! looking at this gives me anxiety...because although this picture was taken almost 2 years ago, I know that feeling.
These breakouts began to occur much more frequently, and a lot of the time I would assume they were going to happen even before they did, which just led to me becoming more anxious and less confident with saying yes to on camera work and interviewing for different jobs. It was embarrassing to me, and at times I began to question if I even wanted a career in the media, because I was finding my anxiety and the symptoms of my anxiety completely paralysing.
It’s only been in the last year and since my report that I've actually been able to re-channel the exhaustive energy that I was putting into my anxiety and put that power elsewhere. I love the opportunities that have come my way this year, and I’ve had to believe in myself even when I have wanted to give up, stay at home and isolate myself from potential anxious triggers.
Surrounding myself with the right people, taking time to look after and nurture myself, my creativity, what I stand for have all helped me to combat my anxiety and move forward with things that I want to do in my life. Even in the last month, never did I think that I would be as supported as I’ve been by so many people. Over 1k people took the time to read my first post on my website (www.bytjb.co.uk) and that’s amazing...and I now know that the only person who has ever stood in my way, has been me.
Don’t get me wrong, everyday isn’t perfect...sometimes I cry, sometimes I laugh, sometimes I’m angry! But every time I’m just being me and if you can be authentic with yourself and accept all those parts...your heading in the right direction.
P.S My DMs are always open for a chat @by_tjb_
TJB XO