31: Living with my Schizophrenia - Jonny Benjamin MBE

I’m honoured to be joined today by one of the UK’s most impressive speakers and mental health advocates in the form of Jonny Benjamin MBE, who made headlines after sparking a national campaign called Find Mike – with the goal of tracking down the man who talked him down from a bridge. Jonny talks candidly about his own experience with schizoaffective disorder, which has led to him hearing a voice in his head that used to take on the form of an angel, before becoming the devil. He’s passionate about mental health and how we all need to talk more openly, and you can find the charity he founded, Beyond, on wearebeyond.org.uk. He’s also created a mental health festival for schools called Now and Beyond. Jonny also tells me how his relatively conservative Jewish upbringing made it harder to talk about his issues, while also feeling he had to keep his homosexuality secret. We also spoke about fellow schizophrenia sufferer Elyn Saks, whose Ted Talk you can find here. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram, both andrewgold_ok, and have a browse of the different perks you can get from a membership on patreon.com/andrewgold --- Episode sponsored by the wonderful Pink Moon Interiors, they really make some great stuff that I've personally visited. Check out and follow their instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/pinkmoon_interiors/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices