Beat Depression, Addiction & Anxiety! School of Rock Bottom 24: Maddie Kitchen

[TW//Major depression, panic attacks, anxiety, alcohol abuse] Filmmaker and director Maddie Kitchen was 19 and clinically depressed and suffering panic attacks. At first, alcohol helped relieve her symptoms but years later she found herself suffering a mental breakdown and shaking from alcohol withdrawal every time she tried to stop. Maddie finally surrendered and found recovery through filmmaking and fellowship. Maddie shares exactly how she uses the power of creativity and community to arrest her own and other people's addictions, depression and anxiety. Maddie is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts - in recognition of her work using film to support and advocate for inclusive and diverse mental health and addiction recovery - is a social filmmaker and runs the non profit, Camden based social enterprise Sobriety Films UK.   She set it up in 2019 as a lived experience, female led organisation that uses film to promote and support people in recovery from addiction, mental ill health and trauma. SFUK, believes in the healing power of creativity to overcome adversity. They have worked with Rethink Mental Illness, NHS England, the Alcohol Health Alliance, Turning Point, Humankind, CGL, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Scottish Health action on Alcohol Problems, Recovery Street Film Festival and the Reel Recovery Film Festival USA.  SFUK is also a member of the National Suicide Prevention Alliance. Topics - 0:00 Intro 2:27 Maddie's rock bottom 5:53 Using alcohol for depression & anxiety 7:56 What is dual diagnosis? 8:46 Dealing with major depressive disorders and panic as a teenager 11:48 Maddie's genetics and environment 12:50 Overcoming panic 16:22 What is a 'breakdown'? 18:23 Taking psychedelic drugs 19:43 Why using drugs and alcohol to cope with anxiety is dangerous 22:34 What it's like having alcohol withdrawal then into recovery 25:09 Relapse in recovery 27:14 Finding strength in the hard moments 30:08 Breaking the stigma through filmmaking 33:35 The birth of Sobriety Films UK 35:42 What do Sobriety Films do? 38:25 The healing power of creativity to overcome adversity 40:25 Why are creatives more likely to suffer with poor mental health? 43:35 How do you keep anxiety & depression at bay? 45:26 The art of saying no! Further support - Your GP - When you talk to your GP about your mental health they'll listen, give you advice and introduce you to a mental health service they think will be most helpful to you. NHS 111- 111 will tell you the right place to get help if you need to see someone. Use the NHS 111 online service, or call 111. You may be able to speak to a nurse, or mental health nurse, over the phone. Rethink Mental Illness - 0808 801 0525 Mind - 0300 123 3393 - If you need non-urgent information about mental health support and services that may be available to you. Switchboard - If you identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, you can call Switchboard on 0300 330 0630 (10am–10pm every day), email [email protected] or use their webchat service. Phone operators all identify as LGBT+. Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). You can call the CALM on 0800 58 58 58 (5pm–midnight every day) if you are struggling and need to talk. Or if you prefer not to speak on the phone, you could try the CALM webchat service. Samaritans - 116 123. https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/ Text Shout 85258 -  https://giveusashout.org For young people National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK - Offers a supportive listening service to anyone with thoughts of suicide. 0800 689 5652 (6pm–3:30am every day). Follow Maddie & Sobriety Films Instagram - https://instagram.com/sobriety_films Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sobriety.films.uk/ Twitter/X - https://x.com/UkSobriety Website - http://www.sobrietyfilms.com Listen or watch on: (please subscribe/follow & rate/review) YouTube - https://bit.ly/4878Xhn Apple - https://apple.co/3PajZvQ