Ep 58: Mental Health and Creativity part 1: The male issue

On a very broad scale, we all suffer the down sides of being, in the words of illustrator Ste Johnson, the only animal on the planet with the power to introspect and think this way, don't we? Whether it is depression and unhappiness, or simply occasional insecurity and anxiety, as human beings, life can sometimes give us a rough ride. But what role can creativity play in preventing, alleviating, coping with or channeling negative emotions?A few years ago I came across CALM, the Campaign Against Living Miserably, a brilliant charity who use the arts in their work to prevent suicide, the single biggest killer of young men in the UK.In part one of this two-part special, I'll be chatting to Paul Shiels from CALM about some of the issues associated with masculinity and male stigmas that have transcended generations. Three times as many men take their own lives than women and I wanted to explore my own belief that creativity can be a crucial asset in fighting this problem.I'm also joined by illustrators Danny Allison, Ste Johnson and London based comedian Ian Stone who each have intriguing insights, experiences and thoughts about creativity.In part two next week, I'll be talking to six creative professionals, Illustrator Malika Favre, musician, DJ, producer Dirty Freud, painter Ray Richardson, poet Mark Mace Smith, artist Angela Morris-Winmill and two-piece hard rock band The Hyena Kill about creativity and human side of their work.Get your feedback over to @arrestallmimics on Twitter - we really want to hear from you on this one.http://thecalmzone.nethttp://dannyallison.co.ukhttp://www.danielallison.co.uk/ - Danny's photographyhttp://steillustrates.co.ukhttp://www.ianstonecomedian.co.uk/