The Big Anxiety Festival will change how you think about mental health

WE’RE more anxious than ever but how do you get people talking about the stresses and strains most of us want to hide? You throw a massive festival.

Professor Jill Bennett in an immersive mood room, which lets visitors explore how environment influences the way they feel. Picture: Nick Cubbin

ONE in four of us will suffer from it in our lifetimes but how do you get people talking about anxiety?

The Big Anxiety Festival is heading to Sydney this month to change the way we think about mental health and help visitors improve their wellbeing via innovative arts, science and technology events.

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia but artistic director Professor Jill Bennett said 65 per cent of Australians with mental health issues don’t seek help.

“This tells us that conventional messaging doesn’t reach all the people it needs to,” she said.

The Big Anxiety Festival will explore and re-imagine the state of mental health in the 21st century.

There is strong evidence the arts can contribute to mental wellbeing, far beyond just awareness.

“It can also deliver insights into human experience and reduce stigma and promote empathy,” she said. “All of this is critical to improving mental health and wellbeing for the community as a whole. “The arts should be available like medical scripts or exercise programs as a key component of staying healthy.”

The festival will give visitors the chance to discover different ways of dealing with the stresses and strains of life.

The Power and Institutions program examines issues such as the impact of toxic workplaces and the challenge of maintaining sanity in a fast-paced, hyper-connected world.

Professor Jill Bennett stands in an immersive mood experiment. Picture: Nick Cubbin

The Big Anxiety Festival is the biggest mental health and arts festival in the world,

Hi-tech meets mindfulness in the Mood Experiments program, where festivalgoers can explore experimental mood labs, state-of-the-art responsive environments, multi-sensory rooms and the world’s highest resolution 3D immersive cinema.

There’s also the low-fi pleasures of meditation and sitting quietly in bespoke ‘relaxation pods’.

Leading artists, designers and technicians are all collaborating on immersive experiences that will enable immersive experiences.

The Awkward Conversations program will allow people to connect with artists, performers and activists over hard-to-talk-about subjects, among them Debra Keenahan, whose work focuses on the personal and social impacts of disability.

“The artist who has dwarfism says she has never walked down the street without being stared a or worse, abused,” Ms Bennett said.

“Debra is tackling this anxiety by making a life-size 3D print of herself, raised up on a plinth so she can look people in the eye.”

The response to the festival has already been overwhelming, Ms Bennett said, and tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the 60 events.

Events will be held at different hubs across the city including Customs House, the Riverside Theatre in Parramatta and UNSW Paddington.

The festival will also contribute to real-life mental health research, with researchers at the Black Dog Institute measuring the social and health benefits for participants.

The Big Anxiety Festival runs from September 20-November 11. For more information visit www.thebiganxiety.org