A new mental health musical is coming!

In today’s blog I am delighted to be joined by Kathryn Mincer, a writer and actor from London.

Kathryn is telling us all about a very exciting upcoming project of hers and has kindly shared her personal mental health story with us.

I hope you enjoy reading this powerful conversation as much as I did!

For anyone who doesn’t know you, please tell us a bit more about you

My name is Kathryn, and I am a Writer, Producer, and Actor from London. You may have seen me in a few different things, including playing the serial killer Joanna Dennehy in ‘Britain’s Most Evil Killers’, and a small speaking role on series 3 of ‘The Crown’.

In the past few years though, I have leaned more into the Writing aspect, and found that this is the area where I can be most creative and make the most impact with my work.

What is your new project, Mia: The Musical, about?

So, it is a musical about a woman named Mia. Now, Mia can't feel anything except for the unwanted emotions others donate to her. She thinks that she has felt every emotion out there, until she takes something she has never had before - happiness! Mia then embarks to discover; who sent this happiness? Why did they send it? And when can she have some more?

I wrote the book and lyrics to this in the first lockdown, when I was struggling with poor mental health and kept wishing that there was a way to remove or switch off your emotions. I decided to use the hurt that I was feeling, put it into my writing, and turn it into something beautiful! I also had help with songs from my composers; Sheridan Lloyd and Josef Pitura-Riley.

You mentioned that you have suffered from mental ill-health yourself which is what inspired you to write Mia: The Musical. Would you mind sharing a bit about your personal experience of mental health struggles?

I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD, also called Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder) a little over 10 years ago, but when I tried to get help from the NHS there was little available for people like me. The service has a lot of great treatments and therapies available for mild/moderate mental health problems – very little available for moderate to severe.

I tried to ignore it at first; but it would cause me, and others around me, great distress. I used to tell people that I was OK because they would get uneasy around me if I talked about how I was actually feeling. Part of how my BPD presents itself is feeling every emotion on a much heightened level, struggling to maintain relationships, a distorted sense of self, and all/nothing thinking. I also have a habit of disassociating, especially when I am anxious about something!

My biggest struggle was telling people about what I was going through, as there is a stigma around those with BPD being manipulative and ‘evil’. I would be accused of being over-reacting when I felt upset or angry, or told that I was difficult to love because of how much I tried to frantically avoid real or imagined abandonment.

What has helped you manage living with Borderline Personality Disorder?

I won’t lie; I am a work in progress! What really helped me was finding the right type of therapy – there are a few for BPD, including Dialectical Behaviour Therapy; but the one that is working best for me is Schema Therapy. It looks at your mind-set, and challenges why you have those thoughts and whether they are helpful or not. Highly recommend it!

Another thing that helps me is a peer support group that I help facilitate online for people with BPD and Complex PTSD (as there are many similarities between the two). It is so freeing to attend a group where people understand you and you don’t need to explain why you feel a certain way. It is like finding your tribe when you thought that you were alone for so long!

What do you hope Mia: The Musical will bring to your audience?

I hope that it will spark up a conversation about mental health – especially after the shared trauma of this pandemic that we have been through. There is a lot of information coming out about how people, especially front-line workers, could soon be suffering could from PTSD and Complex Grief from the effects of covid-19.

I also want to normalise feeling a certain way – we live in a society where we are rewarded for being busy and happy; but, for me, I am very aware that if I have a high that it will quickly be followed by a low, so there is anxiety in my happiness. My most content is when I feel nothing, which can be a horrifying thought to some people; but it is when I feel most ‘normal’.

We will also have signposting available after the show with Samaritans charity, for anyone who would like to speak further about any mental health struggles they are facing. On top of that, a percentage of album and ticket sales will go towards the hard work that Samaritans does.

How can we watch Mia: The Musical?

At the moment we are still trying to fundraise so that we can give this show the debut that it deserves! However, once we reach our target, ‘Mia: the Musical’ will be available to watch via an online streaming platform. There will also be an album available to listen to and download through Spotify and other music sites. If you follow us on social media then we will keep you updated with events.

Where can we follow your work?

Instagram @MiaTheMusical
Facebook @MiaTheMusical
Twitter @MiaTheMusical1

And my Instagram is @KathrynMincer if you wanted to follow me too.