{"id":39264,"date":"2022-08-19T01:59:15","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T08:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=39264"},"modified":"2022-08-18T16:22:31","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T23:22:31","slug":"talking-about-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2022\/08\/19\/talking-about-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking about mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Cohen and Mayim Bialik, co-hosts of the podcast Mayim Bialik\u2019s Breakdown, help launch the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver\u2019s annual campaign on Sept. 8. (PR photo)<\/em><\/p>\n

Television viewers watched Mayim Bialik grow up, most notably as the character Blossom Russo on the series Blossom<\/em>, and in a string of other TV and movie roles, including playing the child version of Bette Midler\u2019s character in Beaches<\/em>. More recently, Bialik has been nominated four times for an Emmy Award for her role in The Big Bang Theory<\/em> and it was announced last month that she and Ken Jennings will jointly fill the late Alex Trebek\u2019s shoes as hosts of the game show Jeopardy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But, when Bialik speaks to a Vancouver audience Sept. 8, she will not be acting or holding the cards with all the answers. She will be opening up about an issue that is close to her own experience: mental health.<\/p>\n

Bialik is one of three headliners at the opening event of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver\u2019s annual campaign. She will be beamed in live from Los Angeles, along with her podcast partner Jonathan Cohen. They co-host Mayim Bialik\u2019s Breakdown<\/em>, which is described as \u201ca quirky, informative and interactive podcast breaking down the myths and misunderstandings about mental health and emotional well-being.\u201d While the pair will join from Los Angeles, live on stage at Congregation Beth Israel will be Fran Drescher.<\/p>\n

Best known for her titular role in the 1990s sitcom The Nanny<\/em>, Drescher is also an accomplished producer and author who has won several awards in the health field. Only recently, she has begun to open up about the traumas and major health issues she experienced earlier in her life, including those she says she never adequately dealt with at the time. At the campaign launch, she will reflect on how important mental health issues are to overall well-being.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with the Independent<\/em>, Bialik and Cohen shared some of their vision and a little of what audiences can expect when they speak. Mental wellness is a core theme of the opening event, in part because these issues have become more pervasive due to stress, uncertainty and isolation caused by the pandemic. Bialik has been open about her own experiences with these challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the things about mental health is, depending on what you\u2019re dealing with, there can be a lot of isolation,\u201d Bialik said. \u201cTalking about it, and being part of challenging the stigma, I think, makes you feel less alone. I definitely feel less alone. A lot of my fears around my challenges have definitely gotten less. I have less fear about talking openly about it. I think that\u2019s really made an impact on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the podcast, she and Cohen discuss their personal experiences, welcome experts and also introduce a buzzy crowd of celebrities like Sarah Silverman, Dustin Hoffman, Margaret Cho and Howie Mandel. Topics include managing anxiety, overcoming trauma, alternative medicine, body positivity, grief and gratitude.<\/p>\n

A lot of the time, Bialik said, people tell her and Cohen that the show raises questions viewers didn\u2019t know they needed to ask, or that they didn\u2019t have the ability to express to their medical professional \u2013 or maybe they do not have access to professional care.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not doctors of that sort, we\u2019re not looking to make diagnoses,\u201d she said. \u201cBut, in sharing our experience, a lot of people are hearing their stories and that\u2019s been really, really very powerful. We\u2019ve had some incredible interactions with some of our fans. One of the reasons that we do a lot of giveaways and things like that is it creates a sense of community and it lets people know that we are real people behind our microphones.\u201d<\/p>\n

They hope to hear from audience members in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really want to have an interactive component to the evening because, for us, we are very interested in other people\u2019s stories and we really enjoy that part of our podcast,\u201d said Bialik. \u201cSo we\u2019re excited to bring that to an audience live and be able to share, and also hear what other people want to share. We are also quite funny together \u2013 we think so, but other people have told us that as well \u2013 so it will be a way for us to show how we use our humour to interact and especially discuss difficult things like mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the podcast, the pair have pitched a few TV pilots, which have yet to get picked up, but they have more up their sleeves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a very fun partnership and we have lots of ideas of ways we\u2019d like to change the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also both like to explain things,\u201d said Cohen, \u201cwhich sometimes makes us compete for airtime, but usually results in a further understanding of something.\u201d<\/p>\n

They both balked jokingly when asked if they were drawn together by their \u201cnerdy\u201d pursuits. Bialik is a neuroscientist and Cohen\u2019s expertise is artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeuroscientists and people in AI are the new superstars,\u201d said Cohen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not really nerdy,\u201d Bialik insisted with a laugh.<\/p>\n

But seriously, she continued: \u201cReally, when we started talking again and connecting again, [that] was when we started realizing how much we had in common in terms of our interest in science and mind and body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bialik is tough to pigeonhole. A mother, a scientist, an actor, an author, a game show host, a proud Jew, a vocal Zionist \u2013 she doesn\u2019t feel a need to choose between her complex identities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if it was ever really a question of settling for just one,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m a mother and I think that is the role I most enjoy personally. In terms of professional activities, I really did enjoy being a scientist and the knowledge that I acquired does not go away just because I\u2019m not a full-time scientist. I do love advocating for causes that are important for me. I love writing. I do love writing. I guess it\u2019s hard to pick just one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hosting Jeopardy<\/em> is a very different kind of job than being an actor, she acknowledged.<\/p>\n

\u201cI obviously have to be myself, but I have producers and judges talking in my ear the whole time, so it\u2019s a big division of attention and that can be hard,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of really difficult words to pronounce, which I do get to practise a little bit that morning before we tape each set of episodes, but [it\u2019s] very, very different and you have to be ready for anything because anything really does and can happen at Jeopardy<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

As one of Hollywood\u2019s most visible Zionists, Bialik has been a lightning rod for anti-Zionism and antisemitism. But that\u2019s not new, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is, I\u2019ve been dealing with antisemitism and anti-Zionism for decades in my professional presence,\u201d Bialik said. \u201cI will say that the climate of North America has definitely shifted.\u2026 [But] for me, it\u2019s always been an issue. It\u2019s one I was raised to know about and be aware of. I think I\u2019m more touched, as many of us are, by the increase in antisemitic acts, and violent acts especially, against Jews. As someone who has been going to Israel and continues to go to Israel \u2013 I\u2019ve been probably a dozen times \u2013 that\u2019s always something on my radar. There\u2019s definitely been more of this kind of hatred and activity and specifically targeting me. But it\u2019s also been something that I\u2019ve always had to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Thursday, Sept. 8, Federation annual campaign launch at Beth Israel starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, $18, are at jewishvancouver.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Cohen and Mayim Bialik, co-hosts of the podcast Mayim Bialik\u2019s Breakdown, help launch the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver\u2019s annual campaign on Sept. 8. (PR photo) Television viewers watched Mayim Bialik grow up, most notably as the character Blossom Russo on the series Blossom, and in a string of other TV and movie roles, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5432,3649,21689,19707,1997,2763,6875],"class_list":["post-39264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-annual-campaign","tag-jewish-federation","tag-jonathan-cohen","tag-mayim-bialik","tag-mental-health","tag-philanthropy","tag-podcasts"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}