Now I’m not a therapist, I’m just someone who’s lived through some generally terrible things. So this section is going to be a mix on how I’ve seen and experienced things going south during a mental health crisis. As well as how you can be there for someone in your studio going through a tough situation, and not feel weird about it in the process.

I’ll also be adding some advice on tips I’ve found across the internet from professional mental health physicians. All links to these resources will be listed below.

Let’s open with a very VFX relevant scenario: Being depressed on a Beer Friday. Depression and alcohol never mix well. You might think you know your cut off point, but your mental health demon doesn’t. The last thing your coworkers want to deal with is you throwing up, making a move on them, passing out, being violent, or overall being a downer. The last thing you want to ever experience in a studio is blacking out on a Beer Friday, and waking up on Monday and seeing that the vibe around you is different.

My recommendation if you are working through something tough, but also want to enjoy the Beer Friday mentality of the studio, would be several things. The best case scenario is to just not drink anything. Plan ahead, and bring ingredients for a shirley temple(Non alcoholic cocktail) if you have to. Bring a water bottle with you, and drink that instead. If you know you need a flavor to whatever you are drinking, consider adding a lime or lemon substitute to it, or a carbonated pop beverage. Set a general time limit for yourself, and give yourself a “bedtime” that you should get home by. If you have a group of people in the office who you are close with, and are aware of your situation, stick with them. They will look out for you, and help cut you off.

Beer Fridays are one of the most social events of a studio setting, and it feels incredibly awful to not be a part of it if you are a social person. Or even someone who doesn’t enjoy alcohol. So if you want to be social, and you know you’re not in the best state of mind, and you do want to have a beer with your coworkers: Make sure you are in a safe situation where you know you can walk away without repercussions.

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CG Spectrum published this awesome list for VFX Mental Health awhile back. The article is listed below, and I’d figured I’d add on it and list their very useful points.

Stay hydrated
Dress for success
Sit right
Move
Sleep on it
You are what you eat
Say it out aloud
Get to know your cycle
Break it down
Acts of kindness
Social time
Find passions outside of work
Routine
Practice mindfulness
Take a mental health day

All of these CG Spectrum points are incredibly valid.

Your mood will absolutely be based on what you eat. If you don’t eat for hours on end, you will not have energy to think. When you are young, (minus 25) you can get away with this longer than most people. The older you get, you will exponentially feel your focus draining away while you are fasting. If you eat too much of the wrong thing, you’ll be constantly thinking about how awful you feel with a bloated stomach. Maybe how fat you’ll feel after all the food you’ve consumed, or feel the need to throw up.

Moving is a great point as well. Exercise is a lifesaver. If you have body, weight, metal health issues you can literally outrun them with exercise. Generally a half hour to an hour of running, walking, stretching, or stair climbing can help you zone out. Don’t ever feel like it’s uncomfortable to zone out to music and throw your body (as uncomfortable as you may feel) through a series of motions to improve it. The confidence you will get post workout will help you through a lot.

Mental health days are important. For myself, I’ve never really been impressed by how adults never have a summer break. Or how Arthur(animation) reinforced to me how every month should have a long weekend. So the least you can do as an adult is create your own long weekends per month. It’s only fair. Personally, once a month I try to arrange a doctor's appointment, dentist appointment, or family arrangement into a Friday so I can schedule that into a long weekend.

Socializing is a must. Don’t view it as something you have to do for your career. But rather something you have to do for both yourself and your career. You need people around you, no matter how close they are, to make you understand social situations better, as well as professional ones. You can destroy a relationship between you and a supervisor in an instant if you have no idea how to react to something they are saying in either a personal setting or from a career one.

If there is something I could add to this list it would be to smile. Even when you are describing a bad situation. One of my therapists gave me advice a long time ago. The rationale behind it was that when you smile about something, it physically improves your reaction to the trauma. Which over a period of time increases your positive reactions when dealing with it.

Working in both the studio and from home can help your mental health. A hybrid working schedule can give you time to avoid people when you need some space, and days where you can force yourself to socialize. It's a very good way to slowly ease yourself out of isolating yourself from the world, or dealing with social anxiety.

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I feel from this I should move on to what others should do if they recognize their coworker, or friend in need of help. It’s easy to brush off odd behavior from co-workers, or walk away from someone over an angry random outburst. However, you need to consider the reason why those things are happening. Behind every negative reaction, there is usually a reason for it.

I find being CPR-c, or Standard First Aid trained comes in handy. If someone is hurt, throwing up, having an anxiety attack, or going into shock over something, you can quickly help. Standard First Aid usually comes with basic situational awareness training. Which includes dealing with bystanders, reactional trauma, when to call 911, measures for dealing with shock and anxiety, and a lot more. You’re not only learning how to treat someone with an injury, but you are also learning how to control the reactions of people to that injury, and make sure the situation does not get out of hand. It also teaches you how to be calm and collected in a tough situation. Which is a skill that is very applicable to other situations.

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Learning and listening work hand in hand for encouraging better mental health. It’s not your job to listen to someone vent about how shitty their life is. But quite often, people need someone to know what’s going on, and someone to talk to. When people have bottled emotions, they can get the impression that everyone is judging them in a negative light. If you can create a space where people on your team can approach you and explain why their work, mood, or publishing rate has not been up to par, it can really be beneficial for the entire production.

If a fellow artist is struggling with loss, burnout, or something much more, after you listen to them, consider googling the problem. For example, let’s say an artist tells you in private they got diagnosed with a mental health label or disease, feel free to google what they mentioned after the conversation has finished in private. Reading up on the subject matter might give you a better idea what their long term struggles might look like, or what they might be facing currently.

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If you know someone is really struggling, and is trying to hide the fact depression is taking over their life, help them. If you know they have a close friend or a buddie in the studio, tell them privately what is going on, and see if they can agree to check in on their friend once every week. If you are in their close group of friends, privately try and get the rest of the group to help out. Try and plan social events that you know your friend in need can manage to show up to. If you are working with someone who is incredibly antisocial, talking over text or phone call works as well. Group zoom calls are also very beneficial. Try and get the person the help they need at a rate that is not confrontational, comes from an empathic place, and pitch solutions that can work with the situation that they are in.

Everyone’s trauma and mental health is different. There is no “correct” way of dealing with it. Which is why it is always extremely hard to deal with. For some last words of wisdom, I wish to remind anyone going through anything that is causing them self doubt, lack of self care, a lack of worthiness, anxiety, or anything that is causing you pain:

It is not your fault.
It is not your fault.
It is not your fault.

Say it. Trust me, It’s not your fault.

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