Working with a mental health condition
Preparation is key
High intensity schedules and stress, poorer quality or less sleep, and disruptions to diet and other routines during festival seasons can all be factors that may impact your mental health or exacerbate existing mental health conditions.
Awareness, planning and taking early action if feeling unwell, or experiencing changes, can mitigate and reduce these concerns and help keep you flourishing through the festival!
Medication
If you take medication, talk with your GP, specialist, or psychiatrist before the peak times of the festival commence and get their advice on how to manage your medication while you’re working the festival.
The effectiveness of certain medicines follows the body clock, so interruption or reversal of the sleep/wake pattern can interfere with treatment.
If you need advice about medication while you’re working festivals, especially if you are away from your normal supports, you can call:
- 1300 MEDICINE (1300 633 424) from any Australian state or territory between 9am and 5pm AEST (except NSW public holidays)
- Nurse on Call (24/7 Victoria only) 1300 60 60 24.
Seeing your specialist
Chat with them about whether you can continue having sessions while you’re away at a festival and/or while managing a busy schedule via telehealth (to reduce time spent commuting).
Schedule a pre-festival session to consider stressors and triggers to feeling unwell and develop specific management strategies to implement while working during festival season.
Sharing your story
Consider disclosing to at least one trusted person you will be working with, so you have someone to seek support from if needed.
If you work for a supportive organisation and feel comfortable sharing your mental health journey, talk to them about what you need. It can be worthwhile to share with company management, too, confirming that you are prepared for the festival season, and you have a management plan in place.
However, it is important to remember that there is no obligation for you to disclose any personal health or mental health information, this advice is just as a suggestion for your safety management plan.
You might need to be quite firm about your needs and boundaries.
That’s OK – your health is the most important thing.
