And How Does That Make You Feel?

Like a lot of people I know, I have sometimes questioned my mental stability, but never to the point where I felt I needed counselling. At this week’s Magazine, David Hoyle gave us a personal insight into his own mental health problems for a production that was as disquieting as it was hilarious.

The first act was an art piece that showed David in the midst of a breakdown, sitting in front of the TV watching Seaside Special and constantly drinking. Made paranoid by a knock on the door, he eventually hid behind the couch until his potential visitor went away. There was no dialogue and the TV set was only just audible, but the reverential silence of the crowd was impressive, especially considering the uncomfortable surroundings of a packed RVT.

The second act was David turning up for his first therapy session. He tried to explain his awkwardness and embarrassment to a largely disinterested shrink. Many of the lines were set up as gags and there was much laughter, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit ill at ease. The psychiatrist continued to make glib remarks as David described his pain, describing him as feeling “a little bit down” and asking him to score his depression level from 1 to 10. “How does that make you feel?” was his standard response to most revelations.

To try to make some headway, David had drawn pictures to express his feelings – child-like images of sad faces and mouths open wide in a scream. The audience found this hilarious, but the psychiatrist soon fell asleep.

Eventually the tables were turned and David launched into an attack on the councillor for his lack of consideration, “You’re only here for the money.” He also criticised the health system that will only allow patients a set number of session and meetings that last just 50 minutes.

He ended with a painting reading Mental Heath = Wank / Stroke Pain and asked us to take care of each other. Otherwise we might end up facing that kind of nonsense.