The mental health magazine

No 01: The Media Issue

The inaugural edition of Anxiety Empire magazine explores how the world of media impacts our mental health.

Over 74 pages authors, artists, journalists, activists, photographers and academics have approached this topic from different creative, critical and caring perspectives.

Haley Nahman (she/her) is a writer and journalist. She shares how the coronavirus lockdown – and the subsequent increased reliance on online communications – affected her mental health.

Musa Okwonga (he/him) is an author and poet. Here he reflects on how systemic racism within the media impacts the mental health of black men.

Gabriela Ivens (she/her) is the Head of Open Source Research at Human Rights Watch. For the inaugural edition of Anxiety Empire magazine she writes about the working conditions of social media moderators and the effect that this work has on their mental health.

Maryann Jacobi Gray (she/her) is a social psychologist, Assistant Provost at UCLA, and the founder of accidentalimpacts.org – a website supporting people who’ve accidentally killed or injured someone. In our interview with her, she speaks about the importance of being able to connect online with people who’ve had similar life experiences.

Nathan Filer (he/him) is an author and former mental health nurse. We spoke to Nathan about how the language we use – as individuals and within the media – impacts how we think and feel about mental health.

Sophie Harris-Taylor (she/her) is a photographer interested in exploring the relationships people have with themselves. Zoë Hough (they/them) – the founder of Anxiety Empire magazine – has struggled throughout their adult life to find a sense of acceptance for their acne and rosacea. Reflecting on Sophie’s photos, Zoë wrote about the impact of seeing people who look like us being positively represented in the media.

Jonny Benjamin MBE (he/him) is a mental health activist and campaigner who was awarded an MBE for his services to mental health and suicide prevention. He regularly speaks in the media in order to educate and break stigma around mental health.

Derek Owusu (he/him) is a writer, poet and podcaster. His poem for the inaugural edition of Anxiety Empire magazine is about how pop music and TV shows have helped his mental health.

Travis Alabanza (they/them) is a performer and writer. They wrote about the internet, boundaries and trying to control the uncontrollable.

Robert Kazandjian (he/him) is a writer, teacher, and boxer from North London. Like so many of us, he feels the urge to reach for his phone when feelings of anxiety begin to rise, and his is the starting point for his piece in this edition of Anxiety Empire magazine.

James Leadbitter AKA The Vacuum Cleaner (he/him) is an artist and activist. Many of his projects explore how our physical surroundings have the potential to better support our mental health. We interviewed him about his work, and about why the mainstream media narrative around mental health fails to include the effect our environment has on us.

Monika Radojevic (she/her) is a Londoner who won the inaugural #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize. In this edition of our magazine, she reflects on the impact advertising can have on our sense of self.

Laura Bridgeman (they/them) is a writer, editor, and educator who grew up alongside family members suffering with their mental health. Much of the mainstream media narrative around mental health focuses on reducing stigma for the people suffering, and there is little discussion about the impact on friends and family. Laura shares their experience of growing up in a family as the ‘well’ child.

Cathy Rentzenbrink (she/her) is a best-selling author who has, in her own words, “thought a lot about how to be alive in this world.” We chatted with her about the simplification of our complex selves on social media, and how to step off the mad merry-go-round of modern life.

No 02: The Education Issue

Issue 02 of Anxiety Empire magazine will explore how the education system impacts our mental health.

The perspectives taken will include examining the benefit to mental health from decolonising the curriculum, the impact of mindfulness in schools for both students and teachers, and the possible and plausible future education systems.

If your company or organisation would like to sponsor Issue 02 please contact zoe@anxietyempire.com

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