The Beyond Madness podcast has announced the release of its third season of content in time for South Africa’s Mental Health Awareness Month. The launch will consist of 15 podcast episodes that aim to explore topics rarely spoken about in such detail in open forums.
Hosted by Professor Christopher Paul Szabo, another 15 new weekly episodes is being released on the following WHO’s Mental Health Awareness Day, beginning on Tuesday, October 11.
The impact of this important mental health podcast series was reinforced when, along with partners Adcock Ingram OTC Sponsors of Brave, Beyond Madness was recently announced as a finalist in the New Gen Awards 2022.
An impressive accolade for a podcast series, which aired the first of 15 weekly podcast episodes on CliffCentral in October 2021, followed by an even more well-received second series — which began airing in May 2022.
In addition, CliffCentral included Beyond Madness in its series of interpreted content during International Deaf Awareness Month. A sign language-interpreted video was adapted from the episode examining the psychology of serial killers.
According to the podcast, until as recently as a decade ago, mental health issues and psychiatry were taboo subjects that were rarely discussed openly on public platforms. The introduction of forums such as the Beyond Madness podcasts on CliffCentral has underpinned the urgent need for meaningful understanding surrounding mental health issues.
It is not a stretch of the imagination to say that removing the shameful stigma on these subjects can and does save lives, or at the very least bring about a level of awareness, which did not exist before despite Mental Health Awareness Month, says the podcast. The awareness month was established in 1949 to increase awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness in Americans’ lives and to celebrate recovery from mental illness.
It is vital to reduce the stigma and discrimination that people suffering from mental illnesses frequently face, adds the podcast. However, it is important to establish a better understanding of where ‘madness’ and ‘mental illness’ intersect.
The word ‘madness’ in and of itself conjures up images of mental institutions where people who are beyond help are sent to see out their days. This is not an accurate depiction, according to the station.
Beyond Madness says that it will take individuals behind the scenes through the voices of selected individuals and, while their work may appear to have specific relevance to psychiatry, each issue raised will eventually be understood to have broader societal implications.
“The previous episodes of Beyond Madness — 30 in total thus far — have proven successful, inspiring us to forge ahead in our quest to raise awareness and understanding about the discipline of psychiatry,” Professor Szabo said.
Beyond Madness podcast has announced the titles of its forthcoming episodes:
Abortion and psychological consequences
Religion and psychiatry
What’s the fuss about serotonin?
Body image and aesthetic surgery
Victims and perpetrators — the emotional toll of parole
Mindfulness and mental health
Traditional healers and psychiatry
Animals, healing and comfort
Does the gut control the mind?
Corporate mental health
Compassion and care fatigue — when healers struggle
Palliative care and dying
Self-help and psychiatry
Gender dysphoria, and
Therapy — when is enough?
New episodes are available every Tuesday at 10:00 from Tuesday, 11 October here and are also available on Spotify, Apple and Google podcast platforms.