Pictured is Sherry McCamley, one of the “three feisty broads” behind the interactive theatrical play, “She’s Crazy: Mental Health and Other Myths,” which performed at UC Clermont College on Feb. 24, 2022.
“Normal is just a setting on the dryer,” not something applicable to human beings.
So say the “three feisty broads,” who jokingly take up the mantle of being “crazy,” Sherry McCamley, Erin McCamley, and Cathy Springfield.
They are the front-facing Cincincnnati-based trio behind the interactive musical cabaret, “She’s Crazy: Mental Health and Other Myths,” which performed at UC Clermont College in a hybrid in-person and virtual (via Zoom) show on Feb. 24.
“She’s Crazy,” a production of the nonprofit Stop the Stigma Productions, was first performed in January 2015, thanks to a grant from the Cincinnati Arts Ambassador Fellowship Program.
“Through humor, personal stories, and songs, the three performers of ‘She’s Crazy,’ bring healing and hope to audiences, changing minds and changing conversations,” their website states.
The cabaret is designed to “educate and entertain while exploring the various misconceptions surrounding mental illness.”
Sherry has depression and grew up under the stigmatizing shadow of her own father’s suicide.
Erin also has depression, along with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders, some of which stems from a sexual assault and the secondary victimization such assaults confer on victims.
Cathy has bipolar disorder and attempted suicide on more than one occasion in her life, including at Ohio University and was taken to an old fashioned asylum.
But Sherry also is a singer-songwriter, actor, director, pianist and teacher; Erin is a musical director, performer, composer, educator and activist; and Cathy, who is the former head of the Theatre Department at Xavier University, is an actor, producer, director, writer and teacher.
When you’re “crazy,” you’re used to wearing many hats.
“That’s why I love theatre because we’re all crazy people,” Erin said during the show.
To claim the mantle of “crazy” is to destigmatize, to talk openly and to talk interactively with others, so that they can better understand that those with mental illnesses are just regular people, neither defined by their illness nor “abnormal.”
After all, there is that whole business about the dryer.
The show is humorous and playful at times — there’s a scene where Sherry picks fortune cookies out a bowl, but instead of telling one’s fortune, the cookies address common myths about mental illness — but it’s also a pathway to addressing serious issues.
Figures vary, but according to 2020 data from the National Institute of Mental Health, an institute of the Department of Health and Human Services, one in five Americans has a mental disorder, or nearly 53 million Americans.
Which itself is surely an undercount, given that the data is not taking into consideration those under the ages of 18 and the issue of those who go without diagnoses. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for those ages 10-to-14, for example (as well as those ages 15-24 and 25-34, according to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center).
Overall, nearly 46,000 people died by suicide in 2020, or the equivalent of about 1 death every 11 minutes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Then there are those, like Cathy, who attempted suicide (1.2 million), made a plan for suicide (3.2 million) or have “seriously thought about suicide” (12.2 million), which the latter includes this reporter.
The reason many don’t seek treatment, get help, or receive diagnoses, and may even get to the step of being suicidal, is for a variety of reasons, such as stigma, barriers to access to care, financial cost, and perhaps not even realizing that what they are experiencing is a mental illness.
A general rule of thumb when it comes to a mental illness is that a mental illness is a health condition involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these) that interferes with your day-to-day life and functioning, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
The key word there is “health condition,” similar to heart disease or diabetes, or as Sherry said, a broken leg. Which means it’s treatable. And further means, as the trio explained throughout the play, that asking someone to merely “shake off” their mental illness would be tantamount to telling someone with a broken leg to “walk it off.”
One of the songs in the play is Sherry’s variation on the classic from The Sound of Music, “These Are a Few of My Favorite Things,” and addresses one of the ways to get treated:
♫Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Lithium Capsules♫
♫Tegretol, Seroquel, Risperdal, Paxil♫
♫Remeron, Cymbalta and Dexedrine♫
♫These are a few of my favorite things♫
Lexapro, for example, is known as a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, which treats depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Others, like tegretol and seroquel, can treat biopolar disorder. Dexedrine is a stimulant that treats attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
Another song in the performance addressed ADHD, also performed by Sherry, “Easily Distracted.”
“Wish I could just focus on one idea, but I just wander from room to room starting projects that I won’t complete. My spaciness seems to defeat — oh look, a chicken!”
Cathy said there are two audiences they are aiming for when they perform: those with a mental illness who are shy about it and may not want to talk about it, and those who may know someone with a mental illness.
“What we’ve found is that every single person is touched by mental illness, whether it’s them personally or someone that they love or know; everyone is touched by and affected by mental illness,” Erin said.
So, when the trio gets up on stage and tells their raw, unfiltered story — which yes, involves laughs, but also tears, like the song about not wanting to attempt a suicide again, Cathy cried as it ended — it allows the audience to say, “Hey, I’ve felt that way, I’ve had those thoughts,” Erin added.
In that way, Erin said audience members can walk away knowing that they aren’t alone in their suffering, that it isn’t their fault, and there are a lot of methods to get better.
The performance is also a way to open up the conversation, without judgment, regarding substance use disorder. Erin is more than 10-years sober.
She emphasized that addiction is a disease, not a choice.
In medical parlance, addiction is referred to as a substance use disorder.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, also under the DHHS, SUDs occur when the, “recurrent use of alcohol and/or drugs causes clinically significant impairment, including health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home.”
In some instances, individuals can suffer from both a mental illness and a SUD at the same time, also known as co-occurring disorders.
At the end of the show, the trio reversed the script on the typical Q&A interplay with the audience by asking the audience questions. Erin asked the audience if any of the statistics presented in the show were surprising. Audience members cited the statistic about youth suicide and the rate of suicide among veterans (17.6 veterans die by suicide each day, as of the 2018 figures).
Erin added her own answer, “We were very surprised when we were writing this show — we’ve had to change statistics the longer we’ve done this show.”
Cathy asked the audience why is there still so much stigma around mental health and why people don’t talk about suicide in particular.
If someone had talked to her about suicide, she said it would’ve helped her.
Sherry also added that people judge those around suicide, too. She said people assumed her father died due to a heart attack.
“I worried people would say, ‘Oooh, what was wrong with that family?” she said.
“Talking is always better than not talking,” Cathy added.
To learn more about the Stop the Stigma productions, please visit https://www.stopthestigmaproductions.org/.
Carolyn Shisler, program director for the physical therapist assistant program at UC Clermont, said this was the fourth year, “She’s Crazy,” was presented to students, faculty and staff.
As a faculty member, parent and health care worker, Shisler said the many hats she wears in each of those jobs is why the message from, “She’s Crazy,” is so important.
“I think it is important to bring this performance to campus not only to help reduce the stigma associated with mental health diagnoses, but more importantly to demonstrate to students that we care about them beyond the classroom,” she said. “Talking about depression, anxiety, addiction or thoughts of hurting yourself can be very difficult, especially to those who love you.”
The hope is that the performance encourages to seek help from others, as well as to become aware of the resources available on UC Clermont’s campus, she said.
Shisler shared with The Sun quotes from students about the performance, citing them as the reason they keep bringing the show back:
“I think that this show is something everyone should watch because of how eye opening it is. Hearing real people share their own real stories leaves such an impact.”
“I personally could connect with the message because I suffer from P.T.S.D, anxiety, and depression from my time in the military. This is a good way to really reach out and connect with people that may have a mental illness or lacks knowledge about mental illness.”
“All in all, I think this is one of my new favorite things I have seen. It is almost relieving to know there are people out there who aren’t so judgmental about the problems no one seems to talk about. I think they should keep showing this performance forever!”
“I am glad that I attend a college that places an emphasis on such things.”
“I think having a public performance that discusses mental health is a good way to help bring awareness to students on the prevalence of mental illness, and to help students identify possible symptoms in themselves.”
“After watching the, ‘She’s Crazy,’ performance, I realized how little we really do talk about these issues. I also realized how important these discussions can be to remind people that everyone struggles with mental health from time to time and that you are never alone.”
Shisler also pointed to resources that are available at UC Clermont. For starters, UC Clermont offers Counseling and Psychological Services.
For more information, please visit https://ucclermont.edu/students/caps.html.
CAPS also offers 24/7 emergency services at 513-556-0648.
UC Clermont even offers free therapy assistance online to UC students, faculty and staff. Visit https://bityl.co/B8XK for more information.
There is also the Reach Out UC app, which is freely available for download on Android or iOS mobile, including information regarding available resources and crisis services.
Let’s Talk is another resource, a 15-20 minute confidential conversation over the phone, Microsoft Teams, or in-person where students can explore if counseling is right for them, learn strategies, ask questions and get support from one of their Clermont mental health counselors.
For more information and to schedule a talk, visit https://bityl.co/B8XN.