Comedian Ruby Wax stresses that 'mental health is the crisis of all crises'

15 May 2023, 22:29 | Updated: 15 May 2023, 23:51

Ruby Wax joins Iain Dale at the start of mental health awareness week

Ruby Wax OBE joined Iain Dale to discuss the importance of raising awareness for mental illness.

On the first day of Mental Health Awareness Week, American-British actress Ms Wax delved into the "miracle of medication" and the taboo surrounding mental illness with Iain Dale.

Watch the full conversation with Ruby Wax and Iain Dale on Global Player.

"Every day is mental health day, I mean for godsakes... people are really not focused," she exclaimed.

"This is the most disastrous of them all, especially after the pandemic, mental health is the crisis of crises."

The comedian has just released a book titled 'I'm Not as Well as I Thought I Was' which she wrote whilst sectioned in a mental institution.

"On May 11th I checked into a clinic and on May 11th this year my book came out and I thought there's the miracle of medication", she revealed.

Throughout her conversation on LBC Ms Wax spoke candidly about her struggle with mental health, telling Iain Dale her parents were "insane".

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The mental health advocate, who has a master's degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy from Oxford University, went on to stress the importance of investing in what she describes as the "mothership" - referring to the brain.

She started: "Somebody said if Bill Gates had given as much money to mental health as he did to his causes then we'd have a cure for depression."

"So little money has been thrown at the mothership," she said pointing to her head, "almost every disease is caused by the mind.

"You know it sends out the cortisol, and it works like a pinball machine all the way down to the adrenal glands and then gushes, covers you."

She began to list the physical diseases she knows to be caused by poor mental health; "certain diabetes, cancers, obesity, infertility, premature ageing, addiction, it keeps going on".

READ MORE: 'Resisting the temptation to give up': Top Tory MP bravely opens up about battle with mental health

She directed listeners to BigGive.org which is an organisation that will match your donation towards mental health causes.