28: Understanding Mental Health Disorders and Neurodivergence with Professor Marie Bismark

The human brain is an incredibly complex organ. We are all wired to process emotions, thoughts, and behaviours differently due to a range of factors, including our genetics and the environment. Sometimes, individuals develop serious mental health disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, or are considered neurodivergent, with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism or ADHD. Learning how to understand the way that these experiences shape us is crucial to our overall wellbeing, which is why we are joined by our expert guest, Marie Bismark, to unpack all the nuances behind diagnosing mental health disorders and the best ways to manage them.

Marie’s biography:

Professor Marie Bismark is a psychiatrist, public health physician, and health lawyer. She divides her time between New Zealand and Australia. In addition to her clinical work, Marie leads a research team at the University of Melbourne, focusing on the interface between patient safety and clinician wellbeing. She serves as a Director of several health sector organisations including the Royal Women’s Hospital and Summerset aged care. Marie completed a Harkness Fellowship at Harvard and her research has influenced regulatory policy in Australia and internationally.

In this episode, we dive deep into answering the following thorny questions:

0:00 - Intro
2:35 - What is the definition of a mental health disorder?
3:40 - What is bipolar disorder?
7:35 - What is schizophrenia?
9:55 - What is the role of medication and therapy in mental health treatment?
12:40 - What is the role of the social determinants of health in developing mental health illness?
14:00 - What are the causes of mental health disorders?
15:55 - Why is developing self-awareness is the first step towards treatment?
19:40 - Are there tests that can be done to confirm a mental health diagnosis?
22:10 - How to determine the severity of a mental illness?
26:10 - The role of family in supporting mentally unwell individuals
28:05 - How should we be supporting caregivers?
29:45 - What are the challenges and strengths of being neurodiverse? (Autism and ADHD)
33:25 - What can workplaces do to support neurodiverse individuals?
35:00 - How to best manage your ADHD to optimise functioning
37:25 - How to best manage your Autism to optimise functioning
38:50 - What happens if you are misdiagnosed
42:05 - Why neurodiverse individuals often also have mental illness
45:35 - The over-medicalisation of normal emotional responses
48:30 - Why Marie decided to become a psychiatrist
50:45 - What are the consequences of untreated mental health illness
54:35 - What workplaces can do to support employees’ mental wellbeing and resilience
56:40 - What is Marie’s one wellbeing practice?
57:20 - What is the role of nutrition and lifestyle changes to maintain mental wellbeing?

Learn more about Marie:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-bismark-2397831b/

Learn more about Clearhead:
https://www.myclearhead.com/