Zeroing in on mental health with Mary Coustas & Dr Charlotte Keating

Here we delve into another aspect of our health that is often less spoken about: mental health. Older people are more likely to experience contributing factors to depression and anxiety, such as physical illness or personal loss, but how many seek help? In this episode, comedian Mary Coustas (aka Effie) shares her very personal story, and we get insight from clinical psychologist Dr Charlotte Keating on how to better care for your mental health.

About the episode – brought to you by Australian Seniors. 

Join James Valentine as he explores the incredible stories of Aussie characters, from the adventurous to the love-struck. Across 30 inspirational episodes, Life’s Booming explores life, health, love, travel, and everything in-between

Our bodies surprise us in ways we never thought possible as we age, so in series five of the Life’s Booming podcast – Is This Normal? – we’re settling in for honest chats with famous guests and noted experts about the ways our bodies behave as they age, discussing the issues and awkward questions you may be too embarrassed to ask yourself.

Mary Coustas is one of Australia’s most loved actors, comedians & corporate speakers. In 1987 she became a member of the ground-breaking stage show ‘Wogs out of Work’, where her comic creation Effie was born. She is about to embark on a national tour, called UpYourselfness. 

Dr Charlotte Keating is a clinical psychologist with a PhD in neuroscience, who runs her own private practice in Sydney's Lower North Shore. She is a passionate advocate for everyone's mental health, and has a particular interest in helping executives, parents, and young people.

If you have any thoughts or questions and want to share your story to Life’s Booming, send us a voice note - [e-mail].

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Produced by Medium Rare Content Agency, in conjunction with Ampel Sonic Experience Agency

 

Transcript:

James Valentine: Hello and welcome to Life's Booming Series 5 of this most excellent and award winning podcast. I'm James Valentine and in this series we're going to ask the question, is this normal? I mean, as we age, stuff happens to us. Our bodies change, things fall off, we get crook, stuff doesn't work as well as it used to.

There's nothing we can do about it, we're getting older, we're ageing. But which bits are normal? Which bits do we have no control over? Which bits can we do something about? That's the kind of questions that we're going to be asking in this series, Is This Normal? of Life's Booming. Now, of course, if you enjoy this series, leave us a review, tell all your families and friends about it.

And we want to hear from you as well. You can contribute to this. If you've got questions about things in particular that you want to know, perhaps there's some particular wear and tear happening to you, let us know. We'd love to see if we can answer that question in the series. We're going to look at things like menopause, gut health, mental health, lots of other burning questions.

So think about those areas. And if there's something in there that's specific to you that you'd like us to cover, let us know.

On this episode, we'll delve into another aspect of our health that is perhaps less spoken about, zeroing in on mental health. We'll be speaking to clinical psychologist Dr Charlotte Keating, who is currently practising in Sydney. But first, let's introduce someone you might know as Effie, comedian Mary Coustas.

Well, hello. So we're going to talk some mental health. We're going to talk about these kind of things. What affects you as you get older, how you deal with it as you get older, what changes. What have you noticed, Mary? 

Mary Coustas: Here's the thing. I love contrast. I love contradiction. I like all th