By Avia Stoller—
“One in four Americans suffer with mental illness.”
That is the statistic the Stop the Stigma Productions wanted to share with the Hamilton community. This
organization recently presented a musical theater piece titled “She’s Crazy: Mental Health and
Other Myths’” at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts in Hamilton. The event also featured a discussion panel where experts and those who have experienced mental illness weighed in on questions
regarding the stigmas, issues, and solutions for the mental health crisis within Ohio.
Food and refreshments were served to the audience members who passed through the various
mental health resource booths, such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Beckett Springs
Hospital, Suicide Prevention Coalition, 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and Miami Regionals
counseling services. This event was sponsored by Miami University Regionals Steering Committee (co-chaired by Dr. Dee Kinney and Dr. Caitlin Jeanmougin), the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, Envision Partnerships, and the Prevention Action Alliance.
Why is “She’s Crazy”?
Produced by Steven McCamely and performed by Sherry McCamley, Cathy Springfield, and
Erin McCamely, the musical “She’s Crazy” was an informative, interactive piece with a twist of
humor. The performance touched on big topics such as mental illness, language use
surrounding mental illness, suicide, PTSD, and addiction. Various mental illness statistics were
placed alongside the personal stories of the performers to share facts and struggles that relate
to the topic of mental illness. Occasionally, the audience was beckoned to join in with the catchy
tunes sung by Sherry and Erin McCamely.
Each song performed by the group had a creative spin. One of the songs incorporated a
common symptom of ADD and ADHD, as Kathy Springfield interrupted her singing with
distracted thoughts, a fun addition that brings awareness to the common symptom. Another
song listed medications commonly used for mental illness and substance abuse. Audience
members were encouraged to raise their hands if they recognized some of the names of the
medications. Further musical tunes told the personal stories of the performers and served to
push back against the various stigmas associated with mental illness.
The perhaps blunt title was clearly purposeful, and represented the show’s comical approach.
Cathy Springfield, one of the performers, stated that the goal of the title was humor therapy and
a push to reduce the stigma around mental health. Both the title and the performance
encouraged the audience to use different language when approaching the topic of mental
illness. Ms. Springfield used the phrases “I’m diabetes” to “I’m bipolar” to compare physical
illness to mental illness, to illustrate the faulty language that is normalized in society when
addressing mental illness. The performance further challenged stigmas by clarifying that the
harmful stereotype that links mental illness to violent crimes stemmed from the inaccurate
media portrayals of such issues.
Ending the musical, the performers opened the discussion to the crowd, where audience
members were asked about their thoughts and experiences on topics such as addiction,
language around mental health, and mental illness. New points and perspectives were shared and the performers and audience members collaborated willingly. “She’s Crazy” was a
performance that opened the discussion of mental health and illness to the Butler County
community.
The panel discussion portion featured Kristen Smith, Envision Partnerships Manager of Mental
Health Promotion and Butler County Suicide Prevention Coalition Chair; Adam Langen, a Miami
University Regionals student majoring in community nutrition in the Department of Education and Society; and Carissa Piper, a business development representative. Each of the
panel members talked about the increasing number of resources available for those struggling
with mental illness. Such resources include Ohio’s suicide hotline 988, a free 24/7 crisis line for
those struggling with suicidal thoughts. Other resources promoted by Kristen Smith were the
Local Outreach Suicide Survivors/Drug Overdose Survivor Support Teams (LOSS/DOSS) that
go out to the community and serve families and individuals before and after a suicide. Adam
stressed the importance of access to tools and how one of the most important tools is support
from friends, family, and community members. Adam stated the importance of the National
Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) as a resource for those who are around individuals with
mental illness. Carissa Piper aimed to combat stigmas surrounding mental illness with more
resources and outreach through Butler County.
Additionally, Miami Regionals offers free screenings in the Middletown and Hamilton campuses
to support students struggling with mental health. Contact Miami Regionals Mental Health
Clinician Michael McGovern at [email protected] or visit
https://miamioh.edu/regionals/student-resources/counseling-services/personal-counseling.html. An online version of “She’s Crazy” will be coming this spring, to make it more available to Miami Regionals students. A link is now available for a quick three-question survey: https://miamioh.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_88rvHp1gbYS5zLg
If you or someone you know needs support, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org to access
free confidential suicide and crisis lifeline assistance.