Bounce at McMaster is proud to share a special episode, from the University of Victoria's "Waving, Not Drowning" podcast. Rebecca Gagan, the lead of UVic's Bounce project and McMaster alumna, talks with McMaster's own Dr. David Clark about her journey.

For more information about UVic Bounce or to leave a comment or question about Waving, Not Drowning podcast, please email : uvicbounce@uvic.ca

Follow us on Instagram @uvicbounce

Dr. Natasja Menezes would have wished to have more psychological awareness when she was younger. She wishes that she had the ability to press pause instead of pushing through school until there was a breakdown (which happened frequently). She wishes that she had the ability to reflect and realize that sometimes, difficult conversations involving you are not necessarily about you or because of you.

Even after two decades making a living processing difficult conversations, Dr. Menezes can still be viscerally affected by one back in her undergraduate medicine days. In this conversation, Dr. Menezes highlights how helpful hearing different perspectives can be and how she uses that in her roles as a psychiatrist, educator, and researcher.

For more information, please check out our website (www.okanagan.mcmaster.ca/bounce-at-mcmaster) or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (@bouncemcmaster)! We would also love to hear from you! Please send us a message on any of our social media accounts or send an email to bounce@mcmaster.ca

Dr. Tracy Prowse was finishing up her PhD in biological anthropology at McMaster when she realized that she constantly felt unsure of herself, was worried that she didn’t belong in graduate school, and found it difficult to describe to her friends what was wrong. At the time, it was difficult to understand what was happening. She knew that graduate school was difficult and had experienced a recent breakup. She also had faced difficult circumstances when her mother passed away a few years ago. However, even taking into consideration situational factors, she still felt disproportionately and relentlessly sad and anxious.

With family far away in Alberta, Dr. Prowse relied on her friends and eventually her supervisor, whom she confided her concerns to. She continued managing on her own by trying different self-care techniques, before coming to the decision to seek the help of a psychiatrist. The combination of regular therapy and medication helped her work through this period of depression. Now, Dr. Prowse is in a good place, but she also makes it clear that she would not hesitate to reach out for help again, if needed.

For more information, please check out our website (www.okanagan.mcmaster.ca/bounce-at-mcmaster) or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (@bouncemcmaster)! We would also love to hear from you! Please send us a message on any of our social media accounts or send an email to bounce@mcmaster.ca