Why Hiding Who You Are Is Making You Sick - Mental Health & the Nervous System with Tessa Lloyd
Your Next Space Conversations with Stephanie CannalongaShow Notes
You can't biohack your way out of stress. Wellness gets talked about in terms of supplements, machines and optimisation, but one of the biggest drivers of how we feel, and how our bodies hold up, is our mental health.
This week Stephanie is joined by Tessa Lloyd, a Melbourne-based mental health therapist, occupational therapist and podcast host. Tessa works mostly with women who feel burnt out, stuck or disconnected from themselves, and she's spent years helping people build practical skills to support their mental health.
Together they look at what it costs us to hide parts of ourselves, and how people pleasing, suppressed emotion and chronic stress affect our nervous system and our physical health. Tessa explains why you can't always think your way out of stress, why the body needs its own release, and why slowing down is the first step she recommends to almost everyone.
They also cover:
- Social media, comparison, and how to be smarter than the scroll
- Cheap dopamine, and simple ways to get the real thing back
- The patterns that show up when we're disconnected from ourselves
- Why wellbeing depends on community and equal energy exchange
- How to start therapy in Australia: mental health care plans, Medicare rebates and choosing the right modality
- Why authenticity feels so terrifying, and what it costs to fake it
- Tessa's own slow-living practices and her two daily non-negotiable
Chapters
00:00 - Welcome
01:05 - Meet Tessa: slowing down at 31
04:15 - What hiding parts of yourself really costs
09:24 - Social media, comparison and self-worth
15:07 - Cheap dopamine and how to reset
17:21 - Signs you're disconnected from yourself
22:36 - Why wellness needs community
26:30 - The nervous system and emotional suppression
31:22 - Why you can't think your way out of stress
34:44 - Where to start: slow down and look within
40:15 - What healing and identity stories have in common
45:29 - How to start therapy
48:27 - Why authenticity is so terrifying
53:49 - What wellbeing means to Tessa
58:05 - The takeaway
This episode is a conversation about general wellbeing and is not medical or mental health advice. Please speak to your health practitioner about your own circumstances. If you need support now, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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