Pom Pom Squad's Mia Berrin's Galaxy Brain

Mia Berrin -- leader of former Artists of the Month Pom Pom Squad -- joins the Going There podcast to discuss the bias that "mental health" means always feeling and acting happy, calm, and confident.

The world would have us believe that being "normal" involves continuous positive and optimistic thinking, and being accepted or popular socially. If we don't behave this way, our mental health and well-being can be questioned. This bias can create a stigma whereby people are unduly judged or criticized. Berrin explains that she took on these societal standards by evoking the image of a cheerleader in her music persona.

She discusses how she copes with not living up to societal standards in part by embracing her own "Galaxy Brain." The term can refer to someone who rejects conventional norms and understanding, instead looking at the bigger pictures of issues and digging until they uncover how they really feel and what they want to do. Though the phrase is often meant as an insult -- like someone is making too much of an issue -- the Pom Pom Squad singer talks about how her Galaxy Brain has helped create a pathway to mental health, not an obstacle. After all, we can't cope by invalidating our feelings; we must embrace our Galaxy Mind and accept that our feelings gave value first.

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Season 3 of Going There is brought to you by the fine folks at The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, who never stop working to create a future where disease is a thing of the past.

Going There is presented in partnership with Sound Mind Live. Sound Mind Live builds community and open dialogue around mental health through the power of music, partnering with a coalition of artists across genres advocating for improved mental health support and outcomes.