Why would a PR Director who’s worked with The Rolling Stones, Katy Perry, Dolly Parton and The Wiggles decide to study a Graduate Diploma in Mental Health and Neuroscience at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC)?
For Bec Brown, the answer is both professional and personal.
"I didn’t choose UniSC because of its proximity – that ended up being a complete coincidence," Bec says, reflecting on her decision to study a Graduate Diploma of Mental Health and Neuroscience at UniSC’s Thompson Institute – a fully online course.
“This was the only course that really ticked all the boxes for me, and it just happened to be down the road from where I now live.”
Bec is the founder of a public relations (PR) and management company, The Comms Department, which she’s run for nearly 13 years. Their clients are mostly across the media, entertainment, travel, lifestyle, and health landscapes.
"What I really love about PR is that – to be good at it – you have to be part journalist, part lawyer, and part psychologist," Bec says.
First there was music
Before working in media, where she’s been for 20 years, Bec was a professional musician. Her personal and professional experiences have fuelled Bec’s keen fascination for psychology and desire to understand the brain.
"As a little girl, I grew up watching a lot of musical theatre and operas, and I had huge dreams of performing on Broadway or in the West End," she recalls.
“I did a Bachelor of Music at the Elder Conservatorium of Music and became a classically trained singer, performing professionally until I was about 25."
It was then, during what Bec calls her "quarter-life crisis," that she realised the life of a performing artist wasn’t a healthy option for her.
"As much as I loved music and performing, the actual lifestyle of it wasn't great for me. I would perform late at night, probably not getting enough daylight, and travelled constantly away from family and friends — it was isolating,” she says.
“I was judged every day on the way I looked and how I performed, which I found challenging and I began to struggle with my mental health at the time, particularly with eating disorders and depression."
Music meets marketing meets neuroscience
Bec had enough mental fortitude to know a change was needed. So, she took a brave step back from music to retrain in media and communications, leading her to a career in public relations at Universal Music, based in Sydney.
"I got to marry my two loves – music and PR," she says.
"Eventually, I wanted to create my own company and take on clients beyond music, so I launched The Comms Department… It’s been amazing to build a team and work with incredible global organisations."
A woman of many talents, Bec also has a love of writing and it was while working on her second book, exploring the topic of everyday addictions, that she discovered a new appreciation for the role of neuroscience in psychology and its ability to underpin human behaviour.
“Working on my second book, I found some research by scientists at UniSC’s Thompson Institute, which led me to discover UniSC’s Graduate Diploma in Mental Health and Neuroscience,” she says.
"Psychology can be quite abstract at times. Neuroscience adds a crucial, tangible layer with its biological approach to understanding the brain.”
How tragedy led to knowledge
Before this, Bec had completed short university courses in social psychology and addiction, but she wanted to “dive deeper” and get formal accreditation, so this post-graduate course was just what she was looking for. Her desire to learn about mental health was also deeply personal.
"I lost a dear friend in my 20s to suicide; he was a brilliant human who faced serious mental health challenges," she says.
"His tragic passing deeply affected me and has contributed to my commitment to better equip myself to help others manage their mental health.
“And my beautiful mum has Alzheimer’s so, as a family, we’ve had to learn how to manage caring for her, particularly over the last five years as the disease has advanced, and again now that she's gone into care, which has been an incredibly hard process."
The Graduate Diploma in Mental Health and Neuroscience has – somewhat surprisingly – helped her navigate these personal challenges.
"When I enrolled, I assumed I would learn about depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc., but I didn’t realise the course would cover neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” Bec says.
"It’s been incredible – having that current neuroscience-based knowledge has really helped me cope with my mum’s condition and helped my family better inform her care."
Good communication requires facts – that's a fact
Also, Bec has a professional mission to fulfill – combatting the tsunami of misinformation in our modern media environment.
"People’s attention spans can be quite short, leading to the media’s use of sensationalised headlines to get attention… but facts can get lost in that,” she says.
“It’s really important that more communicators are accredited – based in science and fact – and contributing to the conversation to drown out some of the misinformation," she says.
As Bec continues her studies in mental health and neuroscience, she says she’s loved learning about new advances in technology from the last 10 years, which means the information her cohort is studying is “really current”.
“Developing an understanding of the different cutting-edge brain imaging techniques has been fascinating. And I was amazed to discover the course covers such a broad range of topics – from depression and anxiety to substance use disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder, extending all the way to Parkinson’s, MS, and the different types of dementia including Alzheimer’s,” she says.
Another surprise for Bec – considering the course is 100 percent online – was the relationships she’s developed with fellow students, especially those from industries she doesn’t usually encounter. Her fellow students are researchers, GPs, professionals in psychology, social work, corrective services, education, and emergency services, plus “a few creatives” like Bec, including filmmakers and designers.
“We meet in small offline study groups, each bringing our own unique takes on the material, and I think that's really helped to increase our learning as well,” she says.
UniSC Course Coordinator Dr Christina Driver says this diversity of students reflects how increasingly relevant mental health is across a range of careers.
“Our students tell us that having this understanding about mental health, and the neuroscience behind it, has helped accelerate their careers, particularly in those roles that involve supporting the wellbeing of others, and it has given them a unique edge in their current career, or has equipped them to take a slightly different career path,” says Dr Driver.
While Bec says mental health can be a “heavy subject,” she has found it inspiring to see people from different walks of life coming together to learn how they can “better contribute to the world and our communities”.
"I love that more science communicators are emerging, translating complex neuroscience into everyday language… the more people who can do that, the better."
Media enquiries: Please contact the Media Team media@usc.edu.au