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Mental health campaigner JoJo tells how beloved father’s condition opened her eyes to taboo of depression
BY MARIA CROCE JOJO Fraser watched her fun-loving dad Arthur become a shell of his former self as he battled severe depression.
She felt scared and confused as she sat by his hospital bedside but could hardly recognise the man next to her.
He’d lost half his body weight and she felt hurt when he told her to go away.
As she held his hand, he told her he wasn’t going to live to see his 65th birthday at the end of the month.
“He looked so broken and fragile I believed him,” said JoJo.
Seeing her dad’s struggles in 2015, when he spent several months in hospital, led Scottish blogger JoJo to start writing about mental health issues to raise awareness, cut the stigma and help others.
She launched mental wellness blog MummyJoJo.com, revealing her own anxiety and the difficulties faced by her dad.
She’s now got a book out called Mummy JoJo Uncut, which discusses these issues and her take on the highs and lows of relationships, parenthood and family life.
Arthur, 68, is now back home in Edinburgh with wife Violet, 67, and is doing well.
But his illness led JoJo to go on to become a mental health campaigner, sharing information on her blog and through podcasts.
JoJo, 36, also lives in Edinburgh with husband Scott, also 36, a freelance business analyst and their children Bonnie, six, and Charlie, three.
She’s faced her own battles with anxiety and panic attacks – but seeing her dad so unwell led her to take action to help others.
JoJo said: “The initial medication he tried made him worse so it was a tough year trying to find the right medication for him.
“That’s when I realised how much stigma there was. And also that we can’t take people’s mental health personally. That was the initial mistake I made. Dad and I are like best friends but he couldn’t be around people he loved because he was so low and so afraid.”
She wanted to try to help people get their mojo back with her blog. And now she hopes her book will reach even more people. In it she’s included a letter to her dad revealing how she felt – and a letter she feels her dad would have written to her had he known he was about to spiral into depression. JoJo said: “He’s read the book and, thank goodness, he loves it. He even made the joke about putting words in his mouth. “Because we’re so close, I knew what he would have written to me had he known what was going to happen. I know that’s what I would want my kids to read if it happened to me.
“My fear was I would hate to push my kids away one day because I’m so like dad. I’m at more risk of things like depression.”
She’s been delighted with the positive responses to her book from people working in the mental health industry and those who have suffered problems.
JoJo now gives mental health talks for businesses and goes into schools.
She said: “I was in a bank talking last week and, at the start, everyone was really quiet but by the end of our session people were opening up about their struggles. It was amazing to see that.
“I like to get people thinking about mental health from a different perspective.
“One in four people will be affected by mental health. I didn’t want mental health to be reserved for people who were hospitalised, I wanted to m to talk about have stress a spirals and g
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