Category: Social

Minority Mental Health

As I write this entry, it is the beginning of July, and with a new month brings a new focus.  July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and I would like to explore this topic in today’s post.  Most of today’s information comes from the following page of NAMI’s website: https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Raise-Awareness/Awareness-Events/National-Minority-Mental-Health-Awareness-Month

National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month was started in 2008 to educate others that mental illness does not discriminate based on race, gender, color, or identity.  Anyone can experience the challenges of mental illness, but background and identity can make access to mental health treatment more difficult.  While taking on the challenges of mental health conditions, insurance coverage, and stigma involves all of us, in many communities these problems are increased by less access to care, cultural stigma, and a lower quality of care.

Although National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month has now been around for over 10 years, this is very likely the first time I have wrote about it or talked about it in my blog.  In fact, I do not know if I have spent any time talking about mental illness in different cultures or in minority populations.  Sadly, I do not know much about the issues here, and I need to do a better job of understanding how experiences and perceptions differ.  This is definitely not a subject of expertise for me, but awareness is at least one way to start.  Of course, once we are aware of the challenges and issues, we need to start thinking about solutions.

How about you?  Have you heard of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month?  What do you know about the intersection of mental health and cultural differences?  I encourage you to learn more about this month as a way to understand the experience of mental health or illness in other cultural groups.

Friends

In my last entry, I mentioned that I had gotten to see some old friends on a road trip.  After seeing these friends I felt recharged in a way, but I also realized how much I missed them.  It is yet another instance where I have been thinking a lot about friendships lately, and I am starting to feel like I have been taking my friendships for granted.

When I look at my life today, I have realized that friendships are pretty low on the list.  Some of it might be understandable when looking at all of our other responsibilities, but I truly believe that friendships are still very important no matter what age you are.  Friendships can provide a lot of positive benefits and meaning to our lives, and it can help protect us against the isolation that so many people experience. 

For people living with depression, friendships can be a vital part of support and the road to recovery.  Friendships connect us with people who care about your health and path to wellness, and friends accept you and understand that you are not your depression.  Sometimes, friends may also be more helpful than family when it comes to facing a depression.

As I think back to my story, I know I want to work harder to maintain the friendships that are important to me.  How am I going to do that?  Well, that is the part I am not really sure about right now.  I envision scheduling check-ins with friends on my calendar, but we will see if I have any other ideas come up.  Regardless of how I do it, I’m excited to realize that this is an area of my life that needs more attention, and I look forward to enriching and improving my life with deeper friendships.

Intersectionality

The words in our language can evolve and change over time.  New words also become a part of conversations, and there is a newer word that I want to discuss today.  The word is intersectionality.  What exactly does it mean?  Where did it come from?  And, for this blog, does is apply to depression?

According to Merriam Webster’s webpage (https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/intersectionality-meaning), which added the word in 2017, intersectionality is “the complex, cumulative manner in which the effects of different forms of discrimination combine, overlap, or intersect”.  The word has been around since 1989, when it was coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in an essay that asserts that antidiscrimination law, feminist theory, and antiracist politics all fail to address the experiences of black women because of how they each focus on only one factor.

Since its beginnings intersectionality has taken on a broader meaning, and can refer to more than just sexism and racism.  It can include other forms of discrimination as well, such as those based on class, sexuality, and ability.  So, intersectionality looks at the person as a whole and sees where they may face one or more categories of discrimination.  For example, intersectionality would imply that a black female lesbian is going to face more discrimination than a straight white female. 

How does intersectionality apply to mental health and depression?  It can possibly affect things such as access to care and the quality of care that is received.  Intersectionality can also affect the stigma some people experience and some groups may not have their depression symptoms taken as seriously as other groups.  Overall, I think intersectionality is something to consider when looking at someone with depression, as it may play in to how they are being treated.  We need to continue to demand that all patients with depression are treated with respect and compassion, regardless of what categories they may belong to.

Adverse Childhood Experiences

One of the hopeful pieces about depression today is the recognition that there are many, many theories about what may lead to it.  And, while in some ways it makes the story more complicated, in other ways it gives us more information as to how we might treat or prevent depression in the future.  One of the theories is that depression can result from trauma, which is another huge topic.  However, today I want to discuss a subset of trauma that is known as adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs.

According to SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are stressful or traumatic events.  According to their website page, (https://www.samhsa.gov/capt/practicing-effective-prevention/prevention-behavioral-health/adverse-childhood-experiences), ACEs can include a wide array of experiences, including physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, physical or emotional neglect, intimate partner violence or abuse, substance use in the household, mental illness in the household, a household member in jail, and parental separation or divorce.  These events can lead to an increase in depressive episodes and suicide attempts later in life.  In general, ACEs can also lead to an increase in other issues with substance abuse and issues with physical and mental health.  Sadly, ACEs are very common and touch many of our lives.

Despite the unpleasant reality of ACEs, there is hope.  Recognition of ACEs is growing, and more and more people are beginning to understand the possible relationships between ACEs and future health implications.  Work is also being done to figure out how we might better prevent ACEs from occurring in the first place.  Clearly, there is a long way to go, but I am so glad we are starting to look at a bigger picture of what health and wellness truly means for all of us.  Every little piece matters and can make a difference when our overall health is on the line.

Emotional Labor

Today I want to talk about another topic that I have heard about only recently.  I am guessing that most of us have heard about physical labor, but are you familiar with the term “emotional labor”?  Although you may not have heard the term before, my guess is that you will be familiar with the concept.

So, what is emotional labor?  As usual, the term can have different definitions, but I take a very broad approach to it.  Emotional labor can be done anywhere and anytime, and it can involve regulating emotions and performing mental activities related to nurturing and caring.  Here are some examples: making appointments for yourself or others, buying and sending gifts or cards, delegating tasks to others, planning outings and trips, arranging care for children or other dependents, and working around the emotions of others.  Some examples of jobs that include a lot of emotional labor are flight attendants, hotel desk clerks, secretaries, and child care workers, who are typically expected to put on a smile every day and make sure everyone around them is happy and comfortable.

When it comes to depression and mental illness, you can imagine there is a lot of emotional labor that happens in these settings.  Mental illness can disrupt a person’s typical emotions, and caregivers also face a range of emotions.  And, while emotional labor has some plusses and can play an important role in caregiving, it is also important to note that just like any other types of labor, it can take a toll on those who perform it.  In my mind, a good first step is that no matter the setting, we recognize what emotional labor is and who is doing it.  Then we can begin to see how and when this labor can be redistributed or improved for everyone.

Standing Up and Speaking Out

Yesterday I attended an event about advocacy, and it included a very informative group of speakers and attendees.  Today, I want to share some of the highlights I took away from the event.  I feel that they can apply to advocating for many issues, especially mental health.  Here they are in a list form:

1.What if we didn’t retrofit our work to an existing system, but rather created a new one?

2.Anger about injustices and action can lead to power.

3.You may want to run for office not to win (although that would be great!), but to spread the word about issues that are important to you.

4.Think twice about saying you are not interested in politics.  Your landlord, your mortgage lender, your insurance carrier, the people who run the businesses you shop at, and many others that affect your life are interested in politics, so you should want to have a say in matters that affect you.

5.You may not be interested in politics or advocacy until you become a parent, and then having children may change that dramatically.

6.Intergenerational conversations are important in politics and advocacy – we need to include the voices of the young, old, and middle-aged.

7.In advocacy, you need to use your brain and your voice.

Now, these are somewhat random, but I think they are all helpful or interesting.  When it comes to advocating for mental health, I think they are all also very applicable, and they will be useful for me as I work to continue my dive into advocacy work.

How about you?  Do you agree with my list?  If not, which parts do you disagree with?  This is by no means a definitive or comprehensive list, but I thought these were nuggets worth sharing.  I hope you will enjoy thinking about them too.

Social Determinants of Health

Lately, I have heard a lot about “social determinants of health”, but I have vaguely glanced over the idea.  Today, I want to explore this more in-depth and give you an overview.

Although you can find a discussion about this topic in lots of places, the information I am presenting here comes from the website healthypeople.gov and the Healthy People 2020 program.  They define social determinants of health as “conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.”  Some examples of social determinants include access to educational opportunities, access to job opportunities, quality of education, transportation options, public safety, social support, exposure to crime, access to mass media, and culture.  Healthy People 2020’s approach to social determinants of health is focusing on five key areas: economic stability, education, social and community context, health and health care, and neighborhood and built environment.

I am happy to see that many organizations, including the U.S. government, is really starting to address these factors, because I think they absolutely have a role in our overall health.  We need to start looking at not only the entire person, but the larger context in which the person lives their life.  I am looking forward to what we find out and how we can address the problems that are identified (problems that I suspect a lot of us already have an idea about).  Specifically, when looking at this and depression, I think we might find even more potential factors that lead to depression.

How about you?  Have you heard about social determinants of health before?  Do you think these are important to our health?  I hope you agree that this is another great way to look at a bigger picture of our health.

Social Connections

While I will not post this entry for awhile, I am writing it on Labor Day weekend.  And, although the weather hasn’t been too great in my neck of the woods, it has been a weekend for seeing some friends and family.  And, luckily, we were invited to these events.  I am not sure who used to tell me this, but I have always remembered that you should “go where you are invited”.  Of course, there are exceptions to this – going somewhere with illegal activity comes to mind – but for the most part, the idea is you stay connected to the people that care enough to invite you to something.  There are also finer points to this advice, but I am not going to sift through them here.  The overall point is that staying connected to people is important.

When it comes to depression, following this general advice can be hard to do.  You may not want to get out, and that is ok.  But, you may have people who want to visit you or ask you to help them with a task.  In these instances, I would encourage you to at least consider taking people up on these offers.  Of the many theories out there about what causes depression, some people think that it can be a lack of connections to values, jobs, people, etc.  This may not explain a person’s entire depression, but it is an idea worth considering.  And, if that is worth considering, maybe having some social connections while you are depressed (or caring for someone who is) could be helpful.  Of course, this may not help everyone, but my takeaway here is to work on accepting people who want to see you or connect with you.  They may be providing more help than any of us realize.

Men’s Health Month

Here is something that I learned today – June is Men’s Health Month.  And, as we know, mental health is a large piece of men’s health too.

Here are some numbers from the organization Mental Health America (these numbers reflect the United States of America):

  • More than 4 times as many men as women are victims of suicide each year
  • The highest rates of suicide are in Caucasian men aged 85 and older
  • More than 6 million men are affected by depression every year
  • 90% of those diagnosed with schizophrenia by age 30 are men
  • Male suicide has been increasing since the year 2000 and is the 7th leading cause of death among men
  • Around 1 in 5 men develop alcohol dependency during their lifetime

As you can see, these are tough statistics to read.  And, if the numbers weren’t enough, there are also other considerations that may be more of an issue for men.  For a lot of them, the stigma of depression and mental illness weighs heavier than it does for women.  Men will deny they have an issue or think that they just need to “suck it up”.  As a result, men are less likely to seek help, and that can lead to negative outcomes.  No doubt this varies by culture, but overall in the United States, there tends to be the assumption that men are tougher and not allowed to show weakness or vulnerability.  Unfortunately, for a lot of people, having a mental illness is a sign of weakness in a man.  It’s a poor assumption that needs some education.

What are your thoughts?  Do you think that men have different challenges when it comes to mental health?  Is mental health for men even a consideration for most people?  My hope is that when it comes to depression and mental illness, we start to do a better job of realizing the different challenges that men may face.