Dr. Dawn, The Suicide Prevention Pharmacist

I am writing today’s entry on my brand new laptop.  It has been almost 8 years since I have purchased one, so I am pretty excited to enjoy some of the upgrades and new features.  In reality, I would have likely kept using my old laptop forever, but everything was running sooooo slowly, and my lack of patience finally pushed me to get this new one.

Overall, in my life, it feels like I am on the edge of a lot of changes.  As I write this, Spring is almost here, and I am very much looking forward to warmer days.  There are also some personal changes that may come my way, and regardless of what happens I am grateful that I at least get the opportunities to make these changes a part of my life. 

While change can be exciting, change can also be tough.  While the prospect of some of my personal changes is exciting, part of me is resisting changing anything because things are pretty good in my world already.  Why take a risk when there is so much on the line to lose?  What if the changes make things worse instead of better?  What if the changes I make are mistakes? 

For anyone facing mental health or depression concerns, change can also create a lot of anxiety or fear or a wide range of other thoughts.  Change can be scary for anyone, but it may be even tougher when faced with a mental illness.  I think that when it comes to change, no matter what the change is, we need to consider how that affects people from a mental and emotional standpoint.  Again, change can be scary, but there are ways we can make those changes a little easier for everyone.  The first step is acknowledging that with change comes a mental health component that needs to be addressed.

Today I heard about another celebrity passing away, and now a lot of any media I see has that same story over and over again.  Any time a famous person dies it gives me an uneasy feeling, and I want to explore that today.

I will start by saying that the loss of life, regardless of whether they are famous or not, is sad, and I think every human life has some value in some way.  However, I have become increasingly disturbed by what seems like the public’s fascination with famous people’s deaths.  Even worse is when there are reports that someone is not doing well, and it seems like that person is meticulously watched, in case he or she does die.  It all seems very morbid.  It is like everyone is desperately waiting for someone to die so we can feel something.  I just can’t wrap my head around it.

Why all the outpouring of love, memories, and emotions after someone dies?  Yes, that is important, but are we waiting until that person dies to share these things?  Are we loving, reminiscing, and emoting during their life as well?  Maybe so, but that is not something I see a lot of in my experience.  Maybe I am tuning into the wrong type of media, but that is hard to know as well.

And, if you are faced with depression, news like this can add more sadness to an already tough state of affairs.  Perhaps the fact that we hear about these things constantly helps to explain why it seems like depression has reached epidemic proportions.  I am just as guilty as the next person, but I think we are fascinated with too many of the wrong things.  Perhaps if we focused more on our personal lives and relationships, we would spend more time being fascinated with the positive events the world has to offer.

Hello everyone. Starting with this entry, I will now be posting only once a week, with the goal to post on Tuesdays. At this point in my journey I feel that this is the right way to move forward, and I appreciate your support. As for this week, I hope you will use the time you would have been reading my blog post to share some time or kind words with someone, because that is a good way to boost your mental health. Take care and see you next week.

In the last few entries I have been talking about mental health and the workplace.  Today, I want to give you an example of how what appears to be a small incident can lead to a continuous cycle of mental and emotional wounds.  To me, recognizing small incidents is important, because they can add up to a bigger issue with mental health and the workplace.

The incident in question involved an employee being criticized for some work travel expenses.  Nothing wrong or inappropriate was done by the employee, but the employee’s management suspected the employee was not working during the trip.  Unfortunately, it seemed as though management could not move on from this incident, and within a few months the employee went to another team.  Now, it is several years later, and every time an opportunity to travel is presented, the employee is still denied the opportunity to travel, even when an event is in town and would save money for the company if the employee went instead of someone else.  The employee, who keeps pointing out the cost savings potential, has been told that he or she needs to move on from this incident.  Of course we don’t have all of the details of this story, but I find it amazing that management would ask the employee to “move on” when the history of the incident is in his or her face repeatedly!  This is incredibly inconsistent.  This also creates some real trust issues for the employee, because how can the employee trust anyone if it feels like no one trusts him or her?  How motivating or enjoyable can that environment be?  Are there no chances to learn or grow?  And again, this is a small example of how the workplace can create mental and emotional stress or issues for employees.

To me this example demonstrates that we all need to do better, and it especially highlights to me the importance of being as consistent as possible.  Don’t tell someone to “move on” when no else seems to be.  Match your words with your actions and show some accountability and integrity.  Even these simple things would likely make for improved mental health in the workplace.

To keep with the theme of mental health in the workplace, I want to highlight some resources available from NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) on the subject.

I am going to highlight three pages.  The first one can be found here: https://www.nami.org/find-support/living-with-a-mental-health-condition/succeeding-at-work  In general, this page discusses discrimination at work as well as making accommodations at work.  The page also includes links to other resources.  This is a great page for anyone who may be facing these situations.

The next page can be found at the following link: https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/StigmaFree/StigmaFree-Company  NAMI has a program called StigmaFree Company, and will work with businesses to create a culture where employees’ overall health is valued, including mental health.  NAMI can provide support for corporate led and employee led initiatives, as well as consumer based programs.  This is a great page for any employee or employer who is looking to create a stigma free culture surrounding mental health.

The final page I will mention can be found here: https://www.nami.org/stigmafreeco/resources  This page is related to the StigmaFree Company page, and contains resources on mental health in the workplace.  Here you will find several guides, fact sheets, videos, messaging, and sharable items.  This is a great page for any employee or employer who is looking to learn more about mental health in the workplace and what can be done to improve the culture around it.

While I highlight three pages on here, my assumption is that NAMI and other organizations also have more great information on mental health and the workplace.  The good news is that there is a lot of information available now, and my guess is that in itself is probably a fairly new reality.  It is very inspiring to see all of the resources and support that is out there to help people navigate mental health in the workplace.  Since a lot of people spend a lot of time working, it is important that mental health be a part of the discussion when it comes to workplace culture.

Today I want to point out another resource that is available for another group of people – this is for all of us in the workplace.  It is called “Beautiful Brains: A mental health manual for the modern workforce”, and can be downloaded by using the following link: https://mailchi.mp/bb2523b6a45f/beautiful-brains-mental-health-guide  This manual is promoted by the Made of Millions Foundation, which is an advocacy platform with the goal of changing mental health survivors into mental health advocates.  This project was also made possible by Ready Set Rocket, a creative agency.

The guidebook is around 40 pages long, but there are a lot of illustrations, so it can be read fairly quickly and easily.  Topics covered include statistics on mental health in the workplace, a program for implementing supportive services and fighting stigma, sample wellness initiatives, and educational resources.

Like other resources mentioned in my previous posts, I think it is great to have a guide like this available.  I assume a lot of us in the workplace would appreciate having help in knowing what they can do if a mental health issue affects them or someone they know.  I also think it is important that we let employees and employers know that it is ok to talk about their mental health and any struggles they may be having.  Everyone needs to know they can get support, and although it might be hard for employees to ask for help, I feel that the more employees and employers hear about it the more they will be willing to get assistance when they need it.

How about you?  What are your thoughts on this manual?  Does it give you some helpful information?  Is it missing important pieces that would be helpful for you to know?  I hope you will take some time to download and review the manual to see if it can be helpful to you or someone you know.

This post is solely going to be based on my opinion, but I wanted to share some of my thoughts on health care, including care for mental health.

In the United States, there has been a lot of conversation about “health care for all” or “Medicare for all”, and, although I don’t know all of the details surrounding all of those ideas, I believe that health care is a right for everyone, regardless of a person’s ability to pay.  Now, having made that general statement, there are some caveats that I would include, and that makes this a lot harder.  While I think everyone has a right to health care, in my mind that includes certain services and not the extras.  For example, everyone should be treated for a broken bone.  However, I do not think that a breast enlargement should be counted as health care.  But therein lies the difficulty – what I consider essential and nonessential no doubt varies from many others.  How would we ever agree on what services everyone gets no matter what the circumstances?  Definitely not an easy road to travel.

When it comes to mental health care, I no doubt would be a lot more generous on what is considered essential, because I have seen first-hand how the current health care system can fail so many people with mental illness.  Mental health is just as important as physical health, and it needs to be considered essential care for anyone in my opinion.  But, again, how do we decide what is available to everyone? 

Overall, health care is not an easy topic, but in general my opinion is that to some extent it is a basic human right.  Although money will most likely always be an issue, from a moral and human standpoint I do not see how we can refuse to help our other fellow humans stay healthy.  We need to think about what is the right thing to do, and taking care of others is very high on the list. 

Today I want to touch on a topic that you may or may not have heard about – it is called trauma-informed care, and much of the information in today’s post comes from a great article from Harvard that can be found here: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/trauma-informed-care-what-it-is-and-why-its-important-2018101613562

Trauma-informed care is being described in the healthcare setting as a way to consider how a patient’s history of trauma may impact their interactions in the healthcare system.  Trauma-informed care includes practices of safety, empowerment, and healing, and considers the sobering reality that many patients have experienced trauma in their lives.  Realizing that trauma is common is a big part of integrating trauma-informed care into hospitals and clinics.

Another aspect is to recognize that there are many forms of trauma, which can translate into showing more open-mindedness and compassion with patients.  Some practices of trauma-informed care include: explaining why you are asking potentially sensitive questions, explaining why you need to perform a physical exam, and letting the patient know they can stop or refuse a test or procedure.  Overall, it may be best to assume that every patient has some trauma in their history, and act accordingly.  This does not mean a provider needs to ask every patient for details about their trauma history, but to be aware that it might have an effect on their interaction with a patient.

I think the concept of trauma-informed care is important, and I am glad to see that the healthcare system is working on including it.  I also think that this idea can be applied to other areas outside of healthcare, because a history of trauma can show up in many different places. 

How do you feel about trauma-informed care?  Have you heard of this concept before?  Have you experienced trauma-informed care in action?  My hope is that we will continue to see more of this type of care and consideration.

Today I want to point out a resource that is available for everyone, as we never know when this situation may happen to any of us.  It is called “Navigating a Mental Health Crisis”, and it can be downloaded for free on NAMI’s website at https://www.nami.org/About-NAMI/Publications-Reports/Guides/Navigating-a-Mental-Health-Crisis/Navigating-A-Mental-Health-Crisis.pdf?utm_source=website&utm_medium=cta&utm_campaign=crisisguide 

The guidebook is a little over 30 pages long, but it has many different sections, so you can pick and choose what is important to you if you don’t want to read the entire guide.  Topics covered include understanding mental illness, understanding mental health crises, what to do in a mental health crisis, what to expect from mental health treatment, advocating for treatment, other types of crises, preparing for a crisis, and NAMI resources.

Personally, I think it is great to have a guide like this available.  I assume most of us would appreciate having help in navigating a mental health crisis and having some assistance in knowing what to do.  As a lot of us have come to realize, understanding the healthcare system and insurance can be challenging, even if you are not faced with a mental health condition.  Also, there are challenges in understanding the criminal justice system and how to navigate that area should it come into play.  Finally, I like how the guide encourages us to consider the before, during, and after of a crisis, because these are all important parts of a mental health event.

How about you?  What are your thoughts on this guide?  Does it give you some helpful information?  Is it missing important pieces that would be helpful for you to know?  I hope you will take some time to download and review the guide to see if it can be helpful to you or someone you know.  Also consider sharing it with everyone you know, because a mental health crisis can affect anyone.