I appreciate the fact that the current Surgeon General seems to understand that dealing with mental health issues in the US is not going to be one simple thing that makes it all better. This quote demonstrates that he understands that the problem is multi-dimensional and that any solution will also have to be:
This is an interesting way to think about writing, whether you do it publicly like Uddipana did, or just write for yourself.
I will say that his discussion around what people come into therapy for in terms of defining good mental health is often an issue. When I started therapy I wanted to not dissociate, because the dissociative states were proving to be more and more dangerous. But, it wasn’t like we could sit and discuss plans to simply stop, we had to dig into what happens right before I dissociate and learn better ways of dealing with that. (In my case, stress)
Even then, the desire to simply feel less stress is not always possible. It would have solved the immediate reason why I was in therapy, less stress would make me less likely to dissociate, right? But it also wasn’t sustainable because at some point life is going to be stressful. The key was not to avoid stress but to learn how to recognize it, acknowledge it, feel it, and deal with it in a healthier way.
So yes, I agree our definition of good mental health needs to incorporate much, much more than “not feeling sad, anxious, depressed, etc.” because we will feel those things again at some point. They are unavoidable, but succumbing to them without a proper response is not. We can, and should, learn how to do that.
I think this is something many of us would agree with, the people in our organizations have all been through trauma, some in more ways than others. Trying to simply go on as if nothing has happened is a disservice to the human beings in your organization, no matter what type of organization we are talking about. Taking some time to recognize what has happened and how we go forward from there is an important step. It sounds like this “Treasure Box” may help us all do exactly that.
I joined TikTok with similar thoughts to what I do on other social platforms as well. But, it turns out creating video content is a little harder for me, so it hasn’t been as active as I’d like it to be. Maybe I just need to follow this advice, find helpful and insightful content and let myself be inspired by it?
Check out the ones they suggest, and let us know if you have any favorite TikTok accounts related to mental health that you’d recommend?
They list out some that I’m familiar with, and a few that I am not, but I’m interested in what you have to say, What mental health podcasts do you regularly listen to? Or are you still waiting for one that works for you?
