Episode 3 Extras
Episode 3: Mental Health Morning
Before reading further, be aware that this blog shares some personal stories about mental health and therapy. It is not intended as medical advice.
What do you do when you’re not feeling yourself? Leslie & Angella get into an impromptu and vulnerable conversation one morning. Here’s the backstory.
Contrary to a popular stereotype about Black people and Christians, Leslie & I believe in (and have experienced) the benefits of therapy. We firmly believe that it is yet another of the myriad gifts that God provides.
From a purely practical standpoint, why would getting help from an orthopedic doctor when you have a broken bone be any different from seeing a mental health practitioner when you feel emotionally or mentally unwell?
Perhaps it’s because doing mental exploration is not a common practice in our culture. Perhaps we’re afraid of what may surface. Perhaps we’re embarrassed that people will judge us (like we’ve done to others?). Whatever the reason, we’ve committed to changing the stigma in our sphere of influence; primarily by being open about therapy and building mental strength as being a normal and healthy part of life.
The word “depression” resonated
My first basic understanding of depression & antidepressants happened in 2008 or so. I was at a leadership development offsite (typically a strategic meeting held away from the office setting) with peers from around the world. These are folks who you work with, cry with, get passionate with, do not avoid conflict with, seek and find encouragement with. But for the most part, we’d only get together in person a few times each year. Offsites became a “work hard, play harder” time with some of your closest colleagues; some had become friends.
We were at a session with a facilitator, an outsider brought in to intentionally challenge how we show up (or not) as authentic leaders. It soon became an open and vulnerable space that a colleague (not pictured), heavy with emotional pain from family and work pressures, began describing what led him to seek the support of a mental health professional. He said something that I’d never heard before, and it totally resonated with the way I’d been feeling: smiling on the outside but depleted and unable to muster the energy to be anywhere close to 100%.
Two things that he said made me look further into what I was experiencing without being afraid of the ”D” word": Depression is caused by a depletion of a hormone typically caused by carrying a lot of stress over an extended period of time. Anti-depressants replenish the hormone. That was simple physiology. It made sense and removed stigma.
When Leslie & I talked about our big pivots in Episode 2-Pivoting to Bigger & Better, those were times of sustained stress. Medical school, imposter syndrome, a big move, divorce, single-parenting, work stressors, feelings of isolation; we are grateful to have had access to therapy and helpful medications to get us through the valleys past and those to come.
Some resources that we’ve used are:
EAP (Employee Assistance Programs) from employer
Positive Intelligence: Building Mental Fitness
John Kabat-Zinn Mindfulness & Meditation
May God bless you in finding the emotional and mental support you need.