Watching Mental Health Special Episode | Katie Waechter

Katie Waecther: Hi everyone and welcome to watching Mental Health, a very special episode of Watching Mental Health and Happy New Year's. We are officially in 2024, a brand new year for mental health in general for legislative changes. This is an election year, so it's going to be a big year, I think for mental health, but probably both a little bit of pros and cons in that. And so I'm going to take this episode to walk through these trends and to walk through what to expect politically, and then end on some ideas for some New Year's resolutions around mental health. So it's important for us to always be putting that first. And so with that, I'm just going to read the little synopsis that I created for the episode so it starts us off fresh. But basically it is this, do you have a New Year's resolution and is it focused on mental health in 2024?

And if it is, you are not alone. There are many people who are focusing more and more on mental health than ever before and on their own self-care. And our world continues to struggle with a mental health crisis, which is why people are paying more attention to it. But 20, 24 may be the year where action around mental health is taken. And I think that's important. It's not just about having these conversations, it's about taking action. And that's what helps break down stigmas from mental health, new year's resolutions to legislative expectations and pop culture trends. We're going to break it all down today. And with that, let's just jump right in a little bit to the stats. So worldwide, seven out of 10 people struggle with mental health issues, and that contributes to $1 trillion in loss productivity due to anxiety and depression for the global economy.

That is a massive amount of money. So it is not just this kind of hooah, it's spiritual ladi da conversation. It is important to discuss mental health, not only personally but professionally because a lot of money is being lost. And so I think that it's not just individuals who should be thinking about mental health in the new year and mental health resolutions. It is professionals and it is businesses. It is organizations that really should be, I think, taking more action around their employees' mental health. And they will see as a result, they will see more money out of that. And we're going to discuss a little bit more on why that is a little bit later. But here in America, three quarters of Americans plan to start the year with a resolution to be more healthy, including 28% who want to focus on improving their mental health.

And that is really probably just a drop in the bucket compared to what people are saying. And so it is really important that we really dive in to say, okay, what is a good mental health resolution and what isn't a good mental health resolution? So among those who are making resolutions, 67% plan to exercise more. I know exercise is always a big resolution, right? 49% plan to meditate, which is a big increase in number 40% plan to focus on spirituality and 35% plan to see a therapist. And so these are really great encouraging numbers for me because it shows that people are finally taking action, right? It's not just about the conversation, it's about taking action around your mental health to see improvements. And so when you want to think about resolutions, you want to be thinking about actionable skills or actionable steps that you can take that are going to be something that isn't going to overwhelm you, but something that is also going to keep you going.

And so I think routinizing or making your mental health resolutions a routine is going to be really important to keep it going. And so let's just start with the basics. Mental health resolutions. I'm going to list out some resolutions that are actually from Time Magazine and they go through nine mental health resolutions that could be really beneficial. And so let's just dive into them a little bit. So their first one is to rethink your social media use. And so this is a big resolution that a lot of people are doing more and more these days. And really it's important to take a social media detox. And I say this as I run and internet marketing content media company. So I fully understand the importance of taking a social media detox. And sometimes even as an influencer, it's important to step back and recognize what's what and what's important in your life.

But also as an everyday person, we have to recognize that social media is fake and that people aren't putting out their everyday problems, they're putting out their best days and sometimes their worst days, but social media tends to be a lot of that. It's less of the day to day of what matters every day and more of the extremes. And I think that leaves a lot of us feeling like a lot of bad things are happening in this world, but in actuality, violence has gone down over time, but it's so much more in our face these days with social media that we can become desensitized and then allow trauma really to overflow us daily by tapping in to these different social media trends and expectations and things that are happening around the world. It can be hard to turn it off. And so it's important, I think, to rethink your social media use.

So what does that resolution look like for you? Again, you want to be realistic and you don't want to be impractical. So you want to, instead of saying, oh, I'm going to quit social media, right? That's probably not going to happen. You want to say, well, I'm going to spend only two hours a day on social media because I was previously spending five hours a day on social media, and so I'm still able to get my social media time in, but I know that I'm giving myself some limits so I can go off and do other things. And so that's a good one. The next resolution that time recommends is to reconnect with a long lost friend. And this is a pretty powerful one. I don't even think it needs to be a long lost friend. I just think it needs to be a good friend, right?

Reconnect with somebody in your life who mattered and maybe you haven't spoken to them all of 2023 or all of the pandemic years. Think of it this way. If you have a really good friend in your life and you haven't seen them post a pandemic, I would say make an effort, make a resolution to reach out to these people, to develop those relationships. And here's why It is important for us to have community for our mental health. We are not islands, as one of my previous guests has said, we do not just live in our own little world without anybody around and expect us to be okay. We are social creatures, we are social beings, and we need a cultural community to feel safe in. And that improves. Mental health is when you actually are out there and connecting with people in your community. It's not just your significant other and your children.

You can tend to feel lost or alone even if you have a significant other and a child or children that love you deeply and who you love deeply. It's not just about your immediate family, it's about your village. And so I think that's what time is really recommending here is to reconnect with a friend, is to expand your village. Next is to develop empathy for someone different from you. So I think this is going to be especially important here in 2024. This is an election year. I am already dreading it no matter what happens. I think it's going to be ugly to be frank, because these last few years people have shown I think an ugly side, and we haven't quite gone back to kindness first, and I'd like us to go back to that obviously, but I can't expect that to happen. And so what I can do is I can learn to develop empathy for somebody across the aisle for somebody who has a totally different opinion from myself, recognize that they're also a human being, that their opinion is reflective of their own personal experiences, just like mine is reflective of my experiences.

And if I can't do all that, learn to develop empathy enough for myself to not lash out in anger at people who we disagree with. And so learn to develop empathy both for someone who's different from you and for your own ability to step back instead of choosing to fight in violence. And I always love how Martin Luther King approached civil rights by saying that he was there to not fight with violence. He was going to get up every day and to be present and to fight for justice, but not with violence. And so I think we all want to keep that in mind as we go into, I think what's going to be a challenging election year. Next up, number four from the mental health resolutions list, stop ruminating about work. So this is a pretty big one. We all get really sucked into work, and we live in a society that demands us to work every day.

If I'm not working, I'm lazy. And that could be a very millennial thing for me to say, because I think that a lot of us millennials feel that if I'm not out there hustling every day, then I'm, I'm lazy, I'm not doing it right. And that's honestly just wrong. In Europe, they have that saying where they work to live and here in the States they are saying is, we live to work. And I think time and myself are both recommending that we take a little bit off of the hustle and put a little bit more onto the self-care. I know for me, I'm super strict with, even as an entrepreneur, I'm strict with my time. I work very hard Monday through Friday. But Saturday and Sunday, I will rarely tap into work unless it's absolutely necessary, and that's saved me my sanity. And so I'm going to continue that routine into the 2024 year.

Alright, number five, slate four activities each week. This is a good one. So I think what they're saying here is to put more fun into your daily life, have an artist date, have a play date, go to the movies, go paint. Don't just do the same old, same old every single week. Maybe go out to dinner with some girlfriends. There's all sorts of activities that you can be doing. I know for me, I always have a project going at home that could definitely count as one of my activities. Right now I'm finishing up a 3000 piece puzzle. And so I'm going to continue in 2024 to for myself, have that resolution of every week I am doing something fun, a fun activity. And it could be something that's cheap or free, like a jigsaw puzzle at home, or it could be something a little bit more fancy, like maybe going to a paint party night, but you want to do whatever works for you.

Maybe it's going for a swim, maybe it's going for a hike here in Las Vegas. We have a lot of hiking opportunities that people just don't realize that are just outside of the city. And that's a beautiful thing about our town actually, is that it doesn't get super cold. And right now we're experiencing pretty mild winter. And so get out there, get out there and hike, enjoy some nature. And that'll actually do you really well as well. Not just as an activity but as a nature thing where you're giving your skin some sunlight, you're breathing in that fresh air. All of that is so important for mental health, especially if you're feeling really depressed and maybe you're spending every day indoors because it's hard to just get out of bed. I get it, I've been there. But what you really need to be doing is making yourself get out of bed just for a little bit.

Just take that walk. If that's all you can do around the block, maybe don't get in the car and drive off to Red Rock. Maybe just walk outside of your house. It can all be something small no matter what it is. You can make those small improvements, those small steps forward. And a walk is a great example of that. And so same thing with these activities, right? Don't let the idea of doing four activities a week, or even for me, I chose to do one activity a week. Don't let that overwhelm you. Make sure that you are really getting something good out of it. And I think that that's an important part about New Year's resolutions. It's not just, okay, here's all of these amazing things that I should be doing. It's okay, how can I be kind to myself and compassionate with myself as I develop these new skills and these new habits?

So then that way I know that I'm good. If I miss a day, I'm okay. I'm going to get back on the horse. I'm going to try again tomorrow. And so it's important to apply that compassion because if you don't, then that's a big reason why a lot of people will just stop. They'll stop even trying because it's too much too fast. They can't do it all. They're hard on themselves. And then by February, you give up and we don't want to do that, right? It's better to make one good New Year's resolution and stick with it. And actually at the end of the year, have that be a successful resolution than it is to make 10 and have none of them stick by the end of the year. So just keep that in mind. Alright, the next one from time is to do one small thing to alleviate climate anxiety.

So I found this to be an interesting resolution because I think that a lot of people who maybe lean a little bit more conservative or a little bit more Republican might not even want to acknowledge this resolution. And then other people on the other side are like, we need to be doing climate things every day, dah, dah, dah. So it's really, I think, intense for a lot of us in the middle and we don't know what to do. And I think that, or at least that's what I'm choosing to understand from what this resolution is here that time is recommending. Because at the end of the day, I love, somebody said this recently, it was such a great quote, and it was something like, we're not saving the planet for the planet. We're saving the planet for the earthlings that live on the planet. We need a place to live.

And I really liked that approach to it because for some people it's not about the community, it's about the individual. And I get that, and that's okay. No judgment. We live here in America in a very individualized society. It's very different from Eastern countries, but this brings it back to home. And that's why a lot of people, again, even in politics, they don't have an issue with something until it affects them. Until it impacts them. And so this is saying, don't go crazy on thinking about the climate and how we're all going to die because that's not helpful. But also, don't just ignore things. Take an action. Even if it's a small action, maybe you haven't recycled before. Go out and purchase a recycling bin. They're like $10, right? I know in our household we have both a trash can and a recycling trash can basically.

And the recycling one is blue and it's got the little recycling on the side of it, and it costs me $10 to buy. And I'll tell you what, our recycling bin is more full every single week than our trash bin. For years it's been like this. And so it's interesting that when you just kind of put some of these things in place and then you don't think about it, you are being helpful for the environment. So I challenge you to maybe do something like that if you're concerned about the environment. And even if you're not, what can we do to better our community around us? Because that is helpful for mental health when you're thinking about others and when you're thinking about the community, because again, we are social animals and we all need to survive in order for all of us to thrive. Number seven here from time is to write a thank you letter.

Great idea. Write it to yourself, challenge you to write it to yourself. What amazing things have you done last year? Give yourself that gratitude that you've been showing other people. Number eight is to write you time into your schedule every day. This is a great idea for people who live and die by the schedule. And I do. I have to block chunks of my time. I know that this chunk of my time on this day is going to be for watch media group production time. This chunk of time over here is going to be for my book. And so I have to schedule in me time, and I always make sure that the weekend is a part of that because I'm very strict on those boundaries. So I challenge you to be stricter on your boundaries and to schedule in those four activities or to schedule in that fun time that playtime and you'll be more likely to do it.

Alright, last from time is to check in with a professional. So if you are truly, truly struggling, please reach out for help. It could be reaching out to a therapist, a talk therapist. It could be reaching out to a psychiatrist because maybe you've tried therapy and you're really struggling and you think that medication can potentially help. It could be reaching out to a personal trainer because you know that you need to start working out and you know that you need accountability and a personal trainer's going to give you that. It could be reaching out to a spiritual guru, maybe a yoga practitioner, maybe a breathwork specialist. I know a very great breathwork specialist, and actually she would be an outstanding guest for this show. So I'll probably try and bring her on. So don't just think about therapists, think about what is it that I need?

What is it that I'm missing and how can I get assistance for that? And that is going to be a good way to approach your resolutions. So it's not just about following what time says or what other people recommend. It's looking inwards and saying, what am I missing from my mental health? And how can I make a resolution to go ahead and improve that thing? And it could be I have a lot of anxiety and I've been having a lot of trouble breathing. So this year I'm going to make an effort to try breath work and meditation because people tell me that that's what really helps with it. Go for it, give it a shot. Challenge you to create at least one or two resolutions that impact your mental health. And for every career resolution you make and for every relationship resolution you, you should also be making a mental health slash emotional resolution.

So with all of that, let's jump into a little bit of the trends. I'm going to spend the next 10 minutes talking about trends, and then we'll go ahead and wrap it up and call it a day. And I just was really grateful to be here. I think I'm probably going to be a little over time, but we were a little ahead of time as I recall on the marathon. So I think that we'll be okay in wrapping it up in the next 10. So let's talk a little bit about mental health trends and changes to expect this year. So first off, I talked about work or mentioned earlier that what was the number? It was $1 trillion. 1 trillion have been lost in a productivity due to anxiety and depression across the global economy. That is a significant chunk of money. I mean, that is not just making some stuff up that's real.

And so I think organizations this year are going to be taking more steps to really try and tap into that. And here's why. First off, employee turnover, that costs a lot of money. When you have somebody who goes on disability due to mental health or who just can't work anymore, there you go. That's employee turnover and that costs money. But then also there's things like sick days, and it's not just when it comes to you and your employee, it's your employee's family. That matters here. And so our mental health crisis in the youth world is impacting the mental health crisis that we're experiencing in the work world because parents have to leave the office to go take care of their children if something happens. And if children can't go to school because of mental health reasons, then parents have to miss work. And so it's really, really important.

I think that professional organizations are going to be taking even more steps to actually see some improvements across their mental health, the mental health of their employees. Let's see here. There's also going to be a big breakout in ai. So AI technology is not just for writers like myself or graphic designers. So those aren't the only things that are happening in AI right now. AI in the medical world is about to explode. Basically a lot of technology has come about. I'm going to read some of this off my paper just so I'm getting it right, but the next breakthrough in mental health is anticipated to come from generative AI, further reducing barriers to care as it evolves. AI technology can generate personalized care plans for patients and match them with the right provider with better explanations for each recommendation, and it can increase accessibility and affordability.

And so this is really important because another big trend that I think we're going to see happen here in 2024 is the idea of value-based care. And so this is something that a decade ago, behavior therapists, behavior of professionals, mental health professionals didn't really see value or see how it would work to have a value-based care system. But here we are today with a massive mental health crisis. We have all these medications, and yet more and more people are dying by suicide daily. We say we have all these supports for our veterans, and yet they continue to die by suicide. And then we see this cycle of hospitalization in our own communities here in southern Nevada, it's particularly bad because a lot of people wind up on the streets. We do not have enough housing for people who are struggling with severe mental illness. And these people are literally suffering on the streets until they get picked up because they're maybe having an episode, a psychotic break brought to a hospital, put on hold, and then after that just kind of kicked out of the hospital. It's like, well, we can't hold you.

Go to this or these are your next steps, but hey, I'm in a mental health episode. I'm not going to be able to follow through on these next steps without supports, without assistance. And so this cycle just continues and continues. And I have personally heard more and more professionals saying, we want value-based care. We want to actually, and what does value-based care mean? What that means is actually looking at the symptoms of somebody it trying to fix those symptoms. It's not just about trying to pass them through the system. It's about actually working on what is happening with the individual who is suffering. For example, a value-based care model is going to focus more on can this person take care of themselves? Can this person go to work? Can this person take their medication without assistance? Let's try and slowly get to that place instead of just like, okay, let's just feed this person some pills and get into the next step of the system.

And so value-based care puts a little bit more responsibility, right on that provider, on the professional. I think part of the reason why people were struggling with this before, because it's also a challenge to put value-based care on a mental health symptom. How can, it's not like I broke my arm and it's better. How can I tell that my brain is better? But these challenges and these, I think complaints about value-based care 10 years ago are no longer applicable. We really are, I think working hard to try to make value-based care more tangible and to try and rework the system. So it is actually, so we're seeing people not just cycle through the system, but actually walk into the right direction, actually walk out of the system. And that's a big, big trend here in the states that we tend to kind of be in the cycle of sickness, right?

Value-based care is the idea that we are not going to do the cycle of sickness. We are going to actually make valuable changes and we are going to base our care off of what's going to work for that person so that they can get better. And so it's a little bit different. I might bring on a professional or provider to talk more about value-based care in a future episode, so that way we can really break it down. But I want you to keep an eye out for that because I think it's going to make an impact on our mental health care. All right, next thing I'm just going to mention a couple more and then we'll wrap it up. It's important, actually. I found this trend very interesting is that there's a number of non-licensed mental health coaches that are continuing to grow. It's a growing trend.

Now, I'm not against a mental health coach in 2019. I had a pretty severe depression episode, and I actually worked with an emotion coach and she did amazing things for me. She significantly helped me, but so I'm not against mental health coaches, but I do want to warn that these people are not licensed and that some of them may not actually have the skills or the education or the experience to help others. And so don't just jump into the next coach. You see, I know that we got coaches running around wild these days. Do your research, do some digging. Really make sure that you know that this person is a good coach before you jump in with them. And so that's again, what I was mentioning before with them. Time resolutions. Check in with a professional. This can be a professional, but make sure it's a good one.

Look at their reviews, make sure they have a website. Make sure they know what they're doing. You don't have to have a degree in order to be helpful for somebody in order to be a coach. But if you don't have a degree and you don't have anything else to back you up, then what help are you providing? So it's important that you are not tapping into somebody who doesn't know what to do, who doesn't know how to help, and who's just wandering around saying that they're a coach. And I say that across the board for business coaches, for emotional coaches, for health coaches. I don't want to work with a health coach who has worse eating habits than I do. That's obviously not going to work. Then the last thing I'm going to mention, and I've mentioned this before, is that the US presidential election is coming up.

Historically, the last couple of presidential elections, in my humble opinion, have been very bad on my mental health. 2020 was rough, but we got through and we can get through this election cycle as well, no matter who wins or loses. It may be tough, but we can always choose to look on the bright side. And even if the person who wins isn't the person you want to win, that doesn't mean that you should give up. That doesn't mean that you should stop fighting for what you believe in, but I also challenge you to be friends with somebody from the other side and get to know them a little bit. And I think this country will be okay no matter what happens. I obviously don't know the future, I don't know the crystal ball. But what's most important is that we take care of our mental health and our community's mental health.

And so if the federal government's going to go on a chaos storm, make sure that you're checking in with your local community and that you are turning off the news and that you are recognizing what's most important in your life. And those are the people around you who love you. And so with that, I'm going to go ahead and end the episode on this. When mental health in 2024 is a big deal, make it a big deal. Set an intention, heal your bruises, feel all the feelings and be a good friend to yourself first and foremost. And with that, thank you so much for listening and I am excited to continue on the PR Connections Radio Marathon, the January 1st New Year marathon. And thank you so much. Everyone. Please tune in to watching Mental Health every first and third Wednesday. So that'll be this Wednesday we're going to have a very special guest coming up, and she's going to talk about the formula for optimal mental health. So I'm excited to jump into this. And so with that, thank you so much. Have a good one. Bye everyone.