Picture this - you're a hairstylist juggling clients, dealing with the physical demands of the job, and striving to keep up with the latest trends. But are you remembering to take care of your mental health amidst all the hustle and bustle? This episode of the Smart, Wealthy Stylist podcast promises to empower you with the knowledge and practical tools you need to manage your mental health effectively. With insights from Kristen Fenimore, a seasoned mental health specialist and nurse practitioner, we tackle the stigma attached to mental health in the cosmetology industry. We provide valuable advice on recognizing and dealing with mental health issues, emphasizing the importance of self-care and professional help.
As we navigate the contours of mental well-being, we highlight the significance of deep breathing, regular exercise, and the need to avoid anxiety-inducing substances like alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine.
Picture this - you're a hairstylist juggling clients, dealing with the physical demands of the job, and striving to keep up with the latest trends. But are you remembering to take care of your mental health amidst all the hustle and bustle? This episode of the Smart, Wealthy Stylist podcast promises to empower you with the knowledge and practical tools you need to manage your mental health effectively. With insights from Kristen Fenimore, a seasoned mental health specialist and nurse practitioner, we tackle the stigma attached to mental health in the cosmetology industry. We provide valuable advice on recognizing and dealing with mental health issues, emphasizing the importance of self-care and professional help.
As we navigate the contours of mental well-being, we highlight the significance of deep breathing, regular exercise, and the need to avoid anxiety-inducing substances like alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine.
Welcome to the smart, wealthy stylist podcast. I'm your host, emily Cardin. Over here. We're dedicated to helping hairstylists manage their finances, stay organized, healthy and manage their time and mental well-being. We focus on staying healthy in all areas of life and maximizing productivity. If you're a hairstylist looking for these things, then this is the podcast for you. Together, we'll avoid burnout and step into being the smartest, wealthiest stylist that we can be.
Speaker 2:
Welcome back to the smart, wealthy stylist podcast. Today I have my friend, kristin Fenimore. She is a mental health specialist and nurse practitioner right Nurse practitioner and school for her and still almost then it still counts. I'm so excited because she loves mental health and helping people deal with that and I think there's such a huge stigma around mental health and especially in the cosmetology industry. I know so many of my friends who are hairdressers who deal with a lot of mental health issues, and not only do we have our own stuff, but we're walking some really hard journeys with our clients as well. So, kristin, tell me a little bit about yourself and how you ended up in mental health.
Speaker 3:
Hey, thanks so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here today. So I went to nursing school and graduated with my nursing degree in 2012. So I'm coming up to my 11 year anniversary as an RN. I completed my BSN about seven years ago and I just absolutely love being a nurse the most rewarding career that I could have imagined and I'm so thankful for being able to do that. So I actually went into mental health specifically in 2017. So been doing that for a number of years and, to be honest, I love it so much more than just working on the med surge unit.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. So did you have anything in your life that caused you to want to do that, or did you just wind up there like by chance, or how did you even end up there?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so a combination of both. I guess I didn't really think about my own personal experience when I started going into that as a career choice. I just knew that I wanted to help people. But looking back, I had undiagnosed anxiety back in high school and then depression in high school and college. So I think that influenced my ability to have empathy for the patients that I'm serving. And as far as my career choice, you know, it just kind of morphed into mental health. I had been doing physical health initially and then I just wanted something to kind of spice it up. I got used to just doing the same things over and over and I wanted something new and exciting and I ended up in the psych unit the acute psych unit at the hospital, and it's never a dull moment.
Speaker 2:
So probably spicy, huh? Yeah, definitely. So whenever someone starts to recognize, like you said, you started to recognize you had anxiety back in high school like undiagnosed, you know, thinking back on it. So whenever someone realizes like I think I'm dealing with anxiety, or I think I'm dealing with depression or maybe I'm bipolar or what you know there's so many different types of mental health issues like, what do you do when you realize like I think I have anxiety?
Speaker 3:
Yeah. So the most important thing is to vocalize that, I think, to let somebody know that you are struggling, because a lot of people tend to internalize that and just keep it to themselves, and the problem can really compound and become a lot worse over time, especially with depression, if people don't talk to someone about it. It can just get worse to the point of wanting to self harm, and so the most important thing is to speak up. I would recommend ultimately getting in to see a healthcare provider, but initially, you know if you can just talk to someone you love and trust, you know maybe a family member or friend, that's the first step.
Speaker 2:
Okay, good, you know I feel like with mental health there is such a stigma not so much anymore, but I still think that there's a lot of people out there maybe that are older you know 30s, 40s, 50s that you know you used to not be able to talk about mental health. It was not something that was open, and if you were dealing with depression, too bad like, and then you ended up in a mental health facility my mom and I were just talking about this this weekend she was like I remember a girl in high school that you know got admitted and everyone was like, oh my gosh, she's crazy, stay away from her. You know, it is so different now. Yeah, so I mean, there's no shame in admitting that you have a problem. No, absolutely.
Speaker 3:
It's no different than having a physical problem that you might go to see a doctor for or go to the hospital. For people, yeah, they get admitted to the hospital or they go outpatient, maybe, to see a psychiatrist, and mental health is no better, no worse, than physical health. Thankfully, over the last decade or so, the stigma has been decreasing due to scientific literacy increasing among people and just the sheer number of US citizens who are dealing with a mental health issue. So we come, you know, we come into contact with each other every day and you're right, the younger generation has been much more vocal about it. Thankfully, celebrities, actors, actresses, athletes have become more vocal about their personal struggles with mental health and overall, it's becoming more and more accepted. I was reading an article from Psychology Today and it said the survey period between 2006 to 2018 documented the first significant, substantial decrease in stigma for major depression. So that's huge. I'm just so thankful that you know it's taking a turn in that direction and becoming more accepted.
Speaker 2:
Yeah absolutely so. You know, whenever you said vocalize to someone that you love or care about, if someone doesn't have someone like a good support system, you know, finding a care provider, what? How would you recommend someone going about that?
Speaker 3:
Um. So don't procrastinate. The longer you wait or put it off, you're going to be dealing with those problems, which can become compounded and lead to kind of a decreased quality of life. So for those who don't have a strong support system or don't have people locally that they can lean on, I would recommend getting in as quickly as possible for professional help. Some notes that I would say is if you have insurance, look for someone that's in network with your insurance, which will help lower your financial stress. Yeah, because financial stress can also add up and cause your problems to become worse. So look for someone in network.
Speaker 3:
For those with no insurance, there's many mental health clinics that have a sliding scale for income-based payments. So here locally we have the Ozark Center, and other communities have their own as well. So prevention and early treatment is ideal If someone is experiencing a crisis situation and they're unable to get in to see a provider. There are urgent care centers for behavioral health. So rather than go to the ER, the recommendation would be go to behavioral health urgent care. It saves time and money, so it's good for those situations when you need to get in immediately.
Speaker 2:
I did not even know that there was Urgent cares for mental health. Like, yeah, amazing that that's happening.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it's relatively new, it's, it's a really cool thing.
Speaker 2:
So, when it comes to like medications and counseling, do you I mean, have you seen them change people's lives and like actually work for people?
Speaker 3:
Absolutely. There's countless patients. You know I work in inpatient psychiatry so you know to see people come in with a crippling mental illness, like debilitating depression or Anxiety, to where they can't do anything, and they come in and they get stabilized on medication. It makes a profound impact on their lives, so amazing. Yeah, I would definitely advocate for medication as well as therapy, but Definitely it has a big effect and do you feel like faith and Having a strong support system help as well?
Speaker 3:
Oh yeah, definitely not only in my personal life, but also, you know, science-backed research, and Some articles I took from include the Stanford news where it says research has repeatedly shown that people of faith report feeling better and healthier. Wow, so yeah, it just gives everybody a sense of connection and contributing to a valued and greater whole, and it also gives people a sense of belonging and acceptance. So faith, religion, spirituality all contributes to a better mental health. That's so cool.
Speaker 2:
I love like seeing Science and and and actually you know things that are backed. It just brings it into such a perspective on, you know, with medication, with faith, with counseling, whatever it is, do your own research, you know, look it up and see how you know you can get help or what might work the best for you. Yeah, so I know a lot of times, like I know people in my immediate circle who struggle with panic attacks and, you know, have overwhelming Anxiety, and so do you know any like daily coping techniques or anything that they could do, like say, say someone walked in here right now having a panic attack, what, what could you do right now to start helping with those symptoms?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, there's a lot of things that you can do without the help of medication for those who find themselves in a situation where they're just really anxious. And the easiest and first one that you'll hear from just about every mental health care provider is the deep breathing. So it's called diaphragmatic breathing, but I would just refer to it as belly breathing, and the best way to do this is to breathe in through your nose, counting to four, hold your breath for a moment and then breathe out lonely through your mouth. So what this does is it stimulates the vagus nerve and activates the relaxation response. This is in the parasympathetic nervous system. So the parasympathetic nervous system is the part that is known as rest and digest when your body goes into that relaxation mode, and the deep breathing is essentially to Help bring that about.
Speaker 2:
That's so neat. So what is something that a person could do daily to help with mental health problems like tip as a preventative?
Speaker 3:
For preventative, I would absolutely recommend some daily exercise. So there's tons of research showing that exercise can help with increasing the amount of serotonin, the feel-good hormones and chemical messengers in your brain, and vitamin B6 and B12 are also really great for mood stabilization, and the deep breathing is absolutely something you could do every day.
Speaker 2:
So many times should you do that, that deep breathing technique.
Speaker 3:
Do it whenever you think of it honestly. It not only helps with anxiety, but it's also good for your digestion and a number of other things because of, like I said, the vagus nerve. It just helps with that overall relaxation, and so that's a good one. Avoid substances. I would say avoid alcohol and any kind of substances which can worsen anxiety, and also be aware that nicotine and caffeine can increase anxiety.
Speaker 2:
Hmm, and what about? You said caffeine.
Speaker 3:
Yes.
Speaker 2:
I don't know. I might, I might have to stick with a little bit of anxiety. Yeah same. So is there anything else that you would like to note or anything else that you really think needs to be shared about mental health or around mental health?
Speaker 3:
I think it's great that the awareness has increased and people are so much more comfortable with discussing it and being open about it. I would say that openness is definitely the number one thing. Talk to your support system or, like we mentioned earlier, if nobody you know, if you don't have a strong support system, you can call the mental health crisis line, which is 988. It's kind of like a substitute for 911, only for mental health. That is so cool.
Speaker 2:
I just love that that it's so much more acceptable now and it's people can actually get the help that they need. And then there's resources and, like you said that, the mental health, urgent cares and the 988 and that would what it was. Yeah, that's just life. This is life changing for people.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, yeah, it's awesome that people can finally get the help that they need without having that stigma attached, without having to be ashamed of it. You know, and get that help because it really will dramatically improve your life. Whether you're struggling with anxiety, depression, bipolar schizophrenia, any of those mental health issues, you know. Thankfully there can be a good ending to your story, like when I had anxiety in high school. I questioned whether I would even finish high school. To be honest, yeah, and I got help. Initially, my parents were old school, so we went through counseling and then, once I got into college, I made the choice to go see a psychiatrist and I got on medication and that enabled me to be able to succeed through nursing school. Wow, yeah.
Speaker 2:
Well, I love that and you know, if any of you don't have a support system, feel free to reach out to me. I will be your support system. I am here, I'm rooting you on and I want you to succeed in life. And you know, I think it's so important to have somebody who is unbiased and loves you and wishes the best for you, and so if you don't have a person in your life that you know you can reach out, to reach out to me. I would be glad to support you and cheer you along, and if you have any questions, I can always send them on to Kristin.
Speaker 3:
I think hairdressers are awesome therapists. I'm just going to throw that out there.
Speaker 2:
Well, you know, I sometimes have thought I should take a course on mental health just to see, like, how to help people better, because I really have been through like some crazy stuff with my clients.
Speaker 2:
And then, you know, in the evening when I should be relaxing, I'm like praying for them and thinking of them and wondering, you know, like we're doing research, seeing how you know I could help them. Yeah, that's awesome, you know it is. It takes a toll when you have your own family stuff that you're dealing with and you know your own stuff. And then you have all these clients too that you're like I know I almost feel like they're my responsibility a little bit, because I care for them, I want them to be happy and to be succeeding in life, and so, yeah, I feel like I kind of take on a little bit of their burdens as well as my own. So, yeah, well, thank you so much for coming in today and I appreciate having me. I really appreciate it. And, guys, if you have any questions, shoot them my way and I would be glad to ask the expert for you. So I hope you all have a great day and I will talk to you next week.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening in today. If you have a burning question or a topic you want me to cover, leave a review and ask the question in the review. This is the best way to get your questions answered. Just remember you are a smart, wealthy stylist and you are capable of anything you set your mind to. I'll catch you later, Don't be a stranger.