Nurse Maureen‘s Health Show Podcast
Welcome to Nurse Maureen's Health Show Podcast where we dive deep into all things health, wellness, and everything in between. Hosted by a passionate nurse with years of frontline experience, we bring you expert interviews, real-life stories, and the latest insights on staying healthy. Nothing is off limits as we delve into menopause, mental health, sexual health and more. Whether we’re breaking down medical myths, discussing cutting-edge treatments, or chatting with top health professionals, this show is your go-to for practical advice and inspiring conversations. Let’s get healthier, together!
Nurse Maureen‘s Health Show Podcast
Mental Illness and Substance Use with Dr. June
Warning: Suicide is discussed here. If you or anyone you know are contemplating suicide, 988 is available 24/7/365. Ever wondered how to enhance your mental well-being year-round? Join us as Dr. June Hall, an expert in positive thinking and mental health, shares transformative strategies to integrate self-care into your daily routine. From creating a self-care calendar to focusing on nutrition, exercise, and sleep, Dr. Hall provides actionable advice to improve your mental health. She also delves into the importance of understanding genetic predispositions and familial history to foster ongoing mental well-being.
In this episode, we tackle pressing issues like mental illness, substance use, homelessness, and suicide, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive support systems. Dr. Hall and I explore the alarming rise of anxiety and depression among young people and discuss practical solutions to these challenges, such as improving financial security and stabilizing housing. Additionally, we highlight the significance of promoting coping skills and fostering resilience in children. Don't miss Dr. Hall's insights on her Accentuating Positive Thinking (APT) workshops and how positivity can empower a healthier society.
This podcast is brought to you by Life360 Innovations, creators of the Contino urethral insert, a non-surgical Health Canada licensed medical device for men with stress urinary incontinence. Contino is easy to use and blocks the flow of urine without the need for adult diapers or pads. More than just a medical device, the Contino care program connects you with experienced medical professionals and creates a personalized treatment plan that provides ongoing support so you can get back to life. Go to MyContinocom to see if Contino is right for you and book your free continence assessment. Get bladder leakage control with Contino and get back to living. Remember, go to Mycontinocom. That's M-Y-C-O-N-T-I-N-Ocom. Good evening and welcome to my little health show podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in.
Speaker 1:As you probably are aware, may was mental Month and we are into June now and I often wonder, you know, does it end? Do we forget everything that we learned in Mental Health Awareness Month? How do we move forward? So what I've done is invite my esteemed guest, dr June Hall, who's a keynote speaker, talk show host. She did an amazing TEDx talk. She's an advice columnist and AP tier, which is accentuating positive thinking. She facilitates workshops and offers presentations to fashion positivity. I've asked her to join me on the line. Good evening, dr June. How are you?
Speaker 2:Good evening, oh, happy day. I am great. How are you?
Speaker 1:I am fine. Thank you so much for asking. You know there's so many different days that we honor certain things about medical conditions, and then months as well, and so people have it foremost on their mind, but then I often think the month goes by, the day goes by, the week goes by. Are we no longer thinking of MS or Parkinson's, or menopause or mental health, as was the case for May, mental Health Awareness Month? How do we move forward with what we learned in May, or what we came to be more familiar with, or what we raised awareness about?
Speaker 2:I find that, probably the first week going into June, people are still thinking about some of the things that they have done in May. Many times there are activities done in May by the people who feel like they need to work on their mental health, or people who encourage others, and then, after you know, like you said, june hits. After a few days they stopped doing that. What we need to do is remember to continually work on our mental and emotional health and do the things that we practiced in May that make us happy and feel good.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and you know, and it's difficult because with mental health or when we don't have our mental health, we often don't feel good. So that is such a big challenge. You know, in any given year, one in five people experiences a mental illness and by the time people reach the age of 40, one in two have or have had a mental illness. This is so common. It affects young people. They're more likely to experience mental illness and or substance use disorders than any other age groups, and men have higher rates of substance use disorders than women, while women have higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders. And then also menopause or perimenopause, those middle years, you know, women start to increase their consumption of alcohol, oftentimes to deal with some of their perimenopause symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. I mean, this is all around us. What are some strategies that people can utilize to, you know, to create mental health, because sometimes I to create mental health, because sometimes I do think mental health can be created.
Speaker 2:One thing is to remember that all the things that you mentioned mental illness, substance abuse, different health factors are all familial. They come from genetics. You have a higher chance of having a mental disorder you have one of your parents is a substance abuser or drinks heavily. You have 50%. If both of your parents are. It's 100% chance that you can become a substance abuser. So the same goes for mental health.
Speaker 2:So be familiar with the familial of your family. If they have had any struggles with any type of disorders. It may not even be, it might be maldepression, but when it comes to you it might be major depression. So, being aware of what's happening with your parents, your grandparents, aunts, uncles, that is the first thing to do, because a lot of times we don't realize and maybe sometimes you know our parents don't even want to admit that there is an issue. But you should be aware if there are some issues. So that's number one, because you know what your chances are.
Speaker 2:Number two, I say make a calendar, make a to-do list. May was mental health month, but then when we're going to June now, or July or August or whatever months, there are especially the months where there are wintertime and there are seasonal affective disorders because there's not as much light. We need to have in our calendar things to do. We put in our professional life what we need to do, a meeting that we need to go to, someone that we need to meet for lunch. We also need to put in there what we need to do to care for ourselves and that will help us be a reminder to do something even when we're not in the months that are the awareness type months.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those are great suggestions and you know, oftentimes people don't realize. Even just going back to the basics can be so helpful Good nutrition, exercise, ensuring that you're getting adequate sleep and get treatment for insomnia. If you're experiencing that, for example, or you know, eliminate or reduce alcohol consumption, because that is a depressant.
Speaker 2:When you said sleep, I wanted to mention something that I find to be helpful, that people they often laugh about it when I say it, but there are two things that I find helpful. If you are having a difficult time sleeping, I mean you may need to go for professional help, but if, maybe, if you're stressing about something and worrying that's why you can't sleep. One is to watch something funny before you go to bed.
Speaker 1:I've never heard that. Yes.
Speaker 2:It releases the endorphins, it helps you relax and you're happier and more relaxed when you go to bed, as opposed to having a stressful conversation or or watching a drama, or or you know something with racing or you know whatever type of show that's exciting.
Speaker 2:So watch something funny and number two, this is something that I came up with. It's called a sleepcation, where you actually plan what you feel, what it is that you want to do while you're on a vacation, but you're having it in your sleep. For example, my best friend and I, we always say that we want to go to a ski lodge. Not to ski, we just want to go to the lodge.
Speaker 1:You're smart.
Speaker 2:Find a fire and drink hot cocoa. You know, you see it in the movies. So what is it that you want to do?
Speaker 1:I know right.
Speaker 2:Where do you want to go? Do you want to go to Hawaii and sit on the beach? So have that sleepcation planning that and it relaxes you, to help you go to sleep. I apologize for interrupting, but I just-.
Speaker 1:Not at all.
Speaker 2:In there.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely, you got to. It's so important and both of those make such common sense. I love it. And so back to basics is important Now. The other thing is we still have a stigma about mental illness, and you were talking about be familiar with your family, but oftentimes we hide this. There's so much shame and there's a weakness associated with mental illness. How do we overcome that, or can we even overcome that? I mean, you know people might talk about the uncle that you know drinks too much, or another family member who is, you know, a bit off, but it's all done kind of, you know, under the carpet, in shame, in secrecy. You know, how do we get past that stigma so that we understand that this is a medical condition and there are treatments available?
Speaker 2:One is what you just said. It is a medical condition. You need to understand the terms like oh, that person is crazy, is not the appropriate way to talk about it. Understand that this is a medical condition that can be treated, and so when we realize that, then we can understand. The same way we go to the doctor because we broke our arm or we have a headache that we can't get rid of, whatever the case may be, we can also go see a professional regarding our emotional and mental wellness.
Speaker 2:The thing that I ask those who don't want to deal with it, the question that I ask, most common question that I ask, is do you like feeling this way? Enjoy being too emotional this way? Enjoy being too emotional? Do you enjoy hiding behind whatever substance you're using? And the answer is typically no. It's not something I like. If you are not feeling good and liking that person, then you need to do something about it. In spite of having the fear or believing there's a stigma and you know what? There's not really that much of a stigma anymore. I think that when they have it advertised, I try to explain to them. Do you see that this is on an advertisement on the radio or on television, do you see that people are talking more and more about it. So this is a way that you can overcome, because it's more common knowledge than it was before, and if there's something out there that can make you feel better when you're not enjoying how you feel or enjoying life, then do something to help yourself.
Speaker 1:And you're right. There are so many apps like betterhelpcom, and calm is another one. You mentioned substance use disorders and people are hiding behind that and people with substance use disorders are up to three times more likely to have a mental illness and more than 15% of people with a substance use disorder have a co-occurring mental illness. You know, I don't think people associate substance use disorders with mental illness, yet it is so common. And yet we accept.
Speaker 1:You know, we accept the excessive drinking at, you know, at parties by people, for example, which can be binge drinking. You know we accept the daily pot smoking by people, you know, five times a day. You know, and think that, oh, that's okay, they're still functioning, they're still working. We know we have functional alcoholics and functional pot smokers. But, you know, I often say to people you can feel better. I mean, I don't know if that helps them or not, to be honest, but it's a little bit of a light, you know, that may go off, that says I don't. You know, I don't have to feel this way because, you know, on some level they're self-medicating by using substances.
Speaker 2:And that might be something also, as we said. Well, as I mentioned is genetics, but it could also be something learned. You know how you I don't know if you heard about you know I'm sure you've heard about this Marine being in the health field that sometimes we eat away our problems. We're taught that it's like okay, she's upset, give her a cookie, she's upset, let me make her. Well, that helped them feel better. Let me do it too, instead of learning new, more appropriate ways to deal with whatever the problem is.
Speaker 1:If you enjoy the show. There's one simple way you can show your support Just hit the follow button on the app you're using to listen to the show. Right now, I'm working so hard to take everything on the show to the next level, and your follow means a lot to me. It's the only free thing I'll ever ask of you and it truly makes a big difference. Thank you sincerely for your support. I truly appreciate it and you know it's just so incredibly sad for the person. You know, because there's so much that's lost. People with mental illness and substance use disorders are more likely to die prematurely than others. Mental illness can cut 10 to 20 years from a person's life expectancy, and I want to talk a little bit about homeless lists as well. Homeless people. You know between it's estimated that between 25 and 70% of homeless people may have a mental illness. You know which is. That's just such a big challenge for societies.
Speaker 2:That is absolutely correct. It's on the higher end, closer to the 70 of the individuals who are homeless that have their mental illness is not because of their finances. It's because they have, emotionally and mentally, have become incapable of dealing with life, and so that's what happens. On the flip side of that, there is also the finance where they could not afford to get the medicine, see the professionals to take care of themselves, and then they end up homeless. So it's both ends of the spectrum. Either way, there should be some ways to manage it. Individuals who work with the homeless by the time they get to them, sometimes they are not willing or capable of understanding that, yes, I need to do something or need to take medicine. I need to do something to make it better, and that's the sad part of it. So if we can start helping people before they get to that point, I believe there would be less homelessness and we would have a better society.
Speaker 1:And also, you know it's a very tragic subject, but death by suicide is a leading cause, you know, with people have an intent to die, you know most people and that just demonstrates just how difficult their lives have become, and it's a serious public health problem that has a far reaching impactaching impact, and it does not discriminate. It affects people of all ages creed, color, it does not matter, and so you know that's another reason that we need to deal with racism, you know, deal with mental illness earlier on, so we can shake that stigma, you know, for good and fully, in a comprehensive manner. You know we have people dying by suicide, you know, approximately one person per 11 minutes, and then the people who attempt or think about death by suicide is even higher than that, and in 2021, an estimated 12.3 million Americans seriously thought about suicide, 3.5 million planned a suicide attempt and 1.7 million attempted suicide. I mean, that is just tragic.
Speaker 2:The tragic part is the age group I don't know what the percentage is, but they are becoming younger and younger who are considering and talking about suicide and taking their lives and not wanting to be in society anymore. So I am mind blown by the numbers of individuals who are not even adults, who have not even really lived their life fully, who are already thinking about taking their lives because they're unhappy, because of depression, because of anxiety. And here's the sad part, because of anxiety. And here's the sad part that some adults, some parents, some educators, do not believe that children have depression or anxiety. They're like what are they depressed about? What are they anxious about?
Speaker 2:It is a true situation that is harmful to these individuals that are youngsters, and so once we are able to realize that children it doesn't matter can have anxiety, can have depression, who may have seen something I know that some individuals who are in elementary school, they have seen something tragic and have stopped talking we have to realize that it doesn't matter the age, that individuals young individuals matter the age that individuals, young individuals also have anxiety and depression, and that is the reason that the numbers are increasing, with them thinking about taking their own lives. So that's an issue as well.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and you know there's so much that needs to be done, like improving household financial security, stabilize housing, reduce access to lethal means, guns amongst persons at risk of suicide, improve access and delivery of suicide care, and you know that's really, you know, has to do with insurance, so covering mental health conditions and health condition and health insurance policies and increased provider availability in underserved areas. We have so much work to do in this area. And, of course, teaching coping and problem solving skills. And I see this, you know, with parents of young children. You know they're not.
Speaker 1:No one's allowed to fail, you know, because failure is a reflection on the parents of their weakness or they're not doing a good job, but failure is one of the best gifts. I think that you know. How else do we learn? We learn from failing. We'll never do that again, you know. And it's okay to fail, and I think that is a very important lesson, you know, for parents to let their children fail, because it actually builds resilience. And you know we need to also train, support people, gatekeepers, people who respond to these crises, and you know, and also provide for safety and follow up after an attempt. I know somebody who attempted one year and then was successful the next. But you know there was a big gap in terms of the supportive care between that time because there was so much shame, ten and 11 year olds who cry because they received a B and not an A.
Speaker 2:Right, I am just mind blown by the fact that they are so stressed out by a letter grade that they cannot function and that their parents will put pressure on someone at that age. And a B is a good grade, it's a passing grade, it's a high enough grade, but if they don't have that A, they have that pressure and stress because maybe their parents are executives or doctors or whatever high level, and so now they have this pressure on the children and then, as you mentioned, if there is an attempt after a couple of months, they move on without the follow-up, which needs to be persistent for several months, not just for a few weeks after the attempt. So those are also issues that need to be addressed.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I hate to be on such a downer subject, but it's an important subject and I just want to say if you need help or you know someone who does contact the 988-SUICIDE-AND-CRISIS-LIFELINE, if you're experiencing mental health related distress or worried about a loved one who may need crisis support, you can call or text 988. That's call or text 988. And you can chat at 988lifelineorg If you connect with a trained crisis counselor. 988 is confidential, free and available 24-7, 365 days a year and for more information you can visit the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988lifelineorg. Dr June, let's end this on a positive note Can people recover from mental illness and live a fulfilled, happy life? And, of course, let me have your wisdom.
Speaker 2:People can live with mental illness. It may not ever go away, but if they seek the professionals, if they do the treatment, and it's not even always medical. I mean medicine I'm trying to sorry, not medical. It's not always even a pill that you have to take. It could be different things, such as going out in the sunlight every day, such as doing something that makes you happy every day, such as having positive conversations and relationships rather than staying in relationships that are not positive and happy. So these are things that you can do in addition to or in lieu of having to take a medication. So those are all positive. I was gonna say when I said about there's something positive. I have a positivity conference every year, so we talk about these things and we have a good time and we have a day of positivity. So these are other things that you can do to look for events and people that do positive and happy things in life that you can partake in.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic, as the mind often goes to what if this doesn't work out? We don't often think what if this does work out? We have to do a little mind shift there. Dr June, thank you so much for joining the podcast. I'm delighted to chat to you again. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate you. You are so welcome and I completely appreciate you as well. It's been lovely to talk to you. I love your positivity and thanks so much. We'll get you back on All righty. Have a good one, you too.
Speaker 1:That was Dr June Hall, keynote speaker, talk show host, advice columnist and APT-er. Apt is Accentuating Positive Thinking. She facilitates workshops and offers presentations to fashion positivity. And I'm Maureen McGrath, and this is my Little Health Podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in. I'm Maureen McGrath and you have been listening to the Sunday Night Health Show Podcast. If you want to hear this podcast or any other segment again, feel free to go to iTunes, spotify or Google Play or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts iTunes, spotify or Google Play or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. You can always email me nursetalk at hotmailcom or text the show 604-765-9287. That's 604-765-9287. Or head on over to my website for more information. Maureenmcgrathcom, it's been my pleasure to spend this time with you. This podcast is brought to you by Life360 Innovations.
Speaker 1:Creators of the Contino Urethral Insert a non-surgical, health Canada licensed medical device for men with stress urinary incontinence. Contino is easy to use and blocks the flow of urine without the need for adult diapers or pads. More than just a medical device, the Contino Care easy to use and blocks the flow of urine without the need for adult diapers or pads. More than just a medical device, the Contino Care Program connects you with experienced medical professionals and creates a personalized treatment plan that provides ongoing support so you can get back to life. Go to MyContinocom to see if Contino is right for you and book your free continence assessment. Get bladder leakage control with Contino and right for you and book your free continence assessment. Get bladder leakage control with Contino and get back to living. Remember, go to mycontinocom. That's M-Y-C-O-N-T-I-N-Ocom.