Exploring the Connection Between Mind, Emotions, and Effective Leadership

1 00:00:00,401 --> 00:00:02,044 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Healthy, wealthy and Wise 2 00:00:02,084 --> 00:00:07,182 podcast with Dr William Choctaw, MD, JD. In this episode, Dr. 3 00:00:07,222 --> 00:00:10,449 Choctaw begins his Leadership Masterclass series by covering 4 00:00:10,529 --> 00:00:14,284 mental health matters. Dr Choctaw will discuss mental 5 00:00:14,324 --> 00:00:18,233 health issues and challenges and the differences between the two 6 00:00:18,233 --> 00:00:22,628 . He will also explore multiple topics, from depression to 7 00:00:22,827 --> 00:00:29,347 anxiety and many more. Question how can we help someone navigate 8 00:00:29,347 --> 00:00:32,843 mental health challenges or issues? What if that person is 9 00:00:32,923 --> 00:00:37,286 ourself? Well, these and other questions will be answered and 10 00:00:37,345 --> 00:00:41,253 addressed in this podcast episode. So let's get started. 11 00:00:41,902 --> 00:00:44,799 Here's Dr William Choctaw, MD, JD. 12 00:00:45,923 --> 00:00:49,664 Speaker 2: Good morning. I'm Dr William T Choctaw and I will be 13 00:00:49,743 --> 00:00:55,142 your host today for the Leadership Masterclass. I want 14 00:00:55,161 --> 00:00:59,003 to welcome all of you. We have a very interesting topic, and our 15 00:00:59,003 --> 00:01:05,087 topic is mental health issues, and we want to go over that and 16 00:01:05,168 --> 00:01:08,581 hopefully, at the end of this session, you will have learned 17 00:01:08,620 --> 00:01:13,643 some things that maybe you did not know. I believe life is 18 00:01:13,703 --> 00:01:18,120 about being of service. I believe knowledge is power. I 19 00:01:18,161 --> 00:01:22,864 believe leaders can change the world. Let me start off with an 20 00:01:22,965 --> 00:01:25,459 outline, and I always like to give an outline whenever I'm 21 00:01:25,498 --> 00:01:28,284 going to make a presentation, and I do the outline for two 22 00:01:28,405 --> 00:01:31,465 reasons. One reason is I want you to know what I'm going to 23 00:01:31,506 --> 00:01:34,405 talk about, and the second reason is I want you to know 24 00:01:34,444 --> 00:01:38,625 what I'm just about done. I've always learned that your time is 25 00:01:38,625 --> 00:01:42,221 important, if not more important than my time, and so I 26 00:01:42,221 --> 00:01:45,481 want to make sure that we're in sync. We're going to start off 27 00:01:45,522 --> 00:01:49,802 by talking about brain anatomy, and we're going to go back to 28 00:01:49,923 --> 00:01:52,840 some of your biology maybe from high school, college or maybe 29 00:01:52,881 --> 00:01:57,149 even medical school for some of you and talk about the anatomy 30 00:01:57,269 --> 00:02:02,426 of the brain and all the mind. We're also going to talk about 31 00:02:02,546 --> 00:02:05,781 mental health disorders and mental health illnesses and try 32 00:02:05,820 --> 00:02:10,956 to make a distinction between the two to help us to avoid 33 00:02:10,997 --> 00:02:14,527 oversimplification. We're going to talk about symptoms and 34 00:02:14,587 --> 00:02:20,604 treatments for at least one major type of mental illness And 35 00:02:20,604 --> 00:02:26,236 how that can be a benefit to you going forward in terms of 36 00:02:26,277 --> 00:02:28,925 taking care of different problems and taking care of 37 00:02:29,306 --> 00:02:32,888 different issues. And, finally, we'll conclude with me sharing 38 00:02:32,948 --> 00:02:37,644 with you some of my basic principles that, in my 50 years 39 00:02:37,723 --> 00:02:45,498 of medical practice and at least seven years of work as an 40 00:02:45,579 --> 00:02:50,715 executive in the hospital environment, just share with you 41 00:02:50,715 --> 00:02:53,082 some of the things that I have learned that you may find 42 00:02:53,503 --> 00:02:57,867 interesting and important. Well, let's take a look at the brain. 43 00:02:57,867 --> 00:03:01,963 Let's start with the brain, and the brain is divided into 44 00:03:02,745 --> 00:03:06,721 multiple layers and multiple lobes. To be exact, there are 45 00:03:06,741 --> 00:03:09,228 six lobes of the brain and I'll just go over them very quickly 46 00:03:09,268 --> 00:03:12,887 with you. There's the frontal lobe, which, as the name implies 47 00:03:12,887 --> 00:03:15,521 , is in the front part of the head. The frontal lobe is, like 48 00:03:15,542 --> 00:03:18,629 the CEO of the brain, if you will, the chief executive 49 00:03:18,729 --> 00:03:22,847 officer, and it's involved with thinking, memory, behavior, 50 00:03:22,888 --> 00:03:27,187 movement. The temporal lobe is right under the frontal lobe. 51 00:03:28,020 --> 00:03:31,881 It's responsible for hearing, learning and feelings And we'll 52 00:03:31,901 --> 00:03:36,298 get to that feelings a little later. The parietal lobe is 53 00:03:36,377 --> 00:03:41,325 adjacent to the frontal lobe, on the top, and it's responsible 54 00:03:41,366 --> 00:03:45,198 for language and touch. Next to the parietal lobe is the 55 00:03:45,337 --> 00:03:49,084 occipital lobe, which is the back part of the head or the 56 00:03:49,104 --> 00:03:54,758 brain, and it is responsible for sight. Contiguous with the 57 00:03:54,897 --> 00:03:58,802 occipital lobe is the cerebrum. It's responsible for balance and 58 00:03:58,802 --> 00:04:03,909 coordination, and contiguous to the cerebrum is the brain stem. 59 00:04:03,909 --> 00:04:08,179 The brain stem is responsible for breathing, heart rate and 60 00:04:08,218 --> 00:04:12,704 temperature. The brain stem is extraordinarily important, as 61 00:04:12,743 --> 00:04:16,288 you might imagine, because what it does is that when we are no 62 00:04:16,327 --> 00:04:19,851 longer conscious, when we're sleeping, we continue to breathe 63 00:04:19,851 --> 00:04:23,523 , our heart continues to beat and the temperature in our body 64 00:04:23,642 --> 00:04:27,375 is regulated. It doesn't get too hot or too cold, and all of 65 00:04:27,435 --> 00:04:33,641 that is because of the not a subconscious activity of our 66 00:04:33,682 --> 00:04:39,488 brain stem. As a position of 20 or 50 plus years, we still don't 67 00:04:39,488 --> 00:04:44,399 understand everything about the brain And it still remains to 68 00:04:44,459 --> 00:04:51,021 be a fascinating part of the body. Now, what I just went over 69 00:04:51,021 --> 00:04:54,005 was basically the hardware of the brain. If you will Think 70 00:04:54,045 --> 00:04:57,838 about the brain as a computer, and I just talked about the 71 00:04:57,898 --> 00:05:02,685 hardware, but there's also inside the brain, or networks 72 00:05:02,865 --> 00:05:07,620 and neurons and connections, and this is what we call software, 73 00:05:08,081 --> 00:05:12,035 and within that software is something called the mind, m, i, 74 00:05:12,035 --> 00:05:18,240 n, d, the mind. Sigmund Freud, who is felt to be by some to be 75 00:05:18,281 --> 00:05:21,504 the father of psychiatry, divided the mind up into three 76 00:05:22,165 --> 00:05:30,396 distinct areas. One was the ID, the ego, e, g, o And the super 77 00:05:30,536 --> 00:05:35,045 ego. The it is that part of the mind that's only interested in 78 00:05:35,084 --> 00:05:39,920 the person, in the individual, the it knows what it wants and 79 00:05:39,959 --> 00:05:43,247 it doesn't care what it needs to do to get it. It's only about 80 00:05:43,326 --> 00:05:48,380 me, me, me. The ego is the rational part of the mind, the? 81 00:05:48,500 --> 00:05:53,588 it may say I want that ice cream in the store across the street. 82 00:05:53,588 --> 00:05:58,586 The ego may say, yes, i do want that, but I don't have any 83 00:05:58,646 --> 00:06:02,622 money, and so I can't get that ice cream across the street 84 00:06:03,182 --> 00:06:07,798 unless I have some money to buy it. Then there's the third part 85 00:06:07,838 --> 00:06:13,483 of the mind, called the super ego, and the super ego is right 86 00:06:13,543 --> 00:06:17,843 and wrong. So the? it says I want that ice cream, i'm going 87 00:06:17,863 --> 00:06:22,802 to go take it. The ego says, well, i'm not going to go take 88 00:06:22,862 --> 00:06:25,387 it because I don't have any money, and if you want something 89 00:06:25,387 --> 00:06:27,798 , you have to purchase it If you want to get it from the store. 90 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:33,697 And the ego is rationalized and being reasonable, and the super 91 00:06:33,798 --> 00:06:37,884 ego would say I want that ice cream but I'm not going to take 92 00:06:37,944 --> 00:06:41,598 it because it would be wrong. It would be wrong for me to take 93 00:06:41,637 --> 00:06:44,663 that ice cream without paying for it. So those are the three 94 00:06:44,745 --> 00:06:48,916 parts of the mind. So think about all of that as we think 95 00:06:48,956 --> 00:06:52,942 about the brain and the mind all inside the skull and how that 96 00:06:53,002 --> 00:06:58,348 all helps us as this extraordinarily complex human 97 00:06:58,408 --> 00:07:04,858 computer, as we are called. Man, or man and woman, as one looks 98 00:07:05,218 --> 00:07:08,843 at the brain, there's an important part, important 99 00:07:08,903 --> 00:07:15,930 structure in the brain that has to deal with feeling, or emotion 100 00:07:15,930 --> 00:07:19,302 . I call it the emotion center of the brain And that structure 101 00:07:19,341 --> 00:07:26,019 is called the amygdala. Amygdala , and you spell that a, y, a, m, 102 00:07:26,019 --> 00:07:37,500 y, g, d a, l a, the amygdala. The amygdala is a very small um, 103 00:07:37,500 --> 00:07:42,326 a P shaped structure that sits at the base of the brain, next 104 00:07:42,348 --> 00:07:47,523 to the hippocampus, but it is the emotion center of the brain. 105 00:07:47,523 --> 00:07:52,759 It is where our feelings are, good feelings, bad feelings, in 106 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:57,307 between. So the amygdala is the very, very important structure 107 00:07:57,346 --> 00:08:01,959 of the brain Because it affects how we feel about any particular 108 00:08:01,959 --> 00:08:06,086 situation, in a particular person in a particular 109 00:08:06,267 --> 00:08:11,800 experience And indeed one of the ways that that physicians are 110 00:08:11,901 --> 00:08:16,005 able to help individuals who may be, say, extremely depressed, 111 00:08:16,187 --> 00:08:20,497 or depressed to the point of suicide, is to do things in 112 00:08:20,557 --> 00:08:24,346 terms of hormone manipulation that affects the amygdala 113 00:08:24,485 --> 00:08:31,365 directly. So let's pause a bit now and let's talk about mental 114 00:08:32,107 --> 00:08:36,075 issues. Or let's talk about mental conditions and let's 115 00:08:36,115 --> 00:08:40,562 divide mental conditions into mile on the mountain and, being 116 00:08:40,682 --> 00:08:46,760 a mental issue, let's say in the middle area, a mental disorder, 117 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:54,115 and on the more serious area of mental illness, all of us have 118 00:08:54,216 --> 00:08:58,416 mental issues, mental issues, the basic fears and anxiety. 119 00:08:58,495 --> 00:09:01,422 Some people may be afraid of dogs, some people may be afraid 120 00:09:01,482 --> 00:09:06,317 of, some people may be afraid of water. Most of the times, those 121 00:09:06,317 --> 00:09:10,551 things, even though they call some discomfort with us, they do 122 00:09:10,551 --> 00:09:16,712 not affect our functionality significantly. Our functionality 123 00:09:16,712 --> 00:09:20,558 significantly and that's a word I want you to become familiar 124 00:09:20,599 --> 00:09:25,312 with as you try to evaluate, or as one evaluates, whether a 125 00:09:25,371 --> 00:09:30,711 mental issue is significant or is not significant, does it 126 00:09:30,772 --> 00:09:35,572 affect one's functionality? example I have a fear of heights 127 00:09:35,572 --> 00:09:40,490 . If I'm in a building, that's, and I'm on the 30th floor, i 128 00:09:40,551 --> 00:09:44,120 don't look out the window because it just makes me 129 00:09:44,179 --> 00:09:47,794 uncomfortable. Now, that's okay for me, because, number one, i'm 130 00:09:47,794 --> 00:09:51,140 not in buildings on the 30th floor a lot And even if I am, i 131 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,874 don't have to look out the window. So it does not affect 132 00:09:55,034 --> 00:10:00,153 the functionality primarily in my life And I can do the things 133 00:10:00,273 --> 00:10:04,201 I need to do on a day by day basis and it does not concern me 134 00:10:04,201 --> 00:10:08,857 . On the other hand, i am a physician, not only my position, 135 00:10:08,857 --> 00:10:12,711 i'm a surgeon And let's say I had a fear of blood. Well, that 136 00:10:12,750 --> 00:10:18,921 would be a problem, because if I'm a surgeon and I get anxiety 137 00:10:19,361 --> 00:10:23,596 or fear every time I see blood, i probably would not be a very 138 00:10:23,655 --> 00:10:28,313 effective surgeon, right? So it gives you an idea about how you 139 00:10:28,354 --> 00:10:33,421 can compartmentalize or divide the different areas of mental 140 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:40,298 issues into a mental issue on one hand, and say mental illness 141 00:10:40,298 --> 00:10:46,558 on another hand. So a mental illness may be, let's say, 142 00:10:47,681 --> 00:10:53,256 schizophrenia. Let's say I go in and out in terms of reality, 143 00:10:53,336 --> 00:10:56,863 i'm not sure what the day is, i'm not sure where I am, who I 144 00:10:57,062 --> 00:11:00,975 am. Sometimes I'm in the real world and sometimes I'm not. 145 00:11:01,034 --> 00:11:03,919 Well, that's the problem, because if I have a job, i've 146 00:11:03,940 --> 00:11:07,231 got to be in the real world to function Again, that word 147 00:11:07,292 --> 00:11:12,221 functionality to take my car, to work or get on the bus or have 148 00:11:12,261 --> 00:11:14,712 someone take me to work. I've got to be able to do my work, 149 00:11:15,254 --> 00:11:18,519 i've got to be able to meet my obligations to those around me 150 00:11:18,580 --> 00:11:22,695 my co-workers or my family, and I've got to be able to take care 151 00:11:22,695 --> 00:11:27,993 of myself. So functionality is what I want you to remember, to 152 00:11:28,072 --> 00:11:33,339 allow you to evaluate mental conditions Again, issues on one 153 00:11:33,619 --> 00:11:37,562 end, disorders, and then, on the other, on the other, extreme 154 00:11:37,702 --> 00:11:42,591 illnesses, in terms of what is needed or required. Two areas 155 00:11:42,610 --> 00:11:49,182 that particularly stress mental health are, for one, 156 00:11:49,481 --> 00:11:53,172 relationships. If you are in a relationship, let's say, 157 00:11:53,211 --> 00:12:00,359 girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife, co-worker, a parent, child 158 00:12:00,359 --> 00:12:03,722 all of those types of relationships that involve other 159 00:12:03,722 --> 00:12:08,851 people who are close to you or who you need, will put a stress 160 00:12:09,393 --> 00:12:15,441 or a strain on your ability to cope or your ability to function 161 00:12:15,441 --> 00:12:20,812 , if you will Again that word functionality. And many times, 162 00:12:20,971 --> 00:12:25,837 when things happen that may be of the mental nature, that may 163 00:12:25,878 --> 00:12:28,841 affect our mental health, it will be something that may have 164 00:12:28,881 --> 00:12:34,514 been precipitated by relationship. Example a divorce. 165 00:12:34,514 --> 00:12:37,378 Individuals have been married for a long period of time, or 166 00:12:37,457 --> 00:12:41,102 whatever the circumstances are, and they get a divorce. That 167 00:12:41,163 --> 00:12:44,952 clearly is a trauma And, depending on the individual and 168 00:12:44,972 --> 00:12:49,057 depending on the reason for that could very well send one into 169 00:12:49,097 --> 00:12:53,524 depression or into other types of ill health. From a mental 170 00:12:53,583 --> 00:12:57,474 perspective, if you lose your job, you've been working at a 171 00:12:57,514 --> 00:13:00,778 place for 10 years and you're a good worker and you love your 172 00:13:00,798 --> 00:13:04,703 work, but the company decides to downsize or to move to a 173 00:13:04,744 --> 00:13:10,676 different country And you lose your job, that clearly would 174 00:13:10,716 --> 00:13:15,081 affect your ability to cope and to feel good about yourself and 175 00:13:15,123 --> 00:13:18,211 may very well affect your functionality If you don't have 176 00:13:18,250 --> 00:13:22,177 the security of work and the feeling that that gives you to 177 00:13:22,216 --> 00:13:26,102 have something that's stable and allows you to do those things 178 00:13:26,123 --> 00:13:30,312 that make you feel good. And the other area that can many times 179 00:13:30,692 --> 00:13:34,437 have a strong impact on our mental health is change. And 180 00:13:34,477 --> 00:13:37,241 again, actually the first example is a type of change, but 181 00:13:37,241 --> 00:13:41,431 say other types of change. Any major change Many times will 182 00:13:41,471 --> 00:13:46,193 affect us. Example many individuals doing the, the, the 183 00:13:46,553 --> 00:13:51,837 height of the COVID virus infection, significantly 184 00:13:53,099 --> 00:13:57,741 positions saw a spike in mental health issues or in the number 185 00:13:58,162 --> 00:14:00,934 of individuals with mental health issues. And that was 186 00:14:00,975 --> 00:14:06,092 because That was because, basically, that huge change 187 00:14:07,254 --> 00:14:10,808 individuals were not able to cope with. It was just too 188 00:14:10,870 --> 00:14:15,687 difficult, that was too much uncertainty, a lot of the things 189 00:14:15,687 --> 00:14:20,250 that we all rely on were removed from us The ability to 190 00:14:20,711 --> 00:14:26,947 go out to dinner, the ability to see loved ones, friends, the 191 00:14:26,986 --> 00:14:30,394 ability to go to work or to school or to send our kids to 192 00:14:30,456 --> 00:14:36,616 school. We had to adjust, on minor levels and on major levels 193 00:14:36,616 --> 00:14:41,456 . These are the types of things that affect our mental ability, 194 00:14:42,125 --> 00:14:45,610 our mental health, if you will, because they affect our ability 195 00:14:45,671 --> 00:14:50,716 to function. Whenever you want to evaluate a mental condition, 196 00:14:50,845 --> 00:14:56,152 look at functionality Again. On the light end, or the 197 00:14:56,712 --> 00:15:01,028 non-serious end would be a mental issue, afraid of 198 00:15:01,107 --> 00:15:05,691 something that's not significant . On the more serious end would 199 00:15:05,730 --> 00:15:11,432 be mental illness, where it's an illness, meaning that it has 200 00:15:11,513 --> 00:15:15,009 affected your ability to function. Let's talk about 201 00:15:15,110 --> 00:15:19,489 mental illness. What is mental illness? Mental illness is 202 00:15:19,548 --> 00:15:25,110 basically a distress or problem in functioning in socially, 203 00:15:26,706 --> 00:15:29,908 work-wise or with family activities Pretty much what 204 00:15:29,947 --> 00:15:34,474 we've been saying. Mental illness is an illness that 205 00:15:34,654 --> 00:15:39,327 affects us mentally and prevents us from being able to function 206 00:15:39,428 --> 00:15:45,970 normally socially, with work and with family. Mental illness is 207 00:15:46,129 --> 00:15:53,076 not something to be ashamed of. It is something that can be 208 00:15:53,157 --> 00:15:55,932 treated. It is an illness that can be treated just like a 209 00:15:56,293 --> 00:16:00,374 physical illness. Mental illness can be treated just like heart 210 00:16:00,433 --> 00:16:04,793 disease. Heart illness can be treated along illness or any 211 00:16:04,894 --> 00:16:08,389 other type of illness. One of the things that's important to 212 00:16:08,408 --> 00:16:13,647 keep in mind is that now we have medication, because we 213 00:16:13,726 --> 00:16:17,296 understand a little more how mental illness works and why it 214 00:16:17,336 --> 00:16:20,990 works and where it works. Again, we talked about the brain and 215 00:16:21,009 --> 00:16:24,606 the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain, and we now 216 00:16:24,667 --> 00:16:30,150 have medications that can affect those areas. It's important to 217 00:16:30,171 --> 00:16:34,354 keep that in mind. If one takes nothing more from this 218 00:16:34,433 --> 00:16:40,567 presentation, remember that mental illness is treatable. It 219 00:16:40,647 --> 00:16:49,511 is treatable. How does this all happen? What we believe affects 220 00:16:50,453 --> 00:16:55,793 how we think, what we think affects how we feel, and how we 221 00:16:55,894 --> 00:17:01,471 feel affects how we act. If you want a template to evaluate 222 00:17:01,971 --> 00:17:06,368 someone in terms of their mental health, start with what they 223 00:17:06,410 --> 00:17:10,594 believe. Do they believe they're seeing little green men on the 224 00:17:10,634 --> 00:17:14,752 street? Because then that's going to make them feel a 225 00:17:14,792 --> 00:17:18,574 certain way and it's going to make them think a certain way 226 00:17:18,704 --> 00:17:22,106 and it's going to make them act a certain way. Many times, you 227 00:17:22,126 --> 00:17:28,238 can get an idea or an insight into where that individual is 228 00:17:28,258 --> 00:17:32,506 coming from just by being able to discuss their beliefs, which 229 00:17:32,566 --> 00:17:36,555 is why it is so important in terms of all of us staying 230 00:17:36,634 --> 00:17:40,973 healthy mentally by many times reexamining our own beliefs, 231 00:17:41,625 --> 00:17:44,953 maybe when you were growing up and you had a bad experience in 232 00:17:44,993 --> 00:17:49,714 a certain neighborhood or in elementary school or junior high 233 00:17:49,714 --> 00:17:53,351 school that affected your belief about certain people or 234 00:17:53,412 --> 00:17:57,469 certain circumstances or certain situations. Maybe those beliefs 235 00:17:57,469 --> 00:18:01,310 are not true, but maybe you carried those beliefs all the 236 00:18:01,352 --> 00:18:06,348 way to your 40s and 50s and now you're in a relationship, either 237 00:18:06,348 --> 00:18:13,486 by people you work with or by individuals in your family, and 238 00:18:13,506 --> 00:18:17,615 you find those old beliefs are now creeping into your ability 239 00:18:17,674 --> 00:18:21,965 to maintain good relationships with those individuals. So it's 240 00:18:22,006 --> 00:18:26,336 very important that we make sure that our beliefs all of us stay 241 00:18:26,336 --> 00:18:29,851 healthy. So one of the ways to make sure that we stay healthy 242 00:18:29,891 --> 00:18:34,429 mentally is to constantly you know we talk about physically 243 00:18:34,469 --> 00:18:37,946 how it's important to exercise and eat well. I'm going to 244 00:18:37,987 --> 00:18:42,170 submit that for mental health, it's important for us to review 245 00:18:42,269 --> 00:18:46,349 our beliefs on a regular basis. I call it having a conversation 246 00:18:46,390 --> 00:18:49,650 with the person in the mirror and I can tell you where they 247 00:18:49,670 --> 00:18:52,287 will show up, where the issues will show up Whenever you start 248 00:18:52,327 --> 00:18:55,965 getting upset or angry about something or feeling bad. Start 249 00:18:56,027 --> 00:18:59,627 examining that. Why is it? this bothers you, what is it that 250 00:18:59,667 --> 00:19:03,090 makes you so upset? And you'll be surprised that as you start 251 00:19:03,131 --> 00:19:08,231 peeling back that onion, you may find those beliefs that you can 252 00:19:08,231 --> 00:19:13,127 see are no longer tenable. There was something that you 253 00:19:13,169 --> 00:19:16,525 thought a long time ago that now you know better, but yet that's 254 00:19:16,525 --> 00:19:19,911 still been driving you subconsciously without you being 255 00:19:19,911 --> 00:19:23,457 aware of it. So just something to keep in mind. Well, how 256 00:19:23,497 --> 00:19:27,880 common is mental illness? Mental illness is common. About 19 257 00:19:27,900 --> 00:19:33,640 percent of people adults in the United States can have it. It is 258 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:38,229 , can be and serious mental illness can be about 4 percent 259 00:19:38,855 --> 00:19:43,625 serious in terms of requiring hospitalization or more serious 260 00:19:43,685 --> 00:19:49,296 types of treatment. One can certainly in some respects place 261 00:19:49,296 --> 00:19:55,567 substance abuse as a strong contributing factor with some 262 00:19:55,606 --> 00:19:59,000 degrees of mental illness, depending on how severe that 263 00:19:59,060 --> 00:20:04,565 addiction is. I include in that alcohol or severe alcohol abuse. 264 00:20:04,565 --> 00:20:08,944 These are some of the corollaries that go along with 265 00:20:08,984 --> 00:20:12,262 that, because a lot of times what we do is when we do get 266 00:20:12,282 --> 00:20:15,298 depressed and when we do get down and when things do happen 267 00:20:17,565 --> 00:20:24,045 in our lives, we then try to comfort ourselves by doing 268 00:20:24,105 --> 00:20:28,259 things that make bad situations worse. So we have to be aware of 269 00:20:28,259 --> 00:20:32,738 that. When I'm talking about mental illnesses, i'm primarily 270 00:20:32,759 --> 00:20:36,703 talking about adults. Children also can have mental illness, 271 00:20:37,115 --> 00:20:40,076 but they're completely different from adults. What I mean by 272 00:20:40,116 --> 00:20:44,479 that is children are not little adults that we can't take what 273 00:20:44,519 --> 00:20:48,288 happened with maybe a member of the family who was an adult and 274 00:20:48,307 --> 00:20:52,619 say, well, xyz, work for so-and-so, so, my 15-year-old, 275 00:20:52,660 --> 00:20:55,938 i'm going to do the same thing with her, or make or suggest the 276 00:20:55,938 --> 00:20:59,181 same thing with her. That does not work. Children are not small 277 00:20:59,181 --> 00:21:04,645 adults. Children are unique and they have to be addressed in a 278 00:21:04,806 --> 00:21:08,603 unique manner in terms of being able to understand what their 279 00:21:08,663 --> 00:21:11,980 needs are. That's why they're pediatricians or physicians or 280 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:19,737 child psychologists who built specifically for children. It's 281 00:21:19,778 --> 00:21:23,821 important to keep that in mind. Another thing to keep in mind 282 00:21:24,957 --> 00:21:28,619 and some of you may remember this is men really are from Mars 283 00:21:28,619 --> 00:21:33,520 and women really are from Venus . My point about this is that we 284 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,638 , men and women, are different. We are completely different, 285 00:21:38,621 --> 00:21:44,021 that we have different chromosomes. Men have more 286 00:21:44,082 --> 00:21:47,239 testosterone, women have more estrogen, on and on, and on and 287 00:21:47,338 --> 00:21:52,986 on and on. What's important is that there's nothing wrong with 288 00:21:53,026 --> 00:21:56,958 being different. That's okay. That's okay. So it's not 289 00:21:57,018 --> 00:22:01,397 important for us to assume well, if I like X, my wife should 290 00:22:01,417 --> 00:22:05,175 like X, or if I like Y, my husband should like Y. We are 291 00:22:05,236 --> 00:22:09,825 different and we should understand that difference and 292 00:22:09,904 --> 00:22:15,244 embrace that difference. So when it comes to how one deals with 293 00:22:15,265 --> 00:22:18,878 the situation, how one deals with trauma, it is not going to 294 00:22:18,919 --> 00:22:23,878 be the same. One side may cry a lot, the other side may say 295 00:22:24,019 --> 00:22:27,695 absolutely nothing. Many times as a physician, i've seen 296 00:22:27,797 --> 00:22:31,026 individuals who come to my office because they feel like 297 00:22:31,066 --> 00:22:34,678 that they're supposed to react a certain way When they get a 298 00:22:34,738 --> 00:22:38,637 certain diagnosis or this or that. What I communicate to them 299 00:22:38,637 --> 00:22:43,675 is you are uniquely you and you do what works for you. Whatever 300 00:22:43,675 --> 00:22:49,403 your reaction is, it's okay for you. In many times when we try 301 00:22:49,442 --> 00:22:53,202 to help others, we don't because we're trying to force them to 302 00:22:53,403 --> 00:22:56,539 act a certain way, because that's way someone who we knew 303 00:22:56,579 --> 00:23:01,680 before acted, or maybe the way we acted, but have those 304 00:23:01,759 --> 00:23:04,046 individuals talk to someone who's a professional 305 00:23:04,086 --> 00:23:09,086 psychologist, psychologist, therapist to guide them if they 306 00:23:09,165 --> 00:23:12,458 need that, as compared to trying to force them to do something a 307 00:23:12,458 --> 00:23:16,726 certain way. It is important to be aware that certainly suicide 308 00:23:16,726 --> 00:23:23,326 is a serious problem in this country And it has probably been 309 00:23:23,326 --> 00:23:28,128 increasing, and many believe that certainly COVID was a part 310 00:23:28,148 --> 00:23:32,407 of that process, but it may well have been increasing in spite 311 00:23:32,448 --> 00:23:37,442 of COVID, particularly with increased drug use etc. Etc. So 312 00:23:37,501 --> 00:23:40,800 be aware of that If you come into a situation and certain of 313 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:46,306 you live in LA County, there are suicide hotlines that are free 314 00:23:46,887 --> 00:23:52,323 and confidential. In English, it's 1-800-273-8255. In English 315 00:23:52,423 --> 00:23:57,625 it's 1-800-273-8255. In Spanish, in LA County, it's 316 00:23:57,846 --> 00:24:09,343 1-888-628-9454. Spanish 1-888-628-9454. If you know 317 00:24:09,442 --> 00:24:12,423 someone or believe someone is in trouble, do not hesitate to 318 00:24:12,522 --> 00:24:17,784 intervene and try to get them some help, because you may very 319 00:24:17,804 --> 00:24:21,260 well be able to save a life. Well, let me conclude. If you 320 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,104 remember what I said on my outline, when I get to my basic 321 00:24:24,144 --> 00:24:27,996 principles, i'm just about done. My first principle is God is in 322 00:24:27,996 --> 00:24:31,990 charge. I believe that God has been extremely important in my 323 00:24:32,049 --> 00:24:36,608 life in terms of leading me and guiding me and directing me in 324 00:24:36,648 --> 00:24:41,388 the right path, and I certainly recommend that to you if that's 325 00:24:41,429 --> 00:24:46,521 your choice, but that has clearly been helpful for me. I 326 00:24:46,561 --> 00:24:49,329 decided many, many years ago that I would have no more bad 327 00:24:49,390 --> 00:24:53,382 days, and so I don't have bad days in my life. I have good 328 00:24:53,422 --> 00:24:57,778 days and I have great days. If it rains outside, some people 329 00:24:57,798 --> 00:25:00,453 say, oh, it's a terrible day, i'm going to get cold, i'm going 330 00:25:00,453 --> 00:25:04,680 to get sick. And others would say, oh, what a beautiful day. 331 00:25:04,861 --> 00:25:08,482 It's going to clean all the leaves and the trees And it's 332 00:25:08,522 --> 00:25:12,042 going to make everything so bright and crisp. And so what 333 00:25:12,103 --> 00:25:17,580 I've learned is how my day is is completely up to me, 100%. And 334 00:25:17,621 --> 00:25:21,192 so I said if I have 100% control of this, then I don't want any 335 00:25:21,232 --> 00:25:24,020 more bad days, because I've had enough of them in my life. I 336 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,807 recommend that philosophy to you . Thirdly, i don't sweat the 337 00:25:27,868 --> 00:25:32,211 small stuff, and most stuff is small. I have learned that many 338 00:25:32,251 --> 00:25:35,085 times when I get upset or I'm about to get upset, that 339 00:25:35,125 --> 00:25:38,279 whatever I'm upset about is probably not that big a deal. 340 00:25:39,682 --> 00:25:43,939 And I have learned to measure myself, take a deep breath, take 341 00:25:43,939 --> 00:25:47,650 a step back, think about it, because most of the times it's 342 00:25:47,730 --> 00:25:53,265 not worth it. Stress management one of the ways, one of the 343 00:25:53,305 --> 00:25:56,057 things that stresses us is trying to do everything for 344 00:25:56,157 --> 00:26:02,007 everybody else. It's okay to take care of yourself mentally I 345 00:26:02,007 --> 00:26:04,597 mean, i'm talking about stress now that can lead sometimes to 346 00:26:04,637 --> 00:26:09,090 mental issues which could lead to mental disorders, which could 347 00:26:09,090 --> 00:26:13,632 lead to mental illnesses in some people. And finally, my 348 00:26:13,692 --> 00:26:15,140 final basic principle is everything is a relationship, 349 00:26:16,987 --> 00:26:20,019 whether it's husband, wife, son, daughter, parent, child, 350 00:26:22,131 --> 00:26:26,048 working relationships, friendships, etc. Etc. And 351 00:26:26,087 --> 00:26:28,897 relationships are based on three things mutual respect, mutual 352 00:26:28,917 --> 00:26:32,916 trust, good communication. If you have those things, your 353 00:26:33,017 --> 00:26:38,196 relationship will thrive. It is important to our mental health 354 00:26:38,217 --> 00:26:40,609 that we have good relationships. Finally, let me leave you with 355 00:26:40,651 --> 00:26:46,076 this thought The only impossible journey is the one you never 356 00:26:46,096 --> 00:26:50,796 believe that you never begin. The only impossible journey is 357 00:26:50,856 --> 00:26:53,229 the one you never begin. Be the change you want to see in the 358 00:26:53,269 --> 00:26:59,323 world. Have a great day. 359 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,625 Speaker 1: Take the next step of action and share it with your 360 00:27:27,685 --> 00:27:31,057 family, friends and or your co-workers. They'll be glad you 361 00:27:31,096 --> 00:27:35,598 did So. until the next time, live your best possible life the 362 00:27:35,598 --> 00:27:36,603 best possible way.