She introduced the phrase committed
suicide alone heavily weighs blame on
the victim for a tragic end of his or her
emotional suffering. If instead, we be-
gin to say died by suicide, we recognize
a very real, fatal outcome for untreated
mental illnesses.
We need to change the culture. It can
feel embarrassing, and the time it takes
to navigate affordable resources height-
ens the stigma, leaving a threat to mental
wellbeing untreated. Moving beyond
the stigma takes effort from everyone to
look after one another in support.
Talinda said something that will resonate
with me for the years to come: “When
we ask ‘how are you,’ are we really ask-
ing, ‘how are you?’”
Think about the last time someone
asked you this question, and what their
response might have been. Did they
ignore your answer? Did they look in
the other direction? Did they walk away
from you? If the answer is yes to any
of these questions, then you know the
abrupt exchange was not a positive one.
Again, we may seem so normal but we
aren’t always okay.
Talinda teamed up with Give an Hour
and the Campaign to Change Direction
to launch a new initiative in honor of
Chester’s life, 320 Changes Direction.
Being able to speak openly about these
struggles encourages those in need to
seek the care they deserve. This is one of
the two needs the Campaign to Change
Direction and 320 Changes Direction ini-
tiative aims to satisfy.
By first changing the culture of mental
health, Change Direction and Talinda
seek to build a new approach for those
suffering to easily find help they need
and deserve. In this industry, checking
in with each other - caring for each oth-
er’s mental wellbeing - is crucial.
When the Campaign to Change Direc-
tion launched on March 2, 2015, their 50
partners, and now 320 Changes Direc-
tion, have pledged to educate the world
about the Five Signs of emotional suf-
fering in order to launch a public health
effort for everyone – to encourage all of
us to care for our emotional well being.
With one in five Americans dealing with
a mental health challenge, it is no sur-
prise First Lady Michelle Obama helped
launch the campaign as their keynote
speaker in Washington, D.C.
Van Dahlen compared knowing the
signs of a heart attack equally as import-
ant as recognizing the signs of emotion-
al suffering.
“We would never say ‘suck it up’ to can-
cer,” Van Dahlen continued, “so why
would we [say that] to someone who is
emotionally suffering?”
Changing this stigma also lies in the
hands of parents who should encour-
age their children to think and talk about
their emotional wellbeing.
“We teach them about issues such as
drugs and sex but we don’t spend a
whole lot of time helping them grow
emotionally fit,” Van Dahlen said. She
made the argument emotional well-
being is a bedrock for success in life,
healthy relationships, families and com-
munities.
Putting time and energy into the pre-
vention of emotional suffering is a great
start to ensuring our children are emo-
tionally healthy to begin with.
There is hope for new pathways, Van
Dahlen continued, but there is no pill to
fix a mental health challenge. Although
there are pills to aid mental suffering,
such as an aid in sleep after a post-trau-
matic event, one still needs to put in the
work.
Seeking Self-Help
To understand the difference between
an emotionally suffering individual and
one who is not, each individual’s brain
differs widely from the rest. Humans
have yet to understand how each and
every brain works in its entirety – but this
is ok because there is a lot we do know
about how our brains contribute to our
feelings and our behaviors.
Along with the movement to drive cul-
ture change, the second goal of these
amazing organizations aims to create a
new approach to guarantee easy access
in finding help whenever necessary.
The ability to help ourselves is what we
do understand. Humans have the capa-
bility to heal and change behavior pat-
terns, Van Dahlen said.
During the struggle of his own men-
tal health journey, Scoleri compared
the incessant rumination plagued over
his brain to spiders searching for every
negative thought imaginable.
To help himself, other habits Scoleri cur-
rently practices include meditation, ex-
ercise, avoiding caffeine/alcohol, eating
clean, eliminating social media, turning
one’s phone off two hours prior to bed,
and much more he listed on a conve-
nient handout at the discussion.
The problem is, Scoleri revealed, is no
one provided his personal list of tips for
him. He had to recognize his own need
for help and work for it.
The panel then displayed a quote by
May a Angelou: “Do the best you can
until you know better. Then when you
know better, do better.”
Mental health awareness training, Digby
said, is a good idea. We have already
seen both Canada and the UK jump
ahead with government funding toward
mental health first aid. And the Cam-
paign to Change Direction launched
the Five Healthy Habits of Emotional
Well-being that we can all learn and
practice on www.changedirection.org.
Bell Let’s Talk has created their own five
ways to end the stigma around mental
illness, described on the home page of
their website.
More industry specific, the AFC, former-
ly known as the Actors Fund of Canada,
is described as the lifeline for Canada’s
entertainment industry. Each year, the
organization distributes $500,000 in
emergency financial aid to help all en-
tertainment industry professionals suf-
fering from injury, illness or other per-
sonal hardships.
In addition to OVER THE BRIDGE cur-
rently sorting data from the post-perfor-
mance mood response study, they have
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