Clinical Resource: Talking about Mental Health

Sufna John: Different groups different cultural groups have different conversations when it comes to mental health there are some groups where mental health is talked about really similarly to physical health other cultures I think that still think of mental health as something that we shy away from we don’t talk about we don’t seek help about um and I think that’s really unfortunate.

Unknown: A lot of people are going through mental health issues and don’t realize they’re mental health issues I think society, TV, radio whatever you use needs to explain because a lot of people don’t oh that’s a mental health issue I’m dealing with that I never would have thought about that.

Kheila Holmes: I believe that we have to think about holistic health right so of course we all have physical health um and then we also have emotional and mental health as well we have to make sure that people know it’s okay this is something typical and okay to focus on our mental and

emotional wellness or our mental health as well so then there’s no barriers.

Allison Smith: Well I think normalizing conversations about mental health is critical um especially

when it comes to kids and teens the idea of do as I say but not as I do doesn’t really work and that’s especially true with mental health I think if we don’t set the stage for kids and teens to know

that they can talk about mental health it makes it really hard for them to share with adults which then makes it hard for them to get the support they need to get the services that they need.

Unknown: The more that a family is talking about their emotions and mental health helps

children know that it’s okay to talk about times when they feel different feelings because there’s no such thing as a bad feeling and we expect that all feelings are going to be felt.

Unknown: A lot of different times my son-in-law calls me and says how’s your mental health today and when he the first time he said it I was like hm how is my mental health today and just putting it out there instead of acting like it’s a plague or something like that you just just mentioning hey how are you doing today and you know that that answer is always oh I’m good no no no no no I mean how are you really today and somebody sit there and listen instead of saying that because it’s the proper thing to say

Isis Pettway: There has been and there’s still is a lot of negative connotation when you say the word mental health um actually particular mental illness and so it comes with a lot of negative connotation and so a lot of times people are still silent however you know of course through the use of social media and other means the conversation is becoming more normal and so it’s becoming more inclusive.

Beth Toddy: If you don’t focus on your child’s social emotional intelligence and that’s basically just understanding teaching them how to understand and navigate their emotions and their feelings and

being able to communicate um and not just communicate but but also understand and implement

the things that that they can do themselves after being taught to help then you’re not going to set them up for success to enter the adult world that they will be entering a whole lot sooner than you realize it.

John: I think a lot of times for folks if we start to think about mental health as just a typical part of health. I think then we have a lot of good pathways into healthcare including mental health care.