Is this your story?

It doesn't have to be!

I don’t know why society has labelled us as crazy. The more that I hear that I begin to believe that maybe that is the case. Maybe I am crazy. I have days where I just want to open the door and reach out hoping that there is someone there that would take my hand and offer to help me. There is so much darkness and I don’t feel that I can navigate it on my own. I just need one person to be there for me. Today there is no one, and yesterday there was no one. I am beginning to wonder if this picture will change. Will there be that one person who cares enough to take my hand and help me out of the closet? This is what I may have to face if I do come out of my closet.

“Each year millions of Americans with mental illness struggle to find mental health care. Nearly half of the 60 million adults and children living with mental health conditions in the United States go without any treatment. People who seek treatment must navigate a fragmented and costly system full of obstacles. As a result, many people cannot access mental health care when they need it most.” (https://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Publications-Reports/Public-Policy-Reports/The-Doctor-is-Out)

“According to the World Health Organization, around 450 million people currently struggle with mental illness, making it the leading cause of disability worldwide. Here at home, it affects more than 6.7 million of us. In fact, one in two Canadians have—or have had—a mental illness by the time they reach 40 years of age.” (https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real)

“Mental illness is a leading cause of disability in this country, preventing nearly 500,000 employed Canadians from attending work each week.

All in, the economic burden of mental illness in Canada is an estimated $51 billion per year including health care costs, lost productivity and reductions in health-related quality of life.

Opioid overdoses now account for more deaths in Canada than automobile accidents.

 The World Health Organization estimates one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds.

 Over 4,000 Canadians die by suicide every year—an average of 11 per day.”

(https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real)

 We need to know that there is help there, but we do need to reach out. I know that you have reached out in the past and no one was there. The demand for resources to help you navigate your healing journey is extremely high and yet we have not done much to increase the number of support people that can be there. We are not always listening and hearing what you want – even if it is someone to talk to that will listen and hear what you are saying. Someone that is non-judgmental.

I have found that a journey mentor can be part of that support structure. They can listen and hear what you are saying and do so without passing judgment. They will walk beside you as you continue to work on the healing that needs to take place. They are the hand that you reach out for as you make that decision to begin your healing process. They care and want your well-being to be a priority.

Let your journey mentor be there for you. It is okay to reach out and say, “I need help”.

I am asked on numerous occasions to respond to questions regarding mentoring, mentoring process and how mentoring can bring value to individuals and/or organizations. Here is a question I received recently and my response.

Will a bully make a good corporate leader?

No.

We don’t need or want a bully at the helm of the organization. What happens when this occurs is that the good employees will leave because they can. I have seen this in a number of situations where a leader or leaders were bullying. Bullying is a way to mask insecurity and it can lead to Mental Health issues for the victims of bullying. Mental Health issues when not addressed properly in an organization can result in increased sick time and lost productivity. More importantly it can also cause pain and suffer for someone that does not need to experience pain and suffering.

Bullying is not good for the organization, their clients and their employees. It is not a leadership trait - never has been and never will be.

PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is something that can affect anyone who has been through a traumatic event. Most people learn to live with it, but there are treatment options out there. Some sufferers manage it with medication, especially with the way that ptsd and marijuana have been found to balance each other out. Of course, not every country has legalized the use of marijuana as of yet, which means that some patients suffering from PTSD may not be able to receive this treatment until the laws are changed. However, there are other, similar products that are derived from hemp rather than marijuana, and they have been more widely accepted in modern medicine as they have less than 0.3% of THC, the psychoactive element that produces mind-altering effects. Even with all of these treatment options, the problem is, that many organizations are still ill-equipped to deal with employee stress and PTSD in the workplace.

One of the biggest mistakes with managements' approach to dealing with employees is treating everyone the same cookie-cutter approach. PTSD shows up differently in different people and does not tend to effect men and women the same. In fact, women tend to be more susceptible to PTSD than men, and tend to be affected over a longer period of time. Both may find benefits from Amuse items, but the situation will still affect them differently. This is not intended to label women as being weaker but to highlight that multiple approaches and solutions are required.

About 10 out of every 100 women (10%) develop PTSD sometime in their lives
compared with about 4 out of every 100 men (4%).

*Stats based on U.S. population (2019) (https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_adults.asp)

Before diving into the gender differences and why we must offer multiple approaches and solutions; we must be clear on what PTSD is.

What is PTSD?

PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, rape or other violent personal assault. PTSD has been known by many names in the past, such as "shell shock" during the years of World War I and "combat fatigue" after World War II.

However, while PTSD is typically associated with military and first responders, PTSD can occur in all people, of any ethnicity, nationality, culture, beliefs, and at any age.

PTSD triggers are often accompanied with depression, substance use, memory issues (such as accelerated Dementia & Alzheimer's), and other physical, mental, and spiritual health challenges. All of these potential PTSD symptoms are worrying, especially as most people who suffer from PTSD are older veterans. For those who do start displaying signs of memory issues, it might be worth learning more about a memory care facility that could improve the lives of individuals that might be suffering from dementia or memory loss.

* Reference: https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd

PTSD differences between men and women

In general, PTSD will affect about 4% of men and 10% of women in a typical North American sample.

* Reference: https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd

Women have over double the PTSD rate than that of men. Women's PTSD also tends to last longer (4 years versus 1 year on average). Women are more at risk for chronic PTSD than men.

How men and women deal with trauma - what does the research say?

Research shows that men and women tend to experience the same trauma in different ways.
Both Men and Women at some point in their life may deal with the stress of:

• Accidents
• Natural disasters
• Disasters caused by humans
• Bullying – in school, home, community and workplace
• Family stressors
• Daily stressors – personal and professional

Research shows that men and women tend to experience different stress and traumas.
While both men and women serve in the military, more Men are likely to experience:

• Combat and military trauma

In demanding work environments both men and women experience stress and traumas as:

• First responders
• Field workers
• Fear, intimidation, dismissiveness, and demeaning behavior in the workplace, sometimes daily

Personally, both men and women may experience stress and traumas

• Family strife
• Illness
• Accidents

Additionally, women are more likely to experience stress and traumas (sometimes daily) from:

• Dealing with sexist dismissiveness, and unwanted advances at the workplace
• Fear, intimidation, dismissiveness, demeaning, and sexist behaviour at home
• Physical and mental domestic violence
• Sexual abuse and assault

Does experiencing PTSD in genders differ?

• On average, women tend to be more susceptible than men to additional mental health challenges:
  • anxiety disorders
  • environmental depression
  • genetic vulnerability to depression
  • high anxious temperament
  • societal attitudes
  • gender roles
  • income inequalities
• Research shows that women have higher rates of PTSD than men. Women's greater exposure to sexual trauma, sexual coercion, and intimate partner violence plays a role, as well as biological, environmental, and coping factors. When families, social groups, government bodies, news media, or organizations disbelieve, disrespect, or minimize girls' and women's experiences of sexual trauma, this can cause a great deal of harm to mental health.
• On top of that Women tend to report about a third less traumas they suffer than men do. This means women are at higher risk of PTSD even though they experience fewer traumatic life events than men on average. This is surprising and suggests there may be something about the type of trauma or women's reactivity that puts them at higher risk.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201809/why-women-have-higher-rates-ptsd-men

How can Effective Mentoring Help Organizations Support Employees Suffering from PTSD?

1. Assign an Effective Mentor to the organization to assess and create the organization's customized PTSD Support System
2. Build the PTSD Support System customized to the organization's needs
3. Train new mentors inside the organization to participate in the PTSD Support System to become extraordinary mentors demonstrating proper mentoring strategies
4. Increase employee awareness of the PTSD Support System to start the healing process
5. Continually monitor, analyze, and augment the PTSD Support System for employees
6. Seek addition organization and community involvement
7. Demonstrate how the PTSD Support System helps to heal:
   • Employee (individual)
   • (workplace) Organization
   • Family
   • Community

We see situations all the time where organizations require sending employees to external professional resources. Those waiting lists are long, often waiting months for assistance, and the employee is then left to deal on their own with the trauma in the meantime.

This causes more stress for other employees, less productivity, and more leave time.

Bring in Effective Mentoring will assist in the healing process for the individual and the organization, creating an engaging, thriving workplace environment.

Effective Mentoring does not only assist with PTSD, but in all workplace stressors and challenges, creating an engaging, thriving workplace environment for all employees in all situations.

If you have any questions about how Effective Mentoring can create a more engaging, thriving workplace environment for your organization, contact me.

https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence

www.linkedin.com/in/douglawrence-mentor

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