February 6^th, 2021 was the toughest day that I have ever experienced and a day that was filled with sadness, sorrow and a whole bunch of unknown. That was the day that I lost Debra, my partner for life to cancer. She had so much more love to share with others for her to be gone. We had so much more living to do, things to see, places to go. She was only 62 and it wasn’t her time yet to depart, or so I thought. So early – it wasn’t fair. I asked myself over and over again what could I have done to change the outcome. I was to be her protector and I obviously had failed. Why couldn’t it have been me. What was the criteria that had Debra pass before me? Did I do something wrong that factored in to why she was to pass before me.

All these questions kept percolating in my mind as I tried to rationalize what had taken place and begin the grieving process. I struggled with believing that there was a process that I would have to go through. All the things that would need to be taken care of – that we were going to do together now rested on my shoulders. Why didn’t I get the extra time to spend with her to tell her how much I loved her and how much she means to me. Life without her would seem meaningless – there would be no purpose in what I would do. I would go through the day on auto-pilot.

Over a year has past and I spend a lot of my days filled with memories of things we did together and days where we shared what each other had done. We laughed, offered advice, listened and sometimes cried together at different lived experiences we had been a part of that day. Some were success stories, some were things we needed to work on, and some were learnings that each had experienced that would make our relationship stronger. Now all of that are memories. This is part of that grieving process.

Were those memories going to be strong enough to help me get to wherever it is that I am suppose to be going without Debra by my side? Little things seem to kick my emotions into overdrive and I wonder if I am loosing my mind some days. My mental sharpness is not what it was and that worries me.

I drive past the hospital where she had passed and it triggers memories of my back and forth to the hospital to visit her and eventually for her to pass. Tears run down my cheeks as I drive past where I had parked my car to go and spend time with her. The window where I had remote started my car from so I could go home and grab a couple of hours sleep before going back to the hospital.

I had moments where I was depressed especially when I tried to imagine what life would be like without Debra. I kept asking myself what could I have done different or better. Some things there are no real answers for the many questions that I had. People tell me that I just need to keep moving. Moving where and why? More questions.

I look forward to Monday as I can focus my attention on work related activities. I hate week-ends as I find myself alone. Week-ends were a special time as Debra and I would do all kinds of things but we did them together. That togetherness was priceless – even more so now.

I have noticed that my mental health isn’t where I think it should be. I wanted to share with you what I have been going through as mental health is a significant issue today and we don’t seem to be allocating the time to it that we should.

I am just one person and I was able to get closure but not everyone is that fortunate. Think of the 5.9M people that died due to COVID and all their families that may not have been able to get closure. Debra passed in February and we could not celebrate her life until August. Some people were not even able to do that. Not getting closure plays on your mental health and mental well-being. Think of the families of the approximately 59M people that die annually and the impact that it has on their friends and families. It is no wonder that our mental health is in the state that it is.

Just having someone to talk to is so important. Someone that is non-judgmental. Someone that can build a trusted relationship with you. That is where having a mentor that will walk beside you as you begin your healing journey. Grief is part of your mental health and mental well-being and mentoring can be a part of your support structure. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for help. It is so important that you tap into a support structure which would include a mentor and work together on your healing journey.

Mentoring and your mental health – a journey of healing and support.

https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/coping-with-loss-and-grief

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-of-deaths-per-year

Making Sense of Self Isolation Mandates and Sudden Mass Lay-Offs

We live during an unprecedented global pandemic. Many employees of organization big and small are in flux, feeling the impact of uncertainty, anxiety, and a sense of loss of control. Disruption and doubt are their new routine.

The employees in my mentoring circles are experiencing stress at a level they have never been subjected to before. For others unable to cope with mounting stress and uncertainty, if left unchecked, have the potential to develop symptoms far more serious than ever before, and without resources required to support them.

We also understand that Employers, HR, and C-Suite are under similar stressors for different reasons. It is not just the ones who are at the working level who are under pressure, but also the senior executives of a company too might have to undergo a lot of stress during these trying times, which have led to physical and mental ailments. These problems could potentially lead to bigger consequences, leading to the disruption of business as well. For cases such as this, business owners could opt to get key person insurance for the employees who they deem to be essential for the company.

To be fair, organizations have no policy or process to counter the COVID-19 and no lead time to address it at the expense of their employees because nobody saw this pandemic coming. No one had the support structure in place to deal with post-traumatic stress caused by the mass employee layoffs and the sudden skeleton crews.

Perhaps, if the wellness and healthy lifestyle of the employees were kept in check with group health insurance jacksonville fl or similar other health insurance, the companies could have tackled the times better. This could have also helped in improving employee morale and decreasing employee absenteeism.

Employee Compared to Organization Perspective:

Currently, employees are experiencing high anxiety and stress with the uncertainty.

In just a few weeks, concern replaces confidence that their employment will resume when the threat is over. They have no assurances their job will be waiting for them once the situation normalizes. Many employees are not eligible for short-term employment, but they still must feed their families. There is still no end-date on the duration for self-isolation and social distancing. Employees are beginning to lose hope, affecting not only their physical health, but their mental health as well. Many already:

• See the world entirely in negatives
• Disengage with family and friends
• Mask feelings into alcohol and drug abuse, etc.,
• Increased anxiety
• Sense of being overwhelmed
• Become highly depressed and suicidal

The reality is employee health is declining from mass stress and anxiety.

The question is, what resources can organizations put in place to assure employees?

Currently, organizations are in a state of flux.

Organizations want to continue providing services, products, and programs to their customers. They want to continue providing for their employees. However, organizations struggle to provide either with the constantly changing landscape. Organizations are severely limited by the bottom line. To keep their doors open and the lights on, is sometimes at the cost of employee's financial, physical, and mental well-being.

Expectation over the next One to Three (1 to 3) Months:

Well into the pandemic (one to three months in) employee stress levels mount with continuing unemployment and the funds to support their families running out. Employees scramble to figure out when their funds will run out. They hope that the supply chains continue to provide the necessities.

Most organizations may have viewed the global pandemic as being something short lived. As a result, organization may fall short continuing to provide services, products, and programs to clients and their employees. Some organizations especially the small to medium sized will struggle most and face the tough decision whether to finally fold or continue to struggle to remain solvent.

Contemplating the future does not appear bright.

However, there will be an end to the pandemic. There will be a new norm and a sudden swarm of available jobs.

This unprecedented situation does provide a unique opportunity for organizations to pause and consider, evaluate, and prioritize their challenges. They can use this downtime to revise old systems and integrate new solutions for the future.

Including effective mentoring at this stage will assist organizations by providing the support and the resources employees desperately need.

A program that trains mentors on the process of working with struggling employees will yield better physical and mental stability to addressing feelings of anxiety, periods of stress, and get them past dark or negative thoughts.

Several recruiters also seem to be seeking graduates in Clinical Exercise Prescription. This can be because these graduates would be able to prescribe exercise as a part of the healthcare treatment regime for their employees. Moreover, the exercises recommended by experts might be helpful for the employees in overcoming stress and anxiety.

Therefore, it is never too late to bring in a qualified mentor (or other experts) to start the healing process. Now is the time to put effective mentoring to work to create that workplace (however virtual) to focus on the work community and ensuring employees' well-being.

If you want more information of how your organization can get support through effective mentoring, don't hesitate to book an appointment >> https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence

*******************************************************************

Doug Lawrence is the founder of TalentC and Co-founder of the International Mentor Community.

Doug leads organizations to experience the benefits how mentoring will encourage workforce culture to flow in harmony (mentors), improve productivity from employees (mentees), reducing costly employee onboarding improving the bottom line (organizations).

Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC).

Doug's Practice of Mentoring has resulted in his accumulation of 2,000 hours of mentoring (in person and virtual), 197 hours of speaking opportunities and 672 hours teaching others how to effectively mentor.

Doug is a volunteer mentor with the Sir Richard Branson Entrepreneur Program in the Caribbean and with the American Corporate Partners in the United States working with military personnel in their transition from military life to civilian life. Doug is currently working with researchers to examine the role of mentoring as a support for those struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). His experience in law enforcement coupled with working with people suffering from PTSD has afforded him a unique view of mentoring and PTSD.

Doug is an international speaker and author about all facets of Mentoring. He published "The Gift of Mentoring" in 2014 with his second book set to publish in 2020.

Doug works with organizations to establish mentoring programs, influence mentoring as a culture, and provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals of all backgrounds and levels globally.

Contact Doug directly to discover how mentoring can improve your organization.

>> https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence

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

*******************************************************************************************

If You Have Stress in the Workplace, Read This ...

I watched Jay Shetty's video If Work Stresses You Out Watch This. It carried a message so strong it inspired me to write this post about PTSD and Stress in the Workplace.

First, let's establish some of the video's work stats.

____________________________

• 35% of us say that the #1 cause for stress in the workplace is our bosses and managers
• 76% of us say that they take home that stress and it negatively impacts our personal life and personal relationships
• 66% of us say that we have lost sleep because of the stress
• 16% of us quit our jobs because of stress

___________________________

Reference: Jay Shetty‘s If Work Stresses You Out Watch This

With the leadership mentoring work I do, these findings are no surprise. In fact, they validate my approach to working with people with workplace challenges.

The challenge is far deeper than conversations of stress, and stress in the workplace. The challenges of stress reach far beyond the workplace. While there is plenty of discussion to counter there is little to no action taken to solve it. This could lead to employees seeking ways to self-medicate in order to get help and relieve their stress. An example of this can be seen with the growing popularity of marijuana and marijuana-based products. Recent research has shown that marijuana and its components can have a positive effect on stress, relaxing the mind and body. With its legalization in various states this may be the reason why those who suffer from PTSD and stress may seek help from sites similar to Fat Buddha Glass (fatbuddhaglass.com) or local dispensaries. However, in some states, although marijuana is accessible to a majority of the working population, many of these states do not allow marijuana for recreational use. Medical marijuana is available but requires a medical marijuana card for personal use. These cards can only be obtained through a licensed and certified dispensary, which can offer potential patients a certification. To see an example of this, read more about the Missouri medical marijuana card certification here.

Still, every year we become more aware of stress in the workplace and its impact on the workplace environment as a whole and each individual.

Jay Shetty's video gives us a pretty good picture of what that looks like.

As leaders and managers of organizations, we are still not doing enough to arm our employees with the tools, tips, and resources they require to manage stress in their personal and professional lives, including stress created by some of their managers, supervisors, and leaders.

Unaddressed, stress in the workplace can grow into something far more serious: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Unaddressed Stress in the Workplace Can Grow into Something Far More Serious: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

What is PTSD and what can cause it?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event - either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.

Reference: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967

First considered a soldier's condition, PTSD is not restricted to war or a difficult home life, PTSD can also be experienced in the workplace. In fact, PTSD thrives in workplaces that do not address it, impacting the professional and personal life of an employee and those around them.

How many people does PTSD impact on an annual basis?

____________________________

• 7 to 8% of population with have PTSD
• 8 Million Adults annually are impacted by PTSD
• 3 to 15% of young female children will experience PTSD
• 1 to 6% of young male children will experience PTSD
  ____________________________

Reference: https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_adults.asp

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_children_teens.asp

There are many traumatic events that can lead to development of PTSD in our personal and professional lives, including the catalysts of; fire, natural disaster, mugging, robbery, plane crash, torture, kidnapping, life-threatening medical diagnosis, terrorist attack, and other extreme or life-threatening events.

Six common traumatic events that contribute to the development of PTSD include:

____________________________

• serious accidents
• natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and earthquakes
• living in a war zone, as a victim of war or a soldier
• sexual assault or threatened sexual assault
• serious physical assault
• seeing people hurt or killed

____________________________

Reference: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/causes-of-ptsd

Note, while not making the top 6 list, workplace PTSD is thriving unchecked in many workplaces.

Workplace PTSD can be caused by, but is not limited to:

Bad bosses, bullying, and berating, over-working, threatening, and withholding information as examples. Bottom line – trauma is trauma no matter how big or small.

Reference: https://medium.com/the-establishment/when-your-workplace-gives-you-ptsd-7b48c8f0af84

PTSD is not recognized by many until it is too late. We need to work on REMOVING all PTSD in the workplace resulting in a better culture, more productivity, employers increased bottom line, happier customers and employees are engaged, empowered and accountable resulting in a positive workplace culture benefiting all.

Mentoring as Part of the Support System for Those Experiencing PTSD

Currently, the International Mentoring Community (IMC) and I are exploring the role of the mentor as of the support structure for employees in the workplace experiencing PTSD.

One of the key elements of this journey is ensuring that proper professional resources are made available for someone dealing with PTSD. In addition, it might be helpful to offer useful oils like cbd oil to support the management of extreme emotions that those with PTSD regularly have to deal with. Make sure you get quality cbd oil ohio from professionals to ensure the cbd oil is more effective. This way they will be able to work with their mentor. The mentor's role is that of active listening and ensuring their mentee has access to those resources. In future articles I will discuss new requirements and techniques for mentors to provide and support their mentees. We will provide insight into questions such as:

Question1: What are the characteristics of an extraordinary mentor who is on a journey with their mentee experiencing PTSD?

Question2: What are the tools, tips, and resources to fully support the mentee to process and move past their trauma?

Question3: What are the characteristics of an extraordinary mentor who provides support to other mentors also working with mentees experiencing PTSD?

With deeper, richer meaningful conversations coupled with the answers to these questions the role of the extraordinary mentor will become clear.

The primary objective will be to provide support to the professional well-being of employees.

This will also include proper training of managers/supervisors/leaders and bosses in the symptoms and causes of PTSD and how mentoring is key.

3 requirements to keep the conversation going and structure the action to take.

• Continue the dialogue and develop action plans that support a healing environment.
• Follow through on the recommendations that will surface from these action plans.
• Ensure that mentoring and extraordinary mentors are part of the solution.

Are you part of the conversation?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Doug Lawrence is the founder of TalentC®.

Doug shows organizations how mentoring will encourage workforce culture to flow in harmony (mentors), improve productivity from employees (mentees), reducing costly employee onboarding improving the bottom line (organizations).

Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC).

Doug is an international speaker and author about all facets of Mentoring. He published "The Gift of Mentoring" in 2014 with his second book set to publish in 2020.

Doug works with organizations to establish mentoring programs, influence mentoring as a culture, and provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals of all backgrounds and levels globally.

To contact Doug: https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence