Mental Health Week: This is Empathy
May 2nd – 8th, 2022
Trigger warning: Mental illness, anxiety, discussion of suicide
By Lindsay Bissett
“When someone tells me to get outside to feel better, it does help me to feel better, but I need a lot more than that.” -Clara Hughes
What is Mental Health Week?
Mental Health Week is a Canadian tradition, with communities, schools and workplaces rallying to celebrate, protect and promote mental health. Every year since 1951, Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) has hosted Mental Health Week in the first full week in May, making 2022 the 71st year.
Connect on social media using the hashtags #GetReal and #MentalHealthWeek.
My story.
I live with anxiety. Wow, right? That takes practice to say, and more practice to say publicly without fear. Leda HR’s own Kristin Bower was there for me when it became time to admit to myself, and others, that I was not only diagnosed with anxiety, but it was likely something I had been living with my whole life.
Anxiety shows up in a variety of ways. In my life, the worst ways include panic attacks, self-doubt, crippling perfectionism, and a guilty conscience, who I have aptly named Jiminy Cricket. My anxiety is partnered with obsessive compulsive tendencies; the hardest part of this is my ongoing battle with obsessive worrying. Often, I joke that if worrying were an Olympic sport, I would get a gold.
Is anxiety my superpower? So many people say their mental illness is their superpower - I have also probably said this - but I am not entirely sure it is my truth. I think anxiety has made me more empathetic, but trust, if I could get rid of it I would.
Anxiety does not feel like my best friend, it does not feel like a blessing, it usually feels like a challenge and like work. This is probably the hardest thing to admit, it’s so much easier to laugh off pain, and give things a positive spin.
I don’t necessarily shy away from attention, and I have spoken openly about anxiety many times before, but generally people don’t want to listen to other people’s pain, especially when it’s a person who also lives with privilege, as I admittedly do. Today I am sharing as a practice and reminder to myself that anxiety has not and will not stop me from being successful, from being an amazing mother, spouse, friend, and colleague, and it does not have to stop anyone from achieving those things, but unfortunately because of stigma and lack of equal access to supports it can.
I have experienced judgement for having anxiety, I have heard the judgement veiled as concern, and some just not veiled at all. Self-judgement has also been a huge journey for me, one I have come very far with, but will likely continue to work on for the rest of my life. In using radical candor, my anxiety feels like such a combat to my perfectionism, it doesn’t feel perfect it feels flawed.
All this considered, and still not glamorizing mental illness, finally admitting, and seeking help for anxiety has greatly increased my resilience. Having anxiety has made me a fierce advocate both for the breakdown of dangerous mental health stigma and the embrace of inclusive hiring practices, which includes amazing folks who happen to battle an invisible disability.
When interviewing for my current role, I disclosed having anxiety. I felt confident enough that as a Wellness and Disability Management Consultant this was an advantage. I empathize with people who are experiencing a disability because I am one of them. This was an immense personal and professional win, one I am incredibly grateful for.
“The struggle I went through has value.” -Clara Hughes
It’s not just me. Statistics via CMHA National
In any given year, 1 in 5 people in Canada will personally experience a mental health problem or illness.
By age 40, about 50% of the population will have or have had a mental illness.
Mental illness affects people of all ages, education, income levels, and cultures; however, systemic inequalities such as racism, poverty, homelessness, discrimination, colonial and gender-based violence, among others, can worsen mental health and symptoms of mental illness, especially if mental health supports are difficult to access.
The above link provides further Canadian statistics surrounding youth mental health, mental health within Indigenous communities, lack of access to services, cost of mental illness, and staggering statistics regarding loss of life because of suicide.
What can we do?
Generally, people living with mental illness want to be treated like everyone else: with kindness, empathy and not like they are less than someone else. It is time to shift from equality to equity. Equal means treating everyone the same, equity means assuring unique needs are met. No two people are alike, so there is no one-stop-shop for knowing how to support a person experiencing mental health challenges, the right place to start is asking.
No one has to guess how someone needs to be supported; it is ok to ask. Often the solution is simple.
In the workplace, I highly recommend having leaders (and individual contributors) take The Working Mind via the Mental Health Commission of Canada. One of my favorite classes to date which digs into reducing stigma, promoting mental wellness, reviewing mental health rights, and generally creating a more supportive work environment.
Another organizational win is creating Employee Resource Groups. As Chair of a Mental Health Employee Resource Group myself, we amplify the stories of folks living with mental illness, provide a safe space for people with lived experience to discuss their mental health, and amplify trends to senior leadership. An Employee Resource Group not only increases wellness and employee engagement, but by creating it as a function that feeds information (while protecting confidentiality) to senior leaders it will ensure your organization stays current and remains on the journey to equity.
Finally, and most importantly, bring empathy alive with the people in your life. Be there, listen completely, and see the world through their eyes. It’s how to really help. #GetReal
About Lindsay Bissett:
By day Lindsay is a Wellness and Disability Management Consultant, with a flair for social media and mental health advocacy. By night she is a mother of two, green smoothie aficionado, podcast listener, and active glamper.
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Lindsay Bissett (@LindsayBissett) / Twitter