Episode 5.0: Discussing Substance Use and Addiction

Mental Health America screenings: https://screening.mentalhealthamerica.net/screening-tools?ref=MHAKY Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 The Trevor Project (hotline, online chat, and texting): https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help-now/ Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Call 1-800-273-8255 If you or anyone you know are ever experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call the 24/7 Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or utilize the other resources detailed in this description.

For the second to last episode of the season, we turn to Twitter and Instagram to highlight some of the ridiculous, funny, and sometimes sad things people discuss mental health on the platforms. Tune in for some laughs (but a few lessons, too!). If you or anyone you know are ever experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call the 24/7 Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or utilize the other resources detailed in this description.

Youth suicide isn’t easy to talk about, but nothing good ever comes of silence. This week, we have special guest Marcie Timmerman, the Executive Director of Mental Health America of Kentucky, to chat about what’s causing high rates of suicide, what protective factors can help, and what we can do as a community to address the issue. There are several resources we reference throughout the episode, which are linked below. Mental Health America screenings: https://screening.mentalhealthamerica.net/screening-tools?ref=MHAKY Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 The Trevor Project (hotline, online chat, and texting): https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help-now/ Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Call 1-800-273-8255 If you or anyone you know are ever experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call the 24/7 Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or utilize the other resources detailed in this description.

Nope, we didn’t misspell muscles! Ocean is our marine-themed set of conversation cards that we’ve designed to help families have productive and open discussions about wellbeing. Families can play a significant role in mental health, and we recognized that many don’t know how to approach the issue. Ocean comes with over 120 creative, beautifully designed, and easy-to-use conversation starters to dip your toes into the mental health dialogue waters. Tune in to hear Sandra and Allison unbox and test the cards themselves! If you or anyone you know are ever experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call the 24/7 Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Sandra and Allison, our co-hosts, are first-time podcasters, so there have been hours and hours of bloopers in recording our first few episodes. Laughter can be great for your mental health, so laugh along with (and at) us in this sampling of just a few of our stutters, fumbles, failed ASMR snippets, hysterical laughter, and much more. If you or anyone you know are ever experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call the 24/7 Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Stress serves a natural biological purpose—way back when, it was our stress response that helped us survive when we stumbled upon a lion, got into a fight, or were chasing after our dinner. Stress can sometimes help us now, too—remember how fast you worked last time you started an essay an hour before it was due? However, chronic, never ending stress is becoming more and more common, with significant consequences on mental and physical health. We chat about what we can do about it in today’s episode. Remember that this isn’t a comprehensive review, and we encourage you to do more research! Our sources are below:  https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2018/understanding-critical-components-of-the-brains-stress-circuitry.shtml https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/stress/index.shtml https://people.com/health/teen-stress-rising-what-to-do/ https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037 If you or anyone you know are every experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call the 24/7 Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Body image is something that we all have and lots of us struggle with, whether that’s comparing ourselves to others on social media or experiencing an eating disorder. There’s a range of different types of eating disorders and struggles with body image, which we discuss in this episode with special guest Beatrice Roussell. Find Beatrice’s recovery account on Instagram @beas.recovery! As always, this is not a comprehensive discussion of body image, and we encourage you to continue to explore this issue if you’re interested. Our sources are below: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/body-image-0 https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/warning-signs-and-symptoms https://www.psychalive.org/what-is-body-image/ https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/eating-disorders/what-are-eating-disorders If you or anyone you know are every experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call the 24/7 Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Substance use is common, but dangerous. Not to spoil anyone’s fun, but to be honest, most of us probably have a story or two about what can happen as a consequence of substances. Listen to learn more about breaking down the stigma around substance use, the different types of substances and their effects, and what resources are out there. As always, this is a complex topic, and this episode is by no means comprehensive. We encourage you to do more research if you’re curious! By the way, we’re sorry about the audio on this one—someone may have forgotten to plug in the mic before we started rolling. Promise we’ll fix it next time, and we hope you’ll stick it out with us! *Resources* Need help? Here’s how to reach a couple of the resources we mentioned. Many more are just a Google search away! https://americanaddictioncenters.org/ https://landmarkrecovery.com/

 Last week, we gave a quick overview of depression and anxiety. This week, we’re talking more about coping mechanisms and how we’d handle it if ourselves, a friend, or a peer are facing a potential mental health challenge. As you listen, please remember that every person is unique and our thoughts are only guidelines!   If you or anyone you know are every experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call the 24/7 Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

We throw around the words “depressed” and “anxious” all the time, but what do they really mean? In this episode, we give a brief overview of depression and anxiety. Remember that mental health challenges and disorders are complex, and this episode serves only as an introduction to the topic!