'Rethink mental illness': Experts suggest these ways to prioritize mental health on Time to Talk Day
Discussing mental health can feel scary and overwhelming, but an annual initiative is pushing to normalize it. Thursday, Feb. 6, is Time to Talk Day, a day of awareness about discussing mental health that can be summed up by the day's tagline: "Rethink mental illness." It was started in 2014 by Time to Change, a U.K.-based organization focused on ending mental health discrimination and changing people's attitudes around mental health.
The purpose of Time to Talk Day is simple: Get people comfortable discussing mental health. Like other annual awareness days, Time to Talk can "plant invaluable seeds for future support, advocacy, policy and support for individual, local and global change," says Margot Rittenhouse, a licensed professional clinical counselor and director of clinical services at Alsana.
Kiana Shelton, a licensed clinical social worker at Mindpath Health, notes that it can also be incredibly beneficial for breaking stigmas in communities that have experienced dismissal of their mental health symptoms. "National and global awareness encourages open conversations supporting a collective priority rather than an individual burden," she explains. "For many BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] and marginalized communities, these [awareness] days provide space to highlight the impact of trauma, systemic barriers to care and culturally responsive healing approaches."
Time to Talk Day is an excellent opportunity to discuss mental health with people in your life and reflect on your well-being. "While [some] people may not have the money or education to provide specific types of support, any human can contribute time to another," says Rittenhouse. "The time that one human contributes to another by allowing them to speak on their experiences can help understanding, destigmatization, normalization and compassion to flourish."
Does the idea of talking about mental health make you nervous? The Time to Talk Day team has compiled suggestions for listening to and sharing mental health experiences. They also provide tips for discussing mental health in different settings, such as with employees, a sports team or students.
When listening to another person's experience, they recommend the following:
Ask questions and listen.
Use positive body language and encourage them to share.
Don't try to fix the other person's problems or challenges.
Dispel any myths and avoid clichés like "Pull yourself together" and "It's not as bad as you think."
Be patient; even if someone's not ready to talk, it may help them to know you're available.
When sharing yourself, the team recommends taking these steps:
Find a way that feels right for you (in-person versus over the phone, for example).
Find a suitable time and place in a setting that makes you feel more comfortable.
Practice what you want to say.
Be honest and open.
Suggest things they could do to help.
Try to speak to at least one person on Time to Talk Day (and most days), even just by text. As Rittenhouse puts it, "humans are social creatures, therefore, while it may feel like effort to reach out, it often refreshes one's battery to speak with someone in their support system."
There are so many beneficial mental health actions — small and big — you can also try on Time to Talk Day along with speaking to others. "It's all about being intentional. You would be surprised that the smallest acts can have grand effects," says Shelton. Here's what she and Rittenhouse recommend doing on Time to Talk Day:
Spend five minutes doing a mindfulness practice, such as meditating, journaling or walking.
Create a sense of accomplishment by establishing a small routine, whether it's taking five deep breaths during your lunch break, performing a short skin care routine or making your bed every morning.
Practice gratitude by naming three things you're grateful for today.
Keep your body nourished, even on a busy day.
Reflecting on your mental health on Time to Talk Day might also make you consider therapy and whether it's right for you. The choice to start therapy and find an accessible option can feel overwhelming, but there are plenty of steps you can take before making that leap. From a practical point of view, you can look into details like what your insurance company's mental health coverage looks like. You can also browse an online directory to see therapists in your area — and, if you don't have insurance, see which providers offer low-cost or sliding-scale fees.
Psychology Today
GoodTherapy
Choosing Therapy
Shelton recommends starting simply with curiosity if your fears stand in the way of entering therapy. Ask yourself what concerns you, such as a potential lack of representation, a previous negative experience or not knowing where to start. "Identifying these barriers can help you feel more in control when the time comes to take the next step," says Shelton.
Plus, it can help to ask people in your life about their therapy experiences, giving you greater context of the many ways therapy can look, adds Rittenhouse.
While many people still prefer the intimate nature of an in-person therapy session, it's also worth looking at the benefits of online therapy — including the accessibility. There might not be a therapist you vibe with in your immediate area who has availability or accessible office hours. If you live with social anxiety disorder, it can be a welcome solution to avoid needing to leave your house or go to a new space.
Aside from making up for potential hindrances to in-person sessions, online therapy has also proven to be beneficial. Studies have shown it is helpful for people living with a wide range of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Like in-person therapists, some online platforms accept insurance, while others don't.
Unsure how to start looking for the best online therapy service for you? We've compiled many great resources to sort through, from the best affordable online therapy to the most culturally sensitive online therapy. You can also look at options based on why you're seeking out therapy, such as our roundup of the top online therapy options for anxiety or the best online couples counseling.
If you're facing a mental health crisis, it's also important to know there are resources you can call. You may want to write these numbers on a piece of paper and store them in your purse or wallet to have them available, whether for your own use or to help a friend in need.
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — text or call 988
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline — call 800-662-HELP (4357)
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine — call 800-950-NAMI (6264) or text 'HelpLine' to 62640
Margot Rittenhouse, LPCC and director of clinical services at Alsana
Kiana Shelton, LCSW at Mindpath Health in Katy, Texas
Content concerning mental health is for informational purposes only and is not intended as professional medical or health advice. Consult a medical professional for questions about your health. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, call 911, local emergency services or 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
2 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
New paper sheds light on experience of Black prisoners in infamous Stateville prison malaria experiments
Much has been said and written over the years about controversial malaria research conducted on inmates at Illinois' Stateville Penitentiary starting in the 1940s. But at least one part of that story has been largely ignored until now: the role of Black prisoners in that research, which helped lead to the modern practice of using genetic testing to understand how individual patients will react to certain medications, according to the authors of a newly published paper out of the University of Utah. 'We want to highlight the stories of Black prisoners that participated in this prison research in the 1950s onward and give them their due,' said Hannah Allen, a medical ethicist and assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and first author of the paper, which was published as an opinion piece Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 'They haven't been properly acknowledged in the past, and their participation in these studies was really foundational in launching the field of pharmacogenetics and, later on, precision medicine,' said Allen, who recently completed her doctorate at the University of Utah. Starting in the 1940s, researchers infected inmates at the Joliet-area prison with malaria to test the effectiveness of drugs to treat the illness as part of a U.S. military-funded effort to protect American troops overseas, according to the paper. A University of Chicago doctor was the principal investigator. The inmates consented to being part of the studies and were paid for their participation. At first, the research was greeted with enthusiasm. In 1945, Life magazine ran a spread about it, featuring a photo of a Stateville inmate with cups containing malaria-carrying mosquitoes pressed against his bare chest. The first line of the story reads, 'In three U.S. penitentiaries men who have been imprisoned as enemies of society are now helping science fight another enemy of society.' But as the years passed, attitudes began to shift. Questions arose about whether inmates could truly, freely consent to participate in medical experiments or whether they felt coerced into them because of their often dire circumstances. At the Nuremberg trials, defense attorneys for Nazi doctors introduced text and images from the Life article about Stateville prison, though an Illinois physician argued at the trials that the prisoners in Stateville consented to being part of medical research whereas Nazi prisoners did not, according to the JAMA paper. In the mid-1970s, news broke about a study at Tuskegee, in which Black men with syphilis went untreated for years — news that raised awareness of ethical problems in medical research. News outlets also began publishing more stories about prison research, according to the JAMA article. The Chicago Tribune published an article in 1973, in which an inmate participating in the Stateville malaria research said: 'I've been coerced into the project — for the money. Being here has nothing to do with 'doing good for mankind' … I didn't want to keep taking money from my family.' The experiments at Stateville came to a halt in the 1970s. A number of protections and regulations are now in place when it comes to research involving prisoners. Since the 1970s, the Stateville research has often been discussed and analyzed but little attention has been paid to its Black participants, said James Tabery, a medical ethicist and philosophy professor at the University of Utah who led the new research, which was funded by the federal National Institutes of Health. For a time, Black prisoners were excluded from the studies because of a myth that Black people were immune to malaria, Tabery said. Later on, once scientists had pinpointed the drug primaquine as an effective medication for malaria, they turned their attention to the question of why 5% to 10% of Black men experienced a violent reaction to the drug, according to the paper. Ultimately, the scientists were successful, finding that the adverse reaction was related to a specific genetic deficiency. 'There are people all over Chicago today that are getting tested, that clinicians are recommending they get a genetic test before they get prescribed a drug because they want to make sure that their patient isn't going to have an adverse reaction to the drug,' Tabery said. 'It's really sort of powerful and interesting that you can trace that approach to doing good clinical medicine right back to this particular moment and place and population.' But Tabery and Allen also found that the Black prisoners were not treated the same as the white prisoners who participated in research at Stateville. For one, they weren't paid as much as the white prisoners, the rationale being that the white prisoners were infected with malaria, whereas the Black prisoners were given the drug but not infected with the disease — though some of the Black prisoners got very ill after taking the medication, according to the paper. Also, researchers didn't protect the Black participants' privacy as well as they did for other participants. They published certain identifying information about the Black participants, such as initials, ages, heights and weights, whereas participants in the previous research were represented with case numbers, according to the paper. Researchers also recruited the Black prisoners' family members for the study, which they didn't do with earlier participants, according to the paper. 'You see them just doing things with the Black prisoners that they're not doing with the white prisoners,' Tabery said. Also, though scientists made an important discovery through the research on Black prisoners, the episode also highlights the difficulty that can occur in translating discoveries into real life help for patients. Though the World Health Organization now recommends genetic testing to protect people who are sensitive to antimalarials, many of the people who would benefit most from such testing still don't receive it because of financial barriers, supply chain issues and a lack of training, according to the paper. 'What we found is when you sort of shift to what was happening to the Black prisoners, these other lessons you hadn't thought of as being derivable from Stateville suddenly do become apparent,' Tabery said.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Experts call for action to prevent deaths at US police academies, citing AP investigation
A panel of experts called Wednesday for policy and cultural changes to prevent deaths linked to heat and exertion at the nation's police academies, and insisted that urgent action is needed to save the lives of recruits. The National Athletic Trainers' Association and the Public Safety Athletic Trainers Society convened the discussion in response to an Associated Press investigation that documented the deaths of at least 29 recruits over the last decade. The groups are drafting new guidance detailing best practices. AP found that most recruits died of exertion, dehydration, heatstroke and other conditions tied to intense exercise — often on the first day of training, during grueling defensive tactics drills or after high-stakes timed runs on hot days. Black recruits represented nearly 60% of those who died, a striking disparity given that federal data show Black officers make up 12% of local police forces. Many carried sickle cell trait, a condition most prevalent among Black Americans that increases the risk of serious injury following extreme exertion. Academies should begin screening applicants for the trait, a simple $75 test that has helped drastically reduce deaths among NCAA athletes, said Traci Tauferner, an athletic trainer who has worked for years with police officers. The screening would not disqualify applicants but rather give them and their instructors information they need to take precautions and monitor warning signs, she said. Academies must train instructors to recognize signs of heat stroke and sickle cell complications, create a culture where recruits can report concerns without retaliation, enforce hydration protocols, and modify training based on temperatures, she said. 'We cannot let these things slide,' said Tauferner, a member of a committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which also is studying the issue. She said academies should review their exercises to ensure they reflect what officers have to perform on the job, calling a widely used 1.5-mile run 'not a really relevant standard.' Tens of thousands of police recruits who attend academies annually are uniquely vulnerable because of the stress and physical demands they face with varying levels of staff and medical oversight, said Anna August, athletic trainer for the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia. She noted that no national standards govern academy training, which varies dramatically based on state laws and local practices. 'The task of preventing recruit injury or death sometimes slips through the cracks, and it's not because the instructors are neglectful,' she said. 'But they're overtasked a lot of times, and they don't have the preventive medical training to recognize something like an exertional heat illness.' Separately, a group that sets standards for law enforcement academies worldwide is working to develop new guidance aimed at preventing recruit deaths, its deputy director said Wednesday. The guidance will likely include standards on the type of medical personnel academies should have on scene to respond to injuries and the training instructors receive on health risks, said Brian Grisham, of the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training. The group will consider recommending new minimum fitness standards for recruits when they enter and exit the academy and guidelines for pre-academy medical screening, he said. Grisham said his organization is trying to find consensus in a working group that includes the police chiefs' association, the leading accreditation commission for departments, and medical personnel who work in law enforcement. 'I think the goal is to make any improvement. If we can save even a small percentage, we're doing something worthwhile,' he said. 'The goal is to come up with some uniformity." Grisham noted that while some academies have athletic trainers or paramedics on site to respond quickly to injuries during physical training, many do not. One recommendation, he said, could be increasing the use of athletic trainers, who have skills to prevent and respond to injuries.
Medscape
6 hours ago
- Medscape
Vitiligo in Children Linked to Higher Hearing Loss
Children with vitiligo showed higher risks for sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and mixed hearing loss compared with matched peers in a study, but not with ocular conditions. METHODOLOGY: The study analyzed data on pediatric patients with vitiligo from 89 healthcare organizations in the US through the TriNetX Research Network between 2016 and 2024. There were 21,833 pediatric patients with vitiligo (mean age, 9.6 years; 50.1% boys) and an equal number of matched children without vitiligo. Nearly 45% of participants in both groups were White, about 27% were Hispanic or Latino, about 14% were Black, and 6.6% were Asian. The primary outcomes were hearing loss and ocular disorders. TAKEAWAY: Children with vitiligo showed significantly higher risks for SNHL (hazard ratio [HR], 1.86; 95% CI, 1.38-2.51) and mixed hearing loss (HR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.29-3.44) compared with children without vitiligo. No significant difference was observed for conductive hearing loss between the two groups. SNHL risk increased with time after the first year of follow-up, with an HR of 2.03 (95% CI, 1.21-3.41) for 1-3 years, and 2.56 (95% CI, 1.55-4.22) for follow-up periods longer than 3 years. The risk for mixed hearing loss was elevated only in the first year (HR, 4.87; 95% CI, 1.65-14.4). Researchers found an elevated risk for retinal and choroidal disorders (HR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.06-2.31), but this was not consistent in sensitivity analyses. There were no significant differences in the risks for vision impairment, dry eye, uveitis, or glaucoma between the two groups. IN PRACTICE: 'Our observation of increased SNHL risk, particularly after the first year of follow-up, aligns with the theory that hearing loss develops progressively through cumulative cochlear damage, correlating with disease duration and extent,' the study authors wrote. 'Further prospective studies are needed to illuminate the mechanisms underlying these associations and guide clinical practice,' they added. SOURCE: This study was led by Serena Yun-Chen Tsai, MD, MMSc, Department of Dermatology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and was published online on June 11 in JAMA Dermatology . LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by its retrospective design; reliance on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification codes; and the absence of data regarding vitiligo severity, phenotypes, location, audiometry findings, and visual function measurements. Dermatologist diagnoses or referrals were not verified, and the rarity of some outcomes could have introduced bias. DISCLOSURES: This study's funding source was not disclosed. One author reported receiving grants, personal fees, and consulting fees from multiple pharmaceutical companies, including Incyte, Barinthus Biotherapeutics, Alys Pharmaceuticals, and AbbVie; being a founder and owning stocks in Alys Pharmaceuticals and Incyte; and serving as chief innovation officer for Alys Pharmaceuticals. Another author reported serving on the advisory board for Sanofi and receiving a salary from a Weston Career Development Award from the Society for Pediatric Dermatology and the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance.
