Jenny Cheang (Director of Digital Marketing) joins America and Theresa to talk through the struggle of identifying who they are. They all share their personal ties to their cultural heritage, the time in their lives when they started to explore their race and how their families played a major role in their identities. They have each struggled at times to fit in with their cultural heritage but have found a sense of pride because of it. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

In the Open

I Don’t Know Who I Am featuring Jenny Cheang

This month is the start of BIPOC (Blacks, Indigenous People, and People of Color) Mental Health Month so America and Theresa talk about what led to the name change and why the new designation better honors these groups. They then have a dialogue about the connection between racism and trauma. They discuss why empathy is key, how we shape the world through our experiences and why we all want to feel human and feel that we matter. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

How Racism Is Trauma

America and Theresa have teamed up with the postpartum warrior Sasha Nicole from Partum Evolution to talk about the intrusive thoughts they’ve had about their children. Theresa and Sasha Nicole share their experiences with postpartum depression and the shame that came with their invasive thoughts. Sasha Nicole found a supportive husband while Theresa valued the open conversations with co-workers to help them get through tough times. They share how vital it was to allow themselves to acknowledge that their feelings were valid and also include some helpful resources for anyone going through postpartum depression. To take a postpartum screen visit https://screening.mhanational.org/screening-tools/postpartum-depression To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

I’m Worried I’ll Hurt My Baby featuring Sasha Nicole

With everything going on during these current protests, Theresa and America have an open conversation about how hard it is to continuously explain trauma. They talk about the significance of validating someone else’s feelings, the commonality between race and mental health and why we're all just looking for love and support. Let’s all reflect on how we can do better. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

I Am Exhausted From Explaining My Trauma

Irritability seems to be amplified while everyone is in quarantine and America and Theresa explain why that is. They talk about why space is important and why voicing your needs is key. There is a discussion on irritation in relationships, how to try to slow down the feelings of agitation and ways in which you can shift your focus when your beginning to feel irritated. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

Why Am I So Irritable?

America and Theresa teamed up with Rwenshaun Miller to discuss what it’s like to be in a relationship with someone who has a mental illness. Rwenshaun shares his personal bouts with his own mental health issues and how he approaches his relationships in his personal life. All three of them open up about how they are working on themselves to try to improve their relationships, how their mental health is like a third person in their relationship and they highlight why communication is crucial to relaying your specific needs. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

Being In A Relationship With Someone Who Has A Mental Illness featuring Rwenshaun Miller

Theresa and America are joined once again by Whitney Ball (the Marketing and Outreach Manager at Mental Health America) and they talk about what it’s like to not be able to focus. Theresa and Whitney speak about the guilt that comes with struggling to focus and how their thoughts become overwhelming when they can’t get things done, making them even more unproductive. They have suggestions of their personal coping skills that help them be more productive, tempering expectations and trying to pinpoint who is setting the expectations for you. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

I Can’t Focus featuring Whitney Ball

Theresa and America explain what the title of the podcast means and how they both embrace it. They give a brief history of Clifford W. Beers and how his contributions sparked the mental health reform movement by trying get more people to “fight in the open.” They both share how their families handle the conversations around mental health, how open they choose to be about their mental health on social media and how your story can be empowering to others. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

WTH Is "Fighting In The Open?"

America is joined by Matt Gleason (Mental Health Association Oklahoma) and they talk about how we can try to offer support for others. Matt lost his brother and sister in the last few years and he shares why one call from his boss helped open the door to openly talking about his grief. They discuss the first steps in offering support, trying to find the people that can help, attempting to navigate through what kind of support a person needs and the importance of reaching out for help. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

Supporting Others: How Do I Help Someone? featuring Matt Gleason

It’s raining at America’s house so she and Theresa try to bring in some light on a dark day by discussing how they try to stay positive. The perception of positivity is different for everybody and these two go to completely different places to distract themselves and try to stay upbeat. They talk about the impact of having positive people around you, what they do to pull themselves out of a negative place and how sometimes being positive is just trying to hurt a little less. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

How To Stay Positive

It’s officially been a year since we launched the podcast! If you’re new to the show or want to learn a little bit more about your hosts Theresa and America; they answer five questions so that you can get to know them a little bit better. Those questions are: What are you most proud of? What’s your favorite thing to do to relax? What’s one word your friends would use to describe you? What’s one word you’d use to describe yourself? What’s your favorite condiment? We appreciate everyone who has listened and joined us on this journey together. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

One Year In

Theresa and America are talking about the benefits of owning pets and the effects on your mental health. One is a pet owner and the other one is not so they both dive into their current situations and all the pets they’ve owned throughout their lives. Pets can be a real companion in life but finding the pet that matches your needs is key. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

Pets and Mental Health

Theresa and America talk about the correlation between body pain and mental health. They explore how their pain comes on, how it’s progressed with age and what the causes may be including stress, lack of sleep or gaining weight. You can’t get rid of your physical pain if you don’t work through your emotional pain; we can only help others until we help ourselves.

Why Does My Body Hurt?

Theresa and America are joined by Caren Howard who is the Advocacy Manager for Mental Health America and the three of them discuss how to push through a crisis. Caren shares how she felt stuck and how she eventually got motivated to do her work. They talk about adjusting to this new reality, honoring the grieving process during a crisis and the importance of vocalizing your feelings. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

How To Push Through A Crisis featuring Caren Howard

Nothing works anymore. Most of us are having a hard time coping during this time and America and Theresa are no different. They discuss how their brains are handling this stressful environment and how they are trying to adjust, how it’s critical to try to be aware of what your limit is and the benefits of setting up a schedule or routine. Every coping skill you’ve learned along the way is now put aside while you try to just manage but you are not alone. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org

My Coping Skills Aren’t Working

Join Mental Health America as we have open conversations about mental health. We're a group of people who want to change the way our communities talk about mental health. On this podcast, we share our lives, fight in the open, and work together to just figure things out.

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In the Open

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