Let's Talk: Suicide Prevention: How a Conversation Can Save a Life
"Let's Talk: Suicide Prevention - How a Conversation Can Save a Life" is a powerful episode that aims to spark meaningful conversations, reduce the stigma around mental health, and provide hope to those who need it most. It reminds us that by talking openly about suicide and mental health, we can make a difference and help save lives.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/movingpastyou/support
What if we told you that three simple questions could save a life? That's the profound insight from Julie McLean, a formidable TEDx speaker, suicide prevention trainer, and mental health advocate who has grappled with her own mental health battles since she was 16. Julie opens up about her journey, articulating the often-subtle signs of mental health issues, and the role of our fast-paced, microwave society in exacerbating mental stress.
We shift gears to discuss the critical role of workplaces in shaping mental health landscapes. Did you know that the wonders of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) go unnoticed by many? Julie highlights these often-overlooked resources, sharing her personal experiences with EAPs and their confidentiality guaranteed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. She also shares her current initiatives in helping organizational leaders create a mentally healthy work environment.
Listen in as we shift focus to the impact of COVID on mental health in the workplace. Julie explores the delicate balance between employers and employees in the context of mental health, with insights on how companies can offer flexibility to reduce stress and improve mental health. We also discuss the role of community support in managing mental health, emphasizing the importance of providing children a safe space for conversation and the role of extroverted friends in helping one break out of their shell. This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to understand more about mental health, suicide prevention, and how kindness can help us through the most difficult of times.
--------- EPISODE CHAPTERS ---------
(0:00:03) - Suicide Prevention
(0:15:08) - Mental Health Flags and Conversations
(0:22:13) - Promoting Suicide Prevention in the Workplace
(0:26:39) - Workplace Mental Health During COVID
(0:37:49) - Supporting Mental Health in a Community
(0:47:27) - Community and Going the Extra Mile
Julie McLean
Speaker/Consultant.Wife/Mom/Daughter
Julie McLean, speaker and TEDx talker was raised in a small town in New Jersey and, at the age of 16, was ready to take her own life. She has struggled with her mental health from that time on, and almost every day since then has thought about dying by suicide. Like others, she felt the stigma associated with mental health and mental illness made her an outsider, and with no one to talk to, her struggles continued. In 2019, she reached a breaking point only to have her husband save her life by asking the three most important questions. Are you OK? Do you want to hurt yourself? And do you have a plan? The answer to these questions finally got her the needed help, and she was enrolled in an intensive talk therapy group. Finding out that talking had helped, she realized that she wanted to help others to be afraid to share how they felt. That’s when Julie decided to open Start the Convo and make it her mission to end mental health stigma and lower suicide rates. Today Julie is a mental health and suicide awareness advocate a suicide prevention speaker, a Tedx speaker, and trainer and coach helping organizational leaders get comfortable talking and implementing measures to address suicide prevention in their organizations.
Listen On
