"Be The Change You Want To See In The World"
Aug. 17, 2023

Global Warming’s Impact on Health: How to treat Heat Stroke and Heat Exhaustion

Global Warming’s Impact on Health:  How to treat Heat Stroke and Heat Exhaustion

Are you aware of the drastic effects global warming can have on your health? Heat-related conditions such as heat cramps, exhaustion and stroke are on the rise, and it's crucial to recognize the signs and symptoms to safeguard your health. Listen in ...

Are you aware of the drastic effects global warming can have on your health? Heat-related conditions such as heat cramps, exhaustion and stroke are on the rise, and it's crucial to recognize the signs and symptoms to safeguard your health. Listen in as I, Dr. William T Choctaw, draw upon my 50 years of medical practice to bring you the life-saving knowledge you need for these increasingly hot times. From handling heat exhaustion and stroke to the importance of hydration, we'll empower you with the tools to stay safe, especially for our vulnerable elderly and youth.

But this episode isn't just about physical health. We're also delving into the mental and emotional aspect. How can we harness the therapeutic power of forgiveness in our relationships? What are the cornerstones of a successful relationship? Let's explore these topics together and learn how respect, trust, and communication can lead to stronger, healthier bonds. Remember, change starts with you. Subscribe to our podcast and join us on this enlightening journey to better health and stronger relationships. Make sure to not miss this episode.

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The Host, Dr. William Choctaw; MD, JD, is a healthcare leadership expert, possessing a Medical Doctorate from the Yale University School of Medicine, and a Jurist Doctorate from Western University. Over a span of 50 years practicing medicine, he has served as Chief of Staff, Chief of Surgery, and as a member of the medical executive committee at Citrus Valley Medical Center over a 10 year period. Also, while practicing at Citrus Valley Medical Center, he served as Chief Transformation Officer, (developed a Robust Process Improvement/Lean Six Sigma program). Dr. Choctaw lectures nationally and internationally on medical leadership issues for hospital staffs, executives, and managers. He served as a Physician Surveyor on the Joint Commission. He's the author of 2 books, "Medical Malpractice: A Physician's Guide to the Law" and "Transforming the Patient Experience: A New Paradigm for Hospital and Physician Leadership, published by the Springer Publishing Co. He’s the President of Choctaw Medical Group, Inc., a clinical practice and medical legal consulting firm for medical staff executives, physician leaders, and hospitals.

Transcript
1 00:00:00,401 --> 00:00:02,044 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Healthy, wealthy and Wise 2 00:00:02,084 --> 00:00:07,182 podcast with Dr William Choctaw, MD, JD. In this episode, Dr. 3 00:00:07,222 --> 00:00:10,449 Choctaw begins his Leadership Masterclass series by covering 4 00:00:10,529 --> 00:00:14,284 mental health matters. Dr Choctaw will discuss mental 5 00:00:14,324 --> 00:00:18,233 health issues and challenges and the differences between the two 6 00:00:18,233 --> 00:00:22,628 . He will also explore multiple topics, from depression to 7 00:00:22,827 --> 00:00:29,347 anxiety and many more. Question how can we help someone navigate 8 00:00:29,347 --> 00:00:32,843 mental health challenges or issues? What if that person is 9 00:00:32,923 --> 00:00:37,286 ourself? Well, these and other questions will be answered and 10 00:00:37,345 --> 00:00:41,253 addressed in this podcast episode. So let's get started. 11 00:00:41,902 --> 00:00:44,799 Here's Dr William Choctaw, MD, JD. 12 00:00:45,923 --> 00:00:49,664 Speaker 2: Good morning. I'm Dr William T Choctaw and I will be 13 00:00:49,743 --> 00:00:55,142 your host today for the Leadership Masterclass. I want 14 00:00:55,161 --> 00:00:59,003 to welcome all of you. We have a very interesting topic, and our 15 00:00:59,003 --> 00:01:05,087 topic is mental health issues, and we want to go over that and 16 00:01:05,168 --> 00:01:08,581 hopefully, at the end of this session, you will have learned 17 00:01:08,620 --> 00:01:13,643 some things that maybe you did not know. I believe life is 18 00:01:13,703 --> 00:01:18,120 about being of service. I believe knowledge is power. I 19 00:01:18,161 --> 00:01:22,864 believe leaders can change the world. Let me start off with an 20 00:01:22,965 --> 00:01:25,459 outline, and I always like to give an outline whenever I'm 21 00:01:25,498 --> 00:01:28,284 going to make a presentation, and I do the outline for two 22 00:01:28,405 --> 00:01:31,465 reasons. One reason is I want you to know what I'm going to 23 00:01:31,506 --> 00:01:34,405 talk about, and the second reason is I want you to know 24 00:01:34,444 --> 00:01:38,625 what I'm just about done. I've always learned that your time is 25 00:01:38,625 --> 00:01:42,221 important, if not more important than my time, and so I 26 00:01:42,221 --> 00:01:45,481 want to make sure that we're in sync. We're going to start off 27 00:01:45,522 --> 00:01:49,802 by talking about brain anatomy, and we're going to go back to 28 00:01:49,923 --> 00:01:52,840 some of your biology maybe from high school, college or maybe 29 00:01:52,881 --> 00:01:57,149 even medical school for some of you and talk about the anatomy 30 00:01:57,269 --> 00:02:02,426 of the brain and all the mind. We're also going to talk about 31 00:02:02,546 --> 00:02:05,781 mental health disorders and mental health illnesses and try 32 00:02:05,820 --> 00:02:10,956 to make a distinction between the two to help us to avoid 33 00:02:10,997 --> 00:02:14,527 oversimplification. We're going to talk about symptoms and 34 00:02:14,587 --> 00:02:20,604 treatments for at least one major type of mental illness And 35 00:02:20,604 --> 00:02:26,236 how that can be a benefit to you going forward in terms of 36 00:02:26,277 --> 00:02:28,925 taking care of different problems and taking care of 37 00:02:29,306 --> 00:02:32,888 different issues. And, finally, we'll conclude with me sharing 38 00:02:32,948 --> 00:02:37,644 with you some of my basic principles that, in my 50 years 39 00:02:37,723 --> 00:02:45,498 of medical practice and at least seven years of work as an 40 00:02:45,579 --> 00:02:50,715 executive in the hospital environment, just share with you 41 00:02:50,715 --> 00:02:53,082 some of the things that I have learned that you may find 42 00:02:53,503 --> 00:02:57,867 interesting and important. Well, let's take a look at the brain. 43 00:02:57,867 --> 00:03:01,963 Let's start with the brain, and the brain is divided into 44 00:03:02,745 --> 00:03:06,721 multiple layers and multiple lobes. To be exact, there are 45 00:03:06,741 --> 00:03:09,228 six lobes of the brain and I'll just go over them very quickly 46 00:03:09,268 --> 00:03:12,887 with you. There's the frontal lobe, which, as the name implies 47 00:03:12,887 --> 00:03:15,521 , is in the front part of the head. The frontal lobe is, like 48 00:03:15,542 --> 00:03:18,629 the CEO of the brain, if you will, the chief executive 49 00:03:18,729 --> 00:03:22,847 officer, and it's involved with thinking, memory, behavior, 50 00:03:22,888 --> 00:03:27,187 movement. The temporal lobe is right under the frontal lobe. 51 00:03:28,020 --> 00:03:31,881 It's responsible for hearing, learning and feelings And we'll 52 00:03:31,901 --> 00:03:36,298 get to that feelings a little later. The parietal lobe is 53 00:03:36,377 --> 00:03:41,325 adjacent to the frontal lobe, on the top, and it's responsible 54 00:03:41,366 --> 00:03:45,198 for language and touch. Next to the parietal lobe is the 55 00:03:45,337 --> 00:03:49,084 occipital lobe, which is the back part of the head or the 56 00:03:49,104 --> 00:03:54,758 brain, and it is responsible for sight. Contiguous with the 57 00:03:54,897 --> 00:03:58,802 occipital lobe is the cerebrum. It's responsible for balance and 58 00:03:58,802 --> 00:04:03,909 coordination, and contiguous to the cerebrum is the brain stem. 59 00:04:03,909 --> 00:04:08,179 The brain stem is responsible for breathing, heart rate and 60 00:04:08,218 --> 00:04:12,704 temperature. The brain stem is extraordinarily important, as 61 00:04:12,743 --> 00:04:16,288 you might imagine, because what it does is that when we are no 62 00:04:16,327 --> 00:04:19,851 longer conscious, when we're sleeping, we continue to breathe 63 00:04:19,851 --> 00:04:23,523 , our heart continues to beat and the temperature in our body 64 00:04:23,642 --> 00:04:27,375 is regulated. It doesn't get too hot or too cold, and all of 65 00:04:27,435 --> 00:04:33,641 that is because of the not a subconscious activity of our 66 00:04:33,682 --> 00:04:39,488 brain stem. As a position of 20 or 50 plus years, we still don't 67 00:04:39,488 --> 00:04:44,399 understand everything about the brain And it still remains to 68 00:04:44,459 --> 00:04:51,021 be a fascinating part of the body. Now, what I just went over 69 00:04:51,021 --> 00:04:54,005 was basically the hardware of the brain. If you will Think 70 00:04:54,045 --> 00:04:57,838 about the brain as a computer, and I just talked about the 71 00:04:57,898 --> 00:05:02,685 hardware, but there's also inside the brain, or networks 72 00:05:02,865 --> 00:05:07,620 and neurons and connections, and this is what we call software, 73 00:05:08,081 --> 00:05:12,035 and within that software is something called the mind, m, i, 74 00:05:12,035 --> 00:05:18,240 n, d, the mind. Sigmund Freud, who is felt to be by some to be 75 00:05:18,281 --> 00:05:21,504 the father of psychiatry, divided the mind up into three 76 00:05:22,165 --> 00:05:30,396 distinct areas. One was the ID, the ego, e, g, o And the super 77 00:05:30,536 --> 00:05:35,045 ego. The it is that part of the mind that's only interested in 78 00:05:35,084 --> 00:05:39,920 the person, in the individual, the it knows what it wants and 79 00:05:39,959 --> 00:05:43,247 it doesn't care what it needs to do to get it. It's only about 80 00:05:43,326 --> 00:05:48,380 me, me, me. The ego is the rational part of the mind, the? 81 00:05:48,500 --> 00:05:53,588 it may say I want that ice cream in the store across the street. 82 00:05:53,588 --> 00:05:58,586 The ego may say, yes, i do want that, but I don't have any 83 00:05:58,646 --> 00:06:02,622 money, and so I can't get that ice cream across the street 84 00:06:03,182 --> 00:06:07,798 unless I have some money to buy it. Then there's the third part 85 00:06:07,838 --> 00:06:13,483 of the mind, called the super ego, and the super ego is right 86 00:06:13,543 --> 00:06:17,843 and wrong. So the? it says I want that ice cream, i'm going 87 00:06:17,863 --> 00:06:22,802 to go take it. The ego says, well, i'm not going to go take 88 00:06:22,862 --> 00:06:25,387 it because I don't have any money, and if you want something 89 00:06:25,387 --> 00:06:27,798 , you have to purchase it If you want to get it from the store. 90 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:33,697 And the ego is rationalized and being reasonable, and the super 91 00:06:33,798 --> 00:06:37,884 ego would say I want that ice cream but I'm not going to take 92 00:06:37,944 --> 00:06:41,598 it because it would be wrong. It would be wrong for me to take 93 00:06:41,637 --> 00:06:44,663 that ice cream without paying for it. So those are the three 94 00:06:44,745 --> 00:06:48,916 parts of the mind. So think about all of that as we think 95 00:06:48,956 --> 00:06:52,942 about the brain and the mind all inside the skull and how that 96 00:06:53,002 --> 00:06:58,348 all helps us as this extraordinarily complex human 97 00:06:58,408 --> 00:07:04,858 computer, as we are called. Man, or man and woman, as one looks 98 00:07:05,218 --> 00:07:08,843 at the brain, there's an important part, important 99 00:07:08,903 --> 00:07:15,930 structure in the brain that has to deal with feeling, or emotion 100 00:07:15,930 --> 00:07:19,302 . I call it the emotion center of the brain And that structure 101 00:07:19,341 --> 00:07:26,019 is called the amygdala. Amygdala , and you spell that a, y, a, m, 102 00:07:26,019 --> 00:07:37,500 y, g, d a, l a, the amygdala. The amygdala is a very small um, 103 00:07:37,500 --> 00:07:42,326 a P shaped structure that sits at the base of the brain, next 104 00:07:42,348 --> 00:07:47,523 to the hippocampus, but it is the emotion center of the brain. 105 00:07:47,523 --> 00:07:52,759 It is where our feelings are, good feelings, bad feelings, in 106 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:57,307 between. So the amygdala is the very, very important structure 107 00:07:57,346 --> 00:08:01,959 of the brain Because it affects how we feel about any particular 108 00:08:01,959 --> 00:08:06,086 situation, in a particular person in a particular 109 00:08:06,267 --> 00:08:11,800 experience And indeed one of the ways that that physicians are 110 00:08:11,901 --> 00:08:16,005 able to help individuals who may be, say, extremely depressed, 111 00:08:16,187 --> 00:08:20,497 or depressed to the point of suicide, is to do things in 112 00:08:20,557 --> 00:08:24,346 terms of hormone manipulation that affects the amygdala 113 00:08:24,485 --> 00:08:31,365 directly. So let's pause a bit now and let's talk about mental 114 00:08:32,107 --> 00:08:36,075 issues. Or let's talk about mental conditions and let's 115 00:08:36,115 --> 00:08:40,562 divide mental conditions into mile on the mountain and, being 116 00:08:40,682 --> 00:08:46,760 a mental issue, let's say in the middle area, a mental disorder, 117 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:54,115 and on the more serious area of mental illness, all of us have 118 00:08:54,216 --> 00:08:58,416 mental issues, mental issues, the basic fears and anxiety. 119 00:08:58,495 --> 00:09:01,422 Some people may be afraid of dogs, some people may be afraid 120 00:09:01,482 --> 00:09:06,317 of, some people may be afraid of water. Most of the times, those 121 00:09:06,317 --> 00:09:10,551 things, even though they call some discomfort with us, they do 122 00:09:10,551 --> 00:09:16,712 not affect our functionality significantly. Our functionality 123 00:09:16,712 --> 00:09:20,558 significantly and that's a word I want you to become familiar 124 00:09:20,599 --> 00:09:25,312 with as you try to evaluate, or as one evaluates, whether a 125 00:09:25,371 --> 00:09:30,711 mental issue is significant or is not significant, does it 126 00:09:30,772 --> 00:09:35,572 affect one's functionality? example I have a fear of heights 127 00:09:35,572 --> 00:09:40,490 . If I'm in a building, that's, and I'm on the 30th floor, i 128 00:09:40,551 --> 00:09:44,120 don't look out the window because it just makes me 129 00:09:44,179 --> 00:09:47,794 uncomfortable. Now, that's okay for me, because, number one, i'm 130 00:09:47,794 --> 00:09:51,140 not in buildings on the 30th floor a lot And even if I am, i 131 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,874 don't have to look out the window. So it does not affect 132 00:09:55,034 --> 00:10:00,153 the functionality primarily in my life And I can do the things 133 00:10:00,273 --> 00:10:04,201 I need to do on a day by day basis and it does not concern me 134 00:10:04,201 --> 00:10:08,857 . On the other hand, i am a physician, not only my position, 135 00:10:08,857 --> 00:10:12,711 i'm a surgeon And let's say I had a fear of blood. Well, that 136 00:10:12,750 --> 00:10:18,921 would be a problem, because if I'm a surgeon and I get anxiety 137 00:10:19,361 --> 00:10:23,596 or fear every time I see blood, i probably would not be a very 138 00:10:23,655 --> 00:10:28,313 effective surgeon, right? So it gives you an idea about how you 139 00:10:28,354 --> 00:10:33,421 can compartmentalize or divide the different areas of mental 140 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:40,298 issues into a mental issue on one hand, and say mental illness 141 00:10:40,298 --> 00:10:46,558 on another hand. So a mental illness may be, let's say, 142 00:10:47,681 --> 00:10:53,256 schizophrenia. Let's say I go in and out in terms of reality, 143 00:10:53,336 --> 00:10:56,863 i'm not sure what the day is, i'm not sure where I am, who I 144 00:10:57,062 --> 00:11:00,975 am. Sometimes I'm in the real world and sometimes I'm not. 145 00:11:01,034 --> 00:11:03,919 Well, that's the problem, because if I have a job, i've 146 00:11:03,940 --> 00:11:07,231 got to be in the real world to function Again, that word 147 00:11:07,292 --> 00:11:12,221 functionality to take my car, to work or get on the bus or have 148 00:11:12,261 --> 00:11:14,712 someone take me to work. I've got to be able to do my work, 149 00:11:15,254 --> 00:11:18,519 i've got to be able to meet my obligations to those around me 150 00:11:18,580 --> 00:11:22,695 my co-workers or my family, and I've got to be able to take care 151 00:11:22,695 --> 00:11:27,993 of myself. So functionality is what I want you to remember, to 152 00:11:28,072 --> 00:11:33,339 allow you to evaluate mental conditions Again, issues on one 153 00:11:33,619 --> 00:11:37,562 end, disorders, and then, on the other, on the other, extreme 154 00:11:37,702 --> 00:11:42,591 illnesses, in terms of what is needed or required. Two areas 155 00:11:42,610 --> 00:11:49,182 that particularly stress mental health are, for one, 156 00:11:49,481 --> 00:11:53,172 relationships. If you are in a relationship, let's say, 157 00:11:53,211 --> 00:12:00,359 girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife, co-worker, a parent, child 158 00:12:00,359 --> 00:12:03,722 all of those types of relationships that involve other 159 00:12:03,722 --> 00:12:08,851 people who are close to you or who you need, will put a stress 160 00:12:09,393 --> 00:12:15,441 or a strain on your ability to cope or your ability to function 161 00:12:15,441 --> 00:12:20,812 , if you will Again that word functionality. And many times, 162 00:12:20,971 --> 00:12:25,837 when things happen that may be of the mental nature, that may 163 00:12:25,878 --> 00:12:28,841 affect our mental health, it will be something that may have 164 00:12:28,881 --> 00:12:34,514 been precipitated by relationship. Example a divorce. 165 00:12:34,514 --> 00:12:37,378 Individuals have been married for a long period of time, or 166 00:12:37,457 --> 00:12:41,102 whatever the circumstances are, and they get a divorce. That 167 00:12:41,163 --> 00:12:44,952 clearly is a trauma And, depending on the individual and 168 00:12:44,972 --> 00:12:49,057 depending on the reason for that could very well send one into 169 00:12:49,097 --> 00:12:53,524 depression or into other types of ill health. From a mental 170 00:12:53,583 --> 00:12:57,474 perspective, if you lose your job, you've been working at a 171 00:12:57,514 --> 00:13:00,778 place for 10 years and you're a good worker and you love your 172 00:13:00,798 --> 00:13:04,703 work, but the company decides to downsize or to move to a 173 00:13:04,744 --> 00:13:10,676 different country And you lose your job, that clearly would 174 00:13:10,716 --> 00:13:15,081 affect your ability to cope and to feel good about yourself and 175 00:13:15,123 --> 00:13:18,211 may very well affect your functionality If you don't have 176 00:13:18,250 --> 00:13:22,177 the security of work and the feeling that that gives you to 177 00:13:22,216 --> 00:13:26,102 have something that's stable and allows you to do those things 178 00:13:26,123 --> 00:13:30,312 that make you feel good. And the other area that can many times 179 00:13:30,692 --> 00:13:34,437 have a strong impact on our mental health is change. And 180 00:13:34,477 --> 00:13:37,241 again, actually the first example is a type of change, but 181 00:13:37,241 --> 00:13:41,431 say other types of change. Any major change Many times will 182 00:13:41,471 --> 00:13:46,193 affect us. Example many individuals doing the, the, the 183 00:13:46,553 --> 00:13:51,837 height of the COVID virus infection, significantly 184 00:13:53,099 --> 00:13:57,741 positions saw a spike in mental health issues or in the number 185 00:13:58,162 --> 00:14:00,934 of individuals with mental health issues. And that was 186 00:14:00,975 --> 00:14:06,092 because That was because, basically, that huge change 187 00:14:07,254 --> 00:14:10,808 individuals were not able to cope with. It was just too 188 00:14:10,870 --> 00:14:15,687 difficult, that was too much uncertainty, a lot of the things 189 00:14:15,687 --> 00:14:20,250 that we all rely on were removed from us The ability to 190 00:14:20,711 --> 00:14:26,947 go out to dinner, the ability to see loved ones, friends, the 191 00:14:26,986 --> 00:14:30,394 ability to go to work or to school or to send our kids to 192 00:14:30,456 --> 00:14:36,616 school. We had to adjust, on minor levels and on major levels 193 00:14:36,616 --> 00:14:41,456 . These are the types of things that affect our mental ability, 194 00:14:42,125 --> 00:14:45,610 our mental health, if you will, because they affect our ability 195 00:14:45,671 --> 00:14:50,716 to function. Whenever you want to evaluate a mental condition, 196 00:14:50,845 --> 00:14:56,152 look at functionality Again. On the light end, or the 197 00:14:56,712 --> 00:15:01,028 non-serious end would be a mental issue, afraid of 198 00:15:01,107 --> 00:15:05,691 something that's not significant . On the more serious end would 199 00:15:05,730 --> 00:15:11,432 be mental illness, where it's an illness, meaning that it has 200 00:15:11,513 --> 00:15:15,009 affected your ability to function. Let's talk about 201 00:15:15,110 --> 00:15:19,489 mental illness. What is mental illness? Mental illness is 202 00:15:19,548 --> 00:15:25,110 basically a distress or problem in functioning in socially, 203 00:15:26,706 --> 00:15:29,908 work-wise or with family activities Pretty much what 204 00:15:29,947 --> 00:15:34,474 we've been saying. Mental illness is an illness that 205 00:15:34,654 --> 00:15:39,327 affects us mentally and prevents us from being able to function 206 00:15:39,428 --> 00:15:45,970 normally socially, with work and with family. Mental illness is 207 00:15:46,129 --> 00:15:53,076 not something to be ashamed of. It is something that can be 208 00:15:53,157 --> 00:15:55,932 treated. It is an illness that can be treated just like a 209 00:15:56,293 --> 00:16:00,374 physical illness. Mental illness can be treated just like heart 210 00:16:00,433 --> 00:16:04,793 disease. Heart illness can be treated along illness or any 211 00:16:04,894 --> 00:16:08,389 other type of illness. One of the things that's important to 212 00:16:08,408 --> 00:16:13,647 keep in mind is that now we have medication, because we 213 00:16:13,726 --> 00:16:17,296 understand a little more how mental illness works and why it 214 00:16:17,336 --> 00:16:20,990 works and where it works. Again, we talked about the brain and 215 00:16:21,009 --> 00:16:24,606 the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain, and we now 216 00:16:24,667 --> 00:16:30,150 have medications that can affect those areas. It's important to 217 00:16:30,171 --> 00:16:34,354 keep that in mind. If one takes nothing more from this 218 00:16:34,433 --> 00:16:40,567 presentation, remember that mental illness is treatable. It 219 00:16:40,647 --> 00:16:49,511 is treatable. How does this all happen? What we believe affects 220 00:16:50,453 --> 00:16:55,793 how we think, what we think affects how we feel, and how we 221 00:16:55,894 --> 00:17:01,471 feel affects how we act. If you want a template to evaluate 222 00:17:01,971 --> 00:17:06,368 someone in terms of their mental health, start with what they 223 00:17:06,410 --> 00:17:10,594 believe. Do they believe they're seeing little green men on the 224 00:17:10,634 --> 00:17:14,752 street? Because then that's going to make them feel a 225 00:17:14,792 --> 00:17:18,574 certain way and it's going to make them think a certain way 226 00:17:18,704 --> 00:17:22,106 and it's going to make them act a certain way. Many times, you 227 00:17:22,126 --> 00:17:28,238 can get an idea or an insight into where that individual is 228 00:17:28,258 --> 00:17:32,506 coming from just by being able to discuss their beliefs, which 229 00:17:32,566 --> 00:17:36,555 is why it is so important in terms of all of us staying 230 00:17:36,634 --> 00:17:40,973 healthy mentally by many times reexamining our own beliefs, 231 00:17:41,625 --> 00:17:44,953 maybe when you were growing up and you had a bad experience in 232 00:17:44,993 --> 00:17:49,714 a certain neighborhood or in elementary school or junior high 233 00:17:49,714 --> 00:17:53,351 school that affected your belief about certain people or 234 00:17:53,412 --> 00:17:57,469 certain circumstances or certain situations. Maybe those beliefs 235 00:17:57,469 --> 00:18:01,310 are not true, but maybe you carried those beliefs all the 236 00:18:01,352 --> 00:18:06,348 way to your 40s and 50s and now you're in a relationship, either 237 00:18:06,348 --> 00:18:13,486 by people you work with or by individuals in your family, and 238 00:18:13,506 --> 00:18:17,615 you find those old beliefs are now creeping into your ability 239 00:18:17,674 --> 00:18:21,965 to maintain good relationships with those individuals. So it's 240 00:18:22,006 --> 00:18:26,336 very important that we make sure that our beliefs all of us stay 241 00:18:26,336 --> 00:18:29,851 healthy. So one of the ways to make sure that we stay healthy 242 00:18:29,891 --> 00:18:34,429 mentally is to constantly you know we talk about physically 243 00:18:34,469 --> 00:18:37,946 how it's important to exercise and eat well. I'm going to 244 00:18:37,987 --> 00:18:42,170 submit that for mental health, it's important for us to review 245 00:18:42,269 --> 00:18:46,349 our beliefs on a regular basis. I call it having a conversation 246 00:18:46,390 --> 00:18:49,650 with the person in the mirror and I can tell you where they 247 00:18:49,670 --> 00:18:52,287 will show up, where the issues will show up Whenever you start 248 00:18:52,327 --> 00:18:55,965 getting upset or angry about something or feeling bad. Start 249 00:18:56,027 --> 00:18:59,627 examining that. Why is it? this bothers you, what is it that 250 00:18:59,667 --> 00:19:03,090 makes you so upset? And you'll be surprised that as you start 251 00:19:03,131 --> 00:19:08,231 peeling back that onion, you may find those beliefs that you can 252 00:19:08,231 --> 00:19:13,127 see are no longer tenable. There was something that you 253 00:19:13,169 --> 00:19:16,525 thought a long time ago that now you know better, but yet that's 254 00:19:16,525 --> 00:19:19,911 still been driving you subconsciously without you being 255 00:19:19,911 --> 00:19:23,457 aware of it. So just something to keep in mind. Well, how 256 00:19:23,497 --> 00:19:27,880 common is mental illness? Mental illness is common. About 19 257 00:19:27,900 --> 00:19:33,640 percent of people adults in the United States can have it. It is 258 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:38,229 , can be and serious mental illness can be about 4 percent 259 00:19:38,855 --> 00:19:43,625 serious in terms of requiring hospitalization or more serious 260 00:19:43,685 --> 00:19:49,296 types of treatment. One can certainly in some respects place 261 00:19:49,296 --> 00:19:55,567 substance abuse as a strong contributing factor with some 262 00:19:55,606 --> 00:19:59,000 degrees of mental illness, depending on how severe that 263 00:19:59,060 --> 00:20:04,565 addiction is. I include in that alcohol or severe alcohol abuse. 264 00:20:04,565 --> 00:20:08,944 These are some of the corollaries that go along with 265 00:20:08,984 --> 00:20:12,262 that, because a lot of times what we do is when we do get 266 00:20:12,282 --> 00:20:15,298 depressed and when we do get down and when things do happen 267 00:20:17,565 --> 00:20:24,045 in our lives, we then try to comfort ourselves by doing 268 00:20:24,105 --> 00:20:28,259 things that make bad situations worse. So we have to be aware of 269 00:20:28,259 --> 00:20:32,738 that. When I'm talking about mental illnesses, i'm primarily 270 00:20:32,759 --> 00:20:36,703 talking about adults. Children also can have mental illness, 271 00:20:37,115 --> 00:20:40,076 but they're completely different from adults. What I mean by 272 00:20:40,116 --> 00:20:44,479 that is children are not little adults that we can't take what 273 00:20:44,519 --> 00:20:48,288 happened with maybe a member of the family who was an adult and 274 00:20:48,307 --> 00:20:52,619 say, well, xyz, work for so-and-so, so, my 15-year-old, 275 00:20:52,660 --> 00:20:55,938 i'm going to do the same thing with her, or make or suggest the 276 00:20:55,938 --> 00:20:59,181 same thing with her. That does not work. Children are not small 277 00:20:59,181 --> 00:21:04,645 adults. Children are unique and they have to be addressed in a 278 00:21:04,806 --> 00:21:08,603 unique manner in terms of being able to understand what their 279 00:21:08,663 --> 00:21:11,980 needs are. That's why they're pediatricians or physicians or 280 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:19,737 child psychologists who built specifically for children. It's 281 00:21:19,778 --> 00:21:23,821 important to keep that in mind. Another thing to keep in mind 282 00:21:24,957 --> 00:21:28,619 and some of you may remember this is men really are from Mars 283 00:21:28,619 --> 00:21:33,520 and women really are from Venus . My point about this is that we 284 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,638 , men and women, are different. We are completely different, 285 00:21:38,621 --> 00:21:44,021 that we have different chromosomes. Men have more 286 00:21:44,082 --> 00:21:47,239 testosterone, women have more estrogen, on and on, and on and 287 00:21:47,338 --> 00:21:52,986 on and on. What's important is that there's nothing wrong with 288 00:21:53,026 --> 00:21:56,958 being different. That's okay. That's okay. So it's not 289 00:21:57,018 --> 00:22:01,397 important for us to assume well, if I like X, my wife should 290 00:22:01,417 --> 00:22:05,175 like X, or if I like Y, my husband should like Y. We are 291 00:22:05,236 --> 00:22:09,825 different and we should understand that difference and 292 00:22:09,904 --> 00:22:15,244 embrace that difference. So when it comes to how one deals with 293 00:22:15,265 --> 00:22:18,878 the situation, how one deals with trauma, it is not going to 294 00:22:18,919 --> 00:22:23,878 be the same. One side may cry a lot, the other side may say 295 00:22:24,019 --> 00:22:27,695 absolutely nothing. Many times as a physician, i've seen 296 00:22:27,797 --> 00:22:31,026 individuals who come to my office because they feel like 297 00:22:31,066 --> 00:22:34,678 that they're supposed to react a certain way When they get a 298 00:22:34,738 --> 00:22:38,637 certain diagnosis or this or that. What I communicate to them 299 00:22:38,637 --> 00:22:43,675 is you are uniquely you and you do what works for you. Whatever 300 00:22:43,675 --> 00:22:49,403 your reaction is, it's okay for you. In many times when we try 301 00:22:49,442 --> 00:22:53,202 to help others, we don't because we're trying to force them to 302 00:22:53,403 --> 00:22:56,539 act a certain way, because that's way someone who we knew 303 00:22:56,579 --> 00:23:01,680 before acted, or maybe the way we acted, but have those 304 00:23:01,759 --> 00:23:04,046 individuals talk to someone who's a professional 305 00:23:04,086 --> 00:23:09,086 psychologist, psychologist, therapist to guide them if they 306 00:23:09,165 --> 00:23:12,458 need that, as compared to trying to force them to do something a 307 00:23:12,458 --> 00:23:16,726 certain way. It is important to be aware that certainly suicide 308 00:23:16,726 --> 00:23:23,326 is a serious problem in this country And it has probably been 309 00:23:23,326 --> 00:23:28,128 increasing, and many believe that certainly COVID was a part 310 00:23:28,148 --> 00:23:32,407 of that process, but it may well have been increasing in spite 311 00:23:32,448 --> 00:23:37,442 of COVID, particularly with increased drug use etc. Etc. So 312 00:23:37,501 --> 00:23:40,800 be aware of that If you come into a situation and certain of 313 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:46,306 you live in LA County, there are suicide hotlines that are free 314 00:23:46,887 --> 00:23:52,323 and confidential. In English, it's 1-800-273-8255. In English 315 00:23:52,423 --> 00:23:57,625 it's 1-800-273-8255. In Spanish, in LA County, it's 316 00:23:57,846 --> 00:24:09,343 1-888-628-9454. Spanish 1-888-628-9454. If you know 317 00:24:09,442 --> 00:24:12,423 someone or believe someone is in trouble, do not hesitate to 318 00:24:12,522 --> 00:24:17,784 intervene and try to get them some help, because you may very 319 00:24:17,804 --> 00:24:21,260 well be able to save a life. Well, let me conclude. If you 320 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,104 remember what I said on my outline, when I get to my basic 321 00:24:24,144 --> 00:24:27,996 principles, i'm just about done. My first principle is God is in 322 00:24:27,996 --> 00:24:31,990 charge. I believe that God has been extremely important in my 323 00:24:32,049 --> 00:24:36,608 life in terms of leading me and guiding me and directing me in 324 00:24:36,648 --> 00:24:41,388 the right path, and I certainly recommend that to you if that's 325 00:24:41,429 --> 00:24:46,521 your choice, but that has clearly been helpful for me. I 326 00:24:46,561 --> 00:24:49,329 decided many, many years ago that I would have no more bad 327 00:24:49,390 --> 00:24:53,382 days, and so I don't have bad days in my life. I have good 328 00:24:53,422 --> 00:24:57,778 days and I have great days. If it rains outside, some people 329 00:24:57,798 --> 00:25:00,453 say, oh, it's a terrible day, i'm going to get cold, i'm going 330 00:25:00,453 --> 00:25:04,680 to get sick. And others would say, oh, what a beautiful day. 331 00:25:04,861 --> 00:25:08,482 It's going to clean all the leaves and the trees And it's 332 00:25:08,522 --> 00:25:12,042 going to make everything so bright and crisp. And so what 333 00:25:12,103 --> 00:25:17,580 I've learned is how my day is is completely up to me, 100%. And 334 00:25:17,621 --> 00:25:21,192 so I said if I have 100% control of this, then I don't want any 335 00:25:21,232 --> 00:25:24,020 more bad days, because I've had enough of them in my life. I 336 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,807 recommend that philosophy to you . Thirdly, i don't sweat the 337 00:25:27,868 --> 00:25:32,211 small stuff, and most stuff is small. I have learned that many 338 00:25:32,251 --> 00:25:35,085 times when I get upset or I'm about to get upset, that 339 00:25:35,125 --> 00:25:38,279 whatever I'm upset about is probably not that big a deal. 340 00:25:39,682 --> 00:25:43,939 And I have learned to measure myself, take a deep breath, take 341 00:25:43,939 --> 00:25:47,650 a step back, think about it, because most of the times it's 342 00:25:47,730 --> 00:25:53,265 not worth it. Stress management one of the ways, one of the 343 00:25:53,305 --> 00:25:56,057 things that stresses us is trying to do everything for 344 00:25:56,157 --> 00:26:02,007 everybody else. It's okay to take care of yourself mentally I 345 00:26:02,007 --> 00:26:04,597 mean, i'm talking about stress now that can lead sometimes to 346 00:26:04,637 --> 00:26:09,090 mental issues which could lead to mental disorders, which could 347 00:26:09,090 --> 00:26:13,632 lead to mental illnesses in some people. And finally, my 348 00:26:13,692 --> 00:26:15,140 final basic principle is everything is a relationship, 349 00:26:16,987 --> 00:26:20,019 whether it's husband, wife, son, daughter, parent, child, 350 00:26:22,131 --> 00:26:26,048 working relationships, friendships, etc. Etc. And 351 00:26:26,087 --> 00:26:28,897 relationships are based on three things mutual respect, mutual 352 00:26:28,917 --> 00:26:32,916 trust, good communication. If you have those things, your 353 00:26:33,017 --> 00:26:38,196 relationship will thrive. It is important to our mental health 354 00:26:38,217 --> 00:26:40,609 that we have good relationships. Finally, let me leave you with 355 00:26:40,651 --> 00:26:46,076 this thought The only impossible journey is the one you never 356 00:26:46,096 --> 00:26:50,796 believe that you never begin. The only impossible journey is 357 00:26:50,856 --> 00:26:53,229 the one you never begin. Be the change you want to see in the 358 00:26:53,269 --> 00:26:59,323 world. Have a great day. 359 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,625 Speaker 1: Take the next step of action and share it with your 360 00:27:27,685 --> 00:27:31,057 family, friends and or your co-workers. They'll be glad you 361 00:27:31,096 --> 00:27:35,598 did So. until the next time, live your best possible life the 362 00:27:35,598 --> 00:27:36,603 best possible way.