The last 2 wks have been a whirlwind…in a good way. Lots of SameHere Schools visits (pics➡️), & then the continued filming of the Docuseries.
After listening to Dr Steve C. Hayes, the father of ACT therapy (second slide➡️) & then some of the other experts we were fortunate to sit w, this quote came to mind.
It’s an adaptation of what a # of them kept coming back to – just in their own diff ways – & an attempt at consolidating their takes on this topic – of MH overall.
We ALL go thru psychological pain. That IS mental health. It may live on a continuum – it may be worse at some times in our lives & worse from person to person, but: we cannot measure what that “worse” is.
The common thread is we all suffer – we all have pain, we all go thru challenging life events. Dr. Vincent Felitti on the third slide is 86 yrs young – but he talks abt how his ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study which has become world famous, did not even begin w a study abt MH. It was a study abt weight gain & loss…& what they uncovered abt those who had challenges keeping weight off, related to what they’d been thru as children (check out the short soundbite from his interview➡️).
That’s right, a gold standard lens to understand how we feel NOW, wasnt event something we were intending to look for – “what happened to us.” But, it was so apparent in the research…couldn’t be denied.
Not shared here – I asked Dr Felitti abt all the other “things” beyond the 10 questions on the ACE questionnaire that impact us. What abt the micro events like a parent not showing up to watch you play a game, when all the other kid’s parents did. His answer was simple: “That’s why we added an 11th question – ‘what else have you been thru as a child that’s significant to you.’”
The common denominator of all these brilliant minds: we all go thru psychological & emotional pain. Not “1 in 5” w mental illness alone…but “5 in 5.” And while pain is awful & terrible & miserable – it’s that which gives us wisdom to live better & more fulfilling lives.
Imagine we could take THAT perspective, even in the moments of our pain. How it might give our pain some perspective.
