Here at the First Responders’ Conference in Vancouver & am wowed by 400 professionals who care this passionately about Mental Health. They had to cut off registration in September bc the space wasn’t large enough to hold the 100+ more leaders in police/fire/paramedics, etc. who wanted to also be here. And it’s not just Canadians. There are folks from Florida, Portland, etc.
So incredibly jazzed by the info being shared & the passion with which it’s being shared. Sitting at a weird angle but took pics of a number of the important slides from the morning. The slides covered the following topics:
1) this is an alliance – many different companies/depts, coming together to address this topic, 2) the different stages we ALL are in as it pertains to our MH (analogous to what it’s like when we’re first getting in the water all the way to nearing a large waterfall), 3) how effective campaigns like #ShareItDontWearIt lead towards more asking for & getting help (tho STILL the fact that some ppl say they will never talk about it – showing the major work left to be done), 4) the cumulative effects of life experiences & how often collectively they affect us even more than one MAJOR traumatic event, 5) an inspirational quote about leaders showing that others are important.
A stat I didn’t put above but that is so impt & shows a huge gap at companies: of Canadians interviewed in one study (across many industries) – 91% said the way that their boss/manager treats them impacts their MH, while 52% said that they believe their boss/manager truly takes their MH into consideration when making decisions. Lots of manager (or should I say leadership) training we need to do.
Excited to keep sharing the coming days’ info here & in stories & will let you know how our #SameHere discussion goes w all 400! Should I break the biz casual & wear my “Crazy” t-shirt??
