Maureen Dunleavy, the Regional Vice President of the Guidance Care Center, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5 FM this morning to talk about the organization.
The Guidance Care Center is celebrating 50 years in the Keys.
Dunleavy said, “Everyone does have mental health, and of course, it’s managed over our lifetime. People like to think mental health doesn’t apply to me, but it really is the same as our physical health, that whatever’s happening in our life impacts how we’re doing.”
How does the national and international news affect somebody in terms of mental health?
Dunleavy said, “That’s definitely a stressor. I mean, as we talked about before, our mental health is over our lifetime, and it’s going to change with what tools we need to use to cope with what’s happening in our lives. We have hurricane season coming up that can be a very stressful time. We’re in the first 100 days of a new administration, lots of changes are happening and that can breed a lot of fear in individuals. We have the highest risk of suicide in our community. We definitely don’t want individuals to feel hopeless or to feel like there isn’t help, or that things aren’t going to change, because the only thing we can really count on is change itself.”
It looks like this year the storms could be at least as active as last year.
Dunleavy said, “I’ve been here 20 years, and I’m sure many of our listeners have been too. If you were here for Wilma, you were here for Irma, you have that impact and then definitely even seeing what’s on TV when we see other areas of Florida, or when we saw what happened in the Bahamas, that is vicarious trauma. So it can also impact us by seeing those images and of course, the news kind of replays those same images over and over again. It obviously can have a have a real big impact on us and then what happens is, every year, when we get towards hurricane season, or we hear about the forecast, or we have the first cone, everyone starts to panic, because we’ve been through it, we know what can happen, and so that may definitely have a shift in our anxiety. Anxiety really is one of two things. It is overestimating how likely something is going to happen, or underestimating our ability to handle it. So what does that mean? That means that most things we worry about don’t ever happen, and if they do, we are better able to deal with them than we give ourselves credit for.”
Is that mindset human nature or specific for certain types of people?
Dunleavy said, “I think it’s definitely commonplace. I mean, if 10 good things happen today, and one bad thing happens today, what are we usually calling our friends and telling them about? Usually the one bad thing. So there’s a natural tendency to want to shift to the negative or to worst case scenario. I can understand about how if I worry about it, then somehow it’s not going to happen, or I’ll be more prepared if it happens. But the reality is it just makes you tired. So when we see what’s happening in the stock market, when we see a storm coming our way, the biggest thing is to be flexible, just focus on what we can control. Focus on the choices that we have in that moment, because so much we cannot control, we can’t control the stock market, we can’t control what storms are going to come this way, or even if we’re in the cone today, that doesn’t mean we’re going to be in the cone tomorrow. I mean, how many times have we seen where things change over the course of a couple days? Sometimes it takes longer, and so it’s really important to kind of do a reality check with our thoughts and that’s a skill. That’s one of the mental health tools that people can learn. We’ve talked a lot about coping, and typically people get to the point where they want to end their own life because they don’t see a way out. They’re stuck on the fact that it seems hopeless. It seems like nothing’s going to change and when we’re talking about finances, when you’re talking about being able to function on a daily basis, we can end up losing more people in our community.”
The Florida Keys has the highest rate of suicide in all of Florida.
Dunleavy said, “We know that there is a connection to natural disasters, whether we’re talking about COVID, we’re talking about hurricanes as well as our high cost of living. They did a study at University of Miami and found that your greatest risk factor for suicide in this community was if you’re a renter. So that housing stability and having to be able to support yourself definitely impacts how we feel and how hopeful we are, and what choices we make.”
Sometimes drugs and alcohol are used to cope.
Dunleavy said, “Even if we talk about alcohol, which is legal, people sometimes drink alcohol to cope with anxiety and depression, but it ends up making it worse. So it like compounds the anxiety and the depression you’re already feeling, so if you’re already feeling hopeless in crisis, and then you’re having drinks to be able to cope with it, it’s going to amplify that. Then, of course, you’re impaired because you’ve been drinking, and so you may make a decision that you can’t take back. So it’s really, really important that, individuals kind of take a look at how they’re feeling and where they’re at and if they’re having thoughts of suicide, or they’re finding that they they’ve been drinking, where it’s impacting their relationships or their jobs, then that’s the time to definitely reach out for professional help. Everything’s available through that phone number. So the 305-434-7660, it’ll then prompt a script that has all our programs, locations and services throughout the Keys. Of course, if you are feeling in crisis or need to reach our mobile crisis response team, you do not need to listen to the whole entire script. You can immediately press eight as soon as it starts, and then you’ll be connect you to a live person, and we will help connect you to the resources that you need. We do not want to lose one more life in this community. People can walk in during business hours, at the front desk and ask for help that way. We also give out free NARCAN kits, just to have in your first aid kit. So there are lots of resources. Also, all of our services are available regardless of ability to pay. So it does not matter if you can pay for services, if you have insurance, we’re going to help you whether people can pay for it or not. We are the safety net provider for this community, and we know a lot of families are struggling because, like we said, high cost of living. Most of the money that people are bringing home is going to their housing or their rent, and so many people are living paycheck to paycheck. Do not let the ‘I can’t afford the services’ prevent you from getting help, because we can help. We’re here to help 24/7, so please do not hesitate to reach out to get more information. I know a lot of people may be fearful of reaching out. The availability to be able to walk in or call a phone number and just to hear about what’s available doesn’t mean you have to take advantage of any of it, doesn’t mean anything other than you have information about what’s in our community.”