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Carrie Seidman: Why taking a 'mental health' day is a good thing

The Herald-Tribune - 11/17/2019

Nov. 17--Before leaving recently for an extended weekend road trip to Key West in a girlfriend's convertible, I changed the automated "out of office" reply on my email account to say I was "taking a couple of mental health days" off.

It's true I was feeling a little burned out and creatively uninspired, so the respite was welcome and well-timed. But the trip had been long planned and previously postponed, so nothing threatening precipitated it. Little did I suspect that my framing of the mini-sabbatical would cause such a stir.

We hadn't hit Naples when my phone started pinging. "Hope you are OK (worried face emoji)." "Please reach out if you need to talk (heart emoji)." "Concerned about you ... what's up? (woebegone emoji)?" "Is there anything I can do? (praying hands emoji)." Everyone seemed concerned this "Thelma and Louise" style trip was going to end the same way the movie did.

Much as I appreciated the show of concern, it seemed wildly out of proportion and it got me thinking (once again) about the dual standards we have for our physical and mental health.

The reaction would likely have been quite different if I'd said I was taking time off to participate in a breast cancer walk or to have some dental work done. But the words "mental health," immediately acted as a red flag, an intimation of something critical or covert. Heaven forbid I should dodge my work duties as a matter of routine self care.

Why is it we're praised for starting a new exercise program, quitting tobacco or alcohol, or trying a healthier diet, yet proactively addressing mounting stress or emotional fatigue is seen as cause for consternation or alarm? Why does our health care system encourage protective steps to insure against heart disease or obesity, but fail to similarly applaud (and often, cover the cost of) preemptive mental well-being measures?

It reminded me of what the youngest participant in my mental health project, FACEing Mental Illness, told me about her peers' reaction to learning she needed to take medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

"People would say it at school like it was a bad thing," Nevaeh Thompson said. "My friends would say, 'Oh, she's mental!' and then laugh."

At the time, she wasn't even sure what the word meant. But after looking up the definition -- "of or relating to the mind" -- and seeing it didn't actually carry any implicit negative connotation, she realized (at the tender age of 7) how the word and conditions like hers are misunderstood, misconstrued and maligned.

"Before when my friends would use that word, I would just stay quiet and try to find a different topic," she said. "Now I think it's mean and rude and it's a bad thing that I let them do that."

Over the past decade, mental health has nudged out of the closet in significant ways. Celebrities sharing their psychiatric diagnoses have helped reduce stereotypes. Insurance parity for mental illness is now the law, albeit not always enforced. Legislators have belatedly begun pushing for increased mental health and addiction services, though they're still woefully underfunded. (Especially in Florida, which remains at the bottom of the heap in per capita dollars for mental health.)

But we've yet to reach that tipping point where speaking about a mental health challenge comes as easily as discussing an upcoming surgery, or where reaction to either is equally sympathetic and supportive. Nor have we accepted that incorporating daily practices to insure mental stability and serenity should be a public health priority.

Recently, Democratic State Representative Susan Valdes of Tampa, a former longtime member of the Hillsborough County School Board, sponsored a bill (HB315) that would allow Florida students to take one "mental health day" a semester as an excused absence. The move seeks to put mental health issues on the same level with colds, flu or doctor's appointments as legitimate reasons for a student to call in sick.

A recent study showing the rate of major depressive episodes among 12- to 17-year old has increased 52 percent since 2005 spurred the legislation, which mirrors other efforts across the nation. A comparable proposal was introduced in the New York State Assembly last month, Utah passed a law last year and Oregon, responding to a campaign by a group of high school activists, now allows students to take mental health days just as they would sick days.

This timely, albeit timid bill represents one of several small but positive steps in the right direction. In July, the Florida Board of Education voted to require schools to offer at least five hours of mental health instruction to students in sixth through 12th grade each year. And earlier this month, a commission investigating the Parkland shootings called for more funding and coordination of mental health services in the state, focused on helping students deal better with the stresses in their lives.

Together, these small advances represent an emerging recognition that preventative and proactive attention to mental health -- something that has long been our approach to physical wellness -- will ultimately be more effective, efficient and transformative than the crisis care that's standard practice today.

Contact columnist Carrie Seidman at carrie.seidman@heraldtribune.com or 941-361-4834. Follow her on Twitter @CarrieSeidman and Facebook at facebook.com/seidman.

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