Unlearn The Lies About Mental Health

Have you ever wondered how we can break down mental health's complexities into a language everyone can understand? Do you want to be part of a movement that embraces mental health and empowers individuals to seek support and understanding?

Mental health is a deeply personal journey that is unique to each individual. It is essential to recognize that mental health is not a one-size-fits-all concept. What works for one person may not work for another. It includes medications, therapies, and the overall healing and recovery process. Embracing the individuality of mental health treatment requires acknowledging the need for personalized approaches and understanding that it often involves a trial-and-error process. Consequently, it can be a challenging and disheartening process, but it is crucial to maintain hope and resilience. Understanding that setbacks are a normal part of the journey allows individuals to persevere, learn from their experiences, and seek strategies that bring about positive change. 

In this episode, we want to help individuals recognize the importance of addressing mental health and the supremacy of peer support with those that struggle with mood disorders, anxiety, and depression. Join us as we discover strategies to break down mental health into a language that anyone can understand to lead us to create a society that values and supports the mental well-being of its people, especially our young generation. Prepare to be enlightened as we uncover strategies that broaden our understanding of mental health, equipping us to support ourselves and others better.

Today, we're joined by Jasmin Kotek, the Miss South Central, Partner of CultureChange, and Brand Ambassador of You Matter MN. Jasmin is a Minnesota State University Mankato graduate and is currently a mathematics teacher at Faribault middle school. She is also an 8-year coach, the head coach of the Northfield Hiliners Dance Team, Tri-City United Cheer Team, and the Cannon Falls Fall Dance Team. Jasmin is also the author of a children's book, "Believe, Bella," which strives to break mental health down to the vernacular that any age can understand. When she isn't in the classroom or coaching, she serves as Miss South Central and will compete for the title of Miss Minnesota this coming June.

With mental health being one of her passions, deriving from her personal experiences and the experiences around her, she helped co-found a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, CultureChange, in which she helped pass a 4-part initiative at universities across the midwest providing access to mental health resources. Today she is a partner of theirs aiming to provide mental health resources through education and policy change. She also works with Change to Chill programming to promote her community service initiative as Miss South Central across Minnesota.

"Mental health is not one size fits all. A medication that works for me won't work for someone else. If a therapy's right for me, that might not work for someone else either. And it was a lot of trial and error, and it got a lot worse before it got better." – Jasmin Kotek

Show Highlights:

(00:00:00) Episode disclaimer, highlight, and introduction

(00:02:22) Welcoming today's guest, Jasmin Kotek.

(00:02:53) Who is Jasmin Kotek?

(00:04:21) A children's book: Believe, Bella

(00:06:09) The Minnesota State University Mankato experience

(00:07:52) How did Jasmin start to become a mental health advocate?

(00:08:58) Mental health is not one size fits all.

(00:11:00) The desire to get over the depression and forget

(00:12:45) The Suicide of Brandon

(00:14:06) How does Brandon's suicide affect little Jasmine?

(00:16:02) Helping children process their emotions.

(00:18:22) Having no safe place to express anxiety is painful.

(00:19:28) Depression is a real thing.

(00:21:17) What does it mean to be a mental health advocate?

(00:22:19) What did mental health support look like for students at Minnesota State University?

(00:26:13) The perfect timing of investing in student mental health

(00:28:12) What did having conversations on campus about mental health look like?

(00:29:41) How can educators support the students that they serve?

(00:31:14) Come to Jasmine's meeting 

(00:33:38) Peer support is powerful.

(00:34:47) The struggle of not being perfect

(00:36:17) Strive for progress, not perfection.

(00:37:30) I am enough and will always be.

(00:38:21) Celebrating our survival and resilience 

(00:39:12) Don't compare yourself to others.

(00:42:00) How can we eradicate mental health stigma?

(00:42:53) What is mental health to Jasmin Kotek?

(00:43:21) This episode is powered by Speaks to Inspire, the mental health solution for young adults suffering in silence. Speaks 2 Inspire works with colleges and universities to create and implement safe, comprehensive programs for campuses nationwide.

(00:45:28) Where to connect with Jasmin?

(00:46:14) The Exhale Project: Positive Word Bracelets

(00:48:36) The 14 Ways to support your students' mental health guide

(00:49:20) If you need that support for your mental health, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 9-8-8 now. For local and national resources, go to http://www.speaks2inspire.com/resources. Join the Unlearn the Lies About Mental Health Facebook group: https://bit.ly/UTLcommunity. 

Key Takeaways:

"Any transition and change are hard, but I knew I wanted more and different opportunities." – Jasmin Kotek

"Mental health needs to be changed, and we must be the people that do that. Because you can't change what you can't see, and you can't see mental health. It's not like a cut where you see blood, and you can put a band-aid on it; it's something internal." – Jasmin Kotek

"Most of the time, we desire to get over our depression and then forget about it. How can I no longer be depressed? How can I no longer struggle with anxiety? And then as soon as we feel any ounce of relief, we forget about that and act like it never happened." – Jasmin Kotek

"As a man, it's so hard to express emotion outside of being happy or angry. I didn't even know that the emotion or feeling of betrayal was a thing. I didn't know what it looked like to process the feeling of being sad or hurt." – Abraham Sculley

"The more you suppress your emotions, the more it takes you down to this downward spiral, and then it leads to things like mood disorders." – Abraham Sculley

"A mood disorder essentially is the inability to manage your moods effectively." – Abraham Sculley

"Depression is a real thing; it doesn't mean you're weak and don't have the mental and emotional strength. It's a mood disorder that affects the way you think, the way you feel, the way you behave." – Abraham Sculley

"50% of mental health disorders are prevalent before the child turns the age of 14." – Jasmin Kotek

"To be the mental health advocate is to be that person for others that I once needed myself. It's being an educator, giving them the resources, tools, and anything that can help someone else's journey become a little bit easier and letting them know that they're not alone." – Jasmin Kotek

"It's okay to reach out for help, that you don't have to fight it alone." – Jasmin Kotek

"It was hard to develop the ideas we wanted to put out there. But putting it into action, people were much more open to hearing what we had to say than I expected, at least." – Jasmin Kotek

"All of the student body saw that mental health was needed, and we advocated for it. So, I feel when they brought it; it was the perfect timing because they saw that this was needed and just the timeframe of everything in the middle of Covid." – Jasmin Kotek

"There's a lot more going on that I don't see what's there because mental health is invisible. You can't physically see it. And I saw the struggles of my athletes, so knowing that these young teenage girls were struggling, I knew that these students on campus were also struggling." – Jasmin Kotek

"I will never forget the tears running down my face because I didn't realize like what these girls are struggling with that I didn't know." – Jasmin Kotek

"67% of students are more likely to open up with a friend than they are with an adult and a mental health professional." – Abraham Sculley

"One of the easiest things that anyone can do is to listen. So, if many of my athletes are dealing with depression, how amazing would it be if they could support each other? Because peer support is powerful." – Abraham Sculley

"Knowing that you have that peer and someone you can turn to, that's priceless." – Jasmin Kotek

"Growing up, I always struggled with aiming to be the ideal image of perfection, and it took me until way later in life to realize that we must always go for progress, not perfection." – Jasmin Kotek

"One of the biggest things I've been trying to do recently is to sit down and just look at my day and notice what I achieved. Because while I may not be perfect, I became better today by doing some things." – Jasmin Kotek

"We're human beings, and we are resilient. There are things we go through in life where it seems like that's it. But then we realize, no, it's not. And learn something from those difficulties, and that alone is something to celebrate." – Abraham Sculley

"I am better than nobody else, and nobody else is better than me. It's hard to compare yourself to others, especially with mental health, and seeing others' achievements can factor into it." – Jasmin Kotek

"Taking our stories and bringing them to life and turning struggles into strengths, opening that conversation and normalizing it is the best way to remove the stigma about mental health." – Jasmin Kotek

"Mental health to me is that holistic, healthy lifestyle, but how that translates into your overall emotional well-being." – Jasmin Kotek

Connect with Jasmin via the following:

· Website: www.jasmincatekotek.com

·Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasmin.kotek/; https://www.instagram.com/misssouthcentral2023/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/missjasminkotek

· TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@missjasminkotek

Unlearn the Lies About Mental Health is Hosted by Abraham Sculley.

· Contact Speaks 2 Inspire to learn about S2I programs: https://speaks2inspire.com/services/.

· Mental health resources for students: https://speaks2inspire.com/resources/.

· Connect with Abraham on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrahamsculley/.

· Order a copy of Unlearn the Lies at https://amzn.to/32B2jRh.

· Join the Unlearn the Lies About Mental Health Facebook group: https://bit.ly/UTLcommunity.

• 14 Ways to Support Your Students' Mental Health [free guide] - https://bit.ly/mentalhealthguide4

This episode is powered by Speaks 2 Inspire, the mental health solution for young adults suffering in silence. Speaks 2 Inspire works with colleges and universities to create and implement safe, comprehensive programs for campuses across the nation.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, don't hesitate to get in touch with the Crisis Text Line by texting "Home" to 741741 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-8255.