In this important episode, Valerie and Helen explore the subject of work and its critical role in recovery. For people with a mental health condition, work is a weighty challenge that can evoke anxiety and fear, hopes and dreams. Given their extensive backgrounds in the workplace, both successes and the inability to have a job due to acute mental illnesses, Helen and Valerie understand the great benefits of work as well as the downsides. Research shows that for American workers, employment is far more than a paycheck. It provides structure, a social network, meaning, and a positive identity. Few things can be as meaningful to recovery as a job. Don’t miss this full exploration of work, and finding, getting, and keeping employment.
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It’s More than a Job: The Role of Work in Mental Health Recovery
Episode 42
Helen Sneed: Welcome to our award winning podcast, Mental Health, Hope and Recovery. I'm Helen Sneed.
Valerie Milburn: And I'm Valerie Milburn.
Helen Sneed: We both have fought and overcome severe chronic mental illnesses. Our podcast offers a unique approach to mental health conditions. We use practical skills and inspirational true stories of recovery. Our knowledge is up close and personal.
Valerie Milburn: Helen and I are your peers. We're not doctors, therapists or social workers. We're not professionals. But we are experts. We are experts in our own lived experience with multiple mental health diagnoses and symptoms. Please join us on our journey.
Helen Sneed: We live in recovery, so can you this podcast does not provide medical advice. The information presented is not intended to be a substitute for or relied upon as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The podcast is for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or or other qualified health providers with any health related questions you may have.
Valerie Milburn: Welcome to episode 42, Work and Recovery. Today we're going to explore the benefits of work to our mental health. We're also going to get into the key areas of finding, getting and keeping a job.
Helen Sneed: In our research we came across a really interesting and for me, completely new question which is can work be a pathway to mental illness and can mental illness be a pathway to work? Well, the answer is yes and yes. And we're also going to elaborate on this today. So Valerie, let us commence. What do we mean when we talk about work?
Valerie Milburn: Well, the first definition we have for work is simple and concise work performing tasks and responsibilities in exchange for financial compensation.
Helen Sneed: Well, I went and got a couple of other definitions just because there were job. The words we're going to be using today, and these are from the Oxford Dictionary. The first one is job, a paid position of Regular employment. Then there's employment, the condition of having paid work. So those are pretty much the same career, an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress. Now, Valerie, I have to say that for many years, hearing words such as employment, job, career, boss, colleague, fired, these words related to the workplace could make me feel sick inside. Literally. I didn't believe I had any luck or chances left. But Thomas Jefferson said, I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more luck I have. So first off, let's look at what work means in America today. Now, we have now a wonderful, vast global audience, but we thought we would try to focus it in on America, where some circumstances are rather unique. Work, more often than not, is the center of life for Americans in a way that sometimes mystifies workers in other countries. Americans work, on average, hundreds of hours more than their European counterparts. We got some great information from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. For example, one in four US Workers do not take paid vacation or paid holidays.
Valerie Milburn: That's
Valerie Milburn: just crazy.
Helen Sneed: Yeah, I was one of those. Okay, so what do Americans expect from work, and are they getting it? Well, a paycheck is sort of obvious and very important. But work's primary function is not limited to purely economic factors, not in America. It also provides essential social capital and a sense of personal worth. Work is a matter of survival and companionship. Social capital, that is, again, the social life that you get through your work increases job performance and reduces mental health issues. Now, as for individual identity, 71% say that they do it. What they do for a living is important to who they are. And this is most important for older men. Now, with the decline in American social and civic life, which we've looked at in some detail in other episodes, the result is that the workplace tops any other place of social capital, including places of worship, schools, and neighborhoods. This is a major reason for the devastating impact of COVID When workplaces shut down overnight, millions of Americans lost the social center of their lives and their only community.
Valerie Milburn: That's so interesting that workplaces top any other place of social capital, including worship and schools and neighborhoods. That really shows the importance of workplaces in our lives. That's. That's really striking to me, and it was so true for me for a while. As you know, it just. We're going to talk about that. So let's look for a minute at what work means to those with a mental health condition. And there are obstacles, you know, symptoms, fears, doubts, lack of Support or education, the inability to function. Those all affect how work looms in our lives. And then there's the positive dreams, security, health independence, financial gain. Those are all the positives associated work for those of us who have struggled with mental health conditions as we face work in our lives. So, Helen, let's get into the benefits. The benefits of employment for people with mental health challenges.
Helen Sneed: It's something that is becoming more and more a field of study. And McLean Hospital, which does such excellent work, has a study called the Benefits of Employment for People with Mental Health Challenges. It's written by Karen L. Jacob. And so this is how working improves your mental health structure and connectedness with others contribute to mental wellness. So in terms of looking at work, they created two categories. It provides daily structure, which I think is sort of, you know, self evident, and then meaningful experiences. They list connectedness with others, the value of the work itself, a sense of competency, financial compensation, and the chance to master skills learned in therapy, which I had never thought is really, this is a. Work is a good place to. To put all that to practice. Now, Valerie, our friend Eileen Gray shared her experience from her years as a therapist. And she saw that kind of right off the bat that her patients needed. All the things that you just talked about and I just talked about meaningful experiences, social connection, a sense of competency, and of course, financial compensation. And she saw that these things could be gained by going back to work as well as through therapy. So what she was able to see is how important work was to recovery.
Valerie Milburn: Yeah, that's our friend Eileen and I also just went to a webinar that showed how important work is to recovery. Last month I attended a webinar by the national alliance on Mental Illness, our friend nami, and the webinar was how employment supports mental health recovery. How fortuitous that this webinar was right. When we were working on this episode on work. So Nami presented a wellness model with eight aspects of wellness, one of them being occupational wellness work. It then showed how this one aspect of wellness, work supported five of the other seven categories. So work.
Helen Sneed: How many? You can say it.
Valerie Milburn: Five. There are eight of them. Eight aspects of wellness. One of them is work. And work supports five of the other seven categories.
Valerie Milburn: It's extraordinary, I know. So work supports financial wellness, obviously, work supports social wellness by providing social connections, as we've talked about. Also supports social. It also enhance social support and a sense of belonging to the community. So that's how it supports social wellness. Work also supports intellectual wellness. It supports this by providing skill development, work also boosts self esteem and confidence which fosters a more positive outlook on life. And this supports the emotional wellness. And then this last one, I love, love how NAMI connected work with spiritual wellness. Engaging in meaningful work aligns with personal values and beliefs, contributing to a sense of purpose and fulfillment and that is spiritual wellness. So again NAMI's wellness model shows that occupational wellness work supports five other aspects of wellness financial, social, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. The webinar also addressed potential negative effects of work. We want to look at both sides. So a couple of the negative potential negative effects of work. There's the possibility of stress and burnout. There can be a work life imbalance. There's often job insecurity such as temporary contracts or frequent layoffs. And this can increase anxiety and affect mental well being, obviously. And the other thing that can be negative about work is that often part of a job requirement is physical strain.
Helen Sneed: Well, those are all valid problems and negatives that can come I think for many people with work until they learn how to balance it out. Now what I was able to find and to see is that asking what works can mean to the sick and disabled. And there are these really positive outcomes. From a UK article is work good for your health and well being? By Gordon Waddell and A. Kim Burton. And what they stated is there is a broad consensus across multi disciplines when condition permits work. Now here are the benefits that they listed and I think they're probably more it's therapeutic, helps to promote recovery, leads to better health outcomes, minimizes the harmful physical, mental and social effects of long term absence due to sickness, promotes full participation in society, independence human rights, reduces poverty and improves quality of life and well being.
Valerie Milburn: You know, our friend Eileen also gave us an example of something that really backs up so many things you just listed, particularly the one where you talked about it minimizes harmful physical, mental and social effects of long term absence from sickness. And she talked about how when she was working in the field of Social Security benefits for illness, she was working with a lot of patients who were on dialysis and she said that most of the patients saw dialysis as them being chained to the dialysis machine because most of the time it's two or three times a week and they saw being chained to this machine as meaning they couldn't work. Eileen helped them see that the machine makes them healthy enough to work. And you know Helen, when you and I were talking about this, we were talking about how part of getting mentally healthy is seeing the bright side of learning how to reinterpret our own situation.
Helen Sneed: When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans, send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom 60th and never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn more@WhatsApp.com in most of our episodes we like to have a section on strategies and support for attaining whatever the goal is or the topic is of that episode. And in this instance we looked at quite a number of ways to either look for or get or keep a job, and also how to deal with the emotional aspects of it for someone who has a mental health condition. Valerie, you have the most interesting information about disclosure.
Valerie Milburn: I took first take on it from when you and I taught peer to peer Classes for nami, because when we taught those classes, we led a wonderful activity on the pros and cons of disclosing in the workplace that one has a mental health condition. And we led this activity six or seven times. And the group majority opinion each time we led that activity was to not disclose, which is pretty interesting. But, you know, it's been about eight years since I taught that class, and I think quite a bit has changed in our culture's attitude toward mental health. Now, stigma still exists for sure. So it's important to ask ourselves some questions as we decide whether to disclose to our workplace that we live with a mental health condition. And one thing to know is that in general, employees are protected against discrimination when disclosed. Mental health issues in the workplace protected under the Americans with Disabilities act, the ada. Now, Karen Jacob, who you mentioned earlier as a researcher, offers some really good questions to ask when making the decision to disclose one's mental health condition. Jacob suggested that we ask ourselves, what would be the purpose of disclosing? Is it necessary for me to do my job? Is my mental health interfering with my performance? Is it impacting myself or my colleagues?
Helen Sneed: I think that this is a really difficult question, but I want to just sort of talk about some of the benefits of openness, which is something I would never have considered, unlike you, Valerie, until recently. I think the chance for unconditional positive regard is a real benefit. To be respected for honesty and the strength to overcome illness, to be able to ask for help if needed, to personally reduce stigma, which we all think is a noble calling. Now, what strengths does a person with mental health challenges bring to the table in the workplace? To begin with, a great capacity for empathy, the ability to understand and interpret actions of others, which means that the person can be a superb colleague to work with to understand emotional needs of others, which we're all well versed in. And then something I hadn't thought of, which is skills and emotional regulations. Many people with mental health issues have learned how to regulate their emotions. Another strength is to have the ability to see a different way of achieving a goal. The goal won't change, but the person might see a more supportive, innovative, successful path to achieving it. And this leads us to another strategy, which is that of goal setting in searching for getting and keeping a job. Now, about goal setting, which we mentioned frequently, the right goal setting skills can be the foundation of the search for work. Small,
Helen Sneed: manageable, measurable steps, the ability to tolerate setbacks and keep going, and the right support system. All of these factors can be the key to finding a job. And for more information, check out our episode 9 goals and goal Setting Another.
Valerie Milburn: Strategy is having reasonable expectations. This was extremely important for me when I went back to work after my breakdown. Now I definitely had to set reasonable expectations for myself. I had not been able to work for 18 months. Months. I knew I needed a part time, punch a clock, leave the job at work type job.
Helen Sneed: Oh Valerie, this is where I wish I had known you then. Because one of my main problems was that I didn't have reasonable expectations. I wanted to retrieve my old career and status or nothing. As a result, I delayed working and lost precious time because I was unwilling to start at the bottom. Now here's a really important, I guess I'll call it tip. Be responsible with benefits. If a person is on disability and it's time to return to work, that person should be certain to understand the limitations on how much can be earned per month without losing the benefits. It is strongly recommended to meet with a counselor at Social Security before going back to work. Now another thing, another strategy is volunteer work. And I'm going to emphasize the word work. It's a good place to start in preparing for a job search, structure and responsibility, friends, self confidence building and finding out the kind of work you like and don't like and you know what a job might come out of it and it's a great way to fill your resume. Another thing is find a peer or friend who's in the same boat or someone who can really support your efforts one on one. Someone to turn to for cheerleading advice, humor, moral support. It helps to have someone to tell of your progress and setbacks.
Valerie Milburn: Another place to look for support is our health providers. My psychiatrist encouraged me to go back to work part time. Of course he helped me build those reasonable expectations. But he kept telling me I could do it, that I was ready. Now there was a motivation for sure. My COBRA insurance had run out and there was pressure to get health insurance for our family. That had always been my responsibility. But my psychiatrist helped me in so many ways. He helped me see that it would be good for me to feel of service again again at a part time job. He supported me through the transition of going back to work. He helped me with structure, helped me see the importance of keeping my 12 step program a priority. Of maintaining the prescribed eight hours of sleep. Notice the word prescribed in there. The importance of family time. He reminded me of the importance of asking for help. It was a really hard juggling act even with just a part time job.
Helen Sneed: Well you really had Someone really wise and supportive, you know, in all the right ways.
Valerie Milburn: Yes.
Helen Sneed: For there are other kinds of professional support that should be mentioned. Career counseling, peer recovery coach, community support organizations, religious organizations, and schools. Now, I really benefited from an organization that provided support. And what happened is that I was ready, as I was ever going to be, to try to go back to work. And I needed to create a new resume. And it was just. It was impossible because I made a full work history and it was pages long, and all I could do was cry when I. When I looked at the list, because I just was aware of all I had lost. And the task of organizing it all into a resume was just. Was. Was not feasible. Now, I lucked out, and I entered a model program for people who had borderline personality disorder and were ready to return to the workplace. And in my first meeting with Dale, one of the counselors and the class leaders, I handed her the pages of my past accomplishments and burst into tears. Well, she immediately understood, and she got it. She knew why I was paralyzed. And through her intelligence, compassion, and the brilliant curriculum, I created a fabulous resume that became famous in its own day. And I was also able to. To help mentor others in writing their resumes.
Valerie Milburn: Yes, you're
Valerie Milburn: an excellent writer. I'm not surprised. You were good at that. You. You are a gifted writer.
Helen Sneed: Well, you know, it's just a question of learning how to pitch yourself. And that's what I loved helping other people with because they had all these talents they weren't aware of. It was amazing.
Valerie Milburn: Yeah.
Helen Sneed: So another thing that we do, Valerie, and then that is that we. We have sort of thoughts for families, friends and caretakers, caregivers, and I want to say, sort of a cautionary note. I learned over the years, not just from myself, but from others, that the subject of work can be a minefield for a person with mental illnesses. Family and friends with the best of intentions would say, just get a job and you'll be your old self again. You always love to work. That's the best cure. Work will pull you out of your depression. Well, what they didn't realize was that this advice would increase my sense of helplessness, guilt, shame, worthlessness, and laziness. Because, you see, I agreed with them, but I wanted to work, but I couldn't even put on my shoes. It was out of the question for me to be able to do that.
Valerie Milburn: Well, I was so fortunate that my sister had this very practical, straightforward, helpful approach toward my need to go back to work. This was during the time my psychiatrist was really Encouraging me to go back to work. But I was still struggling with my depression and my sister would come over and find me still back in bed. And she asked me this very practical question, question. She said, you know, if you could do anything that you wanted to do to go back and get this part time job, what would you do? And I said, well, I would work in the produce department or the grocery aisles at the specialty grocery store here in Austin. And you know what, the next day she brought over an ad in the newspaper, a full page ad that said hiring produce partners and grocery partners at this grocery store, this specialty grocery store I wanted to work at. I mean, it was just amazing. And I went and I applied for this job and I made through the first round of interviews and I made it through the second round of interviews. And then there's a funny story about what happened next. But I went back into the hospital for a serious bout of depression. And while I was in the hospital, I got the call for my third and final interview. So I asked for an outpatient pass to go on to this interview. And I got the pass. And my dad, 36 years old here, my dad came and got me and brought me clothes to wear the interview and sat in the cafe at the grocery store while I interviewed. And I got the job. But in advice for friends, for family members, you know, and which is what we're talking about here. The point is my sister was practical, straightforward and helpful. Little goal, starting with the goal, what would you like to do? And then a plan. Here's the opportunity. Go to the interview. So that's what we want from our caregivers, to meet us where we are. Small steps.
Helen Sneed: Well, I have to, I have to add my own situation here. I was in the hospital when I called an old colleague to ask for a job. And I was using the payphone of the ward of the mental hospital that I was on. And I was even then just so afraid that someone would, you know, like a freak out or something and be. You could hear them in the background as I was on this call. It didn't happen, but it was really the. I consider these extraordinary circumstances and I'm happy to say that I got the job.
Valerie Milburn: Where there's a will, there's a way.
Helen Sneed: You know, I had, I had change for the pay phone. That's all that mattered. Well, yeah, Valerie, you always give such great examples. And that story about your sister is so, is, so, is so helpful and so specific and I wish I'm asking you to tell us more about your Relationship with work, with working, with not working. What got you back into work again after having such a difficult time? I think it's a really valuable story for all of us to hear.
Valerie Milburn: Well, thank you. I hope I can meet that intro. But you just talked about examples. I have a little story that's a perfect example of how work defined me. I married young and
Valerie Milburn: my husband's a bit older than I am. And we were at an event right after we got married with my husband's parents and all their friends. So I felt a little uncomfortable in this setting. One of my mother in law's friends said, oh, it's so nice to meet you. Tell me a little bit about yourself. Do you cook? I said, no. She said, do you sew? No. Do you garden? No. Well, what do you do? She asked. And I looked at her and said, I work. So there you go, work. I mean, that's what I did. It defined me. That's who I was. And as I thought about my journey with work in my life, you know, thinking about how I wanted to share this today, I saw that my definition of work changed over time for me. So my first definition of work was freedom and independence. My first job, I was 15 and it gave me the freedom to buy clothes and shoes and boots, a leather jacket, makeup, professional haircuts, shrimp po boys. I could go out for lunch, I could go to movies, and then I could buy more clothes, shoes and boots. So. And then came independence. A year after I started working, I bought my first car and more independence. Then saving money to go off to college. Oh yeah, and there was also money to buy more drugs and alcohol. But I digress. So I loved working in high school and my work ethic was solid, and it remained solid as I worked my way through college, waiting tables. I liked being self sufficient and I knew I was working to make money, to get my education, to build my life, my career. So my second definition of work was as a commitment to my family. I graduated from college, I got married, I started my career, then we started our family. And work became that commitment, a responsibility to my family. I still loved working. And as I launched my successful career, I launched my professional self. It was a role I had been grooming myself for, and I relished growing into it. Making money was important to contribute to supporting my family, but the reward of achieving what I had worked so hard for, to get my college degree, was paramount. And I had an incredible mentor in my first job. He believed in me, offered me opportunities to grow, not just in my role in my job and in the organization, but also in our field as a professional, in our field and in the community. He told me when he hired me that it was the perfect job for me for about five years and then I would be looking for something bigger. He helped me prepare for that and I grew rapidly into the woman indeed, ready to move on. I identified as a young, competent, successful communications and public relations professional. I knew what I was good at and I knew how to sell it. I pushed and pushed and advanced and advanced. I broke into the advertising field. I worked long hours and lived with a lot of stress. However, I was someone with mental health issues and had been, as our listeners know, struggling since the seventh grade. Thus, this lifestyle was an extremely unhealthy choice for me, though mania brought on by bipolar disorder often drove what I was doing that lifestyle. So in some ways it was the illness not a choice. But I continued this lifestyle and I got sicker. So my third definition of work was h***. The last three years of my career before my psychiatric breakdown were just awful. I was working 70 hours a week, always wanting or needing to be somewhere other than where I was both physically, mentally and emotionally where I was. I wanted to be home with my family when I was at work and needed to be at work when I was home with my family. Or I wanted to be with my family when I was at home but was crashed in bed from exhaustion or drug and alcohol abuse or depression. But I didn't let go of the job. I had always wanted career success and I was on the road to that success at age 34. But I still had a long way to go and I was never going to achieve my goals if I stepped back or walked away. It's what we said earlier. What I did was important to who I was, but I was ill, mentally ill, and the stressful long hours combined with substance abuse
Valerie Milburn: was a living h***. This h*** came to an end via my breakdown in the aftermath and I didn't work for 18 months. When I recovered enough to re enter the workforce, my perspective on work changed completely. That part time job that I talked about became my place for social connection, fulfillment, self confidence, service, fun, friendship. And I still had my work ethic, but this time with a healthy balance. I worked hard and did a good job and I chose a new career path and got my teaching certificate while I was at that part time job. Now teaching high school had its own stress and challenges, but that's another story and I'll close with the scene from my psychiatrist office circa I don't know, 2014, 2015. And. And at that point, I had been retired for two or three years, and what I was doing was tons of volunteering, both in the mental health and substance use disorder recovery communities. I was also sponsoring women in the 12 step community. I was being wholly present in my family's life. So here's the scene with my psychiatrist, who at that point has been my doctor for 21 or 22 years. And I'm telling Trey, my doc, the old story in my head. In that moment, I'm believing it. So I'm telling him the old story of, I am such a failure. I was so successful, and then I got sick and I lost everything and I'm never going to be all those things I wanted to be. I was so. And he cuts me off. He goes, wait a minute. I knew you when you were successful. You weren't successful when you were successful. He said, you're successful now. What you're doing now is what matters.
Helen Sneed: Well, Valerie, thank you for sharing that, because there's so many nuggets of gold in it in terms of how you turn things around and also your awareness of where you got off track because that's. I think a person can't rescue him or herself until knowing what. Where. Where things are wrong, you know, what was the wrong pathway. So thank you so much for that. You gave me a lot to think about.
Valerie Milburn: Well, thank you. I. I know your journey in work, although I always learn more when you share your story. And I can't wait to hear what you have to say about your relationship with work as you went from being as successful as I know you were to getting through your struggles. So can you tell us about that?
Helen Sneed: Yes. There's an old song that goes, what do you get when you work your fingers to the bone? Bony fingers. In many ways, my history is a love letter to work and to bony fingers. I grew up knowing workaholics, and I was familiar with their ways and their attitude and the incredible long, long hours. And it was, you know, Americans working too hard in the aftermath of two world wars, the Great Depression, and when my turn came, my own depression. So recently I've been fascinated by a new trend in mental health research. For so long, the experts concentrated on workaholicism. Yes, that's a word. On being a workaholic as causing mental illness. And now there's a new focus on mental illness causing workaholicism. For many people, such as myself, work is an acceptable mask for depression, anxiety, bipolar, substance use, other mental health Challenges. Now I know this is what happened to me. I was depressed from early childhood, which I've talked about. I had school and college though to hold me in place for 16 years. The minute I graduated from college, I fell into a debilitating depression that lasted for two years. Now, somehow I managed to move to New York City where I floundered around. And then I discovered work. It rapidly became my life. I didn't work to live, I lived to work. I became a full fledged workaholic, proud to be carrying on the tradition. I loved having big demanding jobs at the national and international level. Now, besides the paycheck, social networks and fulfillment, work also was central to my
Helen Sneed: identity. New York City is a city where what you do defines who you are. And for me, there was an added bonus. Work also provided an external remedy for the relentless demons inside me. They never went away and they never shut up. But the huge demands of action in a job could give them a real run for their money. Now, my mental illnesses escalated over those years of frenetic working. And finally an expert doctor persuaded me to resign from my job and go into full time treatment. She convinced me that I was so suicidal I wouldn't live much longer unless I did overnight. After I stopped working, I lost everything that kept me moving through life. Purpose, people, salary, structure, meaning all gone over five years. Without working, I went straight downhill, unable finally to dress or leave my apartment, much less get a job. Many times I was so broke I had to choose between food and soap. I'm happy to say that soap always won. You know, no paycheck meant my financial resources were depleted by therapy costs and living costs. I believed that I had not lost my abilities, but I had permanently lost the capacity to use them. The best parts of me were rotting well. This was the non functioning invalid I became without work. So how did I crawl back? Well, the first rescue came from that job program for people with borderline personality. It was not a support group, but rather a brilliant professional program that combined DBT skills and a strong job seeking curriculum. And the two women who created and taught it were superb. I flourished there. They mentored me and I was able to mentor the others in the program. I took action for the first time in years and was connected to other people. With several major setbacks and more lost time, I finally asked a friend who owned the drama bookshop to give me a job. Although he knew my entire history, he took a chance on me. So there I was, starting at the very bottom of my field. That's how I Saw it, I was embarrassed, bitter. But I did the work well. And after some months, the place, the people and a sense of purpose worked their charms on me and the job became a godsend. I mean, a lifeline. You see, I had thought my creativity in the workplace had been depleted by mental illness. But Maya Angelou said, you can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. So this part time job was a huge turning point towards recovery and a completely different manner of working. Because I couldn't apply my workaholic methods to a job I couldn't take home with me. It was impossible. Another turning point that I have mentioned before was my writing a play that was produced off Broadway. The dream of a lifetime. It was a real success. It's been published since then and had numerous productions around the country. Then I left New York City after 40 years to return to Austin, Texas, where I was born and raised. Feeling lost and homesick for New York, I volunteered at the national alliance on Mental Illness nami. And although I wasn't paid, I worked hard using my old abilities of teaching, writing, editing, public speaking all over Central Texas. NAMI work was especially valuable during the years of the pandemic, when isolation and menacing, yawning, empty hours were a real threat to my mental health. And also during the pandemic, a great thing happened. You and I, Valerie, were asked to do a podcast on mental health.
Valerie Milburn: Thank goodness.
Helen Sneed: And since, yes, thank goodness because we needed to do something. And together since then we've created 42 episodes and were awarded two national and one international award in 2023 for raising the bar through excellence in podcasting. Now, in our fourth year, we know that prizes are great. You know, they're fabulous. But the real reward, what endures, is in the work itself. Day in, day out, we work hard, we laugh, we love it. And we are immensely grateful for the opportunity to reach those who need more information and inspirational stor fight for their own recovery. Here I am today, working fully engaged with the podcast, my own creative writing and volunteer work. No longer a driven worker. My skills and the strict necessity to live one day at a time have bred it out of me. Now, don't get me wrong, the last minute is still my favorite unit of time and I miss those adrenaline highs. But the truth is, another
Helen Sneed: workaholic has bitten the dust and I'm a better and more productive worker for it. My fingers are nimble, but no longer bony.
Valerie Milburn: Nimble. Yes. I really appreciate everything you shared and thank you. I love your story of going to work in the bookshop. That job training program is just such an example of the importance of supportive recovery. You know, that recovery requires the ability to find housing and work and education and whatever is needed, not just treatment. It's the big picture. And your need was beyond treatment. It included work. And it's just such a great example.
Helen Sneed: Well, and the other thing, of course, irony is that it's work that provides those other things you just mentioned.
Valerie Milburn: Right.
Helen Sneed: You know, and so without work, how do you get back? And I just was lucky and got some fantastic help along the way.
Valerie Milburn: Yeah, we both were very fortunate, and we are aware of that. Oh, man. So I think this is a great place to wrap up our topic. You know, it's just ending on our stories is great because we got to share just how lucky we are and how important work was is has been to our recovery.
Helen Sneed: Well, what I'd like to do is to quote Alexander Graham Bell, of all people. He said the only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action. And nowhere are his words more resonant than with work. As we close this great topic, it's time for another manifestation of hard work. And this is what Valerie gives us in her mindfulness exercises. Every single episode. And she manages to make it look effortless.
Valerie Milburn: Valerie, what a kind thing to say. Yes. We will close today's episode in our traditional way with a mindfulness exercise. What is mindfulness? I always give a definition. Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations without judgment. Today's mindfulness exercise is called workplace mindfulness. That's kind of appropriate. How can we be mindful about seeking and engaging in our work? Let's find out. Let's get mindful. Close your eyes if you can. Settle in and breathe as always, let's begin with a few diaphragmatic breaths. Whether your eyes are opened or closed, let's steady our breathing with two diaphragmatic breaths. When you do this on your own, take as many breaths as you need to Become calm and centered. I usually take about 10 diaphragmatic breaths before I start my mindfulness and meditation practice. Let's breathe. Inhale through your nose, expanding an imaginary balloon in your stomach. As you inhale, hold it for a second. Exhale through your mouth, pulling in your stomach. As you do that, forcefully exhaling again. Inhale through your nose, expanding that balloon in your stomach. Drop your shoulders. Exhale through your mouth, pulling in your stomach all the way in. Keep this slow, steady breathing going. Reflect on your goals and your aspirations for work. What is most important to you? What do you value most? How might you be able to move more toward your values? Think about how much attention you are giving to your work.
Valerie Milburn: Where is your balance between work and home life? Are you lacking focus and attempting to multitask? A workplace of kindness, compassion and curiosity is less stressful and more conducive to growth. How could you make this happen? What are some immediate steps you could take to improve your work environment? If you are seeking work, what is an immediate step you could take to improve your goal? Commit to taking a step toward your goal tomorrow. Thank you for doing this mindfulness exercise with me. Before we close, we're going to start sharing with you on our episodes Sharing with you, our listeners, some of our favorite podcasts and today we want to introduce to you the Blue Sky Podcast. This podcast, Blue sky, features interesting and inspiring people working on some of the world's toughest challenges and approaching them with an infectious sense of hope and optimism. The founder of the Optimism Institute, Bill Burke, hosts Blue sky and launched it to inspire and uplift people with a vision of our future that's far more positive than most of what we see and hear in the media. And Blue sky has featured conversations with guests on a wide range of topics, including climate change, homelessness, immigration, and the show's listeners leave each episode feeling better about the world. Blue sky gets its name from the meditation prompt that reminds us that there is always a blue sky above and sometimes you just have to get your head above the clouds to see it. So if you want to get your head above the clouds, check out the Blue Sky Podcast. It's available wherever you get your podcast.
Helen Sneed: It is truly wonderful. And I just Valerie, do you know if they if they rent out rooms at the Optimism Institute? I think I need to check myself in sometimes. Anyway, thank you all for joining us today. As always, Valerie and I hope that you have or find meaningful, challenging work in a workplace with people and standards that you respect and enjoy. We'd also appreciate your support with continuing our work. Please post a review of Mental health, Hope and recovery Wherever you find your podcasts, you can help us tremendously to reach even more people in need. Our next episode is going to be a good one. It's a close up intimate exploration of eating disorders with Kaylyn, a woman who has courageously fought to manage the symptoms and impact for many years now. For those of us who struggle with the fierce battle to overcome eating disorders Kaylyn has much to reveal. And until then, I leave you with our favorite word. Onward.