00:00Hello, and thank you for joining us at Essence Wellness House. I'm Victoria Umarogi, Lifestyle
00:10Editor for Essence Magazine, and I'm here to have an important conversation with you about
00:14thriving with anxiety and depression, talking with two very informed panelists about this topic,
00:20and they are Dr. Cleo Booker. She is a psychologist and clinical leader at Optum,
00:25and Roxanne Battle. She is the Vice President for San Bello Health. Hello, ladies.
00:31Hello. Thank you for taking the time to chat with us about this very, very important topic.
00:36We're glad to be here. All right, so let's get to it. Definitely, you know, the last year has been
00:42a lot for everyone. You know, along with the global pandemic, we all faced our own challenges of many
00:46kinds, socially, culturally, physically, politically, financially, but especially, you know, emotionally.
00:52For most of us, it was hard, and it continues to be a very hard and difficult period in our lives as we
00:58kind of adjust to the ways in which we've been having our schedules disrupted and had so much
01:03stress come into our, you know, our circles. So we want to have a conversation because working moms
01:09and people of color have been especially impacted by a lot of the changes that have gone on within
01:14the last year of change. So we want to have a good conversation and cut through all the noise
01:18and talk about, you know, mental health and find out what we can do to manage our situations,
01:24our unique challenges, also supporting each other and being able to be happier and healthier.
01:28So to start, ladies, I'd love to hear your views. You know, looking back on the last,
01:32you know, year and change that it's been, you know, what have you witnessed as health professionals
01:37when it comes to the magnitude of the numerous challenges we faced and the way that they impacted
01:41our overall mental health and well-being?
01:43Thank you, Victoria. I really appreciate this conversation because it is something that we
01:49really need to talk about. We have all been impacted in one way or another from 2020 and we're continuing
01:56to be impacted in 2021. It's not over yet, right? We're still in this. Prior to 2020, it was only about
02:0411% of Americans that experienced mental health symptoms. We are now up to 40% of Americans that
02:12acknowledge they're experiencing some form of depression or anxiety, especially women of color
02:20that have children in the home. They are now up to 49%. So almost half of women of color are now saying
02:30and admitting that they're experiencing some form of anxiety and depression. Some people may ask,
02:36what exactly is anxiety and depression? Because we all may feel sad. We all may feel nervous at some
02:41point, but what exactly does that balance really mean where you move from just feeling sad or nervous?
02:49Depression is at a time where you feel low, you feel stuck, you feel sad, and you can't get out of it.
02:56It's almost like quicksand is pulling you down and you can't figure out how to climb out of it.
03:02And it holds on to you to the point where it starts impacting your life. You may start to feel
03:07irritable and easily snapping at people, your children, your loved ones, not able to focus at
03:12work. At that point, you tipped from just feeling sad to depressed. And that's where you may need to
03:20reach out for help, which I'm hoping we'll get further into the conversation about. Anxiety is more
03:26along the lines of feeling very just nervous and almost like fearful most of your life for no reason.
03:33You can't really kind of put your finger on why you may feel afraid or shaken or unstable. You may
03:40actually feel like you're having some people, it feels like a heart attack because your heart starts
03:45racing. So a lot of people will go to the emergency room thinking that they're having a heart attack
03:49and it's really anxiety. Last year was really tough. Even as myself, as a licensed psychologist,
03:56a mental health professional, the one that's supposed to have it all together.
03:59I was a nervous wreck. I have three young black boys at home that were now stuck with me all the
04:09time. I was supposed to be a teacher, a wife, a mom. I was supposed to continue to be, I'm also
04:17spiritual and supposed to be the one that has it all together, but I was doubting my capacity and my
04:24capabilities at the time. I was thrown into the fact that I had to teach my young black boys ages
04:31eight, seven, and four that people didn't like them because of the skin of their, because of the color of
04:38their skin. That was a very difficult conversation to explain to them that right now people are marching
04:45the streets in my town, Richmond, Virginia, because police officers had killed someone that looks like
04:53them. I was trying to figure out how do I deal with my own anxieties and then at the same time help
05:00other people that were struggling. I also had to adapt my practices around how I deliver care and get
05:07used to delivering in telehealth. There was a lot that I had to kind of get through, but the fact is
05:14we moved past it. We were able to get through it, but how? I had to streamline the structure in my
05:20house around my kids. I had to take all of that nervous energy, that self-doubt, and pour it into
05:27the fact that I knew that I had to teach my boys now more than ever what was happening in the world.
05:33This experience, I hope, resonates with a lot of other women of color and just individuals where
05:41last year was not a normal experience and a lot of us experienced self-doubt, but the fact is we
05:46were able to get through it and that's what kind of pushes me to this day. Roxanne, I know you had
05:53some similar experiences last year. Yes, I'm so glad we're having this conversation in the Essence
05:59Wells' house because that's what we have to do is have the conversation and talk about it. Unlike you
06:04with three vibrant boys running around the house, I am a divorced empty nester. So during lockdown,
06:11it was just me morning, noon, and night. And there were times where the wall started closing in,
06:18you know, and I work every day trying to, you know, de-stigmatize mental health and help people of color
06:23get the access they need to mental health services. And I was in need of mental health help. And, you know,
06:31and the thing is, I had to be honest and vulnerable about it and put it into words. You know, oftentimes
06:35mental health issues are stigmatized. It makes us look weak or somehow, you know, maybe our faith isn't
06:41holding us up the way we think we should. When in reality, all of that can work together by having a
06:46conversation, by relying on a faith network and friends. And so what I did is I got on the phone
06:51and I called people and it wasn't just, hey, uh, hey girl, what's up? What's going on over there? It was,
06:56I'm having a hard time. I need to talk to somebody. And if this isn't the moment, can you tell me when
07:03it is? Cause I really need to connect with another human being. And I think being really honest with
07:08ourselves and having that conversation and acknowledging those feelings, because the
07:11feelings don't go away. They'll sit there and sit there and sit there until you address them and
07:16acknowledge them and deal with them. And I've learned that I learned the importance of self-care,
07:21not only for the clients of like that Sanvelo, but for myself and to reach out and ask for help when I
07:26need it. Yes, ladies. And you both, you both had experiences that a lot of people can relate to
07:30being at home with a house full of kids, trying to juggle things, as well as being on your own in
07:35the home and trying to, you know, find your peace and be centered and be balanced. And self-care is a
07:40conversation we have a lot of times. People say, I'm practicing self-care. How do I, you know, how do I
07:44practice it? Um, how can we tell when it's time to seek additional help and find the right support for
07:49our individual needs? Oh, I'm just going to jump right in and defer to Dr. Booker. If it's lingers,
07:55if the journaling, if the breathing exercise, if the meditation, if the exercising, if that's,
08:00and you still find yourself stuck in a state and you start ruminating and having thoughts about
08:04hurting yourself, that's when I think you really need to start, begin to think, I need to really
08:09reach out and talk to somebody, particularly if, if everything you're doing doesn't produce a
08:14result. Would you agree with that, Dr. Booker? I do. I do agree with that. If you've tried to
08:19connect with other people, people such as what Roxanne indicated, just reaching out to
08:23a close one, a family member, a friend, even a neighbor. If you've tried connecting with people,
08:30if you try to do self-help, if you tried meditating and it's just, just not going away, you still don't
08:37feel yourself. Even before you get to the point of trying to feel like you hurt yourself, but you're
08:41just not functioning the way that you know you can function, that's when you reach out and try to get
08:46professional help. And it's as simple as calling your insurance company, or there's different
08:54resources online, but you can type in find a therapist. It's very, very simple applications
09:00that you can download, such as Sendvelo, where you can get help immediately, because it's no point of
09:07feeling stuck, because you won't move forward and it starts impacting the rest of your life.
09:12Yes, ladies. And I think we can all agree that despite all of the things that came with this
09:17last year with the pandemic and the things that followed, you know, the benefit has been that we
09:22have been able to have more conversations openly about mental health and wellness. And people aren't
09:27afraid to say, like, I'm not doing well anymore, you know, so I'm very glad that we're able to come
09:32together and help people figure out a way to thrive with anxiety and depression. So thank you so much,
09:37ladies, for sharing your insights. And for being a part of Essence Wellness House, this has been such
09:42a pleasure and such a great conversation that is very much needed. Thank you, Victoria. Thank you.
09:47Thank you, Victoria. Thank you, Roxanne. Yes, thank you both. And thank you for watching.
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