16: Language Matters

06/15/22 • 39 min

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The words we use have power and can, even unintentionally, contribute to the stigma associated with mental illness. To address this, the Well Beings Campaign developed the Mental Health Language Guide to equip adults, regardless of their experience, with person-first language tools for discussing mental health concerns with youth.

On this episode, Alita McCalmon, project lead for the Mental Health Language Guide and Senior Manager of National Education for WETA Television, talks to us about the guide and shares how our language can help create safe spaces for youth, our LGBTQIA community members, folks with disabilities, people with mental health conditions, and more.

Resources for this episode:

Check out the rest of our podcast family at https://psychiatry.org/podcasts

For a transcript of this episode, visit: https://apafdn.org/news-events/mentally-healthy-nation-podcast/language-matters

Resources for this episode:

Check out the rest of our podcast family at https://psychiatry.org/podcasts

For a transcript of this episode, visit: https://apafdn.org/news-events/mentally-healthy-nation-podcast/language-matters

Previous Episode

15: How Are College Students Doing?

While college is often reflected on as a great time in people's lives, that experience was never without stress and anxiety. However, over the past two years, issues that college students normally face have been exacerbated by the uncertainty and grief associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, societal reckonings, and racial and political tensions. So, how are college students doing these days?

Joining us today are two psychiatrists working on college campuses, Dr. Ludmila De Faria and Dr. Meera Menon. They give us insight into college mental health, how the pandemic and other issues have impacted students' experiences and access to services, and provide tips for families and loved ones to better support their students' mental health.

Ludmila De Faria, MD is an Associate Professor at the University of Florida where she also sees patients. Dr. De Faria has been a psychiatrist in Florida for over 15 years and is especially interested in increasing access and decreasing mental health disparities among minorities and providing a culturally sensitive environment for patients. She is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and an active member of the APA's Council on Children, Adolescents, and Their Families. Dr. De Faria was born in Brazil where she earned her medical degree from the Universidade de Brasilia and moved to the United States in 1991 to complete medical training at Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami.

Meera Menon, MD is a psychiatrist at Ohio State University’s Counseling and Consultation Service. At Ohio State, Dr. Menon is involved in the Eating Concerns Consultation Team, the Transgender Advocacy Team, and the Training Committee. In addition to also being an active member of the APA's Council on Children, Adolescents, and Their Families, she serves as Chair of the APA Caucus on College Mental Health and Secretary of the Association for College Psychiatry. Dr. Menon earned her medical degree from Wright State University where she also completed her psychiatry residency.

Resources for this episode:

College Psychiatry: Strategies to Improve Access to Mental Health, featuring Dr. De Faria and edited by Dr. Menon and Michelle Riba MD.
Guides to support policy decisions on college mental health
The Campus Cure: A Parent's Guide to Mental Health and Wellness for College Students
The Stressed Years of Their Lives: Helping Your Kid Survive and Thrive During Their College Years
APA Foundation resources for parents and Notice. Talk. Act. at School

Check out the rest of our podcast family at psychiatry.org/podcasts

For a transcript of this episode, visit: https://apafdn.org/news-events/mentally-healthy-nation-podcast/how-are-college-students-doing

Next Episode

17: Advancing Mental Health Equity

July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, named after the great author, journalist, teacher, and mental health advocate, Bebe Moore Campbell. One of the goals of this month is to bring additional awareness to the inequities in our mental health systems. These systems have faced appropriate scrutiny from minoritized communities due to limited access to mental health care, a lack of cultural representation among mental health providers, and issues of inequitable treatment. Today, we're joined by Dr. Napoleon Higgins, Executive Director of the Black Psychiatrists of America, to discuss what's being done to address mental health equity and how we can get involved.

For a transcript of this episode, visit: https://apafdn.org/news-events/mentally-healthy-nation-podcast/advancing-mental-health-equity