Episode 11 - Allison Raskin and OCD and not really Khloe Kardashian

Jun 01, 2021

Letting things be there

I talked to YouTube sensation Allison Raskin for this week’s episode and there was a little nugget in there that I struggled with, as to whether to leave it in or take it out. In the interview, she talks about the end of her engagement, which happened in November of 2020. She says she was devastated because getting married was always a life ambition and a goal, to find the right guy and be in a married relationship. Being engaged felt like already being married, she says, since you’re already on that same track, you’ve already made that lifetime commitment.

That’s Allison Raskin. Why would I put anyone else there?

So the nugget. Allison says she wondered how long it would take to get over that sudden, shocking dumping, the sudden death of the life she was expecting. Would it take three months, she wondered. And then she says, yeah, it did take three months. Now she’s over it.

And as she said it, I kind of wondered if that was true. Because that seems like a shockingly brief amount of time. “Over it” is a subjective term, I suppose, but it still struck me as super quick on the recovery. But! BUT! Who am I to say? I can’t disagree with Allison on her being over it. And if I say “Oh come on! No way!”, that’s not really a question.

Naomi Osaka says nah thanks

Tennis star Naomi Osaka, who had previously announced that she wouldn’t do post-match interviews to help her mental health, has now withdrawn from the French Open rather than deal with all the heat and bullshit she’s been incurring.

People are lining up to support her.

Now there are indications that some positive change might emerge from all this:

The leaders of the four Grand Slam tournaments reacted Tuesday to tennis star Naomi Osaka's stunning withdrawal from the French Open by promising to address players' concerns about mental health.
The pledge came in a statement signed by the same four tennis administrators who threatened the possibility of disqualification or suspension for Osaka on Sunday if she continued to skip news conferences.

courtney laplante™️ @corklezlaplante

Imagine if bands had to do a press conference after every performance, like they do in sports

“Ricky, what were you thinking when you delivered a less than rockin’ guitar solo in the 11th song? Did you hate yourself?”

Because I worry, I worry about this

My fundamental belief is that if something can be done to make someone feel better mentally, and no one else is harmed by it, that’s good. So in general, I believe the Osaka situation will have a net benefit in pushing a discussion of mental health forward.

So: yay.

On the other hand, is there really such thing as mental health? It’s part of health, after all, and the mind controls a whole lot of what’s happening in the body. So maybe the meaning is already covered by “health”.

And the issues happening with Osaka are broadly about mental health but specifically about anxiety and depression and not all the other things that fall under the broader heading of “mental health”.

So we say she struggles with her mental health but she does not struggle with OCD or addiction or dissociative disorder or schizophrenia, even though those are mental health.

You know?

So I’m not so sure how helpful the term is. But I’ll keep using it.

Burnout up as mental health support falls away

Distressing news as things are starting to get better on the covid front. Yes, cases and deaths are falling, vaccinations are climbing at least among the non-jerkwad sections of our population.

So that’s enough for employers to start withdrawing the extra mental health measures they had put in place before. And, SHOCKINGLY, burnout is up.

Employees report work stress, burnout, and work-life balance as greater concerns this year, according to a survey of more than 5,000 working adults in the U.S. and four other countries across 21 industries. Survey respondents also say their employers are doing a worse job supporting mental health during the pandemic than they were a year ago and that employers are providing fewer mental health benefits and resources — a 13% drop.