Work, Which Sucks, and How To Deal With It
Also, pilots are having a hard time with mental health and eesh that is distressing
It’s harder to get and keep a job when you have a mental health issue
I thought about phrasing that with “it can be” or “sometimes” but I’m pretty certain of it so went with the headline that just tells it like it is. The average workplace is built around a sense of routine, a kind of order that people with tricky minds will have a more difficult time keeping pace with. Beyond that, beyond the orderly operation of a workplace, there are often a thousand tricky political and social situations that are even harder to navigate because of what’s going on with things like depression, anxiety, and other conditions.
This week, we welcome Megan Delp, the Director of Workplace Mental Health from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). I ask her about how to make a plan when you have both a job and a tricky mind. I also ask her about what if anything the law can do to protect you in the event of discrimination in the workplace. Most of the rest of the questions asked are from our Facebook group, Preshies.
While I couldn’t get to every question or address every problem someone might run into in the quest for a paycheck whilst toting an interesting brain, we did get to quite a few of them. What we weren’t able to do, because it can’t be done, is hatch a way to overcome discrimination in the workplace. We couldn’t chart a course to circumnavigate unfair treatment. There are jerks in the world. But I think some tips from this episode might help. And Delp rhymes with help.
Meanwhile, the boss’s office has some ideas
Forbes, which has one of the most frustratingly ad-choked news sites going, provides a management perspective on the issues of workplace mental health, particularly the popular option of “just let the employees figure this out on their own with some apps”. It’s very hands off, very much a management way of saying, “Good luck with all THAT.”
They have a list of apps you might want to try, if you haven’t already, as well as some suggestions on how to get your employees to give the apps a shot, including hosting training sessions on how to use the apps and encouraging management to pay for subscriptions.
Improving pilots’ mental health seems like an excellent idea
They are in charge of our safety when we’re 30,000 feet in the air, after all, so let’s make sure those folks are feeling good and strong and safe, right? Scientific American reports on the findings of a new study where things aren’t looking particularly good for the people in the front seats of those aluminum tubes.
The 24 recommendations directed to the FAA include sweeping changes to current mental health policies, including dropping the need for pilots and controllers to inform the FAA when they see a therapist and easing the pathway to medication use for aviation workers. These recommendations and others could transform an industry whose medical fitness standards may have created barriers for certain pilots and controllers needing mental health assistance. Now, FAA and industry leaders must decide if and how to enact these recommendations.
I know of at least 21 pilots who are stressed out:
Advice on how to live
The brilliant and multi-genred writer Kevin King is about to turn 73 years old and has 101 bits of advice on how to live life. These are all so good that I picked three at random.
• The most common mistake we make is to do a great job on an unimportant task.
• If someone is calling you to alert you to fraud, nine out of ten times they are themselves the fraudster. Hang up. Call the source yourself if concerned.
• It is impossible to be curious and furious at the same time, so avoid furious.
Comedian Ray Ellin on Sleeping with Celebrities
Ray Ellin, according to Wikipedia, is a comedian, talk show host, producer, writer, and director. According to Sleeping with Celebrities, he is also a fairly fanatical devotee of the television series Little House on the Prairie and he discusses it freely, openly, and in great detail on our latest episode. He’s so into the show, Ray hosts the Wild Nights on the Prairie podcast. Learn what sparked his interest, what job he would have in Walnut Grove if he could teleport into the LHOTP universe, and what kind of profane questions have been asked of Alison Arngrim, the actor who played Nellie Oleson.