HOPEfull Conversations with Kari Eckert

As seniors around the country find out if they’ve been accepted into their dream colleges, stress builds as decisions loom. The first of May is the deadline for seniors to pick their college and is considered National College Decision Day in the United States.

As competition continues to grow tougher year after year, many families are finding themselves navigating conversations about future plans, broken hearts, and what happens when your student doesn’t get the acceptance letter from their dream school.  Rejection isn’t easy, especially when it comes to something as important as college admissions decisions. But if you approach it with empathy and understanding, you can help your student cope better with this difficult situation and move forward toward new opportunities and dreams.

My guest today is Kevin Kovaleski. Kevin is the Associate Vice President for Communications in the Office of the Executive Vice President and University Provost at ASU. He leads the communications team at ASU that designs and executes communications strategies that have contributed to ASU enrolling over 177,000 students per year.  

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Everyone’s journey through grief after the loss of a family member to suicide is unique and complex.  Until recently, the experiences of sibling suicide loss survivors have been poorly understood. Research shows that individuals who have lost a brother or sister to suicide are at increased risk for complicated grief, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts. However, many sibling survivors report feeling overlooked by friends and family after a suicide death and do not receive the mental health support that they need.  

The loss of one’s twin adds to the complexity healing.  When their twin dies, the remaining twin often experiences profound survivors’ guilt. They have problems with other intimate relationships. Birthdays bring on mourning.  Those who aren’t twins seem largely unable to appreciate the depth and complexity of twin bereavement, therapists and twins themselves say.

My guest today is Nick Goodwin, a recent graduate from Wheat Ridge High School in May of 2023. He is currently taking a gap year, prior to starting college next fall at CU Boulder. Nick is planning on backpacking through Europe with friends this coming month! Nick is going to be the assistant manager at Applewood Knolls swim and tennis club this summer, and works at a bakery during the winter. Nick’s twin brother, Johnny, passed away February of 2021 by suicide.

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The ups and downs in working with people can have a huge impact on you. Practicing self-care can better equip you to deal with a crisis and the difficulty of aiding someone with a mental health or substance use challenge. Engaging in a self-care routine has been clinically proven to reduce or eliminate anxiety and depression, reduce stress, increase happiness, and more. It can help you adapt to changes, build strong relationships, and recover from setbacks. In a national survey, Americans cited benefits of self-care as: enhanced self-confidence (64%), increased productivity (67%), happiness (71%). From a physical health perspective, self-care also reduces heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Self-care goals can include:

Take care of your physical and psychological health.

1. Manage and reduce stress.
2. Recognize your emotional and spiritual needs.
3. Foster and sustain relationships.
4. Achieve balance in different areas of your life.

My guest today is Dr. Craig Uthe, MD.  He is board certified with the American Board of Family Medicine and member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, has been a Sanford physician since 1991. He is the Executive Director of Clinician Professionalism at Sanford Health and Wellbeing Coach for medical students at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine.  His clinical practice is in the Sanford Sioux Falls Chronic Pain Clinic.  Dr. Uthe also serves as medical advisor to the SD Health Professional Assistance Program.

Dr. Uthe explains the need to have an accountability partner in your life and talks about the need to “Never Worry Alone”.

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According to Defense Department data, suicides among active-duty service members increased by more than 40% between 2015 and 2020. The numbers jumped by 15% in 2020 alone are nearly double the rate of the general population in the United States.

A report in 2021 from the Costs of War Project found that an estimated 30,177 active duty military personnel and veterans who have served since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks died by suicide, compared with the 7,057 killed in military operations during the two-decade war against terrorism.

My guests today are Teri and Patrick Caserta, parents of Brandon Caserta who died by suicide in 2018 as an active solider in the US Navy.  They created The Brandon Act to allow the men and women who serve in the United States of America’s Armed Forces to get help without retaliation from anyone in their commands and will hold people accountable for their actions, if it is deemed necessary.  It will allow them to get counseling for any issues they may have from bullying to sexual/mental/ domestic abuse among many other issues.  With “The Brandon Act” in place, they hope to completely eliminate suicides in the Armed Forces.

Learn more about the Brandon Act here:  https://thebrandonact.org

You can read the Department of Defense Annual Report on Suicide in the Military here:  https://www.dspo.mil/Portals/113/Documents/ARSM_CY22.pdf

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Injury is one of the highest risk factors for depression among youth athletes. An athlete whose identity is strongly tied to their sport is also at higher risk for developing mental health concerns, especially when experiencing injury. They can lose their primary sense of self and the dreams, expectations and benefits that go along with their athletic identity.

Joining me today is Camden Blum, a freshman at Babson College. Throughout his high school career, he endured an abundance of medical issues. He developed a breathing condition that went undiagnosed for a year and a half, until he was sent to National Jewish Hospital in Denver where he was diagnosed with exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction. During the entire process he had 17 different medicines, 17 different doctors, and 15 different procedures. One of the 17 medicines was a pill gabapentin which has a side effect of suicidal thoughts. With his mental health already struggling, receiving that side effect made it even worse. Then a month later he separated his left shoulder in a hockey game necessitating surgery. Fast forward another year he dislocated the same shoulder, needing another surgery, putting him out of the sport he loved, hockey. His mental health took a major toll due to these medical issues and it was extremely hard for him to vocalize it.

 After his second surgery he created The Simple Emotions clothing company to raise awareness for mental health. The clothing allows you to show how you feel without saying a word!  You can buy some great merch at:  https://thesimpleemotions.shop

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Our 6th Annual HOPEfull Drive is in its second week.  Teens from across the country have been advocating in their communities and schools to raise awareness about teen mental health.  One of the most powerful messages that teens, and adults, can hear is validation that they are not alone in their mental health struggles.  We ALL have mental health.  And like our physical health, we all struggle at points in time in our life. 

Joining me today is Nina Birdsey, one of the Robbie’s Hope “OG’s”, a coordinator of our first HOPEfull Drive, and one of our first Interns.  Nina is a senior at the University of Colorado majoring in Psychology.  After graduation she is planning to take a gap year and then pursue a Bachelors of Nursing.  Nina shares the impact that the HOPEfull Drive, and Robbie’s Hope, have had on her life.

The 6th Annual HOPEfull Drive continues through Sunday, February 4th.  It takes a tremendous amount of courage to talk to strangers about a topic like mental health.  If you see our Teen Ambassadors in your community, take a minute out of your day and listen to their message.

Listen on your favorite podcast station or watch on our YouTube channel at:  https://youtu.be/HQvDKFSgwAE

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Six years ago, our original Robbie’s Hope teen founders forged a path to make disruptive change in their community and force the adults and teens in their lives to have meaningful conversations about mental health.  They had an idea to create a two-week advocacy campaign, starting on Robbie’s birthday, and ending the first weekend of February.  Over the past six years our teens have reached over 3 million people through direct conversations and media coverage.  That is a staggering number of people that have heard our message that It’s Ok to Not Be Ok and have learned how to have impactful conversations with the teens in their lives.

Joining me today is Robert Vermeulen, one of the Robbie’s Hope “OG’s” and coordinator of our first HOPEfull Drive.  Robert is a senior at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo studying Computer Science.  Robert has a powerful story about how Philanthropy has changed the trajectory of his life.

The 6th Annual HOPEfull Drive starts this coming Friday, January 19th and will run through Sunday, February 4th.  It takes a tremendous amount of courage to talk to strangers about a topic like mental health.  If you see our Teen Ambassadors in your community, take a minute out of your day and listen to their message.

For additional resources visit us at:  https://robbies-hope.com

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Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among teens in the U.S. and the number one cause in Colorado, where Robbie’s Hope began. But what’s more staggering than the statistics is that there isn’t more being done to help the individuals affected most—teens.

It is our goal to empower the next generation to cope with the stress and pressure of modern society. To redefine what “good” actually looks like. To help teens recognize warning signs and realize they’re not alone. To allow them to feel their voices are being heard, letting them know it’s ok to ask for help, and giving them the tools and resources they need to rally together and talk openly about their struggles. Through compassion, empathy and communication, we are building communities of support where it is not only acceptable, but normal, to talk about depression and anxiety.

Robbie’s Hope has over 4,000 teen ambassadors across the country who are advocates for change in their communities and schools.  A bright light of change sits in Westfield, Indiana, a town just north of Indianapolis.

Joining me today is Analiece Emigh and Zoe Milewski, two seniors attending Westfield High School in Westfield, Indiana. Analiece and Zoe are the co-founders and co-presidents of the Robbie’s Hope club at their high school which is Robbie’s Hope’s most lucrative club and largest club in terms of member size. This club was established in 2021 and, to date, this club has raised roughly $30,000 for Robbie’s Hope. Today, we will be discussing Analiece’s and Zoe’s experience with the RH club over the past few years and how it came to be so successful.

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It is unrealistic to think that young people will completely refrain from trying alcohol, and/or other drugs during the life stage with the highest likelihood of experience-seeking and experimentation, their youth.  Psychedelics present a paradox because of their potential therapeutic benefits for people with PTSD, depression and other mental health issues. A harm reduction approach discourages young people from using alcohol and other drugs, but it goes further, providing information to help them keep themselves and their peers safe if/when they encounter these substances. 

An abstinence-only approach puts us in the position of having nothing to say to the young people we need to reach the most, and it prevents us from having conversations about how to reduce harm and stay safe.  If we really want to minimize drug use and prevent drug abuse and drug problems among young people, we need a strategy that includes comprehensive education, one that puts safety first.

In addition to improving harm reduction skills and knowledge throughout the community -- among students, resident advisors, and staff -- harm reduction also means fostering help-seeking behaviors by promoting medical amnesty policies and it means proper training for the helpers who will respond to the call. First responders encountering adverse reactions to hallucinogens – or acute emotional crises, as the two can be indistinguishable in crisis -- need specialized training and de-escalation skills to keep students safe. 

Joining me today is Kristin Nash, founder of the William G. Nash Foundation working to foster harm reduction for students in crisis by facilitating honest discussion around the use of psychedelics. The foundation supports research, grants, and awareness of harm reduction approaches to improve college student safety. Correspondingly, the William G. Nash Foundation supports college student run businesses, especially those with a social impact, to expand and grow through giving grants.

The William G. Nash Foundation works to facilitate honest discussion and close gaps in college campus safety by engaging in the following key activities:

• Grantmaking to organizations and student groups working to reduce harm and introduce restorative justice on the college campus.
• Partnering with like-minded organizations to raise awareness and create programming when needed to meet a goal.
• Contribute to public discourse on harm reduction and psychedelic use in uncontrolled campus settings through legislative advocacy, media campaigns, opinion editorials, grey literature and peer-reviewed publications.
• Work to advocate for reality-based substance use education and culture/policy change at institutions of higher learning and high schools across the country.

You can learn more about the William G Nash Foundation at:  https://www.williamgnash.org

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The emotional benefits of animal companionship are well-documented. Beyond the popularity of having specified and prescribed emotional support animals, even having animals as pets can foster positive emotional relationships, compassion, empathy, and responsibility in teens. For teens with mental health disorders, particularly in this time of grief and isolation during a global pandemic, the benefits of pets include helping provide structure, companionship, and healing.

One of the most challenging parts of being a teen struggling with a mental health disorder is feeling alone. With stigma so strong, many teens lack important peer friendships or anyone they trust to talk about what is happening to them. Pets can offer emotional support and unconditional love.  Studies have shown that animals can boost mood, decrease loneliness, and create feelings of social support. Physiologically, human interaction with animals has been shown to reduce blood pressure and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Pets can also give teens purpose and an increased desire to live.

Joining me today is Magdelene Roemer or Mags for short. She is the Junior Board Chair for Paws For Patrick, a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting young people to Emotional Support Animals and Therapy Dogs to aid them as they live with mental illness. Paws for Patrick was created to honor the memory of Patrick Roemer, Mags’ brother who died by suicide in 2020. Mags is a freshman at Wake Forest University.

Paws for Patrick is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting young people with Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) and Therapy Dogs to aid them as they live with mental illness.  Utilizing their unique Wish Granter and Therapy Dog programs, they provide the funds and resources to bring the love of animals to the people who need it most. They also seek to raise awareness of mental illness and break the stigma that still exists.  Patrick’s animals, especially his beloved dog Cici, provided him with a sense of peace and love that no human could ever provide. This work can never bring Patrick back, and the pain of his loss will never go away, yet his memory and his legacy still live on in the most profound way.  Learn more about Paws for Patrick at:  https://www.pawsforpatrick.org

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