David Bond, director of behavioral health and lifestyle medicine at Blue Shield of California spoke with KGO-TV in a LinkedIn Live event Wednesday. In separate interviews, he also shared his insight into identifying and aiding people struggling with mental health. He spoke with the Los Angeles Times and U.S. News & World Report:
In U.S. News & World Report's "11 Tips to Support Someone Struggling with Mental Health":
Bond adds, “like on an airplane where you’re asked to put your oxygen mask on first before helping those around you, we cannot suppress our own mental health needs for those of others.”
The added bonus of taking care of yourself is that you’ll also be modeling “healthy coping mechanisms for your loved one,” he says. “Show them how you’re prioritizing mental well-being so they feel comfortable doing the same.”
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In the Los Angeles Times' "Youth Mental Health Crisis What Parents Should Watch For," Bond focused on identifying issues with children:
Bond offered four questions to ask when trying to decipher whether a child is going through a typical adolescent issue or something more serious:
- When did it start?
- Was there an event or something that caused the change?
- What’s the frequency of the behavior?
- What’s the intensity of the behavior?
Bond said a child can feel stressed or sad from a breakup or a challenging test at school — that’s normal. But there may be a number of other forces layered on top of that, Bond said, including the pandemic, injustices, racial and cultural issues and LGBTQ-related stress.
Read the full story here.