It’s May again and that means it’s Mental Health Awareness Month!

You can donate your time, talents, or treasure to some amazingly worthwhile and meaningful organizations that focus on ending the stigma of mental health struggles. In theory, there has never been this much transparency, resources, and support available to those in crisis than there is in this current moment in history. And this indeed… IS progress.

But… (you knew there would be a but, didn’t you?)

Bottom line though, in reality…?

WE NEED TO DO BETTER.

WE NEED TO DO MORE.

Because of this I’d like to focus on the very real issues of AVAILABILITY and ACCESSIBILITY to services and support, WHEN they are needed and WHERE they are needed-because frankly, WE ARE DROPPING THE BALL.

RIGHT NOW we could be doing more (look for more on this topic in the coming days and weeks).

Right now waitlists to see a therapist or mental health professional in addition to any higher level of care programs are at an all time high…

Today? Individuals that I work with have been waiting for a higher level of care admission for two months and counting.

My friends’ children have been on a waitlist for services for MONTHS and even just an initial mental health assessment? This option is currently nonexistent.

So what can we offer to these humans who are suffering, to these families in pain, while they continue to wait?

Thoughts and Prayers? While good thoughts and positivity are welcome, it’s just not enough anymore.

So what can we do in the practical, in the here and now?

We have been talking for YEARS now about ending the stigma of mental illness, and we’ve made progress, but we still have work to do. Think about what happens when one does finally reach out for help, for support, for resources, but is just met with….the void.

I guess my first question:

How can we fill this void?

Full disclosure and Disclaimer:

I don’t have the answers. What I do have is ideas about what can help.

To approach these issues from the front lines is admittedly difficult to do.

We need to address and talk about mental health from day one, from as early as birth… damage control in the later years certainly isn’t the logical place to begin or intervene.

Yet, here we are, in a (post?) pandemic world, with a war raging in the Ukraine, a near civil war going on at home, a political shitshow society, in a TikTok augmented reality social culture.

A more connected, yet less CONNECTED culture than ever before.

Identity crisis??!!

Damage control??

How do we help people out of the void?
How do we effectively guide others back home to themselves?

How do we foster within ourselves the hope, the connection, the LOVE that is a fundamental requirement for healing the world?!
How do we bring back the child-like mind of curiosity, wonder and AWE?
How do we foster this in ourselves, so that it spills into others?!
I would like to suggest with all the love and respect that I can possibly muster…

WE NEED TO WAKE UP.

To the work that’s being done all around us, outside of the Proverbial Box.

I would like to suggest that egos be dropped and set aside.

I would like to suggest that doctors, clinicians, therapists, and healers from all walks and all disciplines start working together and be given the Permission to do so by their governing bodies.

As a Nature Connected Transformational Guide, I operate under the umbrella of CAM (complementary and alternative Medicine). I do not treat, diagnose, or prescribe. However, Often.. I do refer to clinicians who do and often encourage collaborative action. Yet I can count on less than one hand the times that bridge has been traveled both ways.

I would like to suggest that bottom lines and profits, big Pharma, and “best practices” be replaced by connections and symbiotic relationships.

I would like to suggest a return to the Roots.

Relation. Ritual. Ceremonial Return to Nature.

As John O’Donohue Beautifully writes:
“What you encounter, recognize, or discover depends to a large degree on the quality of your approach. Many of the ancient cultures practiced careful rituals of approach.. An encounter of depth and spirit was preceded by careful preparation.”

CAREFUL PREPARATION.

Sounds novel to today’s ears, doesn’t it?

Why should access to mental health services and supports rely solely on access to health insurance?

Why aren’t more clinicians, doctors, and therapists given the permission to look outside of the box in the interest of helping patients heal?

Why is the revolving door of mental health treatment evaluated through the lens of what is PROFITABLE versus what is EFFECTIVE?!

So how do we fill this void?

For me, it’s shining a little flashlight on another way. A way that works, because it’s designed to be FOR YOU, in tandem with whatever YOU need.

Curious. In Tandem. In Connection. With Self, Nature, Western Medicine, Eastern Thought,

Earth

Conscious.

Aligned and Alive.
Hopeful….
The opposite of the VOID.

I challenge us all to ponder the question and emphatically implore curiosity in the realms of REFORM, personal responsibility and a noticing of the NEED to WAKE UP, CONNECT, and COLLABORATE.

Consider … What does this call to action mean to me?

Namaste. Stay Wild.

Suez Nields

As always, Comments and Positive Engagement and Conscious Thought Dialogue Welcome!

The Void: A Call to Action

#TWLOHA (To Write Love on her Arms) Crisis Text line : text TWLOHA to 741741

#SSS (Stop Soldier Suicide)

#22aday

#tilvalhallproject

#NAMI

National Suicide Prevention Hotline (800) 273-8255

The Trevor Project (866) 488-7386

Trans Lifeline (877) 565-8860

Contact Suez Nields at Anam Treo, LLC for Collaboration!

The Void: A Call to Action

Gifts

WILD WELLNESS