A Mental Health Check-In (with Stephanie Wittels Wachs and Gary Mendell)

Our mental health is getting beat up during this pandemic: anxiety, depression, substance abuse and suicidal ideation are all on the rise. Andy talks about it with two inspiring guests: Stephanie Wittels Wachs, the host of Last Day, and Gary Mendell, the founder of Shatterproof. Both have moving personal stories and are out to change how stigma, mental health, and addiction are talked – and thought – about. Helpful links if you need them in the show notes.

Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt and Instagram @andyslavitt.

Follow Stephanie Wittels Wachs on Twitter @wittelstephanie. Follow Gary Mendell on Twitter @gary_mendell.

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Check out these resources from today’s episode:

• If you or someone you know is struggling emotionally or feeling hopeless, it’s important to talk to someone about it now. Contact one of the resources below for a free, confidential conversation with a trained counselor anytime.
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Crisis Text line: Text “Connect” to 741-741
• The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386
• You can find additional tips, tools and resources for taking care of your emotional health from the JED Foundation and the team at Last Day here: http://jedcares.org/lastday/.
• Listen to Season 2 of Last Day: https://www.lemonadamedia.com/show/last-day/
• Learn more about Gary’s work to end the stigma around addiction and his organization, Shatterproof, here: https://www.shatterproof.org/.
• For help finding high quality addiction treatment, visit https://treatmentatlas.org/
• Read the CDC’s report on rising rates of mental illness, substance use, and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932a1.htm?s_cid=mm6932a1_w
• Are you hoping to vote in the 2020 election? Are you confused about how to request an absentee ballot in your state? This website can help you with that: https://www.betterknowaballot.com/
• Pre-order Andy’s book, Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response, here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165

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