COS 111 Alarmism and the Challenge of Talking About Mental Health

Dr. Jen Brandt sits down with Dr. Andy Roark to discuss the challenges of talking productively about mental health and suicide. They talk about what is productive when discussing mental health and what is not, the truth about the narrative that veterinary medicine is “the worst” industry for mental health and suciide, and how we might correct this narrative. Dr. Brandt discusses internal vs. external loci of control, negativity bias, and toxic positivity. They end the discussion talking about how to challenge damaging communications and venting vs emotional dumping. LINKS: Uncharted Veterinary Conference April 21-23, 2022: https://unchartedvet.com/uncharted-april-2022/ Uncharted Podcast on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-uncharted-veterinary-podcast/id1449897688 Charming the Angry Client On-Demand Staff Training: https://drandyroark.com/on-demand-staff-training/ What’s on my Scrubs?! Card Game: https://drandyroark.com/training-tools/ Dr. Andy Roark Swag: drandyroark.com/shop All Links: linktr.ee/DrAndyRoark ABOUT OUR GUEST: Dr. Jen Brandt, AVMA’s Director of Wellbeing, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiatives, is a licensed independent social worker, certified crisis worker, certified anti-oppression informed practitioner, and senior trainer for the Institute for Healthcare Communication. In 2000, Dr. Brandt co-founded The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Honoring the Bond services, one of the first programs in the nation aimed at recognizing and supporting the human-animal bond by providing education and resources to animal owners and animal care professionals. Dr. Brandt helped launch the AVMA’s Workplace Wellbeing Certificate Program to support veterinary professionals in developing the knowledge and skills needed to create healthy work systems and AVMA’s Brave Space Certificate Program which explores the impact of stereotyping, unconscious bias, and workplace harassment. In 2020, Dr. Brandt was elected as a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academies of Practice in Social Work. She received her Ph.D. and Master of Social Work from The Ohio State University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and Sociology with a Minor in Spanish from the University of Indianapolis.